Is the Wii providing a 'watered down' experience?
Ubisoft's Ben Mattes sat down for an interview with IndustryGamers recently to discuss Prince of Persia--Ubisoft's latest release in the famed franchise. He discussed the game, how it was developed, and much more. But his comments about the Wii were undoubtedly the most noteworthy.
Getting a watered-down game experience with the Wii?
(Credit: Nintendo)After being asked why Prince of Persia was made available only on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Mattes explained that it had everything to do with the Wii's power.
"The reality is that from a technical standpoint, the Wii cannot do what we wanted the game to do," Mattes told IndustryGamers. "The AI of Elika (the game's protagonist) was highly advanced and required a lot of processing power...If we had done a Wii version, it would have been toned down, probably linear. It wouldn't have been an open-world game, and so it would have been a very different experience. We didn't want to water it down that way."
There's no secret that the Wii has less processing power than its competitors. The console wasn't designed to be the graphical beast that Sony's PlayStation 3 is, but rather a platform that provides gamers with a fun, casual experience.
A quick glance at the current Wii library tells you everything you need to know about the console. For the most part, the games are either developed by Nintendo or designed specifically for those gamers who want a casual or multiplayer experience.
But are the games developed by third parties really "watered down?" The more we consider the Wii's library, the more merit the argument seems to have.
The "watering down" of Wii games
Let's start with the new Ghostbusters game, appropriately named Ghostbusters: The Video Game. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the title are both being published by Atari but developed by Terminal Reality. They have beautiful visuals, advanced controls, and, according to most reviews, a pretty good story.
But the Wii version is entirely different. It's still being published by Atari, but a different studio--Red Fly Studio--is developing the game. Screenshots from the title are less than stellar. In fact, there is a marked difference between the visuals of both versions.
It gets worse. According to Terminal Reality, its version of the game will be "Gears of War Lite." Red Fly Studio said its version will be focused more on puzzle elements. In other words, it's an entirely different, less "next gen" experience.
We also can't forget that there are a variety of upcoming titles that really are watered-down versions of their more powerful counterparts on Microsoft's Xbox 360 and the PS3.
For example, Dead Space Extraction, which is scheduled to hit store shelves later this year, won't have the kind of experience we enjoyed with Dead Space on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. According to Electronic Arts, the game's developer, Dead Space Extraction will be "on rails." In other words, gamers won't have free movement to take out enemies.
EA told IGN recently that similar to another on-rails Wii title, House of the Dead: Overkill, the game will provide a "guided and cinematic camera. Extraction is not your typical Rail Shooter. Our goal is to innovate and push the genre forward."
It's possible, but Dead Space was such a compelling title because it allowed for free rein and a healthy dose of excitement. Not being able to control a significant portion of the game scares me a little. It seems rather, well, watered down.
Resident Evil 5 never made its way to the Wii because the console simply couldn't provide the processing power it required. Wii owners were understandably upset. Capcom showed off its upcoming Wii release, Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles (a follow-up to Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles), at this year's E3. The developer promised big things from the game. But once again, it had to take some features out to make it work. Like Dead Space Extraction, it's an on-rail shooter.
Speaking to Kotaku, the game's producer, Masachika Kawata, said that when the developers "thought about the different risks and rewards when you go with a shooter on rails," they decided it fit with the franchise.
"There were discussions about whether to give control of the camera to the gamer temporarily or not, but in the end, after all of the discussions, we realized we want to make it a rail shooter that has an incredible amount of atmosphere," he continued.
Even major titles that sell extremely well aren't providing the kind of experience on the Wii that we have come to expect. Madden NFL 10 for the Wii sports simplified controls. According to GameSpot, the game's developers are "trying to make the game more friendly to casual fans, and it shows."
That might appeal to some, but for the rest of us, it's just another example of what we fear most: some third-party Wii games are being watered down to either appeal to casual gamers or work with the console's limited power. And that's a shame.
The robust titles
The watering-down of titles for the Wii certainly isn't universal. Almost every game released by Nintendo is solid. The story lines are outstanding, the controls capture the essence of the Wiimote, and the graphics are just fine.
Super Mario Galaxy and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess immediately come to mind when I think of Wii games that aren't watered down. They are stellar titles that anyone should play. And they match any full-featured game on other consoles.
