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[Davey Cakes]

I mean, they're not wrong. I'm a Wii U owner and I haven't bought an Assassin's Creed game in my life.

Same.

I have Rayman and ZombiU. These are the types of games that I, as a Wii U owner, actually want and have interest in.

The rest of the Ubi fare? I have an X360 for that. But in general I don't care for those types of games anyway.

I'm not some general audience. I'm Nintendo-oriented. Doesn't mean that third parties can't try to appeal to me though. They just won't necessarily be successful with ports of popular games from other systems. They would have to go for more unique properties and experiences tailor-made for my sorts of tastes as a Nintendo gamer.

Just because Wii U is a niche console doesn't mean you can't try to appeal specifically to the niche and build a fanbase entirely separate from the others.

 

[Huff]

When the Wii U ownership consists of hardcore nintendo fans and secondary console owners, who was going to buy these games in the first place?

People say EA ditched the Wii U early on. Duh. Not hard to see the outcome of this one

 

[sörine]

Expected and you can't really blame Ubi. Since Rayman Legends and Child of Light did well on the platform hopefully more titles like that will still come though.

 

[Darius]

When it comes to Assassins Creed the franchise missed the whole Wii generation to built a fanbase, and than the WiiU entries launched with no noteworthy WiiU specific marketing. It´s really impressive to see how entitled to success some publishers think to be, but in the end they basically just got what they invested in. It´s really surprising to see big companies that simply ignore the simple rules of marketing, if you want to tap in into a new userbase/market you actually have to invest in marketing, they didn´t. While some are also trying to belittle the missing feature and add-ons/DLC I want to point out that especially in the beginning of a new gen, the early adopters are among the most informed gamers and such lackluster effort won´t be ignored.

 

[Makonero]

When it comes to Assassins Creed the franchise missed the whole Wii generation to built a fanbase, and than the WiiU entries launched with no noteworthy WiiU specific marketing. It´s really impressive to see how entitled to success some publishers think to be, but in the end they basically just got what they invested in. It´s really surprising to see big companies that simply ignore the simple rules of marketing, if you want to tap in into a new userbase/market you actually have to invest in marketing, they didn´t. While some are also trying to belittle the missing feature and add-ons/DLC I want to point out that especially in the beginning of a new gen, the early adopters are among the most informed gamers and such lackluster effort won´t be ignored.

This is an excellent point. Wii U gamers that upgraded from a Wii may not have had experience with the series, In addition, those that are used to Assassin's Creed (like me) waited for it to go on sale because within five months the price drops over 50%. Nintendo has trained me to know that their prices rarely change within five years, let alone five months; UBI has taught me that a small amount of patience means getting games dirt cheap. Their own business practices failed them here.

 

[Kai Dracon]

Wii U has probably, unfortunately, fallen into a vicious cycle. Install base and sales rate is too low. 3rd parties won't put their leading games on it (even if only remaining cross gen games in the pipeline). That is because even Wii U owners who might buy those games mostly buy them on other consoles, where they are assured the bigger community, all the support, DLC, etc. Which in turn means there is no reason for 3rd parties to put those games on Wii U.

Because of this most new Wii U purchasers from here out will not buy it to get Assassin's Creed or Destiny type games, but Nintendo games and family games like Just Dance.

I'd expect Ubi understands this is what is really wrong; they're just saying it in a diplomatic manner, by citing Wii U owners have "different" tastes. Rather than saying Nintendo has failed and will never capture the large 20-30 year old 'core' console audience that big 3rd parties focus on.

 

[Air]

They aren't wrong, hopefully next time they're stuff sells. They did put in an effort, but yeah.

I still believe in order for third parties to consistently make it on the wii u or any Nintendo platform they have to take the shovel knight approach and make games 'like Nintendo'. Anything else becomes too unpredictable.

 

[Usobuko]

With the rise and advantage of PC gaming which complement quite well with Nintendo fan who wanted to get 3rd party games, this situation would simply persist. And you can't survive simply by first party + collaborations on your home console.

I hope to see Nintendo last until my interest in gaming became non-existent.

 

[onipex]

Ubisoft and other third parties made it clear that you shouldn't buy their games on a Nintendo console if you wanted all the features, DLC, special editions, ect. They didn't bother to show at least off gamepad features at E3 for SC, they delayed Rayman , and now they are pretty much telling anyone that wants Watchdogs 2 to not even bother buying any Watchdogs game on the Wii U.

