EA didn’t believe in the Wii, now it’s causing them headaches

Electronic Arts Plays Catch-Up – Bloomberg.com

April 9 (Bloomberg) — Video-game designer Nick Earl spent eight months holed up with his development team rushing to adapt “The Godfather” for Nintendo Co.’s Wii.

The reason for the long hours: Earl’s employer, Electronic Arts Inc., like some of its competitors, underestimated demand for the Wii, whose motion-activated wand lets players wield a virtual sword, mimic real golf swings or strangle a victim. Instead, game makers put most of their resources into Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3, which was released two days earlier in November with a more conventional hand controller.

Now, publishers are scrambling to get titles to the 3.56 million U.S. and Japanese Wii owners who have made the machine the top-selling game console this year.