The same can be said for the vast majority of titles built exclusively for the Wii. Punch Out was great. Wii Sports provides an incredibly fun experience. Simply put, there are a variety of compelling games on the Wii that still make it a worthwhile console.
But unfortunately, the vast majority of those full-feature Wii games have been developed by Nintendo. The reality is that many third-party developers haven't been able to capture the true power of the Wii and thus water down their games to bring them to the popular console. If gamers want the best experience for those games, they'll need to play them on another console.
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Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
People say core titles don't sell but how can they when they're not quality games? It's a sort of self-fulfilling thing.
And how can you argue the fact that the PSP can get a traditional Metal Gear game (Metal Gear Rising) and a traditional Soulcalibur game (Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny) despite the fact that it has weaker hardware and even lower sales than the Wii?
However, all gamers grow up eventually and many continue to game well into adulthood. Eventually, there will be a much larger market for big-budget, high-quality titles.
The Wii was created for casual games not hard core ones.
I own a Wii and 360 both have their strong points and weak points both where created with aiming at different parts of the market.
Please CNET let this three year old news die off already we all have heard it before.
Because as games have gotten more powerful, and require more AI, physics etc, the Wii's obvious hardware limitations continue to show up even more.
Even Nintendo's own Shigeru Miyamoto was forced to admit that the wii's limitations were showing when they designing the new SMB:
http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/miyamoto-new-smb-wii-shows-hardware-limitations/?biz=1
It's not like the problem was there at the start of this generation, then somehow proceeded to go away. It's still there.
Given that Wii sales are in a state of collapse everywhere you look at, it doesn't need CNET to trash the Wii for Wii sales to fall.
YTD, Wii sales in Japan are already down over 60% as compared to last year, while in the US,, Wii US nApril sales were down 52% as compared to last year, even as weekly Wii sales have contoniued to fall drasticallly since February:
US weekly Wii sales:
February: 188.25K per week
March : 120.2K per week(Down 36.14% from from Feb)
April: 85K per week (Down 29.28% from March)
The days of the Wii selling 700,000 in non-holiday months are gone for good, as the public realise what an overpriced, underpowered, shovelware dominated piece of junk the wii really is.
Nintendo has earned its place in the history books and guess what they're there to stay regardless of articles like this and people like you Kwasiowusu.
Respect for what?
For stealing other people's intellectual property when they first entered the video game busines that companies like Atari had pioneered(something for which they were sued in court and lost)?
Don't forget Nintendo used to be a playing cards company before.
Or respect for charging a massive $250 for a Wii that is barely more powerful than the Gamecube, which was seling for $99 even as long ago as 2005?
@ roachbrain :"Calling it "overpriced, underpowered, shovelware dominated piece of junk" just shows your lake of loyalty since must likely you enjoyed what they had to offer back on NES, SNES, gameboy ect?
Nope.
Before the first XBOX, I was a PC gamer. re,e,ber the PC used to domimate FPS before the introduction of the XBOX back in 2001.
@ roachbrain :"That's called being a frontrunner"
The PS2 has sold 45 million in the US alone so far, and it's still selling. The Wii has sold just over 20 million in the US so far. Its stil got ways to go to catch up.
"Before the first XBOX, I was a PC gamer. remember the PC used to domimate FPS before the introduction of the XBOX back in 2001." Then you must either be very young or lying threw your teeth because who didn't have a Nintendo growing up. Besides that are you really saying Xbox plays FPS better than a PC???? Just cause all the Xbox has to offer is FPS doesn"t mean they do it better. Mouse and keyboard = HeadshotValley one of my aliases in CS.
Yes very true but just like 360 fanboys would argue PS2 is last gen we are talking this gen. Well at least that's what they say when that comes up in defense to PS3.
But overall, I agree with you. The new game choices look relatively unimpressive to me; and it bugs me that I get "less" than I would by buying on a different platform. The Simpsons game is a good example. I read a walkthrough that covered a lot of stuff not in the game I played.
Ultimately this is the age of multiplatformism and people will just need to save up money and get a more powerful console. I see several people turn from just being Wii owners to being Wii/PS3 or Wii/Xbox 360 owners.
The Wii breaks from this by using a completely different innovative controller... one that both Microsoft and Sony are planning to copy in one way or another. Console controllers are only good for fighting games but have such little precision to anyone who is used to a Mouse/keyboard that they are beyond frustrating. You want the best possible gaming experience... the PC is the ONLY way to go.
