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[Sadist]

He got screwed over by EA and Nintendo.

Stil, I can't help but feel that EA is the real problem here. I own Most Wanted and it's a great port, but I got it at € 20 a few months after it's release. I mean, stores in Holland asked € 69(!) for the game and it was already five months late. Releasing it in the same month as MH and LCU wasn't the smartest thing to do. I can understand why Ward is disappointed because of all the extra work they put into it, but to me it seemed EA just didn't give a fuck. And honestly, even if MW Wii U was a nice showcase, Nintendo would be throwing money away if they put some marketing money into it. They should have printed more copies though.

Still sucks though.

 

[FyreWulff]

Don't you have to write input code for the buttons and joypad. What about the WiiU screen?

You already have to deal with that for porting between consoles, let alone the Wii U.

 

[KoopaTheCasual]

Without getting into details, I'll just say that for some reason Sony and I haven't seen eye to eye...ever. Dating back to the PS1 days. I hear their situation is better these days, perhaps I'll try to talk to them again after my Kickstarter goes live next month.

Yeesh, sorry for the hard times. Not trying to find a scapegoat, but I feel like the whole era of Kutagari had a certain level of hubris to it, that sort of bled into all the divisions of Playstation. I recall Sakaguchi saying (later during the PS3 era) that he didn't want to work with Sony anymore specifically because he didn't like Crazy Ken.

Best of luck on your Kickstarter!

 

[airmangataosenai]

It's amazing how uniform Nintendo fan talking points are.

"But the Muttant Mudds guy says....". It seems like he's quoted in every single discussion of Nintendo's developer support, totally ignoring the numerous negative stories from virtually everyone else.

 

[Sammy Samusu]

Nintendo will advertise and support games that are worth their money.

a bitch dont give a fuck about late ea ports

It's amazing how uniform Nintendo fan talking points are.

"But the Muttant Mudds guy says....". It seems like he's quoted in every single discussion of Nintendo's developer support, totally ignoring the numerous negative stories from virtually everyone else.

Just like you are ignoring the successful stories.

 

[Maxrunner]

Thanks. I'm a firm believer of not making excuses for why our products don't sell. I jumped into self publishing long ago and I wasn't successful back then, but I never blamed anyone for that. There were lots of things I could have done, but I didn't. All I could do is try to do a better job next time. On top of that, I make no excuses about the quality, either. At the end of the day, it's all on me and I'm the only one to blame for what gets released. Good or bad.



I understand that, and I agree with what people are saying. Nintendo needs to get their act together, but dealing with them recently doesn't make me as jaded as some people. They seem like a nice enough bunch, so I can't really say much on a personal level. *shrug*




Without getting into details, I'll just say that for some reason Sony and I haven't seen eye to eye...ever. Dating back to the PS1 days. I hear their situation is better these days, perhaps I'll try to talk to them again after my Kickstarter goes live next month.

Whats your project?

 

[Shiggy]

Nintendo will advertise and support games that are worth their money.

I wonder why...ah because a distribution agreement (Nintendo of Europe was responsible for the sales, marketing and distribution) was made as Capcom doesn't give shit about the series in the West.

 

[Berg]

Well I had no trouble downloading it the day it launched on the eshop.

 

[DrWong]

I wonder why...ah because a distribution agreement was made as Capcom doesn't give shit about the series in the West.

They care more about MH in the west than EA for NFSMW U in the west.

 

[AcademicSaucer]

Nintendo sent wii u to die , we knew that since the nintendo land fireworks, no news for me, but i guess that is nice to hear the experience of a developer.

Im glad that i choose to make bussines software and not games.

 

[Spieler Eins]

I wanted to try that version because I don't have a gaming PC, but not at that price , yeah. And it never dropped in price since release around here. Also, no demo in EU either.

 

[sörine]

It's amazing how uniform Nintendo fan talking points are.

"But the Muttant Mudds guy says....". It seems like he's quoted in every single discussion of Nintendo's developer support, totally ignoring the numerous negative stories from virtually everyone else.

What negative stories are there from indie studios? The only thing I can think of is Two Tribes, and there it's just a case of their game not performing as well as hoped (while still being profitable) and it applies to Steam also.

 

[Louis Cyphre]

you make a lot of definitive statements off hypothetical situations with no facts to back them up.

