Just imagine the thought process when Electronic Arts told investors about its 2009 plans: Wii sold twice as many consoles as either of its competitors last year. Better make more games for the Wii. Got to tell investors that the Wii will be a “major focus” from here on.

And so it went during EA Chief Executive John Riccitiello’s conference call to investors, as reported by GameDaily. “We have a spectacular slate for FY:10, which will be supported by a Wii-focused advertising campaign,” he said. “We’re starting FY:10 strong … and it gets better each quarter.”

It better. EA hasn’t been ignoring the Wii, per se, but focusing on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 isn’t the best business plan when everyone and their mothers (literally) were out buying Nintendo’s console for Christmas. Despite being a critical darling last holiday season with new IP like Dead Space and Mirror’s Edge, the publisher posted a $641 million loss last quarter and decided to lay off 10 percent of its workforce. Today, the company said it would push that number to 11 percent, or 1,100 employees.

Riccitiello said the company will push its EA Sports line above all this year, with games like Tiger Woods PGA Tour, EA Sports Active and EA Sports Tennis. There’s also a sequel to Boom Blox in the pipeline, more takes on the My Sims and Harry Potter franchises and ports of existing franchises like Dead Space.

Sadly, there’s no mention of new IP in there aside from the two new sports ventures. True, now isn’t the time to take big risks, but I’d at least like the Wii Motion Plus to come into play in the form of a new action game, with the kind of buzz that EA usually reserves for its Xbox 360 and PS3 titles. The Wii could really use a few third-party blockbusters, and I don’t think the franchises and ports Riccitiello mentioned are going to cut it.

 
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