Is that why multiplat games like CoD4, CoD WaW and even FIFA 09 sold vastly more on the 360/PS3(like 90%), than on the PC?
The trouble with PC gaming is, of the over 1 billion PC's out there, only a tiny percentage have the very high specs needed to play a game like Crysis, so therefore games developers usually go for the lowest PC specs that can get them the best performance to sales ratio.
When it comes to FPS games like CoD4, the 360, with its superb XBOX Live community of hard core gamers etc, smokes anything the PC gaming experience can bring to the table.
@ Inconnux:"The Wii breaks from this by using a completely different innovative controller... "
Natal makes the wiimote look like the horse drawn carriage.
@ Inconnux: "one that both Microsoft and Sony are planning to copy in one way or another. "
Microsoft is not copying anyone's wiimote. Like Steven Spiellberg said, Microsoft is not merely reinventing the wheel here, there is no wheel. Natal is a quantum leap over anything Nintendo has ever come up with.
Nintendo did not invent motion control. Motion control existed long before the wiimote.
For example, credit where credit's due, Sony's Eye Toy was first, this side of the century, to raise the motion-control flag.
Sony's Eye Toy has, to date, sold an impressive 10 million units worldwide--respectable numbers considering it's an add-on that only works with a handful of games.
Before the Eye Toy, there was the Power Glove, which wasn't even a first-party product, but a third-party peripheral.
Stop re-rewiting history.
Is that why multiplat games like CoD4, CoD WaW and even FIFA 09 sold vastly more on the 360/PS3(like 90%), than on the PC?
The trouble with PC gaming is, of the over 1 billion PC's out there, only a tiny percentage have the very high specs needed to play a game like Crysis, so therefore games developers usually go for the lowest PC specs that can get them the best performance to sales ratio.
When it comes to FPS games like CoD4, the 360, with its superb XBOX Live community of hard core gamers etc, smokes anything the PC gaming experience can bring to the table.
Sales != better game experience... given your logic the PS3 or 360 is a complete POS compared to the Wii. As for high specs, my 2 yr old PC can run almost any game on the market.
As for xbox live, it is a poor imitation to the PC online community. Steam is a great example of what is a far better experience than Live. But if you think console experience is better, then I would challenge you anyplace anytime to a PC vs console FPS game... oh yeah they don't allow the EXACT SAME GAME to play against each other... why??? because they discovered very quickly that the console controller had no chance against the mouse/keyboard controller... the worlds best console player wouldn't have a chance against an above average FPS player. The online experience of almost every PC game is far better than anything that Live has to offer. Keep your dumbed down experience.
As for Microsoft copying, both Microsoft and Sony both came out saying that nobody wanted motion control and after the Wii sold more than the xbox and ps3 combined, THEN they come out with their own motion sensing device
Historical facts might bother you.
Lol, not on this site... (by the way, my ps3 is on the first floor and not in the basement)
But I do agree with you (being ps3/wii owner) that when a shin-dig is thrown, the wii takes the cake... It's basically a full on system for those parties where we used to hang out and playe ddr, guitar hero and karaoke revolution with a couple drinks.
Not using your brain causes it to age badly, just the same as if you don't exercise your muscles.
I prefer having a challenge, not being told what to do.
Who said i was insulting Brain Age? Fail reading much?
Brain Age requires some skill, but a good deal of the games don't, which was what i was replying to.
Great, fun filled parties have existed long before Nintendo was even founded. Go read some sistory about the Roman Empire or any civiliastion that has exsited in the history of mankind.
I don't go to parties to play video games. I go to parties to have some beers, dance with ladies, talk and socialise. If you need to play Mario Kart before you can enjoy a party, it's a pretty sad reflection on your life.
How is your comment at all relevant to the topic at hand? Stop trying to feel superior, it makes you look stupid.
For how long is that going to continue though?
The PS3 has outsold the Wii YTD in Japan this year already, and in the US, Wii weekly sales just keep falling.
US weekly Wii sales:
February: 188.25K per week
March : 120.2K per week(Down 36.14% from from Feb)
April: 85K per week (Down 29.28% from March)
And its gonna fall again when May NPD figures come out tomorrow night.
