8 months before E3 and many months after this is what it was like between EA and Nintendo. Nintendo noticed that many people commended EA's online system and netcode they did for their Wii games (Madden, Medal of Honor, ect) so they asked them if they could work on contract to help build the core online ecosystem for their next gen console. EA provide a ton of consoling to Nintendo, such as how to make low-latency net code, username account systems, social networks and more. While other companies did provide input as well, EA made sure to provide the most input and support for the Wii U's R&D.
As an reward, EA received development kits even before Ubisoft, Valve or Tecmo Koei. Many of EA's studios were interested, especially Bioware who have been wanting to put their own games on a Nintendo system for ages and finally had the technical ability to do it with a Mass Effect Trilogy port and Dragon Age 3 on slate for the system.
Here comes the problem. At a meeting in Kyoto, a month or so after Peter Moore visited them, Nintendo of Japan showed EA their new Nintendo Network and Miiverse online system for Wii U. They wanted to congratulate them helping them with the support and paid them for their counseling.
This is where reportedly EA according to my friends who were at the meeting the core executives at EA got greedy. They then offered this deal to Nintendo where EA could go further with the online system adding smartphone/tablet functionality, communities, Facebook and Twitter interactions and more. Better netcode and something that would truly rival X-Box Live and PSN.
The catch?
Nintendo would have to make the Nintendo Network for Wii U officially part of Origin and run Origin's interface and netcode. Ergo, Nintendo Network would be an Origin-exclusive network.
Nintendo actually did debate for a minute if they should accept EA's deal, but they quickly decided (and put their foot down) that there was WAY more harm than good doing this. Even though Nintendo Network can link to Origin and it's servers, having the core network running on Origin would provide quality control issues. For example, if EA wanted to sell some low end DLC for $50 each when realistically consumers would buy it only for $5, EA could do this without Nintendo having any say since it was their network and not Nintendo's. Also, if a rival company let's say Activision wanted to put Modern Warfare 4 on Wii U, EA could give Activison the WORST netcode and support resources while putting all their back into Battlefield 4, thus making a rival look worse than EA"s products.
These unfair business possibilities and consumer complaints on Origin for PC made Nintendo reject EA's offering for Origin and instead opted to keep the platform open to it's own internal network and able to link/patch in other networks such as Steam and uPlay.
This, like the PSN vs. Capcom incident that caused MH4 to jump ship, destroyed any momentum that Nintendo had with EA for Wii U. While EA still likes Wii U and will support it, from what I understand unless the launch titles or future titles sell way beyond expectations,
EA will simply "throw Wii U bones" by putting some multiplatform games without giving them any real budgets. This means we are going to get low quality in terms of budget and manpower ports of various EA games with no soul behind them and thus the original agreement of ME3, FIFA and Madden are gimped and the developers have only that small budget to work with.
Ironically, the good thing that came out of this is that other 3rd parties praised Nintendo. This especially pleased Ubisoft, who was head over heels with the system to begin with and this move further solidified their partnership with the Big N. In a way, Nintendo lost EA and gained the entire good side of Ubisoft instead.
This also gave props to Valve, who also loves the system and since they are hard at work for 5 games in the next three years next year they will show off games for Wii U, starting with a multiplat Left 4 Dead prequel announcement for Q1/Q2 2013.
Rumor: EA wanted to integrate Origin into Wii U
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Originally Posted by Battlefield
