Bethesda Says Wii U Is "Not On Our Radar"

[Andy Chalk]

Bethesda Says Wii U Is "Not On Our Radar"

Bethesda Softworks Vice President Pete Hines says the company has no near-term plans to develop games for the Wii U.

Bad news for anyone waiting with bated breath for the next Elder Scrolls or Dishonored title to appear on the Wii U: It's not going to happen. Bethesda's main man of marketing Pete Hines said at QuakeCon over the weekend that nothing the studio is currently cooking up is going to appear on Nintendo's latest but not-necessarily-greatest gaming console.

"None of the games we've announced are being developed for the Wii U, so it's guaranteed that none of those games are coming to Wii U," Hines told Joystiq. "Will any future ones come out? I can't say for sure, [but] in our near-term focus it's not on our radar."

Hines said the Nintendo neglect is "largely a hardware thing," explaining that Bethesda develops games "that we want to make" for whatever platforms will support them. As an example, he cited The Elder Scrolls Online as a game that likely would have been developed for the Xbox 360 but that's only being released for PC and next-gen consoles because of "hardware limitations."

It doesn't reflect particularly well on the Wii U, but I don't imagine it will have much impact on the console's fortunes. After all, I don't recall any previous "big name" Bethesda titles appearing on Nintendo platforms, and at this point it seems clear that the system is going to live or die on first-party releases anyway. Is anyone really disappointed that The Elder Scrolls VI: Valenwood (or, you know, whatever) isn't going to be playable with a Wii U GamePad?

Source: Joystiq [http://www.joystiq.com/2013/08/06/wii-u-not-on-bethesdas-short-term-radar/]


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[Dr.Awkward]

Indeed, they should figure out how to make deep mechanics and story once again before they look into the Wii U...

 

[J Tyran]

These damn publishers, why are they not fulfilling their obligation to make games for the Wii U? First EA, then Ubisoft and bunch of others and now Bethesda is joining all the rest. It cannot be the fault of either Nintendo or the console, they are blameless so it can only be a conspiracy that's causing this.

 

[Covarr]

That's fine. I prefer games without thousands of bugs.

P.S. Thanks

 

[Soxafloppin]

I want to want a WiiU, but its getting pretty difficult

@JTyran, what obligation? Did they ever say that they were going to make any games for the WiiU? AS far as I know they never made any mention of games for the WiiU, so what obligation?

Pretty sure he was being sarcastic dude.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

See, Nintendo? This is what happens when you crap all over processing and graphics power. They're showing up to the 7th generation party and everyone's now long gone. Where were you guys 8 years ago? Oh right, sitting around and talking about 'gameplay over graphics'.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

@JTyran, what obligation? Did they ever say that they were going to make any games for the WiiU? AS far as I know they never made any mention of games for the WiiU, so what obligation?

Oh, and yeah, it can be the fault of the WiiU for the weak hardware and pathetically small amount of ram.

I'm not sure, but I think he was being sarcastic.

OT: I wish I knew more about processing instead of 'bigger numbers = good' to see what limitations Nintendo presented everyone with. But Nintendo HAD to know somehow that this all would happen.

I mean, it was bad enough that they forced companies to use Motion Control. now they have this tablet thing that most developers don't see the need for or will even bother programming new ideas for. However, they could probably just leave the tablet out. The regular controller looks kind of awful, but not vastly different than the 360's. So what is the issue?

 

[RJ 17]

Wow....I mean I had no personal interest in getting a WiiU. Hell, the last Nintendo system I owned was a frickin' N64. But is the WiiU really THAT bad? I haven't paid attention to it's specs or anything really relating to it, I just know that it's apparently going down in flames. Could anyone give me a brief summary of why NO ONE wants to make games for this thing and why customers have absolutely no desire to buy it?

 

[masticina]

I understand them, the WiiU neither has the sales nor much to offer here.

If someone knows how to unlock the real gain of the WiiU well.. we still have to see it. Probably in a mario title though and that is the problem yes.

What you gonna do, maybe the WiiU will rise up to be taken serious once enough are sold and things actually well seem positive.

 

[Jamash]

These damn publishers, why are they not fulfilling their obligation to make games for the Wii U? First EA, then Ubisoft and bunch of others and now Bethesda is joining all the rest. It cannot be the fault of either Nintendo or the console, they are blameless so it can only be a conspiracy that's causing this.

I blame the super-secret move to Next-Gen technology.