What facts do you need? Nintendo makes software people want and the hardware has always been trumped by others who do it better along with better online services. Nintendo has also proven to be the worst among relationships as a whole with 3rd party publishers that date back decades.

 

[Tripon]

EA is to blame here, but having said that, Nintendo should just stop doing hardware. Time and time again they show that they are terrible at providing a platform. Nintendo consoles have been on a steady decline since the SNES days (with Wii as a lucky outlier), because others simply do it better.

If I were CEO of Nintendo I would stop making hardware, stop attemping to make a platform and just release games on every platform out there. PS4, Xbone, PC, iOS, Android and so on. Imagine Pokemon with microtransactions on iOS/Android, it would literally bring in truckloads of cash.

Nintendo makes the best games in my opinion and needs to focus on their strengths. Too bad Iwata doesn't see that and will attempt bizarre health products that will hurt the brand and company.

There's a reason why you're not Nintendo's CEO.

 

[DidntKnowJack]

What kills me about this whole thing is that the Wii U version of Most Wanted is easily the best of that game I've played. (Though I can't speak to the PC version.) In fact it's one of my favorite Wii U games, believe it or not. So Mr. Ward, or anyone who was on your team and may be reading this, you did a great job on that port and I for one supported you. Looking forward to your new team's output on (I assume) PS4.

 

[tebunker]

I was just browsing the WiiU eshop today and right on the front page was NFS MWU. Go figure right?

Eitherway I still feel like Nintendo could do more to work hand in hand with all publishers and all developers, if nothing more than as a show of good faith. However, they clearly have a laisse faire approach and that is partly why they are in the position they are.


Also wanted to add that we are entering a stretch of eshop games that hasnt existed thus far and we should be able to discern how indies truly fair on Nintendo's platform with Shovelknight, Teslagrad, Pier Solar, Armillo among others all hitting the system over the next few months

 

[Rolf NB]

At least in the EU, Nintendo has always been notoriously terrible at printing and reprinting games. You're either a global gazillion-selling evergreen, or you're out of print and out of stock three weeks after launch. And they still fully control production for everything on their platforms, not just Nintendo-published games.

Just look at the crazy prices for Xenoblade, Last Story, Tales Of Graces, Etrian Odyssey etc etc. Nothing like that ever happens on a Sony platform.

In light of that, this current tale of manufacturing allocation woes really shouldn't come as a big surprise.

 

[Coolwhip]

There's a reason why you're not Nintendo's CEO.

Indeed there is, I never applied for the job.

 

[Tripon]

Indeed there is, I never applied for the job.

More like you don't have the qualities Nintendo would be looking for as an employee.

Edit: And I'm saying that solely based on the post you made before. Nintendo's software influences their hardware decisions, always have, always will. You can't just say "Nintendo, go multi-platform, you'll make money."

You fall in the trap of multi-platform creep that all the 3rd parties companies are wary of. Its a huge issue that most of the big AAA platforms are having trouble making money despite the huge install bases on both the PS3/360, not to mention the performance problems getting your game up and running on multiple platforms.

You think Ubisoft is glad they have to make Watch Dogs for just about every system? Or that EA and Dice wanted to port BF4 to 5 different platforms at the same time? But when you're chasing that dollar, that's what you have to do, and the product suffers for it.

 

[Coolwhip]

More like you don't have the qualities Nintendo would be looking for as an employee.

Edit: And I'm saying that solely based on the post you made before. Nintendo's software influences their hardware decisions, always have, always will. You can't just say "Nintendo, go multi-platform, you'll make money."

You fall in the trap of multi-platform creep that all the 3rd parties companies are wary of. Its a huge issue that most of the big AAA platforms are having trouble making money despite the huge install bases on both the PS3/360, not to mention the performance problems getting your game up and running on multiple platforms.

You think Ubisoft is glad they have to make Watch Dogs for just about every system? Or that EA and Dice wanted to port BF4 to 5 different platforms at the same time? But when you're chasing that dollar, that's what you have to do, and the product suffers for it.

I'm fully aware multiple platforms present challenges, but Nintendo has no other options. It's either that or sticking to a Wii U like install base.

 

[Shiggy]

There's a reason why you're not Nintendo's CEO.

Well, can he be worse than Iwata? That'd be a tough challenge.

 

[Tripon]

Well, can he be worse than Iwata? That'd be a tough challenge.

