uDraw hasn't fared so well on Xbox 360 and PS3, THQ lowers its forecast

by Griffin McElroy on Dec 8th 2011 1:00AM

THQ has lowered its earnings forecast for the third quarter of the 2012 fiscal year, citing underwhelming sales of its recently multiplatform uDraw tablet.

THQ CEO Brian Farrell explained in a press release, "Despite uDraw's strong success on the Wii in fiscal 2011 and market research indicating strong demand for uDraw on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, initial sales of our uDraw tablet and software on these high-definition platforms have been weaker than expected." As a result, the company is lowering its original sales guidance of between $510 million and $550 million by "approximately 25 percent," which is a large number of millions (at least $127.5 million).

We'll know how poorly the device did when third quarter results drop next February. Until then, Farrell assures investors that "WWE '12 and Saints Row: The Third are expected to perform at or better than the levels we discussed on our fiscal 2012 second quarter earnings call." We guess folks are just more into simulated violence and genuine bonersword violence than they're into drawing things with their kids.

Source: THQ

Tags: business, fy-2012, microsoft, playstation, ps3, q3, q3-2012, sales, thq, udraw, udraw-game-tablet, xbox

Reader Comments (55)

I think this was a very bad idea since the beginning, people with consoles don´t want to spend an hour or two drawing, if you really want to draw or to make digital art you get a p.c. you don´t draw on a console where you can´t do anything else but watch your drawings on the tv, nobody wants to use a console just to draw......

@Hunter141072 how many people want to draw at all or can draw

@Hunter141072 I'm assuming you have statistics to back up your claim. Or are you just guessing what the masses want based on your own opinion?

@Hunter141072

Dont speak for everyone there, bud.
I know a few people that would gladly get this.. if they knew it was even out for the PS3.

@hami83
how about backing it up based on the huge success that this tablet was??? and you don´t really need statics when 90% of the times that you see a console NOBODY is drawing, this was the same story with mario paint for the SNES, was that thing a success?? yeah right...... back in those time if you wanted to "save your work" you had to record your drawing on the VCR, it´s just co mun sense man, if you want to try computer graphics you NEED a p.c. or a mac plain simple, you won´t be able to do with this toy even the most basic things that you can do with photoshop, painter, or any of the real drawing programs that exist, not to mention that a wacom tablet can kick this UDraw device from here to the moon in just seconds.

@Hunter141072

exactly... anyone who actually DOES draw (a large portion of uDraws target) would never get it because they have a wacom. (which is infinitely better than this turd of a tablet... even wacoms cheapest bamboo is more advanced in every way than the uDraw, and its the same price.)

i love my PS3 and 360... and i love to draw... but theres no way in effing hell id EVER buy a crappy tablet for the console when you can get so much more out of a wacom, PS and a PC.

@Hunter141072 Well my 7yr old and 4yr old like to draw...jury's still out though as it is a Christmas present for my 7yr old this yr along with Udraw Pictionary. If there is, or they find a way, to be able to print their drawings or send them to a computer for printing, it would be that much better. Or even find a way that I could draw my own gamerpic. I don't know, really not expecting too much out of it and if sales are poor the support for new uses will be non-existent

@Faenix

Well, too bad those few persons you know werent 125 millions, that would ´ve helped THQ a little bit........

@chrollo Uh is that a trick or rhetorical question? There are millions of people who can and/or want to draw, myself included (on the former).

Now, those who can draw that would rather use this thing over a pencil and sketchbook I'm not sure. Is there a game or something tied to this, or is this just Microsoft Paint on a console?

@Churrotastic
There are Achievements, but the "game" is basically the user drawing onto the screen

@Churrotastic
Scratch that, after some research, apparently there are games released for the Wii - and like one or two on Xbox/ PS3 - that specifically use uDraw as the controller. Also there are several mini-games on the uDraw Studio which comes with the game, such as Connect The Dots and such.... still not really worth it :P

I don't know how much the U Draw tablet and software cost, but I'm willing to bet that it's significantly more than a pad of paper and some colored pencils. It's possible that may have something to do with it.

@(Unverified) $50 now

I didn't even know this was out... the rock is heavy that i live under...

@CleanUndies

Nah. I've been working GameStop for holiday for the past month and a half and I just noticed that this was on PS3 and 360 last Sunday. They've done zero to push it or even let the buyers know it's out there. Heck, at our store, since the box is bigger, we keep it up where you need a ladder to get to them.

