Ubisoft’s Yves Guillemot believes that Nintendo’s announcement of Wii U (and the assumption that it’s going to be out soon) will force Sony and Microsoft to play their ‘next-gen’ hands before long.
“I think it’s sending the message that the new transition is going to happen,” he said in an interview with Gamasutra, referring to the new Wii console, “and we’re going to have new machines coming soon.”
Ubisoft’s chairman and CEO always readies plenty of games for a console’s launch (look at the 3DS for proof) so it’s interesting to hear that he’s confident the other two console manufacturers won’t have much breathing space.
The interview’s interesting, not least because it comments on the development time versus return of titles like Just Dance against Assassin’s Creed…
xdarkmagician
Just because the console with the worst specs is getting a make-over and is finally entering the HD market doesn’t mean the current HD consoles need to upgarde too. I think Nintendo is forgetting that they have alot of casual gamers that will not upgarde because they’re… casual gamers. Hardcore gamers create the buying frenzy that drives a console launch, and Nintendo doesn’t have many hardcore players left. Any analyst that thinks the Wii-U is going to cause Sony and MS to release early is either being paid by Nintendo or an idiot that doesn’t understand a vast majority of gamers won’t buy ANY new console right now.
Sonicfan1373
You are correct in stating that video game console sales have been lower lately and consumers do not want new consoles. However, I know a lot of people who do want to purchase the Wii U because it is the the natural evolution of the Wii a natural step forward for Nintendo (and an important one in order to stay competitive). I do not believe that Sony or Microsoft need a hardware refresh because it will not offer them anything new, graphics might look a bit better but considering the slow change in system components (graphic cards, CPUs, etc) it will not make much of a difference. As for the 3DS the main reason people are not yet buying it is because of its very steep price (which needs to addressed by this holiday) and its lack of important games (which will be addressed by this holiday).
Mukkinese
I don’t see this argument that Nintendo owners just will not upgrade. They do it all the time, but up until now they have “upgraded” to the Xbox and PS3. I dare say a very large number of gamers cut their gaming teeth on a Nintendo machine and now play on other consoles. Now they have an HD Nintendo console in the mix too.
I don’t think that the Wii U will force Sony and Microsofts hands, at least not anytime soon. We will have to see how it goes, final specs, price point, online services, whether the second screen has any drawing power for customers and gamers. It is very early days yet, I for one, hope the machine does well. As far as I am concerned three HD consoles is better than two.
Foxhound
Lets see how this goes….
topgear
A ps4 needs CFAA!
e8
CFAA?
Darksidesystems
In basic terms ittakes the rough edges off of curves n’ that…
Something PC gamers take for granted these days
topgear
The latest type of Anti Aliasing used in Nvidia specific games! Basically the jaggies are next to none so the graphics are crisp and smooth! Once you play a game with it enabled it is very hard to go back to a console and adjust to it’s graphics!
I believe a PS4 is now needed as my current £500 rig currently blows it out of the water in terms of graphical fidelity! A PS3 only has 2x MSAA which is crap!
Rad4Life
This guy is full of it. All the Wii U will force is for Nintendo to finally join the gaming generation that is almost 6 years old. How Nintendo playing catch up will force Sony or Microsoft to do anything is beyond me. Most developers are still not using 100% of these machines’ power so a leap forward is not needed. Thumbs down.