Bloomberg reporter Michael White reported yesterday on a phenomenon that has become commonplace in the industry: game makers having to play catch-up with Wii.
Electronic Arts' own story is featured prominently, using their recent release The Godfather: Blackhand Edition as a case study. Designer Nick Earl had to spend eight months—presumably the period between Wii's phenomenal reception at last year's E3 show and the beginning of this year—retooling the title for Wii. Take-Two, famous for Rockstar and their Grand Theft Auto series, is also noted as a late arrival, having gone from no interest last year to three Wii titles planned for this year.
White notes that game companies had expected Sony's PlayStation 3 to take the lead as did the PlayStation 2 before it, and GameCube's relatively poor showing was taken as an indication of where Nintendo would be headed—but Wii's showing at E3 changed their expectations.
Electronic Arts' own story is featured prominently, using their recent release The Godfather: Blackhand Edition as a case study. Designer Nick Earl had to spend eight months—presumably the period between Wii's phenomenal reception at last year's E3 show and the beginning of this year—retooling the title for Wii. Take-Two, famous for Rockstar and their Grand Theft Auto series, is also noted as a late arrival, having gone from no interest last year to three Wii titles planned for this year.
White notes that game companies had expected Sony's PlayStation 3 to take the lead as did the PlayStation 2 before it, and GameCube's relatively poor showing was taken as an indication of where Nintendo would be headed—but Wii's showing at E3 changed their expectations.