EA Forms Wii-Centric Studio

Despite analyst assurances that there would no longer be many console exclusives, EA is forming an entire studio for Wii titles. Larry Probst revealed this tidbit in a very interesting interview with Newsweek's N'Gai Croal. They've since acquired Headgate studios, rebranding it EA Salt Lake. From the article: "I don't think the Wii is going to be any different than all the other Nintendo platforms. Nintendo is going to have a very significant market share, and all the third party companies are going to have market shares that are single-digit or low double-digits. We think that we can be very competitive in that environment. We don't have any expectations that we're going to have a 30 percent market share, as we have had on Xbox 360, on PlayStation 2, or what we're targeting on PlayStation 3. But I think we can have a meaningful market share on the Wii platform, and be in the number two position behind Nintendo."

Comments

It's all about the controls

[Yvan256]

Would you rather play a game such as Unreal Tournament/Quake/Doom on your computer with a keyboard and mouse, or with a stupid gamepad with analog thumbsticks? Put those two players inside the same game and the gamepad player probably won't stand a chance.

Also, after playing Zelda (which ain't even a shooter) for a week, I find it weird to hold a gamepad in my hands (even the one from the Gamecube, which IMHO is the most comfortable gamepad ever made).

Of course, a lot of games would be weird with the Wiimote and the nunchuck, just like some games aren't made for a keyboard+mouse. I'm thinking MegaMan games, for example. But for all the rest, gamepads just plain suck.