 

[shanafan]

I had no idea ZombiU was a failure... I loved that game. And I normally hate the zombie genre(it was innovative, to a point, which is what drew me to get it at launch).

Just because a title doesn't meet it's sales numbers does not mean in any way it is a failure. You love the game, hence it was not a failure.

As gamers, and not on the business side, go by what you like. Sales numbers should never matter to us. Just because a title sold millions of copies, it by nowhere means it's a perfect title.

 

[Shiggy]

Expected and you can't really blame Ubi. Since Rayman Legends and Child of Light did well on the platform hopefully more titles like that will still come though.

Hint: Rayman Legends didn't do well on Wii U.

 

[Ooccoo]

Unfortunately, if you own a Wii U and nothing else, you're missing out a lot. Also the number of Wii U games is low, sometimes you need to wait MONTHS before something big gets released. Meanwhile on PS4 and XB1 there are dozens of highly anticipated games coming up that won't be released on the Nintendo system.

Upcoming Wii U games worth a mention:

Hyrule Warriors (September 19, 2014)
Bayonetta 2 (October 2014)
Sonic Boom (also on 3DS, looks bad but I guess some people are interested)
Smash Bros U/3DS

That's it for before Christmas. Maybe I'm missing something?

Meanwhile on PS4 and/or XB1:

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (September 30, 2014)
Destiny (September 9, 2014)
FIFA 15 (notice no Wii U version, 23 September 2014)
Driveclub (October 7, 2014)
Alien: Isolation, The Evil Within, Grand Theft Auto V, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, etc. I think you understand what I mean, the Wii U gets almost nothing it's ridiculous. Nintendo really needs to change something or face even more failure.

 

[Sez]

Yes Wii U owners aren't buying third party games, the real question is why is that?

I think a lot of it has to do with that most people don't buy just one console anymore. How many people own just a Wii U really? When most of these third party games play better or have DLC only on Xbox or PlayStation how do these companies expect the games to sell on the Wii U when they are inferior. I think Nintendo has made a lot of mistakes with the Wii U (despite it really being a great system overall) but I don't think the blame is with them alone.

But Nintendo has forced gamers to own 2 game consoles. If you are a serious gamer, a nintendo console would NEVER be enough. You need to buy a N64 and a PS1. A Gamecube and a PS2, a Wii and a PC, 360 or PS3.

The multiplatform games on the wii were garbage thanks to the weak hardware in comparison to PS360. If you wanted to play online games you needed a PS360.

 

[Platy]

Nintendo to Ubisoft :

Ubisoft to Nintendo:

 

[sörine]

Hint: Rayman Legends didn't do well on Wii U.

Okay relatively well. Legends didn't actually do "well" on any platform, but the Wii U version still performed best among the consoles.

 

[jimi_dini]

My current Wii U games ;P

I always wondered who those people were, that bought Mass Effect 3 for the Wii U.

Why did you buy it? I mean seriously, why?

Hint: Rayman Legends didn't do well on Wii U.

Rayman Legends performed best on Wii U. It still sold like ass because well Rayman isn't about shooting things and filling XP bars.

Meanwhile on PS4 and/or XB1:

I have grown out of shooters. Sry. I have actually time now to finally play through my huge backlog. Which is nice.

 

[BGBW]

But Nintendo has forced gamers to own 2 game consoles. If you are a serious gamer, a nintendo console would NEVER be enough. You need to buy a N64 and a PS1. A Gamecube and a PS2, a Wii and a PC, 360 or PS3.

The multiplatform games on the wii were garbage thanks to the weak hardware in comparison to PS360. If you wanted to play online games you needed a PS360.

Yeah, it's called Nintendo's home console and handheld console.

Also lol at "serious gamer".

 

[Mr.Miyamoto]

The ACIV port on the Wii U was one of the worst Ubisoft has ever put out. If they compress liquid feces into disc shape and then blame customers for not buying it it's their own problem.

 

[Zarovitch]

I've buy you super dull Asscreed 3, my last assassin creed on any system.
I can't believe this score that high.

