This.
EA sent this game out to die. Any attempts at marketing would just have been money flushed down the drain.
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Alex Ward (ex-Criterion) talks about the problems launching Need For Speed: MW Wii U
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
This.
EA sent this game out to die. Any attempts at marketing would just have been money flushed down the drain.
In the end EA is their publisher, it's their job first and formost.
But if some in this thread are to be believed, it's all on Nintendo, as I see little to no blame or vitriol being aimed at EA whatsoever.
Mauricio_Magus
Banned
I get the hate, but this isn't Nintendo's fault.
Rush2thestart
Member
Its not Nintendos job to market a late port of an EA game. Mr. Alex Ward should learn to hone his anger a little better.
FantasticMrFoxdie
Mumber
Yikes what a mess.
It could be a DLC character that plays like Zero. Beam sword and beam rifle. Get Beril on the horn.
CosmicQueso
Member
Colonel Mustard
Banned
So he's claiming financial viability of releasing on the WiiU is an issue, gets told indie devs do well on Nintendo platforms and brushes the statement off.
I don't think using EA's or Nintendo's apathy toward the launch of an old game that wasn't going to sell is that great of a move. As a small dev, he should strive to be on as many platforms as possible.
I don't think using EA's or Nintendo's apathy toward the launch of an old game that wasn't going to sell is that great of a move. As a small dev, he should strive to be on as many platforms as possible.
NoA is a fucking shambles. Have been for damn long. NCL could and should have done better.
EA is the company that made people work their asses off for a game they didn't even plan on marketing themselves. How is this Nintendo's fault? You can't expect others to do your work for you.
His response was indirectly acknowledging that he was in the wrong originally. Now that he's been convinced, he's channeling his "upset-ness" in a more appropriate direction. I'm glad this guy did what he did, else we wouldn't have had this thread.
Distribution and marketing the game was EA's job, not Nintendo's.
If other indie devs can be profitable on Wii U, why can't he?
Colonel Mustard
Banned
Indie devs have been profitable on Nintendo systems.
Should check his older tweets first, hes been channeling that towards Nintendo for quite some time.
Then you should probably read had thread before posting. You should also probably not lump a great group of people together as if they were speaking with one voice.
charlequin
Banned
The context that this question leaves out is that Nintendo's approach to marketing support (and other elements of third-party relationships) is the reason EA pulled the plug, whether or not that was the 100% correct choice to make.
Yes, I too hate it when employees can negotiate for reasonable pay and benefits, rather than settling for mistreatment and exploitation.
Someone else has pointed out Arkham City, and I agree- if you waste precious E3 time on a okay port with a few new tacky outfits, you might as well promote a really well done port and your only good racing game.
Also, this was a time where EA tried to cut their losses on a lot of games I think- remember the very low-key marketing for Army of Two DC and FUSE in those months...
Also, this was a time where EA tried to cut their losses on a lot of games I think- remember the very low-key marketing for Army of Two DC and FUSE in those months...
Amusingly, I have experience with those two... but not Nintendo. And I'm talking from PS2/Xbox era here:
Both are infuriatingly pernickety, and will sometimes exercise what appears to be a double-standard, where favoured games seem to get passes where the average game does not. That might well have changed since they installed the points system for certifying games, though. Microsoft's QA folks wrote *much* better explanations of the certification failures.
In Sony's case, it always felt like Europe were kinda stricter than the US branch.
Cert process was probably a week from delivery to report, but I don't know the minutae about booking cert slots.
(And, I'm sure it's just a coincidence, but I did notice that the games I did with EA happened to pass certification first time)
freshlylickedcat
Banned
Alex Ward seems incredibly unprofessional based on that exchange. It's sad when developers are no more logical than the pre-pubescent foaming fanboys who litter GameFAQs and other cesspool forums.
Sorry you had to work through New Years, bud, but at least you have (had?) a job. I'm assuming nobody forced you to become a developer. Tough shit.
Sorry you had to work through New Years, bud, but at least you have (had?) a job. I'm assuming nobody forced you to become a developer. Tough shit.
plagiarize
Banned
Any Wii U owner who bitches about Most Wanted U needs to shut the hell up. That's one of the ports that deserved to sell. The final product was fantastic, and one of my favorite Wii U games. They improved the game, added features that made sense for the console, and delivered easily the best version of the game.
I fully stand by whatever Alex does next, on whatever platforms he thinks it makes the most sense to support. That game was sent out to die, and it deserved much better.
Newsflash, everyone with a job is not allowed to complain about their former job because freshlylickedcat says so.
I fully stand by whatever Alex does next, on whatever platforms he thinks it makes the most sense to support. That game was sent out to die, and it deserved much better.
Newsflash, everyone with a job is not allowed to complain about their former job because freshlylickedcat says so.
So are a lot of people. That isn't really relevant to this discussion.
Agent X
Member
You're right that it's EA's fault, for the reasons that you cited. However, Nintendo could have also taken a more proactive approach to help market the game on their own system. Historically, Sony and Microsoft have teamed up with third-party game publishers to co-market select high-profile games, and pitched in advertising support. Why couldn't Nintendo do the same here?
EA: Failed to promote their own game on the system.
Nintendo: Failed to promote the game on their own system.
They're both at fault. They both stood to benefit by the success of the game.
Smiles and Cries
Member
NEED FOR SPEED is not a Nintendo IP they can't even borrow it like they are doing with SEGA for Bayonetta so I am truly puzzled to find a reason why Nintendo was at fault here
some people really forget what EA did at Wii U launch I purchased MASS EFFECT 3 at full price and EA released a Collector's Edition on all other platforms for the same price as that single Wii U game and months later Nintendo was expected to put money behind an EA published title?
