Third-party devs "under-exploiting" Wii

Battalion Wars 2 dev says there's "room to do more" on "GameCube x2".

There are "a lot of lazy titles" on the Wii and developers are "under-exploiting" Nintendo's console - that's the stark message from the creative director of Kuju, developer of the Battalion Wars games.

Speaking in an interview with VideoGamer.com, Tancred Dyke-Wells, creative director at UK-based developer Kuju, said that despite the fact that the Wii is more powerful than the GameCube "by a factor of two", third party titles "really don't take full advantage of the machine".

[Astro]

NinjaBread Man comes to mind.

[predator]

alot of wii games come to mind, the sad truth, hope it changes

[lynx1halo]

Gamecube2 LOL just like ive been saying all along LOL

[ShadoWulf]

this article argues AGAINST your point. It says the Wii is capable of much more than we've seen so far (perhaps barring first party games).

You've been saying all along that the current games on the Wii are Gamecube 2. Well, Wii can do better. Sure, it's got twice the power of the Gamecube. That means it's twice as good as last gen, plus the controller. I don't see how you can call that anything but current gen.

[IntelligentAj]

Yeah...we'll see if that's true or not.

[moses]

I really hope Wii shows some of it's potential soon. It can be a really great system, it's just the developers are, well... retarded at the moment.

[ItsDubC]

I don't think the GC, Xbox, and PS2 were even maxed out and if true, the Wii has more to offer than has been exhibited for the most part. When I compare Mario Galaxy to Escape from Bug Island, it's difficult to believe that the two games run off of the same hardware because the difference is night and day.

I think devs underestimated the Wii's success and started jumping on the bandwagon thinking they could make money off of garbage software, and now are starting to come back to reality. If the Wii is the easiest to develop for and devs spend a comparable amount of time w/ Wii development as they've been doing w/ 360 and PS3 development, then Wii software standards can be raised. However, I don't think that'll happen en masse unless the Wii's installbase outnumbers the combined installbase of the PS3 and 360 significantly enough to sway devs from making high-budget multiplat 360/PSS3 titles in favor of Wii titles.

[moses]

I don't know if you've ever played black, but it looks like it is next-gen. It was an amazing game with massive levels.

[rofldings]

PS2 // God of War!

[Rooftrellen]

Just think, PS2 was the weakest console last gen, and it can look like that?

The Wii is MUCH stronger than the PS2, and the 360 and PS3 are MUCH stronger than the Wii, so why do most games not look that good, still?

[MK_Red]

Nice find and nice word "under-exploiting". When something as great as Zack & Wiki can be made by 3rd party for Wii, devs that make things like Anubis 2, Balls of Glory and such games should be fined and punished.

[predator]

i would consider buying a wii at some point in the future if they had normal controls as well as the remote, i couldnt be done with the remote all the time.

[Rooftrellen]

Develoeprs choose which controls to use.

I'm going old school with Brawl controls, myself.

Games can be made with mortion controls or not, but don't blame Nintendo if they're not...unless its a NIntendo game, of course.

[ChickeyCantor]

Nights, is going to use both.
And allot of other games do use the GCN controller too.

[Gordii]

Wii needs a normal controller to get 3rd party devolopers.
Lets face it how are you going to play a true fighting game?
Racing game? With Nintendo's Controller its a double edge sword. Yes while it is awesome for its use sometimes we just want to sit down and play and relax not stand up. The Wii would sell a lot more if they made another controller i been saying this for a long time now and i believe firmly in it aswell.

[IntelligentAj]

Unless i'm mistaken you can get a regular controller for the console.

[desolationstorm]

some games you can use the classic or the gamecube remote. I think some developers need to allow people to choose to play either way. Anyway I dont really understand the argument with most wii games about having to stand up or get tired playing. I have a broken foot and was on a couch for 2 months and played the wii almost the whole time. There were few games which just tired out my arms the main one being elebits damn that thing tired my arms out and to a much lessor extent trauma center.

[ChickeyCantor]

Do your research, you stated this before.
The wii has 4 gamecube controller ports plus they could attach different hardware to the Wii-mote.

it will sell more? ( with this shortage?)
its designed for different controller inputs....so your statement is a bit off.

[Multigamer]

the wii still is not appealing to me, just somthing about it thats stopping me

[BrotherNick]

Well some positives are if you have parties at your house, the wii will most definitely be utilized. And if you like plumber, elf or female bounty hunter games it's for you. Also it's good if you have kids, and you play video games less than the average gamer.

[misterssippi]

Even if the wii is 2x more powerful than the GC, it pales in comparison to the PS3 and 360, from a raw power standpoint. That isnt the fault of 3rd party developers, thats the fault of Nintendo. They approached this generation of gaming deciding to make a less powerful machine, that would be cheaper to produce, and more apt to make a profit. Nintendo didnt expect the wii to sell as well as it has, and even made the statement that they wanted the wii to be the 'other console' that consumers bought, in conjunction with their PS360's. They gotta deal with that now.

[desolationstorm]

Your missing the point of the article. The developer was saying that people are not even trying to get anything out of the wiis power. Yes its nothing compaired to the ps3 and 360, but it is about equal with the original xbox so we should be seeing some nice graphics. Afterall we werent exactly playing pong last generation were we?

Nintendo is not guilty of producing a machine which produces ugly graphics, it is not as powerfull as the competition this generation but far from the n64 or pso. Developers are guilty of it and so is nintendo with some games. Some developers see nintendo software sell really well when they dont put a terrible effort in the graphics so they figure why not do the same. Fire emblem to name a game looked underwhelming on the gamecube and still looks like it on wii. Dont get me wrong I really dont mind it but from another developers standpoint why do they have to be held to a differnt level? It is about the gameplay and that is where nintendo succedes but hey 3rd parties might be the most guilty of not trying but nintendo doesnt help their case all the time.

[J@D]

THE only tittle that appeal me for grab a Wii are those: SSMB & Zelda Tittles. Third-party tittles are horrible on Wii this days.

[moses]

tittles? hahahaha

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

What people expect? Nintendo launch a last gen console with a new controller. Last gen are already well know for devs, they shall not really invest to innovate in it, specially while they have to deal with new high-costa-to-produce-for hardware... Worse than that, Wii base have growth to quick, even while it had few games, so was just the time for oportunist devs to make crap games for the console (easy money), the problem is, there is already games out, still, devs/publishers are aiming for that easy money... And also, people are not buying the good games that much, so most like devs will think twice before serious invest on Wii and more crap, easy money, games will come for some time...

[ChickeyCantor]

" Last gen are already well know for devs, they shall not really invest to innovate in it,"

...you are so wrong, "innovation" isn't by standard something great, its new alright but not by default GOOD.

now lets spend 10 times more on a game then they would pay for a Wii project and take the RISK that there is a possibility it wont sell.

Working for Wii equals minimum loss, and when its selling they are guaranteed with profits.

No sales for PS3/360 games = big loss of money, and of course IF it goes off the shelves there is a profit, but the risk was still attached.

[CRIMS0N_W0LF]

Its Gamecube 1.25 not Gamecube 2

[ChickeyCantor]

WIIIIIII another retard,
the reason you think its a 1.25 is all explained in this article.
Devs don't take the power out of the Wii, they just keep it on REALLY low standards.

[BrotherNick]

Let's actually have discussion, not flame wars...maybe you'll get your bubble back.

[wiizy]

exactly.. underexploiting the number 1 system..there is no excuse for it..especially the wii being the system of choice