News: Industry News | Sonic Producer Backs Wii Capabilities Page 1

Industry News | Sonic Producer Backs Wii Capabilities

30.03.2007

With the Wii's graphical capabilities shrouded in mystery, gamers and developers have questioned what exactly the machine is capable of. Sonic and the Secret Rings producer, Yojiro Ogawa, recently commented on the Wii's abilities, putting it down to developer talent rather than hardware.

According to CVG, Ogawa recently spoke in the UK Official Nintendo Magazine, noting that "the powers of the PS3 and 360 are great, but the way to get the most out of a console comes down to the techniques that the developer has.

As an example, "If a designer has 256 coloured pencils and another only has 16, depending on the way the designers use the colours, what will come out can be very different. Even though someone may only have 16 colours, what they create can be impressive."

Sonic's appearance in the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl was also brought up, but unfortunately any decision is "nothing to do with me."

Be sure to stick around for further Wii updates..

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Spydarlee 30.03.2007#1

No doubt, but the fact is if the awesome developers work on more powerful consoles there still getting:

Awesomeness + Power (and the added potential that comes with).

Whereas Wii only gets Awesomeness (and magic controls, but that's not really the issue here)

Thus the other consoles win in this very simple explanation.

It wouldn't matter if developers were putting more effort into their Wii releases but it doesn't seem to be going that way at the moment... (for the most part).

( Edited on 30.03.2007 11:25 by Spydarlee )

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electricnomad 30.03.2007#2

Unfortunately, ask most artists which box of pencils they'd prefer to own and it'd be the 256... Unless they're colourblind.

beamrider2600 30.03.2007#3

"If a designer has 256 coloured pencils and another only has 16, depending on the way the designers use the colours, what will come out can be very different. Even though someone may only have 16 colours, what they create can be impressive."

Spot on, I've been making that exact comparison for a long time. Keeping with that example, having more colours can give more freedom but at the end of the day, with the right talent you can produce something equally as good.

Ph00p 30.03.2007#4

The guy is right if you've got 256 colours you've got ALOT to work with the more variables the more you can screw up, but as its been mentioned most 3rd party devs have managed to screw up quite well on the Wii.

Dr_R 30.03.2007#5

The thing I really hate is when people talk about the "power of PS3" allowing for advanced AI.

That's absolute bull. It's nothing to do with the power of the processor, it's the intelligence of the algorithm.

The most advanced AI going can be done on an average desktop computer and is written in high level programming languages by scientists who aren't trained programmers.

It's just that almost all developers don't both with anything like AI, they fake it all.

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Darkflame 30.03.2007#6

Its also a question of budget.
Adding extra polygons, or drawing more detailed artwork, takes more manhours.

Some benifits of "power" are free (lighting, for instance).
But most take increased costs to take advantage of them.

Having the ability to normal map dosnt help if you havnt got the budget to make the highres mesh's to reduce down!

The fact is, few developers can afford to truely push the Wii, let alone the 360 and PS3.
For every great looking game on those formats theres 5 that look crap.
Allthough, a sharper, type of crap then the Wii :p

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wolfmanz51 30.03.2007#7

if the developer can convey his point in good detail (wii graphics can convey any object) then all thats important is gameplay/fun wich I have more of with my wii than my xbox 360. also most of the 360 and ps3 games use most of that power to put out high res (and if you dont have a hdtv your not going to even use it)than 1/3 of console power and development cost is wasted. oh and most early 360 games look like wii games and wii games are still early in life just wait till prime 3 is finalized.

( Edited on 30.03.2007 12:51 by wolfmanz51 )

Dr_R 30.03.2007#8

Star for Darkflame for the most sensible thing I've ever seen written about graphical capabilities in this console war.

You forgot though crap 360 and PS3 graphics are also shinier than crap Wii graphics, not just sharper.

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Zapp 30.03.2007#9

very interesting interview, he has a point... but the developers so far have been to lazy to actually create anything amazing on the wii!

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JoshSL 30.03.2007#10

This is pretty old news TBH though, it's good news nonetheless.

So we should be seeing better visuals on the Wii before long.

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James2t3 30.03.2007#11

Thing is everyone expects every single wii game to max out the console but it's not gonna happen.
Look at any console and it's only a select few titles that ever pushes the console to the absolute max then theres a fair few that push it well and then theres the vast majority are a bit poo.
Things will improve as more Wii projects mature and are released down the line but i think people are still expecting every game to be better looking than Resident Evil 4.

beamrider2600 30.03.2007#12

Blade2t3 said:
Thing is everyone expects every single wii game to max out the console but its not gonna happen. Look at any console and its only a select few titles that ever pushes the console to the absolute max then theres a fair few that push it well and then theres the vast majority are a bit poo.Things will improve as more Wii projects mature and are released down the line but i think people are still expecting every game to be better looking than Resident Evil 4.

But graphics aren't everything. I've always said that I'd much rather see developers focus on gameplay, and make lots of great innovative games, rather than spend all of their time on graphics (which just wastes time and often isn't neccesary). Yes, it would be nice to have the odd game that really does the Wii justice in the graphics department, but I don't really care about it for every game.

James2t3 30.03.2007#13

I'm not saying graphics are everything, it's just everone seems to expect RE4 beating graphics for every single game for some reason.

Martin_ 30.03.2007#14

Spydarlee said:
No doubt, but the fact is if the awesome developers work on more powerful consoles there still getting:Awesomeness + Power (and the added potential that comes with).Whereas Wii only gets Awesomeness (and magic controls, but thats not really the issue here)Thus the other consoles win in this very simple explanation.It wouldnt matter if developers were putting more effort into their Wii releases but it doesnt seem to be going that way at the moment... (for the most part).

