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[Update] EA Deletes Wii U April Fools' Jabs

by Mike Futter on Apr 01, 2014 at 11:48 AM

Update: Following the tweets from the official Frostbite Engine Twitter account this morning, EA has offered an official comment on the situation. The statement comes from chief operating officer Peter Moore (fittingly) via Twitter.

 

Original Story:

April Fools' Day is often interpretted as a license to make silly jokes, sometimes at the expense of fans. One EA tweet took things a little too far though, poking at the still open wound left by comments that the Frostbite engine can't run on Wii U.

Additionally, the account tweeted two more Wii U-focused messages. One read, "Frostbite will power #HalfLife3, coming out summer 2014! #WiiU exclusive." The other, was a poke at the problems EA had on getting the new Frostbite 3 engine to run on Nintendo's hardware. "Good news, we have finally fixed and optimized our 'netcode'. Uses quantum entanglement for Zero Latency connections. Exclusively on #WiiU," said the third tweet.

The missives have since been deleted, but the scars (and the screenshot above, taken by NeoGAF user Quentyn) still remain. Despite originally supporting the Wii U, EA pulled away from the console (later backpedaling saying that it had games in development for Nintendo's most recent home console). EA's most recent game for Wii U was released in March 2013 (Need for Speed: Most Wanted), leaving us to wonder where those "in development" games are.

[Source: NeoGAF]


Our Take
April Fools' Day jokes can be silly, convincing, far-fetched, or play on our dreams for what simply won't ever be. They should never be mean spirited, though. Whomever runs the official Frostbite Engine account crossed a line that shouldn't be stepped over, even on April Fools' Day.