You can only coast along on shovelware for so long.
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6211925.html
Wii outsold both PS3 and 360... Again...
If I had a 360 or PS3 it would most likely become a glorified DVD player. Not everyone wants the same thing out of their gaming console.
There isn't a single game we have for the Wii that I have any interest in playing. When I play with them, it's only because I'm "guilted" into playing.
According to Nieslen, the 360 gets used for games by it's owners more than the Wii.
In addition, 360 owners buy more games per head than the Wii(the 360 has by far the highest attach rate this generation at 8.3 attech rate), so your statement obvioulsy doesn't apply to the most 360 owners.
But hey, who am i to complain if you happen to have a findness for wii shovelware, crap graphics and watered down ports or 3rd party games?
Each to his own i guess.
Part of the problem with the Wii for him is that it requires too much reading. On the 360 and on the Xbox, generally people 'talk' with sound, especially for a kid's game. The reading is for minor things, like hints, and he has no problem reading things like that. For the Wii, almost all the instructions are long paragraphs. Worst still, the words are not at the reading level for the game they were designed for. A game like 'De Blob' for the Wii should be easy for him to pick up and play but it isn't. As a result, he sits there sounding out words and trying to figure out what to do next (or endlessly calling me to come read a word to him that he doesn't understand) and he gets bored and frustrated. As a parent, why would I spend $30 for something that my kid doesn't like playing? I have a V-Smile for that.
And worse is i don't know why it keeps selling...
I was thinking of getting Dead Space: Extraction, but when i heard it was a rail-shooter... yeah.
I mean look at Metroid, it was fantastic and it wasn't a rail shooter. Actually, both games are pretty similar in style, yet they still go with rail shooter for DS:E
Why can't they do the best of both worlds? Have rail shooter for those too lazy to do the actual controlling, and full control for those of us who actually have an attention span longer than the average monkey, because lets face it, 60+% of the human race are still quite primitive.
See, this is what annoys me most, devs have been making games easier and easier each year, but end up making them so easy that it cripples the gameplay for US. (gamers, not the casual ones, lets not get started on another "what is a gamer" argument)
So many of them focus more on making it easier than they do making it hard.
I HATE easy games. I always play games on the hardest mode i can choose because Easy is like playing a step-by-step guide these days. (it literally IS that on Wii for most games!)
GIVE ME A CHALLENGE. Stop giving me guides!
/rant
I don't mind too much though, you can't call yourself a core gamer and have only one console. If you want the best gaming experience, get a high end computer. Booyah.
They say the POWER of the system is what brings it out .....
The hardware is just a Vehicle for them to work on a canvas you may say.... They are just dazzled by the bling of the PS3 and Xbox 360 in the end it is all about programming and what you can do to make that programming work.. Which is why Nintendo first party titles are soo good they CAN program to the hardware where these developers do not want to even try they are happy with the 2 systems and be lazy about reprogramming for the third more popular system... Then blame it on the hardware.... REALLY REALLY SAD.... IF THEY did their due diligence they would be making titles better then the big N.. They just do not want to even try.... SAD really SAD that they just blame the hardware for their inability to learn thier medium..
So many of them focus on making photorealistic graphics that they end up taking years to release the game, and it ends up being of poor quality.
So many of them focus on making unique textures for every tiny little thing.
Look at Fallout 3, a fantastic game, a massive game, more than 70% of the game is repeated textures.
Then look at something like FFXIII, admittedly lesser graphics than F3 (seriously), yet still isn't even out.
Just what in gods name are Square Enix doing?? Are they remaking planet Earth to meter-precision?
I'd rather have a game take advantage of the CPU / GPU for better physics, better AI, better everything else, i wish people would stop focusing on graphics when it is only part of the full "picture".
Some of the best games have the simplest of graphics.
Photorealism only fits well with a game if it requires it, such as a racing simulator, a war game trying to portray the actual conditions of a warzone, etc.
Imagine a photorealistic Mario. That'd sure hit the 18+ mark. Jumping on poor little helpless turtles? !
Check out screen shots from Jordan v. Bird on several platforms:
http://www.mobygames.com/game/jordan-vs-bird-one-on-one/screenshots
Typically over the years, a company makes a blockbuster title, and rewrites it to work for the other consoles providing a very close to same experience, which increases their market and profit.
