Activision readying trio for Wii launch

Post-earnings conference call reveals three Wii launch titles in dev; Shrek and Spider-Man games set for spring 2007.

In a conference call following the release of Activision's earnings, CEO of publishing Mike Griffith further delved into the company's future plans. He described the attitude for the company's fiscal 2007 (April 1, 2006 through March 31, 2007) year as "cautious," but sees the following 12 months as a time when the industry will really take off, as evidenced by the projection of $1.6 billion in revenue for that time period.

Activision is planning on releasing five PlayStation Portable games, four Xbox 360 games, and three PlayStation 3 launch titles for this fiscal year and will also contribute three launch titles for the Wii. Gamers can expect more Activision support for the Wii than was given to the GameCube, according to one executive. No specific titles were mentioned.

This doesn't necessarily mean that the games will be available day one of both the Wii and PS3. Later on in the call, one executive explained that the games would be out "in very near proximity to the hardware launch." Of course, Activision already has experience releasing a trifecta of next-gen titles with a console launch. The company had Gun, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, and Call of Duty 2 available for the Xbox 360's first day on the market.

The Tony Hawk franchise will get the same dual-release strategy that was given to the Call of Duty franchise in Call of Duty 2 (Xbox 360, PC) and Call of Duty: Big Red One (PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube). A "traditional" Tony Hawk game aimed at the hardcore Tony Hawk audience will be released, as will Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, "a frenzied downhill racing game and new direction for the Tony Hawk franchise," aimed at more casual gamers.

The company's 2008 fiscal year is when Activision thinks the market will come around again, and has planned 50 percent more titles scheduled for launch at that time than in fiscal year '07. Games based on the next Shrek and Spider-Man films, both set to hit theaters in May 2007, will lead off the year, with new editions of Call of Duty, Tony Hawk, and X-Men games in the pipeline, as well as games based on DreamWorks' Bee Movie and Transformers movies.

47 Comments

  • Link_026

    Posted May 7, 2006 6:42 am PT

    Hm all those gams will stink. But at least its some 3rd party support for Wii...

  • AgentDarkmartin

    Posted May 6, 2006 2:13 pm PT

    Call of duty 3 is confirmed for all of them, even Wii, im surprised

    graphics will probably suck though, maybe, i can finally enjoy wwII games on a console

  • mistanova

    Posted May 6, 2006 10:21 am PT

    whoos seen that intel ad on the pages of gamespot. Theyve got a technology called Intel Viiv... how similar lol

  • Dasilva90

    Posted May 5, 2006 4:49 pm PT

    I'm just happy the wii won't have silly ports like the PS3 and Xbox 360, its going to be a totally unique experience.

  • rafaelszpo

    Posted May 5, 2006 12:30 pm PT

    Humpf. Nothing worth of note up until now =/

  • DemonJD138

    Posted May 5, 2006 8:38 am PT

    Well, it's been my experience that every other Tony Hawk game is good, so since American Wasteland sucked it hard, I guess I should be pretty excited for the next-gen one.

  • Jcm2

    Posted May 5, 2006 7:59 am PT

    nice to see big pulishers showing interest in wii.

  • xpdude

    Posted May 5, 2006 6:58 am PT

    Wii are getting good

  • decebal

    Posted May 5, 2006 6:39 am PT

    Wii = awsome

  • edhc44

    Posted May 5, 2006 6:21 am PT

    landau492, can you read at all? They didn't even say what games are coming to the Wii and you're already blurting how you have them on "your" PS2? Gee, some people...

    I think Activision kinda sucks, but as mentioned before, is good to see that the Wii is getting a decent support... I think the DS success may have something to do with it...

  • khggame

    Posted May 5, 2006 6:18 am PT

    Hope these games will be better. Some of their games are really bad.

  • chrisdojo

    Posted May 5, 2006 4:51 am PT

    "more support for Wii than the game cube"

    good news activision!!!!

  • metdevthegamer

    Posted May 5, 2006 3:22 am PT

    This is good news. A lot of publishers are pledging support for the Wii now, the more the merrier.

  • KiLLer_ba

    Posted May 5, 2006 1:36 am PT

    That's great, they are supporting Nintendo than ever before.

  • Heathcliff

    Posted May 4, 2006 11:57 pm PT

    I'd love to have Call of Duty on the Wii.

  • Spotse

    Posted May 4, 2006 9:48 pm PT

    o very good

  • Tranceplant

    Posted May 4, 2006 8:36 pm PT

    Gotta love the Spider-Man games. That's one good thing for the Wii.

