Epic: The Wii is Backwards, a Virus

By Jorge Ba-oh 20.04.2008 163

Epic Games' president recently revealed that the company won't be making games for the system.

Mike Capps recently discussed developing for the Wii and confirmed the studio won't be bringing anything to the little white box: "no, we go forward, not back. It makes more sense for us to invest in the next-generation tech."

He likens the console to a virus, where its spreading due to the initial appeal on being different but lacking substance for long term use:

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.

Epic is well known for Gears of War and the Unreal franchise.

Thanks to Megatonik.

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Phoenom is offline. Phoenom 20.04.2008#1

Epic fail.

 
Mr. T is offline. Mr. T 20.04.2008#2

Seems a bit harsh...

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Stulaw is offline. Stulaw 20.04.2008#3

Epic fail because they describe exactly what happened to make the PS2 so popular.

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L is offline. L 20.04.2008#4

Epic are a bunch of Donkey Raping Shit Eaters.

 
Mason is offline. Mason 20.04.2008#5

Fair enough if they don't want to make games for it, but a bit harsh. They're only giving up free money to be honest if they don't want a separate Wii team, but fair enough.

 
Darkflame is offline. Darkflame 20.04.2008#6

" but I�m still waiting for that one game that makes me play it."

So, Mario Galaxy...the best rated game of all time... isnt good enough for you?
Neither is Metroid Corruption, Twlight Princess or Smash Bros...all highly rated in their genres.

Neither is the nice 3rd party games like Zack and Wiki?
And of course, perish the thought you would stoop so low as to enjoy WiiSports or MarioKart.

We are sorry the system clearly dosnt have games upto your godly standards. I mean, GearsOfWar clearly was so amazing visualy that it didnt need to be actualy interesting did it? When you got great graphics, repeatative gameplay dosnt matter in the least.

You stick with your so-forward looking playstations...that have had practicaly the same controller for 3 generations.
Some of us take a broader view of gaming, and demand a bit more then mere horsepower from that defines a generation.

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DaOne is offline. DaOne 20.04.2008#7

Maybe harsh but I agree - it makes sense.

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knighty is offline. knighty 20.04.2008#8

Gears of War had some of the freshest FPS gameplay ever, and was damn fun. Anyone who says otherwise simply hasn't played it. Before you go bitching at Epic just realise how many games their technology powers. They may not be making games for it but they've made UE Wii compatible. I totally agree with him, my Wii has barely been touched after the initial appeal wore off, there's absolutely nothing new to see on the Wii at all.

Also:

Galaxy isn't the best rated game of all time
Corruption was shit compared to MP1
Twilight Princess was OOT
Brawl is Melee with online and a few bits and bobs.

It's not hard to see why he thinks the Wii isn't going forwards.

 
DaOne is offline. DaOne 20.04.2008#9

GOW is a TPS, not an FPS. Well, perhaps an inbetweenyish...

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knighty is offline. knighty 20.04.2008#10

You know what I meant Smilie

Anyway, sure Epic could create a game on the Wii in no time and rake in the money but they're not like that. They recently released a bunch of free maps for UT3. Not many developers would create new content for a game totally free of charge. What could they do on the Wii that they can't do on a PC/360/PS3? Absolutely nothing, and don't give me that "omg wii is teh perfekt for teh FPS LOLOLOLOLOL" because it isn't. It's shit for them.

 
Modplan Man is offline. Modplan Man 20.04.2008#11

Lulz at the fail.

 
Demoni Rakkausenkeli is offline. Demoni Rakkausenkeli 20.04.2008#12

I bet the president of Epic is a Sony Fanboy, or a Nintendo-Hater. Ive had the wii since launch(in the US) and i still play it, and its obviously more than 2 months now.

 
knighty is offline. knighty 20.04.2008#13

Wow, lol @ people who don't even know who Epic are.

 
WP-Final is offline. WP-Final 20.04.2008#14

I think the comment about people leaving the Wii after 2 months is inaccurate. I'm playing the Wii more now than I did when I got it. There will be people for all 3 consoles who simply leave them switched off due to boredom, not just Wii.

While Wii's tech is a bit backwards from PS3/360, if worked on properly, the Wii can produce some amazing games.

