14 DAY TRIAL // A source inside Nintendo is claiming that the company is working with publisher Electronic Arts to make the recently launched Origin digital distribution service the only way to deliver content on the soon to be launched Wii U home console.
The fan site WiiUGo cites information obtained from an anonymous intern working for Electronic Arts, who says his source is a network engineer who works on Origin and has been briefed on the talks with Nintendo.
The source is quoted as saying that Nintendo is at the moment seeking “an opportunity to rebuild relationships with Western gamers because they feel that only a massive western company such as EA understands what is needed to make an online service attractive to western gamers.”
It seems that Valve, with Steam, is also trying to convince Nintendo that its service is better suited for digital distribution on the Wii, with the source adding that EA is “aggressively persuading Nintendo to go Origins exclusive with Wii U’s online so they can gain a competitive advantage over Steam.”
Nintendo and Electronic Arts have not commented on the rumor.
It's highly unlikely that Nintendo would farm out all the digital distribution for its upcoming home console to a third party, even if the company has been notoriously bad at making online an interest part of the setup of the original Wii.
More so it's unlikely that Nintendo would choose to work with Electronic Arts and with Origin, considering that the service has only been active for just a few months and is not yet handling the kind of traffic that is linked to Steam.
The Wii U home console will deliver a new controller, which has an included touch screen that opens up new gameplay possibilities, and will have the same computing power as the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360.