14 DAY TRIAL // The upcoming Wii U home console is a major change for Nintendo in terms of strategy, as the Japanese company tries to get a number of third parties involved in order to have their games ready to deploy on launch date.
One of these third parties is Electronic Arts and one of its leaders says that there's a big commitment to bringing the biggest franchises they own over to the Wii U.
Peter Moore, who is the Chief Operations Officer of Electronic Arts, has stated, “Our teams are working on it around the world. Our key franchises will be there. We’ve made that commitment to Nintendo.”
The executive says that he is planning a trip to the headquarters of Nintendo next week, during which he will be able to see the final hardware specifications of the new console and talk to executives of the Japanese company about the final price and the actual launch date.
He added, “There are no indications that there’s anything that feels like it’s off target. No one thinks its going to replace an iPad 2 but it is playing into what a consumer feels comfortable with.”
The iPad 2 comparison stems from the fact that the new Nintendo home hardware includes a new controller with a touchscreen and analog controls, which will allow developers to create more complex game experiences.
Electronic Arts has not officially announced which games will get Wii U versions and whether it plans to port 2012 versions of its sports titles over to the new device.
Nintendo has said that the new platform will offer the same hardware processing power as the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 and will allow developers to create first person shooters and complex action titles for it.
Rumors suggest that the Wii U will arrive during summer 2012 and will cost under 250 dollars.