Straight Right on Mass Effect 3, has original title and “big game in a well known franchise” in the works for Wii U
It’s time to learn a little more about Straight Right, the developer behind the Wii U version of Mass Effect 3.
Did you know that Nintendo published the GBA version of Top Gear Rally? That was made by Tantalus, Straight Right’s parent company.
Straight Right CEO Tom Crago gave an overview of the company’s history while speaking with Polygon:
“We’ve been admirers of BioWare for a long time and had actually wanted to work with them on the DS a while back. Tantalus did Unreal II on Xbox so we had some experience with challenging ports, and with the Unreal engine. We also have a great relationship with Nintendo, in that they published one of our titles on GBA and in so far as we’ve always supported their platforms. So I guess the planets aligned and we were able to convince BioWare to trust us with their baby.”
Crago says that Straight Right will spend most of its time on core games:
“I suppose we developed that label as a way of signifying a transition into a new, core space, with an emphasis on digital releases. The Tantalus brand will continue with our licensed and kids stuff but with Straight Right we’re trying to connect more meaningfully with the people actually playing our games. At least that’s the plan.”
Straight Right has one main goal with Mass Effect 3 on Wii U. The team wants to take what was an “exceptionally good on PS3 and 360” and put it on a system “that really should suit it even better.” They’ll be using the GamePad to enhance the experience.
“Taking a step back, we’re taking a game that was exceptionally good on PS3 and 360 and bringing it to a platform that really should suit it even better. Our primary goal is to use the GamePad to enhance the experience, to make it faster, more intuitive and more fun. I’d like to think that people who had played ME3 when it was released could pick it up on Wii U and say that they enjoyed it even more. And of course we know that for a lot of people playing the game on Wii U will be their first contact with the Mass Effect universe. We want to create an experience that stands out for them too.”
Supposedly BioWare can “take control of the wheel whenever they want to.” However, the studio has been in support of Straight Right’s ideas thus far.
Once Mass Effect 3 is out the door, Straight Right will be hard at work on two more Wii U projects. The developer has an original game heading to the platform and is has also “started on another big game in a well known franchise that will be released in 2013.”
“We’ve made a few bets on Wii U actually so we’re certainly hoping it does well. In addition to ME3 we have an original Wii U title in development, and we’ve started on another big game in a well known franchise that will be released in 2013. But you can never put all your eggs in one basket and we’re continuing our efforts on iOS and on other platforms. This industry is pretty volatile, you always have to be thinking about what’s coming next.”
