“Anything which makes it easier for new developers to enter the market is a great thing. We’re certainly going to take a serious look at WiiWare, especially as a stepping stone to Wii development.” – Vincent Dehaut of Studio Archcraft
Studio Archcraft plans on releasing Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled in the second quarter of 2008 for the DS and Project Exile 2 is being considered for the future.
In an interview, Mike Capps (President of Epic Games) had this to say about the Wii:
“It’s a virus where you buy it and you play it with your friends and they’re like, “Oh my God that’s so cool, I’m gonna go buy it.” So you stop playing it after two months, but they buy it and they stop playing it after two months but they’ve showed it to someone else who then go out and buy it and so on. Everyone I know bought one and nobody turns it on. Obviously there’s a class of people who really love it and enjoy it and are getting into the games but I’m still waiting for that one game that makes me play it. Who knows, maybe Wii Fit will be it.”
Also during the interview, Capps insisted that Epic Games will never create a title for the Wii. He insisted, “no, we go forward, not back. It makes more sense for us to invest in the next-generation tech.”
It’s impossible to say that the technology of the Wii can match that of the 360, but the approach to video games has moved forward because of the system. I strongly believe that the Wii has impacted the industry, and there would be no possible way to progress if developers and publishers relied only on horsepower and graphics cards. Gaming needs other things, too, such as creativity and a fresh approach.
Best Buy
Imagine: Babyz (DS) – $19.99
Petz: Wild Animals: Dolphinz (DS) – $19.99
Circuit City
Pokemon: Diamond (DS) – $24.99
Pokemon: Pearl (DS) – $24.99
Pokemon: Emerald (GBA) – $14.99
High School Musical (DS) – $19.99
Ben 10 (DS) – $19.99
TRMK: Will the game be only for the Xbox 360 and PS3 or will there be a possibility of a Wii port?
Ed Boon: I don’t know for sure. It’s kind of like it was with Armageddon. We did an Xbox version and a PS2 version and a Wii version followed. We didn’t know it was going to follow. The Wii is selling so huge it would almost be difficult to ignore it. But at the same time, there’s no Unreal Engine for the Wii.
TRMK: I think one company has got it working, but Epic is not supporting it.
EB: Right, so it would be a challenge. I certainly wouldn’t have a problem with it. Armageddon actually did pretty well on the Wii. So it makes some sense.
Based on what Ed Boon says in this interview, it seems like the new Mortal Kombat game could definitely be released on the Wii. If Armageddon performed well in terms of sales, there shouldn’t be many reasons as to why the game couldn’t be brought over to the Wii.
In what seems to be a huge screw up by the people at Capcom, on their latest Wii game Okami, The IGN website logo seems to be just visible on the front cover box art. Did they not have their own artwork to work with or something?
Wii
1. Wii Sports (21.09 million)
2. Wii Play (11.31 million)
3. Super Mario Galaxy (6.38 million)
4. Mario Party 8 (5.08 million)
5. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (4.87 million)
DS
1. Nintendogs (17.79 million)
2. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (14.17 million)
3. New Super Mario Bros. (13.14 million)
4. Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! (11.71 million)
5. Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day! (9.84 million)
GameCube
1. Super Smash Bros. Melee (7.09 million)
2. Super Mario Sunshine (5.5 million)
3. Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (4.67 million)
4. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (3.07 million)
5. Luigi’s Mansion (2.53 million)
GBA
1. Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire (13 million)
2. Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen (10.66 million)
3. Pokémon Emerald (6.32 million)
4. Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 (4.079 million)
5. Super Mario Advance (3.73 million)
NES
– River City Ransom
Genesis
– Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom
Well, we aren’t receiving as many games as the Japanese gamers, but these titles should hold us over until WiiWare!
Super Famicom
– Heracles no Eikou IV: Kamigami-kara no Okurimono (Paon)
Mega Drive
– Phelios (Bandai Namco)
PC-Engine
– Akumajo Dracula X: Chi no Rondo (Konami)
Neo Geo
– Metal Slug
If only Americans were so lucky as to have 4 titles per week! At least we know entertaining WiiWare games are on the way.
