Activision: Xbox Infinity, PS4 May Face Same Wii U Woes

[exfileme]

Activision's CEO verbalizes the uncertainties surrounding the next-generation consoles and consumer reaction.

Activision: Xbox Infinity, PS4 May Face Same Wii U Woes : Read more

 

[getochkn]

I think the new Xbox and PS will do decently. They both have exclusive content to them, and their devote fanboi's. The Wii U is basically a Wii, which is basically a Gamecube. They may think people want stupid controllers, but they don't.

 

[nukemaster]

People said the same thing about Wii("They may think people want stupid controllers, but they don't. ") and it sold well enough and both Sony and Microsoft came out with motion control systems shortly after.
I do agree the tablet controller is a bit strange and without multi-touch, it limits its use outside of basic gaming. Think of lock picking in Elder Scrolls with that thing and multi touch.

 

[shikamaru31789]

I think they're being conservative with their sales projections just in case. If the investors are expecting low sales, they'll be pleasantly suprised if sales are higher. I don't expect the 720's and PS4's sales to be as lackluster as the Wii U. The Wii U suffered from low 1st/2nd party launch support, an unpopular name, a high price (compared to it's specs), and many console fans waiting to see what Microsoft and PS4 would offer before choosing their next gen console. I don't expect Sony and Microsoft to suffer the same problems, in fact, I think they may have some of the highest 1st year adoption rates of any generation yet. Both Sony and Microsoft have hinted that their systems will cost less at launch than last gen. Both are apparently going to have a decent amount of 1st and 2nd party launch support (Sony has unveiled 2 launch exclusives so far, with rumors of another 3 to be shown at E3, rumors suggest that Microsoft has as many as 9 exclusives in development though how many will be ready for launch is unknown). Most of this Holiday seasons 3rd party games are going to be cross-gen, so many may buy a next gen system just to get better graphics and other improvements.

 

[jdwii]

Wii u's is only going to be bought for Hardcore Nintendo fans. Fact i love nintendo i'll buy one, one day and it won't be until their is a decent list of 1st party games. People don't buy Nintendo systems for hardcore shooters(COD and even GTA) and if they do they wasted their money. Besides hardcore Nintendo fans they also might get some casual gamers but i wouldn't count on it since most casual gamers are now tablet/smartphone owners. Nethertheless The Wii U is going to be the 3rd most sold console mark my words. Not that its a bad little system its just going to sell like the Cube and i think the Xbox whatever is going to be in 2nd place with Sony wiping the floor with them both.
One thing's for sure i can care less since i'm a PC gamer mainly their isn't any games i care to play that i can't play on the PC and if there's some it would be Nintendo. If the PC did not exist from a gaming standpoint i would buy a PS4 and a Wii u.

 

[Guest]

The so called next gen consoles are long overdue should have come out a year ago at least. Now alot of people with times harder than they were when the crapbox/ps3 came out aren't willing or can't shell out $500+ for a new gaming console when what they have works just fine. As for the Wii U I believe only 12 year olds knew about it, most people thought it was just a rebranded or repackaged Wii. I game on PC anyway which is the best experience to be had.

 

[jdwii]

Wii u's is only going to be bought for Hardcore Nintendo fans. Fact i love nintendo i'll buy one, one day and it won't be until their is a decent list of 1st party games. People don't buy Nintendo systems for hardcore shooters(COD and even GTA) and if they do they wasted their money. Besides hardcore Nintendo fans they also might get some casual gamers but i wouldn't count on it since most casual gamers are now tablet/smartphone owners. Nethertheless The Wii U is going to be the 3rd most sold console mark my words. Not that its a bad little system its just going to sell like the Cube and i think the Xbox whatever is going to be in 2nd place with Sony wiping the floor with them both.
One thing's for sure i can care less since i'm a PC gamer mainly their isn't any games i care to play that i can't play on the PC and if there's some it would be Nintendo. If the PC did not exist from a gaming standpoint i would buy a PS4 and a Wii u.

 

[IndignantSkeptic]

It just baffles me that if companies want to know what the public wants, they spend billions making something and then see if people buy it instead of just asking what the public wants. We have the technology now to just ask people; it's called the Internet. By the way, to all you people who buy Nintendo hardware to play Nintendo games: you are scabs. If you would just stop being jerks and doing that then we would all be able to play Nintendo games without having to buy Nintendo's stupid crap hardware. Think Sega.

 

[twelch82]

The WiiU's biggest problem is that there's nothing next-gen about it. It doesn't even quite match up to the existing 360 and PS3. Developers are going to avoid it because it's going to be too slow compared to the new consoles from MS and Sony.
The controller having a video screen is gimped by the fact that it only can work with one controller, and the controller itself is expensive.
So what does the WiiU really have going for it? It's hard to make a compelling case for buying it. Good first party titles might help, because of the few cross-platform games they do get, most of them will be better on another console anyway.

 

[hakesterman]

You can't buy a high end PC at a low price, a PC is three times the Investment of a Console once all things are considered. Secondly no Tablet is going to compete with a PS4, it's a totally different Market. I bet a great number of people that have the tablets will also buy a next Gen. Console. OUYA = Epic Failure. Activision better get together with Sony and come up with a few games or Activision is going to be left in the dusk with No one to blame but themselves.

 

[twelch82]

The WiiU's biggest problem is that there's nothing next-gen about it. It doesn't even quite match up to the existing 360 and PS3. Developers are going to avoid it because it's going to be too slow compared to the new consoles from MS and Sony.
The controller having a video screen is gimped by the fact that it only can work with one controller, and the controller itself is expensive.
So what does the WiiU really have going for it? It's hard to make a compelling case for buying it. Good first party titles might help, because of the few cross-platform games they do get, most of them will be better on another console anyway.

