Ubisoft: 14 Wii titles by March 2007
by Ross Miller 
{ Oct 24th 2006 at 5:29PM }
In their recent press release concerning revenue forecasts, Ubisoft pledged seven more Wii title, in addition to the seven announced at launch, bringing the total to 14 Wii games by March 2007.The first concern we have is the seven launch titles. Prior to the press release, we knew of eight confirmed launch titles (listed after the break). Which game is not making the launch window? Ubisoft's press release did not provide any further elaboration of the seven Wii launch games, but we think prime candidates for delay are Splinter Cell: Double Agent and Blazing Angels.
That leaves us with six unknown non-launch titles due for release before March. Of them, one will be a "non announced new brand." Does that mean the other five will be sequels, adaptations, or other franchice iterations?
Ubisoft releasing 14 titles within as many weeks of the Wii launch is a big gamble. The publisher-developer aspires to topple EA as the No. 1 publisher worldwide, but is this a route of quantity over quality? If Ubisoft's titles prove to be consistently high caliber (or, at least, pretty decent), then perhaps their assault on the Wii library will prove fruitful. However, if a string of titles within that period turn out to be low quality garbage, then Ubisoft is doing nothing to help the company long-term.
The eight previously-confirmed launch titles for Wii:
- Rayman Raving Rabbids
- Red Steel
- Far Cry
- Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII
- Monster 4x4 World Circuit
- Open Season
- GT Pro Series
- Splinter Cell: Double Agent
[Via Go Nintendo]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Scuba Owl @ Oct 24th 2006 5:43PM
$50 worth of clams says one of the titles is a King Kong port.
ScubaOwl.com
Agent MOO @ Oct 24th 2006 5:36PM
I'll wait for the new commercial that pronounces their name oobweesoft. Seriously though, good to see such a strong showng for the Wii from a single publisher, I'm looking forward to red steel.
Your Fat Mother @ Oct 24th 2006 6:17PM
I bet that 4 out of the 6 unknown titles are licensed games. The other ones, who knows? Let's hope one of them is super violent!
Dracula Jones @ Oct 24th 2006 5:42PM
Just seems like they're going to be cannibalizing their own sales throwing that many game out there at once. We only have so much money to spend, ya idiots!
daniel @ Oct 24th 2006 5:49PM
would be cool if there was a beyond good and evil sequel in there
nootau @ Oct 24th 2006 5:53PM
Splinter Cell: Double Agent would be nice delayed, because maybe they could add online play by March....
Evan @ Oct 24th 2006 6:08PM
Considering that it costs much less to develop a Wii game than a PS3 game, Ubisoft can afford to take a risk on the Wii.
mykie @ Oct 24th 2006 6:17PM
In a world where 6-12 month old games completely vanish from store shelves as if they never existed in the first place, Ubisoft would do well to space things out just a bit.
Sure, sure maybe we'll buy all your games EVENTUALLY, but either in the form of used, or we'll just forget altogether.
Richard @ Oct 25th 2006 12:10PM
I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the new Prince of Persia got pushed back. I would love to see Ubisoft dethrone EA. By the way, how do you pronounce Ubisoft? You-be-soft or Oo-be-soft
Enycma @ Oct 24th 2006 6:24PM
Ubisoft did say they would be bringing the Prince of Persia to Wii. I don't think that will be a Sands of trilogy remake. (I think I read it here in Joystiq, can't recall)
And add up that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie tie in game. (Which looks better than the crap Konami has been putting put lately)
Pibb @ Oct 25th 2006 1:43AM
w00t for Beyond G&E sequel. b00 to rayman.
rockintom99 @ Oct 24th 2006 6:25PM
Evan, seriously, shut up. Artists are not paid by the polygon.
wolfie @ Oct 24th 2006 6:30PM
Here are the 9 games we already know:
1. Red Steel
2. Rayman Raving Rabbids
3. Far Cry: Vengeance
4. Blazing Angels
5. Open Season
6. Monster 4x4 World Circuit
7. GT Pro Series
8. Prince of Persia
9. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent
The 10nth game is most likely
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
So that leaves 4 more games we don´t know about
puddlejumper @ Oct 24th 2006 6:35PM
I'll say there's gonna be a platformer game and a real kiddy game kinda like Viva Pinata, except for Wii. Well, and not with that name.
wolfie @ Oct 24th 2006 6:39PM
By the way Prince of Persia and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are in the game list(Third-party Wii titles available from launch to March 31, 2007) at Nintendos official Wii-site:
http://wii.nintendo.com/games_list.html
Hachi_Roku @ Oct 24th 2006 8:07PM
I recall two leaks that stated Assasins Creed was for Revolution/Wii. If that happens I think that would be bad PR for MS and Sony.
Hiro Protagonist @ Oct 24th 2006 6:51PM
Assasins Creed and Beyond Good & Evil 2.
Also: GRAW or GRAW2
Trust me, I know the internets.
m4gast0n @ Oct 25th 2006 1:21AM
puddlejumper: Viva Pinata is Microsoft's equivalent of the Pokemon franchise. nintendo isn't looking for anything that would compete with their leading cash cow.
Could still be a game for a younger audience, but it could also be one for an older audience. I'd be psyched to see a rhythm game, but that'd get way more press...
Josh @ Oct 24th 2006 8:01PM
Hiro Protagonist (#14), three of those are too difficult to put on Wii hardware in their current forms (I don't count the current gen version(s?) of GRAW as the same GRAW that you are referring to) and BG&E2 would be crazy considering how badly the first one failed commercially. There's no way Ubisoft would release a sequel in the midst of all these other big-name titles and two console launches.
Back on topic, my first (and outloud) reaction to the title of this news was "Holy crap!". Seriously, 14 games?! That's a freaking lot! It's great to see this much support again for a Nintendo console!
Joystiq, as for your concerns with the quantity versus quality thing, even if Ubisoft releases a bunch of games and most are crap, Ubisoft's best is still going to be better than EA's best, so I see no reason why Ubisoft would not be able to "overtake" EA...although, that's only if Ubi had Madden...
Btman @ Oct 24th 2006 9:21PM
Guy above me, thanks, I will not close that page for a while because they will close that account if it's found out will they not?
Thomas @ Oct 24th 2006 10:42PM
To me 14 games at launch isnt gunna be much of a gamble.. Remember, this is a glorified GC, therefor many of the games may have been in development for the GameCube already.. So all they have to do is spend a lil time to make the Wii-able..
As far as Evans comment:
"Considering that it costs much less to develop a Wii game than a PS3 game, Ubisoft can afford to take a risk on the Wii."
I agree.. More time/hours have to go into PS3/360 games do to the higher demand on graphics, more detail takes more time.. Think about that a lil rockintom99, draw a stick figure and then draw a true bust. Bet the stick figure takes less time, and from a cost point of view, the stick figure would cost less to create..
Just my 2c
pangit @ Oct 25th 2006 2:35AM
its great seeing ubisoft greatly support the wii. do you think this will be followed by other publishers? flooding the wii market with a shit load of games (like the ps2) and also diversifying the market. i think this was a big reason for the success of the ps2, a ton of games spanning most if not all genres.
Don Jose @ Oct 25th 2006 5:03AM
"but is this a route of quantity over quality?"
Absolutely. Why else would FarCry be given yet another chance after all it previous shitty ports?
Blazing Angels sucked on 360, too. I don't think playing it with the Wiimote can change that.
Splinter Cell might have a chance if the controls don't fuck it up, but other than that, Rayman, and Red Steel (which still looks like shit), Ubisoft is treating the Wii the way most people use Goodwill drop boxes: leave your old, used shit here.