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EA Says Wii U Is “Absolutely” Next-Gen

Cam Weber, EA Sports general manager of football, recently took the opportunity to talk about the forthcoming Madden game which is due to be released on Wii U. Weber was asked a number of questions including whether or not he thought the Wii U was truly a next-gen console. His reply, “absolutely”.

There is some fear that Nintendo’s Wii U platform will be stuck between the current generation and the next one. Is the console really a next-gen platform?

Absolutely. It’s a [new] platform with a new controller input, so we’ll do everything we can to deliver an experience that will take advantage of the hardware for that consumer.

Tip: Jeff C

89 thoughts on “EA Says Wii U Is “Absolutely” Next-Gen”

  1. Department of Agriculture

    Of course it is. I had no doubt. The original Wii is a great system. I like many of its games. It’s a shame it’s so many hate on it. Really missing out. Of course it could be much better, but I think that’s what the Wii U will ultimately become–what the Wii could have been.

  2. It is a next gen console but it doesn’t seem like that big of a jump to be considered next gen, it think people say its not next gen because it still uses the Wii name and nintendo usually makes new names for each console

    1. Even then though we have the PS3 and Xbox360. And that isn’t 100% their style, they’ve really just released most consoles. 3DS, DSi, DSi XL even if the DSi’s are just upgrades, then there was Gameboy, Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advance, the NES, the SNES, apart from a few different consoles that really isn[‘t the case tbh.

        1. are you serious? this is a way bigger upgrade then what we usually see, what did the ps3 bring to the ps2? or the gamecube to the n64? this adds much more than before

            1. I think people are too much of graphic whores and only look at the graphics and not how well it plays games or innovation jumps. We’ll see when its actually in my hands, but either way I only care about the first party titles so people can say what they want, just let me play my games.

              Don’t worry Sanic, I know you ain’t hatin :P

              1. thanks at least somebody understands me, i was planning on buying a wii U too, im not a graphics whore myself but i love star fox and metroid and
                pikmin too much to not buy one

  3. People think next-gen means better graphics than the last console. I think a next-gen console a new device that brings a shit-ton of new features, including a new control scheme. Wii U is definitely next gen.

    1. Next gen, its what’s next in line, Nintendo could go back to nes graphics and the A and Buttons with a D pad, Start and Select, and it would still be considered Next Gen, Because it would be the Succesor to the Wii.

  4. Now Nintendo just needs to price this thing at $300 to $350, if they can manage to sell it for that much and still gain profit, I think the Wii U might have a shot against current gen Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, while also being cheaper than Next Xbox and Playstation 4

    1. If I know Sony and Microsoft, they are gonna go for the best of the best and release a more powerful console than the Wii U, thus making the Next Xbox and Playstation more expensive

      1. That is historically true, but both companies are not in any position to do so and Sony has also stated they don’t want to. Sony’s lost a lot of money in the last few years.

          1. I was responding to his point where he said that Sony and MS are going to release significantly more powerful consoles for the next gen. WHile it has been historically true that Sony and MS always release significantly more powerful consoles every generation, they don’t seem to be in any position to do that this time.

            In essence don’t expect the graphics uprgrade between the PS3/PS4 and XBox 360/XBox720 to be as big as it was for the leap between PS2/PS3 and XBox/XBox 360.

            1. I agree. People seem to forget that both PS1 & PS2 were weaker than their competitors before. While Microsoft made Xbox 1 much stronger, they still took a ton of losses off of each Xbox 1 console being sold.

              The PS3 in general, has erased every single profit that Sony made with the PS2, & that was the most successful selling console of all time. They nearly erased all of PS1’s profits as well (the 2nd most successful selling home gaming console), & didn’t turn profitable with the PS3 until Spring of 2010. Microsoft, added even more losses with the Xbox 360, & didn’t even turn profitable from that console until 2008.

              They want the profits to keep going, & going with more newly, cutting edge tech will only hinder that progress further. This is why, IMO, that they’re going to go the route of Gamecube to Wii, & to be using off the shelf parts to make sure that they would turn profitable (or to at least break even) on day one. The days of the PS2 to PS3 jump in power & graphics are over for Sony & Microsoft.

              The only guaranteed next gen console that will receive that type of jump is Wii U, & it should even far surpass what the 360 & PS3 have for a much cheaper price using either 2008/2009/2010 tech (I’m guessing it’s either one of the three years), which Nintendo could make a profit on day one & still be more powerful.

              1. my mistake what i mean is the Sega master system not genesis. ms is powerful than nes but lost.

      2. Sony has stated they aren’t gonna be putting near as much into their next console, and Microsoft has had some heavy losses Nintendo is the only company hasn’t been hit very hard from last gen consoles

    2. They can’t afford expensive hardware after all the losses, not to mention the economy. Next gen consoles are going to be a very small jump graphically. Everybody is expecting these super powered machines, but they are going to be very disappointed.