 

[ddpruitt]

The problem of consoles summed up:
They're not much of an improvement (all of them)
They're casual systems competing with Android and iOS
They cost so much you can get a PC for the same amount once you factor the cost of games
In other words consoles really don't have anything differentiating themselves from other types of gaming. It used to be that consoles were a lot cheaper than computers, not anymore. And you have cheap systems (tablets and phones) competing with cheaper games. The entire industry is at an inflection point and we'll have to see where things settle.

 

[DRosencraft]

It's not a mystery why the Wii U isn't doing well - there is legitimate confusion based on the fact that Nintendo didn't do a stellar job of its launch. They launched a console that itself looks almost exactly like the existing Wii, with a new controller that everyone seems to think is an optional purchase for their existing Wii, and there are very, very few good exclusive titles out for the system. Some bemoan the price, but that's mainly because there aren't any games out to justify it. After so many were burnt by the latter part of the Wii's life cycle where new releases of good games were few and far between, there ins't going to be a swarm headed to go pick up a Wii U.
As for attention, this is the exact reason you don't launch a console ahead of everyone else's console. You know what everyone was talking about during the launch of the Wii U? When MSFT and Sony were going to launch their consoles and what was going to be in it. Ever since Nintendo launched the Wii U, all anyone has really done is speculate about that the other two console makers were going to do with their systems. That took any air Nintendo's balloon might have had. Heck, a lot of rumors last year after E3 were that the Wii U was an intermediate thing and that Nintendo was going to have a real launch for the new generation. Unless they surprise with something like that at E3 or something this year, the only real hope they have is to get with releasing more really good, exclusive, games.
They don't all have to be 1st party, which is something they seem to have a bad grasp of. You can have outsiders do exclusives for you too. Go for something more than just the Legend of Zelda and Mario crowds. Don't ignore them, but realize that you can't just sustain your console on the backs of franchises that you have been suing for decades and who only see genuinely new releases every few years.
The same message goes out to Xbox; like Peter Molyneux said, if the Xbox focuses on games it has the potential to be fantastic. If that gets lost in all these other things, these sweeteners that aren't important to its function as a gaming console, it too will end up a confused system that no one will buy. They need to remember who they are. These are gaming consoles, systems meant to provide unique and entertaining gaming experiences. They have been too far corrupted by the idea that they need to become computers. Thanks, but I've already got a computer, as do most people. Don't try to emulate computers. Get back to what defined gaming consoles - a unique, thorough, entertaining experience different from what you get on a PC.

 

[heero yuy]

someone needs to make a game for the WiiU that uses the WiiU pro controller (that one that looks like a basic controller) and make it good
a lot of developers have cited the controllers as a reason not to port their games over (tomb raider for example) when they could have just ignored the fancy touch screen controller and made the game for use with the WiiU pro controller (I believe the tablet controller does have all the same buttons as the pro controller as well)
TL;DR: no one is forcing the developers to use the tablet controller so why are they acting like they are?

 

[southernshark]

I think the X-box Infinity will be a blow out... not sure about the PS4 but I am rooting for it as well, just to have competition. The Wii U was hurt by the goofy and expensive controller which adds little value to the system.

 

[kinggraves]

Cheap, sure. Quality, absolutely not. Mobile gaming does not even touch the quality of a AAA title or even an Indie grade title. Funfact though, which like usual maybe you will catch on to in about a week. Nintendo is actually looking to convert iOS games to their platform. This would give them a platform which simultaneously provides AAA, indie, and mobile games at all their price points. Anyway, as if anyone really cares what Bobby thinks. His idea of a "positive situation" is pure profit. This is what I think a lot of you are missing. You all seem to be in some delusional state where you believe AAA publishers are trying to make the best possible games to satisfy you. This has nothing to do with quality, it has to do with profit. Easy profits come from easy ports. You're looking at two platforms both rumored to run on x86 the same as PC and one platform that runs on PPC (Wii U). Factor in any game that doesn't use the gamepad is going to look half assed so extra code for that is required too. The Wii U becomes a lot of hassle for those who just want to throw out a game to as many platforms as possible. The system's processing has nothing to do with it when titles that are coming out for 360/PS3 are being skipped as well. It's already been shown to handle ports of current gen titles well enough considering most games for it ATM are current gen ports. Don't even try and tell me that single touch or not, the gamepad would not have been great for games like Madden. Too much hassle for EA to port Frostbite over, no more EA games for Wii U.

 

[kinggraves]

BTW, had to throw in, even expecting multi touch on the Wii u gamepad is completely ignorant. Ignoring the extra price involved, you are not holding the gamepad like a tablet/phone, you're holding it like a controller. The only two digits near the screen are your thumbs. At what point are you multi touching anything with your fingers supporting the controller from underneath? It isn't actually a tablet, and multi touch on tablets is only compensation for a lack of actual controls.

 

[tomfreak]

other than better graphics, PS4/XBOX infinite's game are pretty much the same.
the AI and physics depart of game isnt getting much improve. Fix this 2 area. We want a game that have AI that is more human, not blindly shooting high polygon dolls

 

[southernshark]

I think the X-box Infinity will be a blow out... not sure about the PS4 but I am rooting for it as well, just to have competition. The Wii U was hurt by the goofy and expensive controller which adds little value to the system.

 

[smokeybravo]

"customers just aren't willing to spend big bucks on an entertainment device that can't be used on the go? Tablets are selling like hotcakes, especially the smaller sizes, and these provide cheap but quality gaming the big three have yet to really harness."
I guess Tom's has never heard of the DS?