Truth.

James2t3 30.03.2007#15

It is indeed truth but only really applies to multi formate games, if your getting somthing like CoD3 then your obviously going to go for the 360 version.
If it's an original title though your not going to get it anywhere else.

patjuan32 30.03.2007#16

Spydarlee said:
No doubt, but the fact is if the awesome developers work on more powerful consoles there still getting:Awesomeness + Power (and the added potential that comes with).Whereas Wii only gets Awesomeness (and magic controls, but thats not really the issue here)Thus the other consoles win in this very simple explanation.It wouldnt matter if developers were putting more effort into their Wii releases but it doesnt seem to be going that way at the moment... (for the most part).

Your statement if false. Your adding the power of the Xbox 360 and the PS3 while leaving the Wii controller out of the picture. That is illogical. The Wii controller is just as much apart of the Wii as any of it's internal parts.

Why make an argument solely on graphics. Everyone knows that a game cannot rely on graphics to sell it. The storyline and the controls are just as important.
Therefore can we please stop with the graphics only arguments. No matter how much power a console has it cannot make up for a terrible control scheme and/or a weak/non-existent story. As someone mentioned before, there is more to a game than graphics.

Marzeee 30.03.2007#17

patjuan32 said:
Spydarlee said:No doubt, but the fact is if the awesome developers work on more powerful consoles there still getting:Awesomeness + Power (and the added potential that comes with).Whereas Wii only gets Awesomeness (and magic controls, but thats not really the issue here)Thus the other consoles win in this very simple explanation.It wouldnt matter if developers were putting more effort into their Wii releases but it doesnt seem to be going that way at the moment... (for the most part).Your statement if false. Your adding the power of the Xbox 360 and the PS3 while leaving the Wii controller out of the picture. That is illogical. The Wii controller is just as much apart of the Wii as any of its internal parts.Why make an argument solely on graphics. Everyone knows that a game cannot rely on graphics to sell it. The storyline and the controls are just as important.Therefore can we please stop with the graphics only arguments. No matter how much power a console has it cannot make up for a terrible control scheme and/or a weak/non-existent story. As someone mentioned before, there is more to a game than graphics.

I fully agree there. Sonic and the Secret Rings is one of the best looking Wii games, but when it comes to gameplay and controls, it's one of the worst.

Graphics aren't important; they just add a little more quality to the game. I'd much rather them make Sonic and the Secret Rings in Sonic Adventure graphics, but play well, as at least it would be a really decent game.

JoshSL 30.03.2007#18

Marzy said:
I fully agree there. Sonic and the Secret Rings is one of the best looking Wii games, but when it comes to gameplay and controls, its one of the worst. Graphics arent important; they just add a little more quality to the game. Id much rather them make Sonic and the Secret Rings in Sonic Adventure graphics, but play well, as at least it would be a really decent game.

It IS a decent game, & it DOESN'T play as one of the worst.

Seriously, popular opinion outweighs your view, so that doesn't make your view true at all. I don't know anyone except you that loathes the game so much.

If you want a Wii game that plays bad, then look away from Sonic right away, because out of the FEW Wii games there are, it is one of the best, & it plays far better than games like Far Cry or Rampage. Smilie

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TAG 30.03.2007#19

electricnomad said:
Unfortunately, ask most artists which box of pencils theyd prefer to own and itd be the 256... Unless theyre colourblind.

I'm pretty sure this man is right. If you have the resources and you want the best game possible, you want the big box of colored pencils, not the junior box.

As far as graphical capability, the only arguements the Wii has is that less power makes it cheaper and/or it's easier to develop for (so I hear).
Say the Wii's peak is a 7 out of 10 if we were to give the graphics a rating. It'd be easier to achieve a 6 on the Wii than a 6 on the PS3 or Xbox 360. However, if the developers work a little harder, they can get a 8 or a 9 on a PS3 or 360.
That's why people expect an RE4 with every other game. It's supposed to be easy to develop for and it's the new generation. RE4, while being the cream of the crop, was last generation. There should be a little progress. They did say the Wii was a little more powerful than the GC, didn't they? It sure isn't showing.

( Edited on 30.03.2007 23:15 by TAG )

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James2t3 30.03.2007#20

The hardware is pretty last generation though...i think you just have to accept that an move on.

It might be easier to set up a team and get started on a game on wii but creating a master piece on par with somthin like RE4 can't be expected with every game.

Spydarlee 31.03.2007#21

Why make an argument solely on graphics.

Because that is the nature of this news article, we're not talking about which is the better console or what makes the best games, we are just talking about graphics/power.

Everyone knows that a game cannot rely on graphics to sell it. The storyline and the controls are just as important.

When did I say any different? You brought the issue up not me, this isn't what we're discussing here at all.

Therefore can we please stop with the graphics only arguments. No matter how much power a console has it cannot make up for a terrible control scheme and/or a weak/non-existent story. As someone mentioned before, there is more to a game than graphics.

You're replying to an article directly related to the power of the three consoles, nothing more - if you don't want to discuss that sort of thing then it is you who should be leaving the argument/thread, no?

If my 'the the other consoles win' argument threw you off, all I was referring too was the point in the article that the developer makes a game great not the hardware.

Whilst thats obviously true, my point is if you couple that with extra power/freedom as well then the result can be even greater.

That's all, you can say the same for the Wii's controller or whatever, but that's not what this article is talking about.

( Edited on 31.03.2007 00:14 by Spydarlee )

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