I think Microsoft, Sony and the publishers did actually know that they would be ending this generation and making new consoles and new games to run on these new consoles, but they kept it secret and didn't breath a word about any future plans until the actual unveiling of the Xbox One and PS4, which tricked Nintendo into making a brand new Current-Gen console just as the generation suddenly ended.

As you say, Nintendo are blameless because there was no way for them to know that this generation would suddenly end and everyone would be moving on to bigger and better things. How could they know? It was such a well kept secret that there wasn't even any speculation about a PS4 or next Xbox by gamers on message boards.

I think I speak for everyone when I say I was as surprised as Nintendo were by this shocking revelation and the sudden appearance on new, more powerful technology from out of nowhere.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

probably wouldn't make it past the first stage of Nintendo's quality assurance.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

Wow....I mean I had no personal interest in getting a WiiU. Hell, the last Nintendo system I owned was a frickin' N64. But is the WiiU really THAT bad? I haven't paid attention to it's specs or anything really relating to it, I just know that it's apparently going down in flames. Could anyone give me a brief summary of why NO ONE wants to make games for this thing and why customers have absolutely no desire to buy it?

Lack of support from Nintendo, strange/underpowered hardware compared to the upcoming nextgen consoles, burned by the Wii for the first question.

Lack of third party games, lack of first party games, people think its nothing more than a peripheral for the Wii for the second.

Oh yeah EA wanted Origin on it and Nintendo said no... I think.

 

[ZZoMBiE13]

Is anyone really disappointed that The Elder Scrolls VI: Valenwood (or, you know, whatever) isn't going to be playable with a Wii U GamePad?

Not even a little. But I do think the WiiU gamepad might actually make a decent showing with a Bethesda RPG. The inventory management on console version of Skyrim can charitably be called unwieldy, and uncharitably called complete bollocks. That's one of the few examples I can think of where the second screen WiiU pad might actually be useful.

I don't mean to bash the WiiU. I'm not an owner of one yet, but I desperately want to be. I think the tech is interesting. I just need someone... anyone... to make some games I actually want to play and that actually make use of the screen for something more than a loose gimmick. A price drop wouldn't hurt either... OK maybe I am bashing the WiiU. But it's out of genuine hope that it ends up in a good place.

I'm not Nintendo's biggest fan, but they do make Kirby games. And I love Kirby games. And if someone doesn't start buying the console then we'll never see Kirby's Epic Second Screen Adventure.

 

[Phrozenflame500]

Welp, that's another point against Nintendo. Too bad, I think Nintendo's really botching the Wii U at the moment.

 

[klaynexas3]

See, Nintendo? This is what happens when you crap all over processing and graphics power. They're showing up to the 7th generation party and everyone's now long gone. Where were you guys 8 years ago? Oh right, sitting around and talking about 'gameplay over graphics'.

Even then, their gameplay has typically been only really okay, with only a few great ones under their belts.

OT: This is hardly shocking. Granted, I'll still buy a WiiU solely for Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem and the new Xenoblade game. Also, considering I lack a Wii, I'll need that to be able to play the old Xenoblade. Then, even if I say Nintendo doesn't always have great games, that isn't to say they aren't fun and that I don't enjoy them, so I'll still probably get maybe a Mario and/or a Zelda game, but those definitely aren't console movers for me. Oh, and also I'll need a price drop, and either myself or my brother to move away from home, because he already has a WiiU.

 

[Dragonbums]

One of the most annoying things about Elder Scrolls games was the menu screen.
Not gonna lie, an Elder Scrolls game would be a god send on the WiiU. No more breaking yourself out of immersion with a too many slots UI.

However the fact that so many people inquired about a WiiU Elder Scrolls not only tells me that a lot of people desire a game on the WiiU, but they see the WiiU is more than capable enough to handle a game like Elder Scrolls.

Then again, Bethesda was always shit with ironing out their bugs. You put Nintendo's stance on high quality games, with Bethesdas "as long as it works" motto I have a feeling that those two wouldn't get along with each other anyway.
Unless of course Iwata gets a kick out of Wooly Mammoths hovering 35 feet in the air.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

What a surprise, another publisher doesn't want to get their toes wet and dip into the Nintendo pool.

As if they were ever going to in the first place since all I'm seeing these days is "I want to make games for nintendo but I was never going to in the first place" type of comments.

Still when the sales for nintendo pick up I'll be happy knowing the console is doing well in the face of naysayers.

That and Beth make the buggiest of games so I see them not making anything for the Wii U a good thing.