Yeah, a boss that running a company going though tough times and his first instinct is to not announce a round of layoffs. That's just terrible. Sony, EA, 2K, Disney, among others all announce layoffs and studio closings because they didn't hit their projections. Nintendo seems to be the only company that currently trying to buck this trend, and actually seem to be on a hiring spree if going by several job placement sites, and their twitter account.

A boss that understands the value of labor isn't the worst thing in the world.

 

[AcademicSaucer]

EA is to blame here, but having said that, Nintendo should just stop doing hardware. Time and time again they show that they are terrible at providing a platform. Nintendo consoles have been on a steady decline since the SNES days (with Wii as a lucky outlier), because others simply do it better.

If I were CEO of Nintendo I would stop making hardware, stop attemping to make a platform and just release games on every platform out there. PS4, Xbone, PC, iOS, Android and so on. Imagine Pokemon with microtransactions on iOS/Android, it would literally bring in truckloads of cash.

Nintendo makes the best games in my opinion and needs to focus on their strengths. Too bad Iwata doesn't see that and will attempt bizarre health products that will hurt the brand and company.

those are really good ideas, i would add take the money and run for it before everything goes to shit.

 

[Shiggy]

Yeah, a boss that running a company going though tough times and his first instinct is to not announce a round of layoffs. That's just terrible. Sony, EA, 2K, Disney, among others all announce layoffs and studio closings because they didn't hit their projections. Nintendo seems to be the only company that currently trying to buck this trend, and actually seem to be on a hiring spree if going by several job placement sites, and their twitter account.

A boss that understands the value of labor isn't the worst thing in the world.

It would be wrong to assume that they did not lay off employees in the past few years (NST, Genius Sonority, Brownie Brown). To be honest, unlike publishers such as EA or Ubisoft they are in no position to lay off employees as then the number of Wii U retail releases would decrease from 20 to 15 this year. Such a development would hurt them even more.

Therefore, you are right, a boss who wouldn't recognise this is even worse than Iwata who completely mismanaged the company in the past 3 years. However, with their current policies and strategic decisions it is hard to feel sorry for them.

 

[Coolwhip]

It would be wrong to assume that they did not lay off employees in the past few years (NST, Genius Sonority, Brownie Brown). To be honest, unlike publishers such as EA or Ubisoft they are in no position to lay off employees as then the number of Wii U retail releases would decrease from 20 to 15 this year. Such a development would hurt them even more.

Therefore, you are right, a boss who wouldn't recognise this is even worse than Iwata who completely mismanaged the company in the past 3 years. However, with their current policies and strategic decisions it is hard to feel sorry for them.

Just wait for their 'quality of life' products, coming off the huge success of Wii Fit U, nothing can go wrong.

 

[Shiggy]

Just wait for their 'quality of life' products, coming off the huge success of Wii Fit U, nothing can go wrong.

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/library/events/131031/03.html
Reading that it feels as if that was some parody. But he really must have thought it would do well. Yes, even as of October 2013 he believed that.

 

[beril]

I now want to play Gundam Clive.

Me too.

Got a bit uncomfortable reading the OP though. The 3DS eShop is awesome and I've shared as much info as I can because I hope the data can be useful for someone, as there's very little sales info available for the market, or most markets for indie games for that matter, but please don't use incorrect blanket statements about my sales to harass devs.

 

[borius]

EA behaviour is unbelievable, it would be a really messed up management!

It's very interesting to know these stories.

 

[RedSwirl]

I wonder why...ah because a distribution agreement (Nintendo of Europe was responsible for the sales, marketing and distribution) was made as Capcom doesn't give shit about the series in the West.

And then there's how Nintendo has taken it upon itself to handle the Dragon Quest series in the west (until recently that is). Bravely Default is another example.

I think Nintendo either has a certain preference for the third party games it does support (i.e. high-profile Japanese games), or is just somewhat oblivious to the lion's share of western third party games. I think it might be a preference issue partly having to do with people in Japan making these decisions. The only western game I remember Nintendo kind of getting behind recently is Rayman Legends before Ubisoft pulled out of the exclusivity deal. Nintendo even published the Japanese version of Rayman Legends. I think it's because it's a kind of game Iwata and Miyamoto could immediately understand -- a 2D platformer. Look at the other major third party games Nintendo has put its weight behind: JRPGs, Monster Hunter, Resident Evil, and at some points in the past Metal Gear. Maybe it's part bias, and part ignorance of western games.

