Ubisoft posts 78% sales surge thanks to the Wii
Tuesday, February 27th, 2007 at 2:38pm by Staff
Some savvy blogger over at Joystiq points out why digging deeper into a sales number can yield surprising results. The number in this case is the 78% surge Ubisoft saw in sales thanks to the Wii.
“I’m betting, however, that Ubisoft can thank the sheer amount of junk games it threw at Wii owners for the spike in sales as other conservative publishers offered little to no games. And though not the case with all of Ubi’s Wii games, a clear majority saw little to no effort during production. I mean, whoever released Far Cry on Wii (read: it was Ubisoft) should be stoned. That game was garbage”
So true, savvy Joystiq blogger. Ubisoft bet on the short term gains and won, but I worry that this approach is the antithesis of what the Wii needs right now. Is Ubisoft’s gain a loss for the Wii overall?
February 27th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
When the consumer is pushed against the wall, and really wants to experience the new gameplay the Wii has to offer, you can release crap games and have them sell.
Why release a hit that could compete with other well made games when you can make money on a low budget game that would be straight to the $20 bin if real competition was around.
But on the same token, I the consumer really just want to play games, so I will play them and bitch about how much they suck.
February 27th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
Man, that savvy guy sure is savvy.
Why do I see a snake eating its own tail when I close my eyes?
February 27th, 2007 at 6:24 pm
In answer to Jack’s question: it is a loss, overall…
And in answer to Frisby’s: because by releasing too much crap right away, you risk your brand name to be equaled to crap in the consumers’ minds, and the following year it might not go as rosy for you.
Then again, consumers of entertainment media have a very short memory…
February 27th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
Windows ME sold more coipies of Windows 2000.
Or somthing
February 28th, 2007 at 4:09 am
It’s more a gain than a loss. I explain.
When a console launchs, most of the time the developers receive it when it’s near completion… which mean near the console launch. Without the specs (AND a test machine in its final state), the developers can’t do properly a game.
Ubisoft is a huge company with several studios around the world. Since the launch, several games were launched, coming from several different studios:
France (Rayman, Red Steel)
Montreal (Farcry, Open Season, Splinter Cell)
Spain (Monster Truck)
Morocco (the other car game? I don’t remember)
(interresting fact: the best two games of Ubisoft for the Wii were coming from France… where the HQ is located)
Anyway, I’m getting to my point. Each studios are composed of several creation teams. Since no one knows how to deal with the console, releasing several games from different locations (if they are crap) is the Key to form the game creators on the new hardware. These guys will now know the pitfalls of the console on their new team.
See it the other way: Ubisoft have now 7 teams ready to work on 2nd-generation Wii games.
It’s a really good news for the Wii, since Nintendo is able to keep the hype for the console with the VC while great games are coming.
We can’t compare the Ubisoft games with the quality of Zelda - since it was coming from Nintendo, they knew the final specs of the console before anyboby.
I don’t know if it was the plan of Nintendo… but by having some goods to fill the gap between the crap games and the better ones of the second generation, they’re not letting down the consumer.
The only thing that failed in their plan was the late adopt of the console by EA. However, SSX Blur (another one made in Montreal) will surely make happy the share holders… and the gamers.