Activision Forced Nintendo to Change its Business Model

Call of Duty publisher Activision ATVI reportedly forced Nintendo (NTDOY) to develop a regular controller for its upcoming console, Wii U. Built around the concept of a touch screen controller that looks like a tablet, Wii U is one of the more unique consoles being developed. But Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter expects the system to flop. "I think that essentially this is a solution in search of a problem," Pachter told MCV. "I mean, somebody had an idea – 'let's make the controller a tablet' – and there aren't many games that are going to take advantage of that." Pachter said that he believes that "hardcore gamers" and "Nintendo" fanboys will buy the system. "They could put out a piece of cardboard and say that it'll play Mario and they'll buy it," he said, disregarding the fact that the Virtual Boy and the Nintendo 3DS flopped at launch. (While sales of the 3DS rose after a price drop, the Virtual Boy continued to decline after its price was reduced. Neither of those machines were made of cardboard.) Pachter's most provocative statement came at the end of his interview with MCV. "Activision never said anything to me, but I know that [for] big games like Call Of Duty they said, 'No, we're not putting it on there if you don't give us a conventional controller,'" he said. "So [Nintendo] gave in." The analyst did not say where he got his information. Follow me @LouisBedigianBZ