Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot spoke recently with Red Herring about game development, new platforms and other types of hardware ventures, and networking via the internet. Among the many things discussed were the Wii and DS. Ubisoft is among the first developers that come to mind when considering the ones that embraced the Wii from the get-go. Its Red Steel game was the first Wii game visually revealed to the world, aside from a simplistic Metroid Prime 3 tech demo long beforehand. Check out what Mr. Guillemot had to say about Nintendo.
Q: Ubisoft embraced Nintendo’s Wii early and you’ve had a lot of success on the platform. What did you see that other publishers and developers didn’t?
A: We were extremely impressed by [Nintendo’s] new path, and thought it could give our game creators a new way to express themselves and create new sensations. We talked to people in the company; they loved Nintendo. We thought it was a great opportunity to create something new.We had a new machine that our creators loved that would be cheaper and totally different. We said “Let’s go, let’s take the risk.” Developers pushed us. When they understood they could create something [new] it was not a risk anymore—it was an interesting new way of playing.
Q: Speaking of the DS, Ubisoft will be releasing some new games for that platform soon. It continues to sell extremely well—how do you view it?
A: The DS is a little bit like the Wii. There’s a new interface and it’s helping customers to learn [how to play games] faster. With a good interface we can do lots of things. Learning how to have a better vocabulary, languages, lifestyle, etc. We have to take the opportunity and we have to do it fast.
Head over to the link below and read the rest of the interview with Ubisoft’s head honcho.
