Activision publishing boss Eric Hirshberg has confirmed that the company is going to support Nintendo's upcoming console Wii U.
“We take our time to get our ducks in a row before pulling any trigger. We don’t have announcements today but we will be supporting Wii U,” he told GI.Biz.
It's an interesting quote considering just yesterday we received leaked scans from Nintendo Gamer magazine revealing that Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is planned to release on the Wii U this November.
Coming off E3, the Wii U still has a lot to prove. While the company did preview some promising core third-party titles, the system still lacks that big title that will help the Wii U appeal to the mass audience. If Black Ops 2 does come to the Wii U, it'll hopefully provide a boost in sales for Nintendo's new console. At the moment, however, Nintendo and Activision have yet to make an official announcement.
“I think it’s interesting to think about all the platforms. Just in general, that’s part of my job as a studio head, working with Activision on assessing where our creative can live," Hirshberg explained. "How can people experience it? We obviously have been a Nintendo developer for many years and have created many Call of Duty games on the Nintendo platform. [Wii U] is clearly a more powerful platform than its predecessor and… they have obviously a unique controller and interface.”
Nintendo has been pushing innovation with the Wii U, starting with their tablet controller, now officially called the GamePad. As detailed at E3, the GamePad not only offers a second screen, but touch-capabilities, NFC tech, motion and gyro sensors, and other appealing features that developers can play with to create a unique gameplay experience that can be found only on the Wii U.
Hirshberg already shared interest in the concept of a second screen, but reminded us that we already have that type of technology, introduced with Call of Duty Elite last year.
"We were there with second screen enhancements with Call of Duty Elite last year and one of the primary uses we're finding comes through the tablet and through the smartphone," he added.
He continued, "People are using it as that sidecar as they're playing… People are using it in that between games way that I think now you're seeing that kind of rhetoric with the controller from Nintendo as well as the SmartGlass presentation from Microsoft. So it's great that others are jumping on board and enhancing that idea but it's something we were doing last year with Elite."
Can a Wii U version of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 compete with the Xbox 360/PS3 versions? It certainly does have appealing qualities, but despite how well it may look and play on the console, it's hard to break people's habits. If they have previously purchased it year in and year out for the Xbox 360 or PS3, it may be hard to get them to switch.