 

[Saty]

Actually the reasoning is pretty straightforward: WiiU userbase is tiny compared to PS360PC. Pretty reasonable to assume most WiiU owners do own one of these. Most sales are made in the first few weeks after release. Miss that window and everyone interested in the game has already bought it. -> Late port BOMBA

Personal opinion here: I won't buy a game I already played on my PC on the WiiU again. If the WiiU version isn't ready to release at the same time as the other versions I probably won't buy it. Simple as that.

If you're are vocal enough when such delays happen and call for the devs' heads, then you ought to care enough about the Wii U to want to play that game on it using the console benefits you bought it for in the first place.

A platform like the PC gets it's fair share of SKUs weeks,months and even years later but they still bring handsome amount of money. In my eyes, a late release shouldn't be an excuse of every game failing and for washing 'responsibility' from anyone but the pubs\devs - 'if only they released the version at the same time'. There were enough titles that were released on the Wii U at the same with no avail.

 

[Vanillalite]

Nintendo was in a lose lose situation with this specific game.

That being said considering Nintendo has been sitting on such a large pile of cash I always thought it would have behooved them to get some 3rd party western support flowing for both the Wii U and 3ds.

I totally get why they let NFSMW hang out to dry. By that point the writing was already on the wall with EA. Sucks for Ward and his crew, but they were just the final casualty in the EA/Nintendo relationship.

The title or at least engine I've always been like "WTF were you THINKING NOA" was the Crytek Crysis 3 thing. Even if EA was gonna cut bate as stated above that could have just meant try and get another different game based on Cry Engine 3 if EA had the publishing rights to Crysis 3 specifically and had bailed.

The biggest problem that Twitter conversation and this thread have had is conflating Nintendo's over arching 3rd party non existent Western strategy with NFSMW on the Wii U specifically. You gotta separate the two to some extent IMO.

 

[KHlover]

If you're are vocal enough when such delays happen and call for the devs' heads, then you ought to care enough about the Wii U to want to play that game on it using the console benefits you bought it for in the first place.

A platform like the PC gets it's fair share of SKUs weeks,months and even years later but they still bring handsome amount of money. In my eyes, a late release shouldn't be an excuse of every game failing and for washing 'responsibility' from anyone but the pubsdevs - 'if only they released the version at the same time'. There were enough titles that were released on the Wii U at the same with no avail.

Only can talk for myself here, but since the WiiU isn't the only platform I own I won't wait for multiplats after release just to support the platform. This might hurt the platform, but like I posted earlier - I won't support a platform just for the sake of supporting it.

2. Of course multiplats on PC which are released later still make money - much bigger userbase and usually those ports are superior AND include all DLC. Compare to WiiU ports which are more expensive and have LESS content.

 

[espher]

This was the only port I felt was worth a purchase. Sucks it didn't get the support.

 

[Drensch]

So, if I'm understanding, Nintendo's responsibilities are as follows. Market, produce, and subsidize other publishers games. Market, produce their own games in genres other publishers make. Make sure that Nintendo's games do not outshine other publishers games. Ensure somehow that publishers that actively try to sabotage their own releases, don't.

 

[atr0cious]

I think the one thing we should take from this, is that EA has a terrible definition of business. Didn't the Wii U Version of MW take out local racing and replace it with the copilot thing? While the latter is a cool idea, I don't understand these devs decisions to take out the local multiplayer component of their games, on the system built for local co-op. It's why I didn't buy the game.

Splinter Cell Blacklist had it's local coop taken out too, which was the entire reason I bought it. If you check on their eShop page, it even says 2 players, which is a flat out lie, since you can't even get online to work most of the time, and when it does your system gets locked.

As far as the onus of advertisement, Ubisoft had the right idea, and had the specific Wii U trailer, but I doubt that aired on TV. Rayman Legends Wii U version didn't even get sent out to some reviewers, so you have even less exposure through conventional means.

The industry has turned into a bunch of spoiled brats, and Iwata keeps making a point to talk about attach rate, and if publishers are only gonna push a product if they get paid, you're going to see less and less types of games getting ads, and then published at all.

 

[linkboy]

Here's the problem Nintendo faced with this game.

Say they pump the money into it and take over the publishing of it since EA didn't want to do their fucking job (which is typical for EA), the game still is,

A) Going to sell like shit (Sorry Mr. Ward, I know you guys put a lot of work into it, but the game was DOA)

B) Not improve the Nintendo\EA relationship in any way, shape or form. And even if it did convince EA to release more games on the Wii U, they would just do the same thing all over again to get Nintendo to publish another game so they wouldn't have to.