  • EvIlKiNgKoOpA

    Posted May 4, 2006 8:06 pm PT

    or is IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • EvIlKiNgKoOpA

    Posted May 4, 2006 8:06 pm PT

    Activision is a crap pile of pus so if they think making ports for the Wii-Gee board is going to make them money,then they really got people fooled hahaha either guys this isnt a bad thing

  • Leandro29

    Posted May 4, 2006 7:46 pm PT

    I can`t wait more time

  • Talduras

    Posted May 4, 2006 7:27 pm PT

    Activision launch games? Bleh! The 360 games didn't amount to much, so I can only imagine these will have similar problems.

  • LordGamer0001

    Posted May 4, 2006 6:24 pm PT

    at least they are trying unlike some other companies.

  • motoxero

    Posted May 4, 2006 6:01 pm PT

    the biggest news on here for me is that theres gonna be a new transformer movie.....

  • dwmorrow

    Posted May 4, 2006 5:52 pm PT

    As a sidenote, here's hoping the TF movie doesn't suck.

  • Vorgein23

    Posted May 4, 2006 5:50 pm PT

    Despite it's name, I think the Wii will do really well! The support it's getting at the moment is really promising. Let's hope it all goes well for Nintendo!

  • Kenzo287

    Posted May 4, 2006 5:38 pm PT

    one is tony hawk one is pider-man 3 (maybe) and the other (CoD spinoff?)

  • rbarahona

    Posted May 4, 2006 5:31 pm PT

    Great news about the support to the Wii. I hope that, regardless the platform, they can deliver some great content that take advantage of every consoles capabilities.

  • landau492

    Posted May 4, 2006 5:23 pm PT

    [This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

  • Tamashii_Sensei

    Posted May 4, 2006 5:22 pm PT

    Nice! I'm glad to see Activision commit to so many games for the Wii's launch.

  • FuguNabe

    Posted May 4, 2006 5:19 pm PT

    3 games for Wii and more coming next year... that's pretty good. Whether they are good games or not I'll wait to see and hear some more...

  • SithLordKiller

    Posted May 4, 2006 5:17 pm PT

    Hurray for Wii!!

  • togo2828

    Posted May 4, 2006 5:15 pm PT

    the Wii is getting some good 3rd party support

  • NeoJedi

    Posted May 4, 2006 5:09 pm PT

    Sounds good... can't wait to see what Activision brings to the table.

  • jc_tkml

    Posted May 4, 2006 5:01 pm PT

    "now that, that's cool"

  • JLCrogue

    Posted May 4, 2006 4:52 pm PT

    A Tony Hawk game geared more toward n00bs than the other crap... just what the Wii needs! LOL

  • troakun

    Posted May 4, 2006 4:49 pm PT

    Again, I don't care what games Wii gets just as long as it gets games. Any third party support is better then none and so far the Wii has been getting way more than the Gamecube did which is very good news for Nintendo. I just hope this trio turns out a good game and not all liscenced titles like Shrek.

  • j0eStER

    Posted May 4, 2006 4:40 pm PT

    WOW NICE!!! I hope they bring out Call of Duty.

  • blackIceJoe

    Posted May 4, 2006 4:40 pm PT

    Thats neat

  • Val-x

    Posted May 4, 2006 4:35 pm PT

    I love all the Wii games coming up.

  • jstarzyk

    Posted May 4, 2006 4:34 pm PT

    spider-man! Yay!

  • TrueHighlen

    Posted May 4, 2006 4:30 pm PT

    lucky number 7 i win

  • LordelX

    Posted May 4, 2006 4:23 pm PT

    Let's see if Activision can make better games this holiday season than they did last year. I hope the Wii games aren't port support.

  • LINKloco

    Posted May 4, 2006 4:22 pm PT

    Good.

  • YellowPik

    Posted May 4, 2006 4:18 pm PT

    Wow, the Wii's getting games left and right.

  • PaRappaEast

    Posted May 4, 2006 4:17 pm PT

    No really?! Thats amazing, more of the same played out franchises in several extremely different paackages, fooling the consumer. Then to top it off some cheap ass film adaptions. Thanks Activision. You really do raise the corporate BS bar with each generational leap. Wii!!!

  • justin_wicks

    Posted May 4, 2006 4:16 pm PT

    cool i guess and second

  • Mark2099

    Posted May 4, 2006 4:15 pm PT

    first post!! very nice about the article

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