Activision Demanded Wii U Pro Controller, Says Pachter

The Wii U Pro Controller was to, seemingly, meet the needs of gamers who didn’t want to play with a tablet. According to Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter, that was because Activision pushed Nintendo.

Michael Pachter returns with another prediction, that’s apparently more concrete: the maker of Call of Duty demanded the Wii U Pro Controller existed

At the Develop conference in Brighton, UK, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said that he knows Activision – one team developing Call of Duty titles – demanded a controller resembling the Xbox 360s and/or PlayStation 3’s so the title could be supported. Nintendo wants to bring third-parties on to Wii U, so giving into demands from one of the leading companies this generation might not be a bad idea.

Pachter said that Call of Duty wouldn’t arrive on Wii U unless the Pro Controller was available. Similar claims were made about the Nintendo 3DS Circle Pad Pro, which Capcom apparently demanded so it would release Monster Hunter which has been incredibly successful in Japan.

Pachter also said he didn’t fully understand what Nintendo was trying to do with Wii U, saying that the tablet controller for the console – called GamePad – isn’t going to be widely used and is going to create problems.

Nintendo Lucky With Wii, Pro Controller Pushed Aside At E3

Pachter also said the success of Wii, which is seen to have popularized motion controls, won’t be replicated with Wii U. He said hardcore gamers will buy the console, but didn’t share word on the casual players Nintendo attracted with Wii.

The Wii U Pro Controller is almost identical to the Xbox 360’s, save the left analog stick and D-Pad being reversed in position. It’s pitched for extended play sessions, and of course is more designed for competitive play. Pachter seems to suggest Nintendo wasn’t going to release a Pro controller if it hadn’t been pressured. Nintendo also had the Classic Controller, which was warmly received.

Nintendo has been pushing the GamePad as the central controller when playing Wii U titles, however, with 15 minutes dedicated to Batman: Arkham City: Armored Edition – a GamePad-enabled version of the 2011 release. That didn’t generate a positive reception among attendees, as new titles were expected. On stage, Ubisoft showed off the Pro controller.