Good luck Alex
Always-honest
Banned
Yeah, i love Nintendo games, but i have never seen a company more thickheaded than Nintendo. Amazing how they keep being this arrogant.
It's a true shame.
EA isn't that great of a company either...
It's a true shame.
EA isn't that great of a company either...
andthebeatgoeson
Junior Member
The implication that every significant third party game should be supported by hardware manufacturers is scary. It just encourages terrible decisions.
Nostremitus
Member
Holy shit @ that OP.
Nintendo dropped the ball in the marketing department.
Edit: of course, at the end of the day it's EA's game, but Nintendo needed good ads for this(best looking console version) and they passed on it. This could have been a bragging point, which is what ads are for...
Nintendo dropped the ball in the marketing department.
Edit: of course, at the end of the day it's EA's game, but Nintendo needed good ads for this(best looking console version) and they passed on it. This could have been a bragging point, which is what ads are for...
How does some equate to a great group of people here?
Lol. That's one of the first things this industry needs. NoA should have picked up the marketing slack for this.
Again. These guys need a union. I don't understand why they can't have one... :c
iamvin22
Industry Verified
he is actually a pretty cool guy. while through his tweet he did sound unprofessional you can't really blame him. they did a really good job on the port for wiiu.
Nope. May was when EA announced it but internally support stopped much earlier. NFSMWU was basically ready to ship in 2012 but EA sat on it. They also canned the pretty far along Wii U build of Crysis 3 and no real work was even started on Frostbite for the platform.
Given EA's position on the system it's no surprise Nintendo wouldn't throw ad dollars their way. I feel like if Ward made a presentation at Nintendo for his new game though chances are pretty good it'd go much differently this time.
Yeah, Criterion basically got the septic mop handle up the ass on this one. It's a shame too because they are great developers, though we were all worried when they signed on with EA that EA would destroy them. That hasn't happened (yet), but stuff like this doesn't help.
Good luck to Alex Ward and his new company.
plagiarize
Banned
Nintendo need third party support. Badly. They should have been giving free back rubs to everyone that was bothering to release software on their system. They're a huge part of why third party support is abysmal on the system, and it's entirely their own problem to solve.
They've acknowledged this more than once, but they continue making the wrong moves to make it happen. Sony and Microsoft can count on third party support, because the developers badly want to be on their systems. Nintendo can't. Choosing not to let third parties leverage favours has gotten Nintendo nowhere.
Trying to leverage your support with Sony must be hilarious. Obviously Respawn are leveraging the fuck out of their relationship with Microsoft, and whether that's a good thing for Microsoft or not, it's probably a good thing for gamers.
Die Squirrel Die
Member
Do we know enough about the profitability of indie devs on Nintendo platform at large to make that a sweeping statement? Or is it 'some indie devs have been profitable on Nintendo systems', in which case couldn't that same statement be true of pretty much all platforms? Do we have information that would point to a higher rate of profitability for indie devs on Nintendo platforms versus other platforms?
flatearthpandas
Member
Seriously. I challenge anyone in here to list one bad thing to come from unions.
How was the wii u version supposed to sell when it came out months after all the other versions were released?
If the wii u version came out at the same time as the others, then you might have an argument but even with the enhancements this game didn't have a chance.
plagiarize
Banned
it's been highly rumoured that the Wii U version was basically ready to go at launch without the specific enhancements, and that it was EA who made the call to delay it and Criterion decided to take the time to make the enhancements.
we've never had that confirmed, but the tweets certainly support those rumours, and if I remember right, they came from respected insiders.
pretty done
Member
Why is he even wasting his time arguing with someone named Nintendrone on twitter
BurnOutBrighter
Banned
Oh shit I didn't know these guys left Criterion. What's gonna happen for next gen Burnout :S
andthebeatgoeson
Junior Member
Now, every significant 3 rd party game demands support. It's a losing battle for Nintendo without another source of income to prop up a terrible business model (lose billions to break into a market). And given the results (multiple Dev closures), we are in an era of a bad business model (everything AAA or bust).
Either help with marketing, exclusive dlc content or whatever, it's why Nintendo is doomed. They don't help themselves with Dev relations but money talks. It's why they can't even get a few good 3rd party games in a year.
Criterion's next game actually is a new IP and not a racing game so I wouldn't hold my breath.
freshlylickedcat
Banned
I mostly took offense to the first few tweets (especially the 'yawn' one).
It's a different story once that Nintendo fanboy jumped in, though. Alex did nothing wrong there, and I can understand why he flipped out on him.
NCL needs to get NoA to shape up. They've been shite for too long.
BruiserBear
Banned
I've always been a fan of Alex Ward and Criterion. I love him telling it like it is. They put a lot of effort into Most Wanted on Wii U and it showed. Didn't matter, it sold like shit.
Nintendo fans need to stop with the excuses and whining. Point the finger at Nintendo's leadership. They are to blame for the platforms woes.
Nintendo fans need to stop with the excuses and whining. Point the finger at Nintendo's leadership. They are to blame for the platforms woes.
Besides, even if Nintendo helped push the game it really wouldn't have made much of a difference, EA was not going to support the console anymore either way. They only released it because it was ready and they felt that it would have been a waste not to. Really, that Mass Effect port was the most pathetic thing I have ever seen.
Nostremitus
Member
You think those "Better with Kinect" commercials were made out of the goodness of the publishers' hearts? Platform holders have a responsibility to make games on their systems look desirable.