 

[Shmuely Bully]

There is no reason to get those types of games on Nintendo platforms when the hardware dooms them to be the worst version on consoles before development even starts. There is no reason for developers to try much given that, the lack of real interest from most of Nintendo's fanbase in third-party titles of this sort, and Nintendo's lack of interest in changing that via product design or marketing.

Essentially Nintendo's design philosophy and business practices have made it pointless to develop or buy any game with AAA production values for their system unless it's only on their system. Refusing to buy a game because it came later to Wii U or because it lacks some DLC doesn't help the situation any either.

 

[BenouKat]

Yeah, it's called Nintendo's home console and handheld console.

Also lol at "serious gamer".

By Serious gamers he means "you play everything/every genre", and i'm sorry but if I want to play everything/every genre, a WiiU + a 3DS is certainly not a good choice.

Still, if you want to play everything, you have to buy a Nintendo system, but as he said, it's not enough.

 

[SmokyDave]

Yeah, it's called Nintendo's home console and handheld console.

Also lol at "serious gamer".

It wasn't worded well, but I'm sure you know what he meant. When you think of the favoured and revered games and franchises from last gen, the overwhelming majority were not on Nintendo consoles.

 

[nekomix]

Welp, at least they did try, can't blame them because they delivered those "mature" games with other versions except Watch Dogs.

 

[cand]

Well... I tried... I bought Splinter Cell, ZombiU and Rayman Legends (awesome games btw) but I actually saw that coming.

 

[Deleted member 752119]

It's indeed hard to be mad at them. I'm guessing not a lot of gamers are using Wii U as their main platform, so they are not buying the port but the Xbox One of PS4 version. No reason for them to keep porting.

Yep. Other than their diehard fans and some families/kids, the Wii U is a secondary console for most gamers. So they're buying the multiplat stuff on the other consoles with better graphics and were their friends are for online games.

Then you have a lot of the Nintendo diehards that just don't care for stuff like AC and WD (which is why they're Nintendo diehards) and parents not buying M rated games for their younger kids (and the older kids having moved on to CoD etc. on other platforms).

There's just not much market for those kind of games on Nintendo platforms. Even with the huge Wii base last gen anything like that which got ported sold way less than on the other platforms despite the bugger base. So it's hard to be upset with Ubisoft pulling support for Wii U port--especially as the process will be more expensive once cross gen is over and they'd be down porting PS4/X1.

 

[Sendou]

It wasn't worded well, but I'm sure you know what he meant. When you think of the favoured and revered games and franchises from last gen, the overwhelming majority were not on Nintendo consoles.

Then again it's subjective and my two favorite games were only on Nintendo platforms last generation. Suggesting someone can't be a serious gamer if they don't own anything but Nintendo machines is demeaning. For most human beings this all comes down to two things: money and time. If Nintendo makes your favorite games and you are limited by either of those then you can very much be a serious gamer without owning other systems.

 

[Squalor]

When the Wii U ownership consists of hardcore nintendo fans and secondary console owners, who was going to buy these games in the first place?

People say EA ditched the Wii U early on. Duh. Not hard to see the outcome of this one

Hard to believe EA made the right decision for once.

 

[Sez]

Yeah, it's called Nintendo's home console and handheld console.

Also lol at "serious gamer".

lol, i used the term to define people who play a lot of games of all genres.

Look, are you happy you have never played GTA? Castle Crashers? Elder Scrolls? Red Dead? There are lots of great games you would miss if you dont have another platform.

Nintendo is the best developer, no one can argue that. But to play ONLY nintendo games, sorry, is not enough.

 

[MrBadger]

Well I mean, I can't say they're entirely wrong. I'm a Wii U owner and I've never had any interest in AC games. And chances are I won't be getting Watch_dogs. Ubi's AAA games have never really done anything for me.

 

[BGBW]

It wasn't worded well, but I'm sure you know what he meant. When you think of the favoured and revered games and franchises from last gen, the overwhelming majority were not on Nintendo consoles.

They were also on PC. The only titles I would consider myself missing out on were likely exclusives which would mean buying a system just for those games which is basically the same thing being said about Nintendo hardware.

Look, are you happy you have never played GTA? Castle Crashers? Elder Scrolls? Red Dead? There are lots of great games you would miss if you dont have another platform.

I'm not miserable that's for certain.