Nintendo's made a ton of mistakes with the Wii U, but I don't think this was one of them.

No amount of money was going to make Need for Speed a top selling game on the system.

 

[entremet]

What made the Wii U version the best?

 

[Bjoern the Smexy]

What made the Wii U version the best?

Better graphics than PS360 due to use of some assets of the PC version, apparently it ran at a more constant framerate as well.
Only downside was that multiplayer was limited to 6 people online instead of 8 for the other consoles.

PC version is of course still the best version because of higher resolution and more detailed textures and stuff.


Digital Foundry did a pretty good job showing all the differences.


I never played either version, so the information in my post is solely from what I gathered here on NeoGAF and some articles on IGN, Eurogamer and whatnot.

 

[Broritos]

"If I were Nintendo, I would stop being Nintendo."

 

[mclem]

<shrug> I don't see other console makers doing much more than that, either. The PSN shop has lots of other software that they advertise on their front page. They have videos and such...same as the eShop. What else does Sony do? Advertise on their own website? Same with Xbox Live.

I see ample TV ads with one or another console's logo at the end, even for multiplatform titles.

 

[R_thanatos]

Those explanations in the OP make me understand what happenned and that's great ..but i wish i could be surprised

I'm not

The relationship between EA & nintendo imploded mere months after the wii U release and i don't think i've seen any attempt to see those scar healed.

It's unfortunate for criterion however , NFS MW Wii u could have a decent chance if it was supported by the wii U ( car maps , extensions ) but none of that arrived. Now that i know why i'm just shaking my head .....

 

[Agent X]

So, if I'm understanding, Nintendo's responsibilities are as follows. Market, produce, and subsidize other publishers games. Market, produce their own games in genres other publishers make. Make sure that Nintendo's games do not outshine other publishers games. Ensure somehow that publishers that actively try to sabotage their own releases, don't.

No, that's not it at all. If that's what you're taking away from reading this thread, then you've clearly got it wrong.

This isn't about mindless Nintendo bashing. This is about what both EA and Nintendo could have done to improve the situation with NFS:MW on the Wii U. The bulk of the conversation has shifted to Nintendo because while almost everyone is in agreement that EA screwed the pooch on this one, there seems to be some dispute over what Nintendo's role should have been. Over the last few pages of this thread, some people would prefer to completely exonerate Nintendo, than to admit that they could have taken a more proactive approach, as Sony and Microsoft have both done with numerous high-profile third-party games in the past.

And I don't think EA tried to "sabotage" their own game here. They're guilty of being apathetic and not willing to go the extra mile in order to make a good game into a sales success. That also sums up many of Nintendo's efforts with the Wii U system as well.

You can either choose to discuss what Nintendo could have really done to improve their relationship with outside developers and publishers, or you can continue to stick your head in the sand and continue living under the assumption that everything is peachy keen, going perfectly according to plan, and Nintendo doesn't need to do a damn thing more. If you're in the latter group, then clearly this thread isn't for you.

 

[AniHawk]

What facts do you need?

-why is the wii 'lucky'?
-what does 'better' mean?
-where's the proof that pokemon with microtransactions would bring in literal truckloads of cash?
-what bizarre health products are nintendo working on?
-how do we know they will hurt the nintendo brand and company?
-where's the proof that nintendo will be more profitable as a third-party than as a first-party? what's the breakdown on the front end? how long would it take them to restructure their business? will their games fit in with sony's and microsoft's and valve's future?

these assertions come up all the time, and there's nothing to back them up other than 'i got a feeling.' opinions are nice and all, but the solution is far too simple for the problem.

 

[EDarkness]

Whats your project?

My project:
http://skullforge.omc-games.com

 

[OG_Original Gamer]

I couldn't find a physical copy when it was released, I live in L.A and no matter what store I went to no one had it in stock. I wonder though, if Nintendo had funded a marketing campaign, would it have been up to Nintendo to make disc had been pressed assuring physical copies would have been available under a reasonable quantity.

 

[exfatal]

No, that's not it at all. If that's what you're taking away from reading this thread, then you've clearly got it wrong.

