Pachter: Nintendo Created the Wii U Pro Controller for Call of Duty
by William D'Angelo, posted on 16 July 2012 / 3,631 Views
Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter claims that Nintendo created the Wii U Pro Controller because Activision would not bring Call of Duty to the platform without a standard Gamepad.
"I think that essentially this is a solution in search of a problem. I mean, somebody had an idea - 'let's make the controller a tablet' - and there aren't many games that are going to take advantage of that,” said Pachter. "Activision never said anything to me, but I know that big games like Call of Duty they said, 'No, we're not putting it on there if you don't give us a conventional controller'. So they gave in."
Pachter who was not a fan of the Wii, is remaining skeptical on the Wii U. "I just think that they really believe that, 'If we're still novel, everything we do will work, '" said Pachter. "This isn't going to work. Hardcore gamers will buy them; hardcore Nintendo fanboys will buy it. They could put out a piece of cardboard and say that it'll play Mario and they'll buy it."
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22 Comments
I like constructive criticism but man this guy just seems like a hater lol
Even the Wii got almost all the CoD & MW games and a port of these games to the Wii U is much easier than to the Wii. As always: it is not important what Pachter says (his words are as unlogical as ever) but WHY he said such things. After all, Pachter is only a employee and says what his boss wants him to say. Because Pachters words always generate some attention, his words are not always his opinion but used by his bosses as some kind of marketing or anti-marketing for some companies.
What rubbish,Nintendo made a pro controller for the original Wii. why should it be any different this time around??
Patcher's a Nintendo-hater and a troll, sorry guys it's just the cold truth. If Activision was so against having COD on a non-conventional controller, why did it come out on the Wii and on the DS?
maybe they made a non-tablet controller because the tablet part isn't necessary. I don't think any of the games shown NEED the tablet part. and we can also assume that the tablet part cost a decent amount of money. the pro controller could simply be a cheaper alternative controller, it looking like a normal controller there are enough diehard nintendo fanboys that they don't need COD to sell the console.
So Activision was fine with making games that use the Wiimote and DS touch screen. But they draw the line at the Wii U tablet? Strange.
I do think the pro controller probably was made in part to appease 3rd party developers who may have no interest in a tablet controller to allow for easy ports (as well as consumers who also prefer traditional controllers)...doesn't take a genius to figure that one out.
Call of Duty has been on every platform regardless of controller or power. How is the Wii U any different?
I think the difference is he wouldn't get paid for saying something truthful and logical like what you just said.
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I love the line about "They didn't say anything to me, but I KNOW they said this ..."
I hate how people think the gaming industry revolves around COD and so called hardcore shooters..it doesnt.
I thought they made it so we didn't have to deal with the awful wiimote in smash bros.
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Considering CoD has a fanbase on Wii which would prefer wiimote controlers over tablet, saying Activision demanded the pro seems absurd. I would think Activision would utilize the tablet in some capacity although pro would also be supported - mainly for split-screen as not everyone can aim with wiimotes. To me the obvious reason for Pro is Gamecube VC downloads
Given he was proven wrong in the past, he really shouldnt be risking this kind of prediction this time around. I like him, but sometimes he says the most outlandish things. For once fellow baby, wait and see.
all the people saying the wii cod... please don't kid yourself even the most die hard fanboy cannot deny it was terrible on the wii..... I am pretty sure the pro controller is a just cheaper tablet controller. as I said before, chances are few games will need it, and it will just be a little bonus. the majority of games will use the pro controller or at least be pro compatible.
It's not a matter of how good or bad the Wii version of COD was (and yes, it was quite bad). The fact is that Pachter claims that Activision threatened not to port Black Ops II to Wii U unless it had a "conventional controller," while Activision's history of porting COD to every console under the sun regardless of control options suggests that he could not be more wrong.
Sure, it's likely that third parties told Nintendo they wanted a more traditional controller. But they might not have had to. It would make sense that it was always Nintendo's intention to redesign their Classic Controller Pro for the Wii U. It does NOT make sense to suggest that Activision would pass on an opportunity to get COD on another console; their own practices in the past directly contradict this theory.
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I played WaW and BO for a combined 600+ hours. While they aren't amazing ports to call them terrible isn't quite right either. I prefer the Wiimote+nunchuck controls over dual analog. I still used the Wiimote+nunchuck combo even on BO which had an option to use the classic controller. Ending up in the top 200 on HCHQ and top 300 in HCTDM shows that one can be quite good with the Wiimote + nunchuck control scheme.
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Wii COD games are ok, i think a lot of effort was put in to porting them (more than the half arsed attempts from other 3rd party devs). The controls piss over dual analogue, and for Wii it offers a half decent online multiplayer. What makes people hate on it,and is the bain of the gaming industry at present is graphics..people are so driven by graphics they think poor graphics equals poor game.The Wii COD games play pretty well, in fact identical to the HD ones just in a lower resolution.
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I personally wish they had just used the pro controller as their standard controller and the tablet as an add one, or accessory. Hard core gamers want a regular controller. Hard core games demand them.
There isn't anything the Pro Controller can do that the GamePad can't. "Hard core games" do not "demand" the Pro Controller. I also question how you define "hard core" games and gamers, since I didn't hear anyone complaining about Metroid Prime 3 using the standard Wii controllers.
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What most of the other commenters are failing to catch is that he's essentially right. Nintendo made the pro controller to entice the tremendous sales of the hardcore shooter fans. It's blatantly obvious when you look at the sales of Wii CoD vs HD Twins' CoD titles. In this case, it's not Pachter making ridiculous statements but blatantly obvious ones.
His reasons are wrong, but his statement is okay to say the least. There are millions of other reasons than FPS' for NIntendo to create the Pro controller, even before the gen7 spree of FPS' did Nintendo realize they needed a pro controller. So no.
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Yes, but they already HAD a pro controller and it wasn't good enough. This new pro controller is a response to that. If they didn't have such mediocre pro controllers before, they wouldn't be redesigning it.
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