We probably weren't the only E3 attendees who looked at Nintendo's touch screen drawing controller, complete with 'U' branded name this week and thought, 'THQ's UDraw team aren't going to be happy' - but apparently they are.
Martin Good, exec VP of THQ's Kids, Family and Casual Games label, told one of CVG's E3 soldiers that the publisher never intended to enter the peripheral business in the first place - and now Nintendo's released a first-party vehicle for its drawing games.
Asked if he was annoyed by the similarities between the Wii U controller and UDraw, Good replied:
"We think we're really on the front for it and well poised to exploit this because we've already been playing with the drawing mechanic and we've got a lot of game designs in the pipe. It's only going to get better with that experience," he said.
"That other thing that's really interesting is that THQ never really went about being a peripheral manufacturer - that wasn't our intent. But we had to do so to exploit this new gameplay opportunity and that broader market.
"The fact is we had to create our own peripherals including for 360 and PS3 to be able to play with that audience."
THQ confirmed Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of its drawing tablet last month.
Comments
4 comments so far...
GTCzeero on 9 Jun '11 said:
The details of this interview are a little sketchy... couldn't you have drawn a few more answers from him?
...that's all I've got.
BLARRG on 9 Jun '11 said:
i dont know why he is acting like he came up with the concept, its been around for years. Even Sega did it in 1993 with the Pico
agrand on 9 Jun '11 said:
Competition makes everyone perform better! Bring it on!
Mad Garrotter on 10 Jun '11 said:
They could have at least pencilled in a release date to erase any concerns fans have outlined. Did THQ not paint-ent their idea then? If they did, I have an ink-ling Nintendo could have a brush with the law if they don't re-trace their steps.