This isn't about mindless Nintendo bashing. This is about what both EA and Nintendo could have done to improve the situation with NFS:MW on the Wii U. The bulk of the conversation has shifted to Nintendo because while almost everyone is in agreement that EA screwed the pooch on this one, there seems to be some dispute over what Nintendo's role should have been. Over the last few pages of this thread, some people would prefer to completely exonerate Nintendo, than to admit that they could have taken a more proactive approach, as Sony and Microsoft have both done with numerous high-profile third-party games in the past.

And I don't think EA tried to "sabotage" their own game here. They're guilty of being apathetic and not willing to go the extra mile in order to make a good game into a sales success. That also sums up many of Nintendo's efforts with the Wii U system as well.

You can either choose to discuss what Nintendo could have really done to improve their relationship with outside developers and publishers, or you can continue to stick your head in the sand and continue living under the assumption that everything is peachy keen, going perfectly according to plan, and Nintendo doesn't need to do a damn thing more. If you're in the latter group, then clearly this thread isn't for you.

See thats the thing that bugs me, yea nintendo sucks at advertising we all no this and they need to improve. But i don't see the point of advertising a game like need for speed? It isnt a high profile game anymore, yea it was when it was first released. but its been months people already seen the commercials. what were they suppose to do? Tell people to buy the game they probably already have, for the exact same price? That is a waste of money imo. (if it was at least a cheaper then i would agree maybe nintendo shoulda done some youtube ads or something) But like Sony and Microsoft i doubt nintendo wants to waste money advertising a game that's bound to fail.

 

[shinra-bansho]

So, if I'm understanding, Nintendo's responsibilities are as follows. Market, produce, and subsidize other publishers games. Market, produce their own games in genres other publishers make. Make sure that Nintendo's games do not outshine other publishers games. Ensure somehow that publishers that actively try to sabotage their own releases, don't.

It's Nintendo's responsibility to create a conducive environment for third party software to succeed. In the event they don't they shouldn't expect and won't receive said software support. If they have no interest in garnering said support that's also their prerogative I suppose.

The onus is on Nintendo as in these relationships third parties have leverage - they have viable alternatives.

This may involve activities their competitors already engage in such as co-marketing deals and the production of games intended to attract similar target audiences.

 

[Drensch]

But what is Nintendo's play with EA? EA clearly fucked several of their releases, Mass Effect clearly the most insulting. Need for speed is the best one, and EA treated it like shit. Would it have been worth the effort on Nintendo's end to put money in? No.

Can an argument be made that Nintendo do more with third parties yes. In this case no.

 

[Agent X]

See thats the thing that bugs me, yea nintendo sucks at advertising we all no this and they need to improve. But i don't see the point of advertising a game like need for speed? It isnt a high profile game anymore, yea it was when it was first released. but its been months people already seen the commercials. what were they suppose to do? Tell people to buy the game they probably already have, for the exact same price? That is a waste of money imo. (if it was at least a cheaper then i would agree maybe nintendo shoulda done some youtube ads or something) But like Sony and Microsoft i doubt nintendo wants to waste money advertising a game that's bound to fail.

I know there were factors working against the situation (late port, not as high profile a franchise anymore), and Nintendo and EA should've worked on ironing out the kinks much earlier, but the fact of the matter is that this is the situation they were in. Nintendo basically had to play the cards that they were dealt.

Was the game "bound to fail"? Perhaps you could say it turned out that way at the time of release, with the lack of effort from both EA and Nintendo. But Nintendo (and yes, EA too) had plenty of opportunities to ensure that conditions didn't go sour before it reached that point. Regardless of that, this is one of the few third-party games that showed real promise, where the developer (Criterion) put in extra effort to make the game appealing to fans. Nintendo should have recognized this, and offered to throw a little more weight behind it.

 

[Walter Matthau]

Here's the problem Nintendo faced with this game.

Say they pump the money into it and take over the publishing of it since EA didn't want to do their fucking job (which is typical for EA), the game still is,

A) Going to sell like shit (Sorry Mr. Ward, I know you guys put a lot of work into it, but the game was DOA)

B) Not improve the NintendoEA relationship in any way, shape or form. And even if it did convince EA to release more games on the Wii U, they would just do the same thing all over again to get Nintendo to publish another game so they wouldn't have to.

Nintendo's made a ton of mistakes with the Wii U, but I don't think this was one of them.

No amount of money was going to make Need for Speed a top selling game on the system.

100% correct