We’re Nintendo fanboys. We admit it. (But damn Nintendo we’ve sure missed the core Final Fantasy series over the last decade). Just ignore our fanboyness for a second and take an objective look at EA’s comments on the upcoming Wii.
Once we started to experiment with Madden on Wii, there was an explosion of innovation. Everyone in the studio is energized by the creative opportunity afforded by both the hardware and controller.
– John Schappert, Senior VP and General Manager, EA.
In an IGN report on the state of 3rd party development for the Nintendo Wii, we see evidence of the positive effects of Nintendo’s upcoming system: a rejuvinated EA development team. In the above quote, Schappert doesn’t mince words:
– explosion of innovation
– energized by the creative opportunity
What we see here is the trickle down effect of console innovation. Nintendo introduces a radically novel way to play games, and the developers who make games get excited to make their games. Now consider what it would be like if we left the game industry to Microsoft and Sony: a bunch of bored EA developers. Same old grind. Same old game mechanics.
With the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo has injected a creative steroid into the gaming industry which should result in an explosion of innovation that doesn’t stop at the hardware level. It’ll trickle down into the games. And because of this we should be thankful to Nintendo for their relentless pursuit of innovation – an innovation that goes much deeper than many of us ever realize.
[tags]nintendo,nintendo wii,video game innovation,EA,Electronic Arts[/tags]