While Nintendo's consoles hasn't been a third-party powerhouse since the Super NES days, it seems the Wii U might be suffering from third-party support being sub-standard, too.
In a report by Kotaku, they checked most of the "big" multiplatform games of 2013's first-quarter and asked publishers if each game was coming out for the Wii U.
Here are some of the responses,
Aliens: Colonial Marines
Release Date: February 12 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Coming to Wii U? "Yes, ACM is coming to Wii U," a rep from Sega confirmed. We have not announced a specific date yet, just that it launches before the end of Nintendo's launch window (aka March 31, 2013)."
Splinter Cell: Blacklist
Release Date: Spring 2013 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Coming to Wii U? "The decision to bring a game to the Wii U will be made on a case-by-case basis," a Ubisoft rep told us. "We don't have any details to share at the moment."
Tomb Raider
Release Date: March 5, 2013 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Coming to Wii U? A Square Enix rep says: "the announced platforms for Tomb Raider = X360, PS3, PC. No Wii U."
To check up on the rest of the respones, click here. Also of note, an EA rep issued a "no plans" answer when asked if Dead Space 3, Crysis 3 or Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel will be making its way onto the Wii U. Not to be an ass, but it seems that Mass Effect 3 port was EA throwing Nintendo a bone or something.
So, out of all the publishers asked, only Aliens: Colonial Marines and Injustice: Gods Among Us were confirmed for the new console. For Wii U buyers, it might be slim-pickings for you when the first-quarter of 2013 comes around unless you can survive on Nintendo titles alone.
Of course, keep in mind that even if there are a ton of third-party releases not confirmed for the Wii U now, doesn't mean they won't be in the future. Perhaps they're waiting to see how big its installed user base is before they commit anything. Heck, there's also the possibility that publishers are lining up Wii U-exclusive games as we speak but aren't ready to talk about them yet.
We can speculate all we want at this point, but one thing's for certain. You will need a PC, Xbox 360 or PS3 to enjoy most of 2013's first-quarter releases.
Is this a concern for you or were you expecting this all along and bought a Wii U for the Nintendo exclusives? How can Nintendo make sure what happened to the GameCube and original Wii doesn't happen to the Wii U when it comes to third-party abandonment?