 

[SmokyDave]

Then again it's subjective and my two favorite games were only on Nintendo platforms last generation. Suggesting someone can't be a serious gamer if they don't own anything but Nintendo machines is demeaning. For most human beings this all comes down to two things: money and time. If Nintendo makes your favorite games and you are limited by either of those then you can very much be a serious gamer without owning other systems.

They were also on PC. The only titles I would consider myself missing out on were likely exclusives which would mean buying a system just for those games which is basically the same thing being said about Nintendo hardware.

I can't find a way to express what I want to say without producing a humongous list of games, and that ain't groovy.

I'm sure that for some, owning just a Nintendo console is viable. I'm also sure that those people make up a very small minority of those that would class themselves as enthusiast gamers.

 

[Cyriades]

Its the wrong time to pull support... not when it is out selling xbox one.

 

[pinkurocket]

Wii U doesn't need multiplatform titles, it needs games designed for the platform. That takes effort and resources. ZombiU was amazing, Rayman Legends as well. The whole multi-platform AAA race is kinda lost on Wii U. Being less powerful, having different control options etc. I'm just sad we won't see another ZombiU or other more creative games from Ubi on the console.

 

[sörine]

Hard to believe EA made the right decision for once.

No they didn't. EA still makes games that suit the Nintendo audience (mainly Popcap stuff) that could find a market on Wii U but they prematurely killed support.

Ubisoft's making the right decision. They're still supporting the platform with titles suited to it (Just Dance) and not bringing those that don't (Assassin's Creed).

 

[Eolz]

I'm sure lots of people said it already, but in my case and some friends, there was some sort of "valid excuse" every time.
We bought ZombiU, AC3 was bad, AC4 had a bad port and no DLC, some games were better or cheaper on another platform we might have owned (bought CoL on PC).
That's not to say nintendo console owners don't like mature games, just that they'd like at least some sort of parity (quality of port, dlc, marketing...).

There sure is a bigger audience for those games on other platforms, but they're not only there. Third party is case by case, some really did a bigger effort (ubisoft on wii, capcom on gc, sega, namco, etc). Some are great on wiiu and are not even exclusive (rayman, ninja gaiden, nfs most wanted, deus ex, tekken tag...).

 

[jacobeid]

I could lie and say that if Watch_Dogs came out day and date on Wii U I would have played it there, but I wouldn't have. I'm not too surprised by this news, nor am I *that* disappointed.

 

[Deleted member 752119]

Then again it's subjective and my two favorite games were only on Nintendo platforms last generation. Suggesting someone can't be a serious gamer if they don't own anything but Nintendo machines is demeaning. For most human beings this all comes down to two things: money and time. If Nintendo makes your favorite games and you are limited by either of those then you can very much be a serious gamer without owning other systems.

Serious gamer was just a bad term they used. Put more simply, anyone satisfied with only owning Nintendo platforms just has pretty limited gaming interests in terms of variety in genres and graphic styles etc. compared to someone that say owns all three platforms.

Nothing demeaning about that. Plenty of others that only own an Xbox and just play shooters or sports games etc who have even more limited interests than the average Nintendo gamer. Myself, I mostly only play FPS and WRPGs anymore. I wouldn't call myself a serious gamer though with those limited interests, 5-10 hours a week of gaming and gaming not being my top hobby.

 

[rjc571]

So there's nothing between Just Dance and Assassin's Creed on Ubisoft's Machoority Spectrum? I really enjoyed Red Steel 2 and Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands on the Wii and would continue to buy games like that on Wii U if Ubisoft would continue to make them.

 

[Percy]

Ubi gave it more of a chance than most I guess. Can't really blame them for this decision given how bad their games sold on the platform.

 

[Mithos]

I always wondered who those people were, that bought Mass Effect 3 for the Wii U.

Why did you buy it? I mean seriously, why?

It was cheap like hell, and I wanted to try out the Gamepad features, but it is ONLY worth picking up if you can get it cheap as hell.

 

[BGBW]

Like Nintendo games:
Nintendo system + PC

Like Sony games:
Sony systems + PC

Like Microsoft games:
Microsoft system + PC

Owning a PC basically gives you access to the third party titles you're missing out on thus the only games you're missing are the exclusive. Thus a "serious" gamer would need to own more than one console no matter the home primary console of choice. It's not really a Ninendo fan exclusive issue.