@CleanUndies: You and me both! I have seen exactly ONE commercial on TV for this product. They really need to do a better job of advertising this product's presence.

uhh when did it release for PS3? lol

@Faenix November 8

Thats because the program sucks. It makes MS Paint look like photoshop. I offered to help them, they never even tried to contact me.

@Extinction

U Mad.

@Reaver Zero Yes. You 3?

@Extinction

I cant believe they wouldnt even contact you back.Im sure with your help the U Draw would have been an astounding success.

I'm not surprised that it did well on Wii. I'm not surprised it didn't do well on 360 and PS3 either.

Personally, I tend to pass on single-game-specific controllers that usually get used for a month and then get stuck some place where all my useless plastic crap goes.

I passed on Skyward Sword because I don't want to get a wii motion plus that I'll probably use once. I passed on the Killzone 3 / Resistance 3 Move bundle because I'll probably use the (poorly supported) Move controller just for those two games. I passed on guitar hero because I don't need a fake guitar taking up space. I passed on tony hawk ride because ... well... yick. The wife did sucker me into getting the wii fit which I think she used for a week.

My mom taught me at an early age not to buy kitchen utensils that serve one function, like an apple corer or a strawberry stem plucker or an egg slicer. There's a more useful tool; it's called a knife and it can do a lot of things without taking up too much drawer space.

My PS3 controller is my knife.

@GamedJader You know you could just use the Wii Motion Plus to replace your existing Wii controller right?

@Faceless Troll

yeah i'm on the fence about zelda. i really wanna try it, but i also want a few more excuses to use wii motion plus and i just can't find any games for it that i'm especially interested in. and it makes zelda be a 70 dollar game.

@GamedJader Move is heavily supported. It has 75 games. Kinect has 61.

uDraw has about 4 and motion plus has about the same

@GamedJader
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_games_that_support_Wii_MotionPlus

Not a huge list, but the most worthwhile titles are Skyward Sword and Red Steel 2 (don't let the bad taste of the first one deter you; the sequel is quite good). FlingSmash and Wii Sports Resort are also fun.

Going forward, though, Wii U will probably require MotionPlus for all games that use the Wii Remote.

@BPMOmega, @Extinction

I appreciate both your optimism, and I'm sure those games appeal to a lot of people, but for my taste and probably for a lot of other people whose money is tight, they and I cannot justify purchasing more accessories because, out of those lists, there are not too many titles that appeal to us.

On a happy note, I did support THQ by buying Saints Row 3. It's the most fun I've had in years. But just like I have to pick and choose where I spend money, THQ needs to also. It makes sense to release uDraw on the Wii because that's the kind of game people are used to on that system, not so much on the 360 and PS3.

@GamedJader You passed on Skyward Sword because you didn't want a "game specific controller", such as the Gold wii mote? I guess because the Wiimote it's unique paint job, it won't be compatible with any other wii game. Also, there's something called the "standard version" which doesn't include a wiimote.
.

@JCat

I'd still have to buy at least a wii motion plus attachment or a new wii remote since i got my wii in 2006. it's another $20-40 investment that i'd probably never use again, on top of the stand-alone game's $50 price.
that's all i was getting at.

@GamedJader

You shouldn't play with knives.

I didn't even know this had been released yet.

As a Toys "R" Us R-Zone employee, I can vouch that parents have been buying WWE '12 and to a surprising degree Saints Row 3. The Wii UDraw still sells nicely, although some people are upset that the white UDraw has been discontinued.

That's weird, cause with all the Kinect hype going around and Microsoft positioning the new 360 as a more family-oriented console, you'd think uDraw would be a perfect fit for the 360's new casual gamer market.

PS3, on the other hand, doesn't have that same kind of casual gamer market. Sony has positioned the PS3 as more of a "core gamer" platform, a sort of alternative to the Wii and Xbox 360 with Kinect.

@tendoboy1984

In other words, with Microsoft now sharing the same casual market as the Wii, uDraw should have been just as successful on the 360.

That same market just isn't there on the PS3, as shown by the lackluster sales of PS Move and it's games.

@tendoboy1984

I think you're over estimating the success of kinect.

@TwEE I don't. If anything, the problem here is underestimating the success of Move - which has performed rather admirably as far as I've seen. The software problem there isn't so much that they aren't selling, rather that it's very difficult to judge seeing as most everything worthwhile is a storied franchise game that offers traditional and motion control methods. Regardless, the Move hardware bundles are doing quite well indeed.

