Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America’s CEO, fires at both Sony and Microsoft because their new consoles don’t have the amount of exclusive content that the Wii U has.
In an interview with Recode, Fils-Aime admits that he would love to see big titles like Watch Dogs and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare on Nintendo’s newest console, but defends that the Wii U offers something that can’t be found on the PS4 or Xbox One. In answering a statement that each console has specific titles:
But interestingly, when you look at either one, either by themselves doesn’t have a lot of exclusive content. They have a lot of shared content…They don’t have our games. They don’t have Mario and Zelda. I’d much rather be where Nintendo is, with a differentiated platform, differentiated set-up experiences that we can provide uniquely to the consumer.
Evaluating the Exclusives
If you include Halo: The Master Chief Collection that’s coming out next week, there are 15 exclusive on Xbox One (that will not be found anywhere else including PC now or in the future) in North America. Forza Motorsport 5, Killer Instinct, and Sunset Overdrive are the most notable. There are just seven exclusive games on PS4 (excluding the same games on Vita) in North America. Two Infamous games, Killzone: Shadow Fall, and Driveclub are the highlights.
Fils-Aime does have a point when it comes to exclusives. Even when comparing a list of games that are coming out, there is a large number of exclusives for Nintendo. Last generation, Nintendo got by with the Wii for being a secondary console to most gamers because it was cheap enough. Sony and Microsoft battled it out.
Xbox One and PS4 are already lowering prices and continue to fight. If people were eager to spend $400-500 on a new console last year, there could be Black Friday deals hovering just over $500 to pick up both a Wii U and an Xbox One or PS4.
If the install base rises for Wii U, publishers will sign back on. And that’s what Fils-Aime and all of Nintendo wants.
Header image credit: Nintendo Invader
Body image credit: Nintendo Life
