Skip to main content

Rayman Legends, Ninja Gaiden 3, and the troubling exodus of Nintendo’s Wii U exclusives

rayman legends
Image used with permission by copyright holder

With sales standing at 3 million consoles the Wii U has an audience hungry for new games, but since the machine’s November release new games have been few and far between. The end of February was going to bring sweet relief in the form Ubisoft’s Rayman Legends, one of the more promising Wii U originals that debuted at E3 2012. Unfortunately though, Ubisoft broke the bad news yesterday that Rayman Legends would be delayed yet again, this time until Fall 2013. The announcement was specifically a blow to Nintendo players, as Ubisoft also confirmed that Rayman Legends for Wii U is all but complete. It pushed the game back so it could release alongside ports to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, making its platformer yet another Wii U exclusive to jump ship.

Recommended Videos

“We decided to give the fans what they wanted while at the same time broadening the audience exposed to this innovative and memorable game,” said Ubisoft marketing’s Geoffroy Sardin,  “We heard from many Xbox and PlayStation owners and Rayman fans who told us they really wanted to play Rayman Legends on their current system.”

Publishers want their games on as many platforms as possible to maximize the return on their investment, so Sardin’s comments hold true. That said, Wii U game sales are dire. Market analysts peg the Wii U attach rate (the number of games sold with a console) in the United States at just 1.2 games per console. Unconfirmed reports on January game sales in the UK say just 34,000 Wii U games were sold including NintendLand packed in with the Deluxe Set.

Rayman simply isn’t a brand that can thrive under those conditions. When Rayman Origins released in 2011, it was available on Wii, PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. It still sold just 50,000 copies in its first month in the US and it failed. It never even broke into the top 35 best-sellers list in the UK.

Tecmo Koei also announced that Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge, another Wii U exclusive, will make the jump to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this spring. VGChartz’s sources indicate that the game’s sold just 200,000 copies since releasing alongside Wii U in November.

Nintendo needs games to sell the Wii U, but publishers need the Wii U to sell in order to justify making games for the platform. For now, as has historically been the case with Nintendo’s consoles, the burden is on Nintendo itself to build that audience. The only way to keep games exclusive to Wii U is for Nintendo to pay for them themselves. “We’re a development company,” said Platinum Games’ Hideki Kamiya on Twitter responding to questions about whether Bayonetta 2 and The Wonderful 101 would stay Wii U exclusive, “Nintendo gives us money, we make Bayonetta 2 and The Wonderful 101, and they sell it. So if Nintendo says, ‘We’re putting Bayonetta 2 on PlayStation 3/Xbox 360,’ it’ll come out on those platforms. So ask Nintendo about it.”

Anthony John Agnello
Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. He works as the Community Manager of Joystiq.com and his writing has…
My Best Buy Plus and Total members, don’t miss this Nintendo Switch 2 offer
The Nintendo eShop appears on a Switch 2 screen.

The Nintendo Switch 2 was just launched, but rewards are already up for grabs if you buy games and accessories from the Nintendo Switch deals at Best Buy. For every $150 that you spend on games and accessories for the Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch, you'll receive a $20 gift certificate. You can get rewards of up to $100, which you'll accumulate if you're going to make a $750 investment.

The only requirement to start collecting the gift certificates is that you should be a My Best Buy Plus or My Best Buy Total member. My Best Buy Plus, which costs $50 a year, gives you perks such as free two-day shipping and an extended 60-day return window on most products, while My Best Buy Total, which costs $180 a year, adds protection plans and 24/7 tech support, among lots of other benefits.

Read more
Buy a Samsung G6 or G9 gaming monitor and get a free JBL gaming headset
Kena Bridge of Spirits on the Samsung Odyssey OLED G9.

If your gaming PC setup needs a screen upgrade, we highly recommend taking a look at Samsung monitor deals. There are always some huge savings available for the brand's gaming monitors, and we've picked out two of them for you to consider. The 27-inch Samsung Odyssey OLED G6 gaming monitor is on sale for $700 following a $200 discount on its original price of $900, while the 49-inch Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 gaming monitor is down to $1,000 for savings of $800 on its sticker price of $1,800.

No matter which of these two displays you choose, you'll get the JBL Quantum One gaming headset -- featuring active noise cancellation, head-tracking 3D audio, epic audio quality, and an ergonomic design with a regular price of $200 -- for absolutely free. You're going to have to hurry with your purchase though, as there's no telling how much time is remaining until the price cuts and the offer for the free gaming headset expire.

Read more
3 PlayStation Plus games to play this weekend (June 13-15)
Dead by Daylight player standing in front of a fire.

After the State of Play last week, followed by all the Summer Game Fest announcements, PlayStation fans have tons of upcoming PS5 games to look forward to. The only downside is we can't play them right now. That's where my weekly PS Plus game recommendations come in to save the weekend. This time around, I wanted to mix things up by celebrating Friday the 13th as well as give you some games to wet your appetites for a few of the more exciting game announcements. I've crammed in a classic multiplayer game, brutal single-player adventure, and cult classic strategy title here to cover as many bases as possible.

Dead by Daylight

Read more