With the GameCube this became harder to do, and we started to see one off titles, which were toned down to provide as near the same experience as their original game. Hardware wise at the core, the WII has near or less CPU & GPU than the original XBOX which was mostly off the shelf computer parts. These games are designed and built for what ever console that company sided with, and then rewritten for the PS3/360 but when it comes to rewriting it for the WII its hardware is so weak, that they have to start stripping things out because it simply can not handle it. Heck after the first year or two these games are designed to be pushing the limits of the 360 & PS3 with their more advanced hardware.
People still expect these software company?s to port their games to all the mainline consoles. Which is becoming increasingly harder and harder to do with the WII?s hardware limits.
You can only cut so much out of a game, turn down so many of the graphics and effects until you lose what made that game what it was. This is by no means makes the WII a bad or less of a console for the casual and hardcore gamers alike. It simply means less 360/PS3 games will come to the Wii due to its limits.
And now for the car analogy?
Xbox 360/PS3 = 2002 Pontiac Trans Am, it weighs 3500lbs (Game) and has a 5.7 V-8 Engine (hardware) making around 400hp to move it
Wii = 2009 Toyota Prius, weighs 2600lbs (Wii Game) and has a 1.8 Inline 4 making 98hp (Wii hardware)
You?re asking the 98hp engine to push the bigger 3500lb car up the mountain, it may do it, but its going to be ungodly slow, and you may have to get out and push unless you lighten your load.
That said, I love me a good rails shooter and House of the Dead Overkill was a little on the choppy and stuttery side for me. Also, the wiimote is off-puttingly inaccurate when held like a gun in one of those nyko rigs (don't bother using the sight). Also, Samba de Amigo was AWESOME on the Dreamcast and INFURIATING on the Wii.
Maybe the real issue is the limited spatial detection abilities of the Wiimote. Too bad Motion Plus isn't backwards compatible.
- by keith.r.benedict June 10, 2009 1:04 PM PDT
- From my experience, the Wii is perfect for people who are new to gaming or who've never had a modern console (Xbox, Xbox 360, PS3). If you've played on any of those consoles, you will likely be disappointed. I, for one, wish I had my old Xbox still. I loved playing multi-player cooperative Halo with my son. I thought since the Wii was targeted toward family play, there would more games that we could play and enjoy together. I couldn't have been more wrong. The only multi-player games are the terrible Mario Cart games and various party games with graphics that look like just a tad better than Nintendo 64.
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- by cirej2000 June 10, 2009 5:42 PM PDT
- The fact that Gamecube was pretty damned close to the Xbox (which you list in your modern console set) and the Wii is more powerful than the Gamecube (let's say 1.5 gamecubes) is pretty revealing.
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (73 Comments)If you can say that Xbox makes you a modern console veteran, then you've sort of invalidated your whole Wii premise in your first sentence. You're right about some of the games being visually not much better than N64 games. And I wish that there were more games that matched the N64's core gaming library (goldeneye, Turok, Perfect Dark, Sin and Punishment, et al.) but to ignore the games coming up for the Wii with improved graphics is mindless. The fact that a smaller company like High Voltage Software can put out decent visuals on a game like the Conduit is pretty telling that the rest of the industry just is lazy when it comes to the Wii. They want to make a quick buck with non-creative minigame-fests. They say that they need more power when it comes to making good games.
It probably speaks volumes to the state of software engineers these days. Many of whom do some design and run code through an IDE without any real spirit of stretching the code and the system. Probably because there aren't many developers with the hacker spirit.
The Wii can do graphics at a level worthy of Xbox titles. Hell the Gamecube was able to come close except for some lighting here and there (when you compare Splinter Cell 1 versions). But that alone isn't enough (when you look at Sonic and The Black Knight it's obvious that pretty graphics alone aren't enough).
The worm is turning, it's taken a few years but developers are starting to step up and do some real work for the Wii. It's gotta be demoralizing for whatever team is doing the work to keep throwing out crap minigame fests (most of which also fail in sales...only the best branded ones really make it).
I love my 360 and the PS3 is a gorgeous piece of equipment...but I'm really excited for the upcoming Wii titles over the next 18 months from Tiger Woods 2010 to Silent Hill...Tatsunoko Vs Capcom to No More Heroes 2 and Red Steel 2 to Metroid: Other M.