Wii Game Devs Testing Waters With Less-Casual Games 104
MTV's Multiplayer Blog has a pair of interviews with Wii game developers about how they're struggling to reach a more hardcore gaming audience. Jordan Itkowitz, lead designer for Deadly Creatures, wants to stay away from designing a typical collection of mini-games, saying, "The trick is to get those new players to step outside that easy comfort zone and try some genres and experiences that, while accessible and familiar to gamers, are still a bit foreign to anyone who's new to the culture." Dan Borth of Red Fly Studio is skeptical of the viability of hardcore games without relying on Nintendo and other major companies to "put a valiant effort in properly supporting developers to create great games."
warning (Score:2, Informative)
do not view the comments in -1 mode. that is all.
Re:They'll sell (Score:3, Informative)
No, 1st person shooters on a wiimote? That's insane, you'd _actually_ have to be a good shot to be any good at the game and I doubt most gamers are.
Not really. From what I have seen all first person shooters have a shooting ridicule so you know exactly where the shot is going to go. It really is a lot like aiming with a mouse in that way. With traditional first person shooters you had to feel for the correct spot.
However I can't think of a better way to play Diablo or some other hack&slash than with a wiimote that carefully translates your actions into sword movements. THAT would be awesome! Does it even have enough precision by the way?
Not likely or at least not easily. But Wii-motion plus should hopefully fix things. From what I have seen, the motion controls on the wiimote aren't that amazing, but the pointer controls work really well.
Re:They'll sell (Score:1, Informative)
Not really. From what I have seen all first person shooters have a shooting ridicule so you know exactly where the shot is going to go.
I think the word you're looking for is "reticule".
Re:They'll sell (Score:3, Informative)
I know the graphics are less powerful, but the Wiimote still lends itself to 1st person shooters better than any gamepad. Resident Evil proved that. And the Wii is the only console that a RTS (like Starcraft) would even be possible to be played on.
When i tried playing resident evil on the wii i found that the wiimote simply doesn't make a very good gun, you have to aim the a crosshair by moving the wiimote instead of just aiming. If the wiimote was ever made into a good aiming device then perhaps it would be good for "gun games" (i cant think of the correct genre name but timecrises and resident evil are not really FPS in the hardcore "oh shit i forgot to sleep again" sense) but the problem is that most genres need you to be able to control the direction and movement of the character, and if you want to achieve this you either lose the benefit of aiming with the wiimote, or end up with a complex control system which looses the benefit of the wiimote entirely.
Hardcore games tend to come in 3 main genres RPG, FPS, RTS (and their multilayer variants). The Wii doesn't have the control scheme to compete on FPS (mouse+keyboard or joysticks) which is generally what the majority of hardcore gamers play. While the wii could make some ground up on RTS and RPG it multiplayer aspect is defiantly lacking (i have to admit that Microsoft have done something right with xbox live, hell enough suckers are paying monthly fees for what you get free on pc games that they must be).
SO of 6 'hardcore' genres the wii is limited to 2, while it may be worth encouraging a few ports to the wii, nintendo are better of forgetting about hardcore gamers and just coming out with original games for casual gamers/families e.g minigame based, board games, puzzle adventures, etc
It's really quite simple (Score:5, Informative)
The Wii has sold 46 million consoles. How many of those do you need to sell to in order to make a profitable "hardcore" game? Not that many...
Re:They'll sell (Score:3, Informative)
"One is the typical lone player in a room somewhere, the other is a social or family game played in the living room. I don't think we'd play hardcore games on the wii at all."
That's just, like, your opinion, man!
Personally I like the 360, I like FPS, but I also like doing it with friends, preferably in the same room. This is why things like Gears of War 2 utterly rock. It's an involved, all action shooter you can play split-screen co-op.
The Wii sits largely unused because basically the games are usually like a collection of flash games with a funky controller.
Give me something hardcore that makes good use of the Wiimote please. I know I'm not the only gamer that feels this way. I have this funny feeling that the Wii may be about the best selling console we ever see, but also with a historically low attach rate as kids/families love it but don't buy many games, and the likes of me just leave it in a corner.
Re:They'll sell (Score:1, Informative)
Have you heard of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Tales of Symphonia 2, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, House of the Dead 2 and 3 Return, Resident Evil 4, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Mario Galaxy, Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon, Manhunt 2, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, and so on?
The games that have a little more substance than a 'collection of minigames' are there, you just have to be a little less of a gaming hermit and look for them.
Re:They'll sell (Score:4, Informative)
When i tried playing resident evil on the wii i found that the wiimote simply doesn't make a very good gun, you have to aim the a crosshair by moving the wiimote instead of just aiming.
Pretty much. The wii remote is not a light gun. The point the remote is actually pointing at is not likely the point at which the reticule is going to be at... so you can't sight down the 'barrel' of your wii remote.
However, if you use it as intended, as a way of manipulating the on screen reticule... tilting your aim down to move the reticule down, up to move it up, etc... using the position of the reticule to guide your movements to adjust its position it works VERY well. And frankly this is exactly the same way you use a mouse on a computer or target with a thumstick on a ps3/360.
In fact, in my opinion, it works FAR BETTER than a ps3/360 auto-centering thumbstick for aiming, and compared to the mouse its "equal but different".
The mouse is still more precise, and you can play longer without fatigue so its better from that point of view, but standing in front of a big screen TV pointing at it with the wii remote is more visceral and immersive so its better from that point of view. ...but the problem is that most genres need you to be able to control the direction and movement of the character, and if you want to achieve this you either lose the benefit of aiming with the wiimote, or end up with a complex control system which looses the benefit of the wiimote entirely.
It sounds like you played, Resident evil Umbrella Chronicles'. The rail-shooter.
Try Resident Evil 4. or Metroid Prime 3 which use the thumbstick on the nunchuk to control movement to great effect, and then come back and let us know.
It works much better than you seem to think is possible. The Wii is amazing with a good FPS title.
Re:They'll sell (Score:3, Informative)
It doesn't bother me in the slightest, it just doesn't really do it for me either.
Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed stuff on the wii, but it doesn't have lasting appeal. This thread should be evidence enough for third party games companies that there *is* an audience of folks like me, regardless of the validity of my opinions on cartoony games.
Re:They'll sell (Score:3, Informative)
You should test Metroid Prime for Wii. It clearly shows that FPS games are possible for Wii.
For me Metroid Prime 3 on the Wii showed the exact opposite. It near impossible to hit anything in that game if you don't use lock-on. The whole concept of having aiming and character rotation on the same control feels pretty broken and lock-on is the only thing that makes that game playable. Now that doesn't mean an FPS is completly impossible, it would be interesting to see a game would work where the Wiimote is used for aiming exclusivly and rotation is done by the analogstick. But as is the Wiimote is far far away from being a decent FPS control.