 

[Darius]

Look, are you happy you have never played GTA? Castle Crashers? Elder Scrolls? Red Dead? There are lots of great games you would miss if you dont have another platform.
.

I actually own every system from Sony/MS/N and a gaming PC and I never had any interest in these games.

 

[la_briola]

Nothing of value

Spoiler

for me

was lost. I did enjoy Zombi U.

 

[Sendou]

Serious gamer was just a bad term they used. Put more simply, anyone satisfied with only owning Nintendo platforms just has pretty limited gaming interests in terms of variety in genres and graphic styles etc. compared to someone that say owns all three platforms.

Nothing demeaning about that. Plenty of others that only own an Xbox and just play shooters or sports games etc who have even more limited interests than the average Nintendo gamer. Myself, I mostly only play FPS and WRPGs anymore. I wouldn't call myself a serious gamer though with those limited interests, 5-10 hours a week of gaming and gaming not being my top hobby.

It's no more or less demeaning than saying for example that if you don't own a PC you can't be a serious gamer. That would be because you are missing so many genres altogether, so many great games and are opting to play the multiplatform games on inferior platforms.

 

[SuomiDude]

Did my part at least, too bad it wasn't enough. I have Zombi U, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Assassin's Creed IV and Rayman Legends.

 

[Davey Cakes]

Wii U doesn't need multiplatform titles, it needs games designed for the platform. That takes effort and resources. ZombiU was amazing, Rayman Legends as well. The whole multi-platform AAA race is kinda lost on Wii U. Being less powerful, having different control options etc. I'm just sad we won't see another ZombiU or other more creative games from Ubi on the console.

Sad thing is, the industry is having a tough time coming to grips with the idea of experiences tailor-made for specific consoles. It's unfortunate.

Ubisoft can put hundreds of people on a single multiplatform game, yet for some reason they can't create a small team specifically for making niche Wii U games.

It's all about building huge blockbusters with bloated budgets. The entire philosophy of the Wii was missed with this approach and the same goes for the Wii U, even though the latter definitely seems to have a bit more of a focus on the core gaming audience.

 

[captmcblack]

They definitely tried placing late/gimped ports of games that missed the entire Wii/360/PS3 generation on the Wii U and arrived with missing features/DLC...and that is more of a "try" than other third parties, so whatever.

At least there's still (late) Watch Dogs.

 

[Night Angel]

Like Nintendo games:
Nintendo system + PC

Like Sony games:
Sony systems + PC

Like Microsoft games:
Microsoft system + PC

Owning a PC basically gives you access to the third party titles you're missing out on thus the only games you're missing are the exclusive. Thus a "serious" gamer would need to own more than one console no matter the home primary console of choice. It's not really a Ninendo fan exclusive issue.

I think the point is that the third party library between the Xbox, PlayStation, and PC is very similar, almost to the point that you COULD only own one of them and have access to most multiplat games. No need for PC. Whereas owning a Nintendo console, you only have access to a handful of third party ports and it's exclusives. I'm not sure why you think people need a PC no matter what for multiplat games, because it's really not true.

 

[Shmuely Bully]

lol, i used the term to define people who play a lot of games of all genres.

Look, are you happy you have never played GTA? Castle Crashers? Elder Scrolls? Red Dead? There are lots of great games you would miss if you dont have another platform.

Nintendo is the best developer, no one can argue that. But to play ONLY nintendo games, sorry, is not enough.

I'd argue with that as I take the position that Sony has taken over Nintendo's old role of providing innovative/unique titles across a variety of genres while Nintendo has increasingly fallen back upon the same few franchises over the last several years.

As for the rest of your post that is an enormous problem and it's one that Nintendo won't fix overnight, but they need to go back to trying. Nintendo may have always tried to project a family friendly image, but that isn't all they tried to do. They had Simon Belmont holding a decapitated head on the cover of Nintendo Power FFS. They highlighted Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct, Turok, and Golden Eye for their systems back in the day. Those were the mature titles of their day and it was because they had that variety that they were successful.

If they ever want things to change they need to at least try again.

 

[TheBaldEmperor]

Did anyone not see this coming from a million miles away?

I say this as someone that owns AC III, AC IV, and Zombi U on the Wii U.

I own all of these. Makes me sad. I'm not buying another system to play AC games.