The Rayman / Wii U thing

This is a fun topic on everyone's mind, so I can't help but mention it. In August 2012, Ubisoft announced that the sequel to the acclaimed Rayman Origins, to be titled Rayman Legends, would be released as a Wii U launch title in November of the same year. Included in this announcement was the claim that it would be a Wii U exclusive. Nintendo and fans championed the game as a system-seller, one of the few third-party exclusives to get excited about. The development team was unable to ready the game in time for launch, and it was delayed to February 2013. Earlier this week, Ubisoft announced that the game was finished and ready for launch, but for business reasons was being withheld from store shelves until September. Oh yeah, and when it hit in September, it would be on Wii U. And Xbox 360. And PS3.

Nintendo loyalists and Wii U early adopters were understandably outraged - how would you feel if you spent $300 for a console just to play an upcoming game, then after the fact found out you didn't need to do so? I try to keep my opinions on the industry toned down on this site because every minute I spend Michael Pachtering, I could be analyzing an actual game. So I'll reserve my thoughts on Wii U (it's a piece of shit, a betrayal by Nintendo of its supporters, and a laughable business model that will be lucky if it only proves to be their Saturn, rather than their Dreamcast). But there's been a lot of outcry about what a terrible business decision (i.e. even if it wasn't costing them fans, it would supposedly be losing them sales) this is on Ubisoft's part, beyond being a slap in the face to consumers.

The primary argument is that releasing early for Wii U can't hurt, because it's not like Ubisoft loses out if they sell more U copies than 360 and PS3. What this suggestion circumvents is that by September, there will surely be more U owners than there are here in February (probably... I don't think Nintendo is tanking so bad as to expect more returns than sales), and it is well known that the majority of software sales are done in the first month after release. So if you've got five million Wii U owners in February, the MOST units you could sell in the first month is five million. For which you would need to achieve a 100% attach. But if by September another ten million Us have been sold, you can sell five million units by achieving a (much more realistic if still high) 33% attach. The only way to sell five million units with a 33% attach if the game is released in February is if you can maintain that rate for all new consoles sold over the next seven months. Not a feasible goal.

Everything Wii should have been in 2006... now a $300 console that feels seven years outdated

So while I'm sure some backroom dealing has gone on with Sony and MS to get themselves a bigger piece of the pie (with perhaps a few bucks slid Ubi's way), it seems to me that the most obvious reason for the delay is simply that the Wii U has not sold to expectations and has an unfavorable market forecast. A dick move my Ubisoft, but the blame is on Nintendo for being unable to get their console into more households. Fuck over the third parties and they'll fuck over you.