When Nintendo announced the Wii U, EA pledged its support as a partner, and even launched a number of games with the system. All of those games were ports of games people had already played. Still they were surprised when so few people bought their games – and coupled with the console’s low adoption rate – very much binned support for the console. One of their primary reasons for the lack of support, they say, is that the Frostbite 3 engine they’re using for everything now isn’t supported on the Wii U. It makes their tasteless April Fools tweets sting so much more.
In a series of now deleted Tweets from yesterday, the Twitter account for the Frostbite developers poked a little fun at the Wii U – though many complained of it being a tad mean-spirited.
- Frostbite now runs on the #WiiU since it is the most powerful Gen4 platform, our renderer is now optimized for Mario and Zelda.
— FrostbiteEngine (@FrostbiteEngine) April 1, 2014
- Frostbite will power #HalfLife3, coming out summer 2014! #WiiU exclusive.
— FrostbiteEngine (@FrostbiteEngine) April 1, 2014
- Good news, we have finally fixed and optimized our ‘netcode’. Uses quantum entanglement for Zero Latency connections. Exclusively on #WiiU.
— FrostbiteEngine (@FrostbiteEngine) April 1, 2014
EA’s Peter Moore has since apologised for the tweets.
Our apologies to partners @NintendoAmerica & fan @FrostbiteEngine ’s poor attempt at April Fools not condoned by EA : unacceptable/ stupid
— Peter Moore (@petermooreEA) April 1, 2014
What do you think? It was certainly uncreative, but was it a little mean-spirited, or should people just accept it as a playful ribbing? Nintendo could easily have hit back saying something like:
Good News! Battlefield 4 is working properly today!
Last Updated: April 2, 2014
Gr8_Balls_o_Fire
April 2, 2014 at 10:04
Somebody call the fun police.
WII U WII U WII U WII U WIIIIIIIIIIIIIII U WIUWIUWIUWIU
Admiral Chief Railjack
April 2, 2014 at 10:06
WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
Unavengedavo
April 2, 2014 at 10:29
The Wii U is so underappreciated
oVg Errorist
April 2, 2014 at 10:53
The Bone chick is a 24hour stalker.
darkcreap
April 2, 2014 at 20:35
Gaming discussion apart, the Wii actress is actually sexy. I wouldn’t have rejected her.
Unavengedavo
April 2, 2014 at 21:03
Same here, she is way more sexy than the Xbox One actress
oVg Errorist
April 2, 2014 at 10:17
Admiral Chief Railjack
April 2, 2014 at 10:06
http://d24w6bsrhbeh9d.cloudfront.net/photo/aLKrGAM_460s_v1.jpg
oVg Errorist
April 2, 2014 at 10:21
No kidding 😛
Hammersteyn
April 2, 2014 at 10:10
Best April fools joke yet, EA fixed every single bug in BF4
oVg Errorist
April 2, 2014 at 10:13
BWAHAHAHAHAHA Peter you old kodger you.
If anybody was needed to head up the XBOX ONE division its him. He is being wasted at EA.
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
April 2, 2014 at 12:04
lol, no! NO! NOO!!! NOT SLIMEY PETEY!!!
Rince
April 2, 2014 at 10:17
Someone is looking for a new job…
Half-Minute Hero [Umar]
April 2, 2014 at 10:30
It’s not THAT bad. But April fools is meant to well fool and deceive you. It’s not there as a free pass to throw insults around. But man I wish they striked back, c’mon EA is an EASY target…
HvR
April 2, 2014 at 10:35
Nintendo should have countered by announcing a new gold Wii U to honour their new partnership with EA.
Jedi JJ
April 2, 2014 at 10:42
Wow. EA screws up.
WHAT
A
SURPRISE
Rikus
April 2, 2014 at 10:44
This was the cherry on top:
Frostbite will power #HalfLife3, coming out summer 2014! #WiiU exclusive.
Well played EA
DrKiller
April 2, 2014 at 10:49
Half Life 3 confirmed! Woohoo!
Sk3tz0
April 2, 2014 at 10:51
I think that is a Brilliant April Fools Joke.. It was something that was believable.. hahaha.. same poor fanbois.
Ultimo_Cleric N7
April 2, 2014 at 10:55
Dick move by Frostbite and EA……what a shock
The D
April 2, 2014 at 11:33
Frostbite me, DICE.
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
April 2, 2014 at 12:03
The real problem with the tweets is that they didn’t have enough cowbell, and Nintendo didn’t tweet back “Frostbite 3 finally works and is glitch and bug-free? Dafuq? Must be April Fools Day today”.
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
April 2, 2014 at 12:04
Mmmm.. that unprecedented partnership! 😛
Wraith
April 2, 2014 at 13:20
EA’s last-ditch attempt for the Golden Poo! Put them back in the running.
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
April 2, 2014 at 22:41
EA… meet angry Wii fans. Angry Wii fans.. sick em’
http://i.imgur.com/Th3HZwd.gif