  5. The only people in denial about whether the Wii U is a next gen console of not are fanboys who only started gaming in the 6th & 7th generation and consider Nintendo to always be the underdog in the industry. When in fact Nintendo has always been on top of the industry and have rarely faltered, and even when they look down they come roaring back. Haven’t people learned after all these years to never count Nintendo out?

    Hopefully all this “stopgap console” nonsense will end at E3, but most likely not. When you’ve been kicking ass and on top of your game for over 25 years, haters gonna hate. Leave luck to heaven.

      1. My dad said to me once…

        “I brought you into this world, I can take you out”

        This is what Nintendo is saying to sony.

          1. “haters gonna hate” moves around nintendo.

            people hate that mario is a top seller and the icon of past, present, and future of video games. nintendo rules!!

            i hope the wii U is a next gen console not only by the new gameplay features but also by tech specs, i dont mean a big leap but at least 10%better than current ones

            1. Haters wanna hate, lovers wanna love.
              I don’t even want none of the above
              I just want my Wii U

              I got that idea from Chappelle’s Show.

          1. this reminds mii, Atari and Sony were both market leader… until Nintendo kick ass on nes and wii.

    1. Anyone who has been gaming since, at least, the 5th gen knows that all the crap about Nintendo always being behind is nonsense. They claim Nintendo consoles are always the weakest, yet what they fail to realize is that the Wii was the very first graphically inferior console Nintendo ever released. In fact at one point, Nintendo had the strongest gaming hardware available. If you look at spec sheets, its easy to tell the the N64 was a much more powerful console than its competitor, the Playstation. In fact you can tell just by the bits. N64 was a 64 bit system, and the PS1 was 32 bits, and if we learned anything from NES vs SNES, its that having twice the bits makes quite the difference. People really need to refresh their gaming history, and any gamer who has a brain knows that it is not wise to ever count Nintendo out. People made that mistake when Nintendo was battling Sega, but who won that battle? And Sega made a lot of the same mistakes that Sony is making, like releasing new add on hardware and not supporting it. Sega had the SegaCD, and Sony has the Move. Point delivered. Trust me kids, Nintendo is a force to be reckon with.

      1. Well said. It’s very sad that with all the information at our fingertips these days, people seem to less informed than usual. Yet more opinionated than ever.

      2. Totally agree 100% i’ve seen it since day 1 of the NES into SNES, N64, GameCube and WII and now the WII U. Nintendo will never die. ;)

  6. EA’s games are so good…
    But their business practices are so bad…
    That aside, it’s interesting to see so many mixed things on the Wii U, and it’s starting to make me think that it may be weaker in some areas, but stronger than others, which could run into a PS3-esque problem with ports and such, although devs already have to go the extra mile for the controller.
    These small pieces of news usually don’t end up meaning much, it’s Nintendo’s words, and more often, their games that show what they have truly achieved.

    1. A football game is perfect for the Wii U’s controller. You can draw out your plays on the controller screen and watch them play out on the screen. This is perfect if your playing against a friend locally.

          1. On a seperate genre: It would be great for playing an online Yu-Gi-Oh! game. God damn it, I hope Konami is working on that right now.

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  8. EA, thank you for being a major company with some guts to give us some kind of confidence about the Wii U, in a world of early naysayers from anonymous sources.

  9. I believe Nintendo’s new console will be next-gen in terms of gameplay, not graphics. I think that was what he was referring to. Remember, game generation is not solely defined by graphical power anymore.

      1. I have a better question: How would anyone think he was referring solely to graphics when discussing next-gen, hm? Oh wait, that’s right, everyone is still hung up on graphics defining everything, even Nintendo fanboys. My mistake.

  10. YES!
    YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!

  11. Dear Nintendo,

    Stop making white consoles. Who the $#%& has a white TV? Maybe 1 out of 10,000 people? Who has white entertainment centers? Probably the same number. Make a black console again, like the N64! Please!

    1. Dear Icy Dead People,

      Here’s my advice to you once you get the Wii U– USE A FREAKIN’ SPRAY CAN!!!!!

      Signed,
      Satoru Iwata

  12. @Icy Dead People White is considered to have the broadest appeal of any color. If they should market any color more than another, it should be white. It’s business sense, which you don’t seem to have any of.

  13. How do we know that these annonamous developers claiming wii u was under powered was’nt nintendo’s own PR team secrectly sturing the hardcore crowd? This could of have been done to create more SHOCK value at E3 when they unviel the REAL power of the Wii U. Plus it keeps people talking & speculating, Great marketing stratergy if u ask me! When the SHOCK happens, no dout, Nintendo’s Stocks will shoot back up too!

    1. After looking at preview titles coming to the Wii U, I have a great feeling the lineup of third party titles will be HUGE!!!!!

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