THQ Draw Upon Wii Opportunities

Speaking to MCV, THQ CEO Brian Farrell has scoffed at third parties that sideline Wii projects, believing that publishers who choose to ignore Nintendo’s system are missing out on vital sales opportunities. THQ is particularly enthusiastic about Wii at the moment due to the upcoming release of its uDraw GameTablet.

The graphic tablet-like peripheral was designed to help Wii owners unleash their illustrative creativity. Nintendo themselves aided with the project, refining the hardware’s design and allowing THQ access to hardware features that third parties are not usually privy to, such as SD card functionality.

Farrell’s idea is that, with a Wii userbase so huge, publishers need only capture a small percentage of that market to reap the gains. He is confident that uDraw will be a success due to drawing’s universal appeal, much like peripheral-based titles such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero succeeded thanks to the widespread enjoyment of music, though he also notes that the attach rate for the device would not need to be enormous for the company to benefit from it.

"I challenged the team because a couple of years ago, when Guitar Hero was doing so well, people were saying 'peripherals, this is where the business is going'. So I asked the team what sort of peripheral makes sense from an entertainment standpoint? I did not want Violin Hero. And when this idea came up, I realised this was it. Drawing is as universal as music right?"

"This time last year hardware numbers on Wii weren’t good, and people were saying it was dead. But then holiday arrived and sales shot up. Consumers still know about Wii, it’s still good value, it is still a mass-market product. I love it when competitors say they’re going to de-emphasise it. There’s still a huge Wii market �" over 70m users worldwide. With uDraw we don’t need a huge attach rate to do very well.

Do we see big growth prospects on a platform that’s been out for so long? No. But are there opportunities? Absolutely.”

uDraw does not currently have a release date in the UK, with THQ only listing it for Q1 2011. It is scheduled to launch in America, along with three games - the bundled uDraw Studio, plus platformer Dood’s Big Adventure and the self-explanatory Pictionary, both sold separately - in time for Christmas.

We recommend that you read the complete interview over at MCV, where Farrell also discusses THQ’s general strategy in the near future, their approach to the UFC franchise, and thoughts on the used game market.

What do you think of Brian Farrell’s words? Are you looking forward to uDraw GameTablet’s release?