Say what you will about Michael Pachter–the man has an audience. And this week's Game Monetization Summit was no exception. Giving the opening talk for the event, Pachter of course had some choice words for some the industries most visible companies, predicting there will be little support for the Wii U in a year:
“I think you're going to see now with the Wii U, notwithstanding its early launch support, nobody's going to support it…I don't think we're going to see every game on the Wii U next year. I think when next-gen consoles come out they're going to be better than the Wii U. Call of Duty is amazing on the Wii U this year. The problem with playing Call of Duty online is it's a community and if there's only four people playing it on the Wii U it's no fun. Nobody in their right mind would buy a Wii U and say 'I'm going to play Call of Duty.' That's like saying 'I gave up Facebook, and it's Google+ now'.”
While Pachter certainly has the credentials to make the claims he does, I have to wonder if he's truly aware of the power of Nintendo franchises. So long as Nintendo properities retain a fanbase (which they undoubtedly will for the foreseeable future), Nintendo will be at least somewhat relevant–especially in the handheld field. I don't see the gaming audience really giving a damn if Call of Duty is on the Wii U when they have various Nintendo properties, none of which are available on other consoles, to play.
I think it also bears saying that at some point, Nintendo will undoubtedly catch up with their Western counterparts as visual quality tops out and manufacturing high definition components becomes inevitably cheaper. How much better can high definition get before we no longer need to perfect it? We're certainly going to top out soon and once we do, it's merely a catch up game for Nintendo. At that point, Nintendo ingenuity and their insistance on trying out new technologies will become an asset that gives them an edge once again.
That being said, it's no secret that Nintendo needs to adapt to what are now considered industry standards. They've started something good with the services provided on the Wii U, but they're far too concerned with coddling those who've yet to make the transition to more complicated technology to be considered on the edge of technology much longer. Something has to give, but I don't think the situation is as dire as one man claims.
Pachter also goes on to say that Call of Duty: Black Ops II is a "failure" on the basis of not monetizing the multiplayer, comparing the $60 retail price of the game versus the subscription based $180 that WoW players dish out each year. This observation I find highly irritating, as it promotes the exploitation of the player in the name of capitalism instead of respecting gamer culture and our ever dwindling cash supplies (though I do have to admit he was at a summit about game monetization, not how to refrain from bleeding gamers dry). He also predicts that Activision will later make the single player campaign "free" while charging monthly for the multiplayer to make up for this deficit. Me, I predict one day they'll phase out single player campaigns all together.
For more on Pachter's remarks, including his dire outlook on Zynga, check out the original article on Gamesindustry.biz.