As for Kinect though, Xbox 360 has consistently been the top seller for the last year in North America. And with that, for every four Xbox's sold, it seem they also sell three Kinects or are otherwise bundled with them. That's mightily impressive for what essentially amounts to add-on hardware.

As I read this headline, I ask myself: They made uDraw for 360 and PS3? I thought it was Wii exclusive.

Whichever market research firm told them putting uDraw out on 360 and PS3 was a good idea should get blacklisted. Advice honestly doesn't come any worse than that.

Know what else was a stupid idea? Wii Fit. Activision tried to bottle lightning and all it did was kill the Tony Hawk franchise. The sooner companies realize that they can't duplicate Wii success elsewhere, the sooner they'll stop hemorrhaging money.

With the uDraw, everyone could instead be drawing those boner swords. Doesn't even matter what game you're playing. Boner swords.

I didn't realize they had a 360 or PS3 version.

Maybe poor marketing has something to do with it.

Yea, I've never ever heard of this.

How about making games that incorporate the tablet? A poke-n-flick game similar to Rhythm Heaven DS would be a change of pace on Wii.

@YourMomsLover They should advertise that it has easy cheevos, it might actually SELL.

It should come bundled with some type of game that lets you draw all of the assets for it and then you could upload and share your games

Here's the thing, the Wii has a derth of products, there has been very little coming out for the platform over the last few years and it's at the end of it's cycle. The PS3 and 360 are still high in stride and have at least one if not two more years of life left and a TON of products so while Wii owners will snap up anything out there other platform holders are more careful as they have much more to select from. That I think is the nature of why it didn't do well.

I would really love to know where the "market research indicating strong demand for uDraw on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3" was held. I'm guessing fairy land, because it sure as hell wasn't anywhere near the rational world or common sense.

what happened to good old fashioned pen and paper? also a tablet like android or ios have much more better drawing capabilities (apps) than this ever would.

@(Unverified)
I don't know about you, but touchscreens on tablets and phones suck.

Bad.

Let's just leave digital writing and whatnot to Wacom.

I bought this for my children, who do love to draw and make videos, including stop-motion animation, with the PS3. It was going to be a Christmas present. However, if sales of the tablet are indeed poor, then there will not be software forthcoming on the PS3 that uses it. I might therefore need to take it back and get the Wii version just so there will be other things to do with it.

So... this seems like a self-fulfilling prophecy. The report of bad sales worsens sales, whodathunkit.

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uDraw hasn't fared so well on Xbox 360 and PS3, THQ lowers its forecast

Reader Comments (55)

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 1:06AM Hunter141072 said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 1:10AM chrollo said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 1:23AM hami83 said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 1:37AM Faenix said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 1:39AM Hunter141072 said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 3:34AM KiraXD said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 9:44AM Snap Count said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 10:51AM Hunter141072 said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 1:48AM Churrotastic said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 9:38AM Catalyst691 said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 9:44AM Catalyst691 said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 1:17AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 1:41AM Extinction said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 1:32AM CleanUndies said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 1:47AM EndynOmni said

Posted: Dec 9th 2011 2:46PM aarond12 said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 1:36AM Faenix said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 1:41AM Extinction said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 1:40AM Extinction said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 2:03AM Reaver Zero said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 3:19AM Extinction said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 11:03AM SgtDookie said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 1:57AM GamedJader said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 2:12AM Faceless Troll said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 2:30AM GamedJader said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 3:21AM Extinction said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 4:45AM BPMOmega XBL PSN Steam said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 8:48AM GamedJader said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 2:55PM JCat said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 3:31PM GamedJader said

Posted: Dec 9th 2011 1:20AM Kamalot said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 2:00AM Virus one said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 2:01AM CrissCross87 said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 2:05AM tendoboy1984 said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 2:06AM tendoboy1984 said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 11:55AM TwEE said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 12:06PM Oddgirl said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 2:31AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 3:06AM onan said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 3:38AM gordogg24p said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 4:49AM CaramelZappa said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 4:55AM imadogg said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 7:15AM pluupy said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 9:44AM Exu said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 10:32AM killploki said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 10:40AM commonperson said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 10:51AM mietha said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 11:00AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Dec 9th 2011 1:53AM pluupy said

Posted: Dec 8th 2011 11:32AM shaktazuki said

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