Hasta La Gadget!

Nintendo’s gaming platforms are known for more family-friendly genres, which means that gamers looking to get in on more serious and more “hardcore” games have to turn to consoles like the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. However if you like the ability to play family-friendly and hardcore at the same time but don’t want to own two consoles, you might be interested to learn that Crysis 3 for the Wii U might not be such a far-fetched notion after all. Speaking to the folks at CVG, Crytek’s producer Mike Read was quoted as saying:

“I wouldn’t say there’s no chance […] I mean the Wii U still doesn’t have any kind of release [date] attached to it at this point. Who knows what the future will bring with it. I can definitely say that we are working with Nintendo, and that’s about all I can say on that front.”

If you’re wondering why this tune sounds somewhat familiar, it was because back in April, a director from Crytek, Rasmus Hoejengaard said that Crysis 3 for the Wii U was not possible in his opinion, nor was it in the cards. Either way there’s still no guarantee that Crysis 3 is destined for the Wii U, but we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled nonetheless.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Crysis 3 not on the cards for Nintendo’s Wii U, Crysis 3 interactive singleplayer demo video released,

There is a possibility that Crysis 3 will be making its way to the newest Nintendo console. This kind of story may seem like a positive for Nintendo, but when you really look at it, consider Crysis 3 – a quintessential “multiplatform” title. This just highlights the fact that multiplatform now refers to only the PS3 and the Xbox 360, and Nintendo’s consoles kind of disappear in the background.

Crytek producer Mike Read said in a recent CVG interview, “I wouldn’t say there’s no chance. I wouldn’t say no chance. I mean the Wii U still doesn’t have any kind of release [date] attached to it at this point. Who knows what the future will bring with it. I can definitely say that we are working with Nintendo, and that’s about all I can say on that front.”

So the possibility of a Wii U version of Crysis 3 definitely exists. It is of course fully confirmed on the Xbox 360 and PS3. This discussion is especially pertinent when you consider franchises like Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed are also making waves among the Nintendo front. But as the Wii U gets an increasing level of prominence, this kind of third-party support becomes more and more relevant. Of course, nothing from Crytek has been confirmed, but this is something to watch.

[via CVG]

Crytek’s Crysis 3 on Wii U a possibility is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The next console generation is technically getting underway with this year’s release of the Wii U, but to many gamers, the next generation won’t truly arrive until the next Xbox and PlayStation are introduced as well. When that will happen is really anyone’s guess – we’ve heard plenty of rumors, but Microsoft and Sony are both remaining tight-lipped on their plans for new consoles. Today, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot told Gamasutra that his company is ready for the next generation to kick off, saying that a new lineup of consoles would do a lot to spark innovation within the industry.

“We have been penalized by the lack of new consoles on the market,” Guillemot said. “I understand the manufacturers don’t want them too often because it’s expensive, but it’s important for the entire industry to have new consoles because it helps creativity.”

Guillemot said that when new consoles arrive on the scene, developers and publishers are more willing to take risks and experiment with new franchises. These days, however, companies are less willing to introduce new IPs and instead stick with franchises that are proven money makers, like Assassin’s Creed and Call of Duty.

Likewise, Guillemot points out that gamers are sticking to what they know too, buying the newest titles in those popular franchises because they know those are the games all of their friends will be buying. What results is a circle where neither consumers nor developers are willing to take any risks, and that’s a problem which could potentially be solved by introducing new consoles and getting consumers excited about spending money on what’s new rather than what’s popular.

The Ubisoft executive brings up a pretty good point. One only needs to look at the releases for the latter half of 2011 to see that developers and publishers are clinging to tried-and-true franchises and aren’t letting go: Battlefield 3, Gears of War 3, Uncharted 3, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Saints Row: The Third, and Modern Warfare 3 (to name a few) were all released within months of each other as 2011 was winding down. Looking at it that way, a new console generation might just be what the doctor ordered after all.

Ubisoft CEO calls for next console generation is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

At E3 last month, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime made it clear that gamers wanted Mario as a launch title on the Wii U, and seemed to say that New Super Mario Bros Wii U would be a launch title for the new console. But then again, there was a lot of the phrase “launch window” being tossed around, and new comments from Nintendo are even less confident.

In a video tour of the game with IGN, Nintendo PR manager Kit Ellis wrapped up the presentation with the following comment: “So that’s a look at New Super Mario Bros. U, coming out for Wii U not too long after launch.” Not too long after launch? Wasn’t it supposed to be on the exact same day as the console launch? Could it be that Nintendo considers games that come out in the weeks after the Wii U release date to still be “launch titles”?

DigitalTrends.com said it followed up with Nintendo, and a spokesperson said, “There is no change to the launch timing that was communicated at E3 and previously.” That in and of itself is also a bit cryptic. If the game were coming out day-and-date with the Wii U, you’d think Nintendo reps would use that talking point every chance they get. It’s of course possible that Nintendo itself hasn’t finalized the game’s release date. We’ll see.

[via Digital Trends]

Nintendo Wii U comment sheds skepticism on Mario Bros launch title is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Right before E3 2012 kicked off, Nintendo revealed the Pro Controller for the Wii U, something which a lot of gamers (including myself) were happy to see. According to Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter, the Wii U’s Pro Controller might might not exist today were it not for the insistence of Activision, which said it would not be putting Call of Duty games on the Wii U if Nintendo didn’t give developers a more traditional controller to work with. Thus, the Wii U Pro Controller was born, or at least that’s the way the story goes when Michael Pachter tells it.

He shared this tidbit of information during the Develop Conference in Brighton last week, telling Edge that Nintendo was essentially forced to come up with an alternative to the Wii U’s tablet controller if it wanted to see big third party titles come to the console:

“I think that essentially this is a solution in search of a problem. I mean, somebody had an idea – ‘let’s make the controller a tablet’ – and there aren’t many games that are going to take advantage of that. Activision never said anything to me, but I know that [for] big games like Call Of Duty they said, ‘No, we’re not putting it on there if you don’t give us a conventional controller’. So they gave in.

Pachter also let his own feelings on the Wii U slip out, saying despite the fact that hardcore Nintendo fans will buy it just so they can play Mario games, he thinks that the Wii U won’t be able to come close to the success of the original Wii. Of course, stranger things have happened in the past, so until we have some solid sales numbers in our hands, all we have is speculation, and speculation isn’t worth much in the wide world of video games.

Regardless of the reason why Nintendo chose to offer a conventional alternative to the Wii U’s tablet controller, it will be nice to have it available, and it will likely make the process of porting a game from Xbox 360 or PS3 go much smoother for developers. It’s imperative that Nintendo keeps third parties happy this time around, so making porting easier for them can’t hurt anything.

Pachter: Activision forced Nintendo to create Wii U Pro Controller is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.