Wii could be first overall - Brown

EA has great confidence in Wii.

Electronic Arts' Jeff Brown has revealed the extent of the publisher's support for the Nintendo Wii, and believes that the console's place as second in line to either a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 could be very good news for Nintendo.

Speaking to Eurogamer during EA's summer showcase Brown, who is EA's corporate communications VP, noted: "everybody's saying that the Nintendo Wii is so unique that it's going to be the second system people buy, meaning if you own a 360 or a PS3, you'll probably also buy a Nintendo Wii."

"The funny thing is, some people say that discursively, like it's some sort of dig at Nintendo - and what they don't get is that if you're second on everybody's system, you're first overall."

Brown also revealed that EA plans to offer the Wii more support than it did the GameCube. "This is not a business plan, but there are a lot of people at EA who are walking around whispering: '40 / 40 / 20 per cent'," he said. EA has already pledged six titles to Nintendo's next-generation format, and Brown says that interest in the console internally has gone up after it received a spectacular welcome at E3.

"One of the things that we noticed after E3 is we thought, you know, we're going to support Nintendo, they've got an extraordinarily loyal base of consumers all over the world, and we had a number of games we planned to make for Nintendo Wii. That said, we were very surprised by the level of enthusiasm we saw at E3 and subsequently for the Wii," he told Eurogamer.

It's inevitable though, Brown said, that EA will direct its support based on market behaviour. Asked whether EA is equally committed to all three next-gen formats, he responded directly: "No."

"I don't want to be indiscreet, but the truth is EA is most committed to the platform with the biggest installed base. We've always been very practical and open about the fact that this is a business; if you do well in business, you get to keep making more games, and you can hire more people to make more different kinds of games - as long as you remember that this is a business first."

Brown also poured scorn on suggestions that the PS3 will be put in an impossible position by its unusually high price point.

"Everybody writes these big stories like 'Oh my God, what will this mean? Will they stumble for the next for years, can they recover?' When Sony first put out the PlayStation 2 there were hardware shortages, and some manufacturing glitches, and everybody was like 'Can they recover?'," he told us.

To read more of Brown's views on the next-generation formats, and EA's current direction, including questions of PS3 pricing and EA's commitment to new intellectual property, read the full Jeff Brown interview elsewhere on the site today.

Comments (15) Latest comment 6 years ago

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  • Kami #1 6 years ago

    EA talking sense?!

    *looks outside to check if the world is ending*
  • Kami #2 6 years ago

    I know... but still...
  • smelly #3 6 years ago

    EA is biggest and most profitable games company in the world.

    If they dont know what they're talking about, dunno who else will.
  • Furbs #4 6 years ago

    I'll remember that for the next time you troll an MS related article.
  • smelly #5 6 years ago

    Furbs: I'd love for you to point me towards my "trolling".

    I dont have any preference for any machine other than the ones which have the games i want to play.

    (and as the wii/ps3 arent out yet, i have no preference there, and as the 360 doesnt actually have a LOT of half decent games yet, i have no preference there either, ask me again in a years time)

    But feel free to link me..

    Edited by 1 at 17/07/06 @ 14:15
  • Teeth #6 6 years ago

  • smelly #7 6 years ago

    Besides...

    I'll remember that for the next time you troll an MS related article.

    Since when have msoft been the biggest and most profitable company (in relationship to their console) anyhow?

    Last i heard they were still making huge losses on the thing and the xbox did about as well as the cube worldwide?

    Edited by 1 at 17/07/06 @ 14:25
  • Ymir #8 6 years ago

    "The funny thing is, some people say that discursively, like it's some sort of dig at Nintendo"...

    They say it while hopping between other topics? Well, if it makes them happy...

    Disc - he may mat not be too smart though...
  • JSD124 #9 6 years ago

    Discursively also means to reach a conclusion by reason rather than intuition (thank you dictionary.com).

    But even then he doesn't make a very good point:

    "The funny thing is, some people reach that conlusion by reason rather than intuition, like it's some sort of dig at Nintendo"
  • Bates #10 6 years ago

    Wii will, Wii will rock you?
  • MasterThief #11 6 years ago

    I think he makes a fair point. If the internet is any indication of anything, the fabled 'Wii60' combo is very much in vogue. But we all know that the internet massive actually mean fuck all. I mean, if we really did set trends, then why so much combat in Tomb Raider: Legend, for example, when we all asked for the opposite? The truth is, the majority of gamers are casual, and they rarely buy more than one console in a given generation. I feel people are making too many assumptions too quickly...and foolishly writing off the PlayStation 3 while they're at it.
  • Ymir #12 6 years ago

    @ JSD124 - yepp it means that tooo, but check the first definition on your friendly neighbourhood dictionary.com ;-)
  • Nostromo13 #13 6 years ago

    Masterthief is right, casual gamers rarely have their voices heard, since they aren't the type to really complain, one console and a pro evo or fifa per year is all they purchase. Which means it all depends on the key franchises, which ps3 still has. So i think eventually the PS3 will probably dominate...unfortunately.
  • MyPointIs #14 6 years ago

    ? ... because if Microsoft dominated it would be better you mean?

    I'm afraid the day that happens there will be no coming back. I DON'T want it to happen.

    What I mean is, there should be a law prohibiting ANY company to have more than a 60% share on ANY market. Or something like that.
    Edited by 1 at 18/07/06 @ 12:58
  • EmiliasHorse #15 6 years ago

    The Wii is an odd little fellow, if it didn't have the wiggly controller thingy and went head on against Sony & MS with a genuine next gen machine I think they would lose heavily. It is under powered and technically a bit shit....with the exception of a controller which could be great or annoying as hell.

    Only time will tell if the gimmick works or goes the way of Eye-toy. Which initially excited then bored and finally got shoved in the cupboard only to be played by the 5 year old who actually finds the box its stored in more fun (Daft sod).
  • Shadar #16 6 years ago

    Really? Where did you glean this insight from? Are you actually stating that the Wii's raison d'etre is *shock & horror* the Wiimote?

    Quick! Call one of those big-shot analysts. I think the next-gen console war just took a highly unexpected turn!