All of his friends with Wiis are probably the kind that like games like gta, project gothem, halo etc. Zack and Wiki's too colourful for them

 
Jump_button is offline. Jump_button 20.04.2008#15

some one have they head up they own ass

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Mason is offline. Mason 20.04.2008#16

The control method of Wii IS perfect for FPS, it's just not been utilised by many developers for reasons that aren't fathomable. The main reason the FPS line up is so shite on the system is because only a few developers haven't been utter morons in deciding what type of games to create for the system.

 
knighty is offline. knighty 20.04.2008#17

His dislike for the Wii isn\'t aimed at graphics. What a lot of you fucking fail to realise is that basically every game on the Wii could be done on the 360/PS3. If I\'m wrong, please feel free to cite the long list of games that fulfil Nintendos promises of new gameplay. Imagine how gorgeous Galaxy could have been on a console with more power. You can pretend you don\'t care about graphics, but you know you\'re only kidding yourself. Otherwise you can just go back to playing SNES games.

edit: No Mason it really isn\'t, it\'s simply not stable enough to play a game which requires total precision. The very thought of sniping with the Wiimote......It\'s easy to think \"Oh right, pointer, yeah must be good for FPS\'s\" but it just wouldn\'t work. Sure it sorta works in MP3 but that\'s with fat guns and huge enemies. Even then I preferred MP1/2\'s control schemes.

( Edited 20.04.2008 18:27 by knighty )

 
WP-Final is offline. WP-Final 20.04.2008#18

I don't think Galaxy could be done on 360/ps3. Not with the pointer gameplay anyway.

 
DaOne is offline. DaOne 20.04.2008#19

Because teh 5 year olds and grannzys dont like shootin shit! lolz.

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knighty is offline. knighty 20.04.2008#20

Pointer gameplay? Oh yeah, star bits really improve the game experience Smilie

 
Modplan Man is offline. Modplan Man 20.04.2008#21

knighty said:
His dislike for the Wii isn\'t aimed at graphics. What a lot of you fucking fail to realise is that basically every game on the Wii could be done on the 360/PS3. If I\'m wrong, please feel free to cite the long list of games that fulfil Nintendos promises of new gameplay. Imagine how gorgeous Galaxy could have been on a console with more power. You can pretend you don\'t care about graphics, but you know you\'re only kidding yourself. Otherwise you can just go back to playing SNES games.

What you fucking fail to realise is the perpetual cycle.

Developer goes on about how Wii is for kiddiez/is only for casuals et etc, or in this example is a virus, when said developer, like in this case, won\'t even look into making said games they are interested in making, or want to make, etc etc despite massive potential audience, especially right now with people starving for stuff, the obviously more massive sales compared to the others, blah blah blah.

There\'s actually plenty of reason, that they\'re just not taking advantage of.

I\'ve argued about bringing new things to games before, so I won\'t bother this time. You\'re comment about going back to play SNES games is utterly ridiculous too.

Not to mention how often you base everything on personal opinion and nothing else. If you\'re going to make sweeping remarks about games and other such things, actually base them on something else other than your own stubborn views.

( Edited 20.04.2008 18:35 by RyanT )

 
Mason is offline. Mason 20.04.2008#22

That all depends on the person. If you're not holding the controller up while you're playing it's easy to be precise with it - how many people are playing holding their controllers in the air rather than leaning slightly on their knee? I hold the opinion that it's easier to be precise with the Wii remote, though admittedly I use dual analogues for that sort of thing far more often because I tend to play FPSes and games like that on my 360.

 
jb is offline. jb 20.04.2008#23

Yes, no sane person would turn down good GPU power - if a game can be pushed visually then that'd be awesome.

I think where the Wii could excel is in the pointer mechanism and/or motion controls. The controller is what differtiates it from the XBOX and PS3.

It's a shame to see developers turning down the system when the potential is there. They could have some interesting FPS mechanics using the Wii-remote and nunchuck, or even the zapper but turn it down because of developers releasing minimal-effort games on it.

Metroid Prime 3 (although not an FPS) has some excellent control that could be taken forward, and should be. The Wii isn't a revolution yet, imo, but it does have so much potential if developers would look beyond creating simple mini-games and taking a risk with the system.

I think they're scared to invest so much risk into making a Wii game, due to it being different to operate . They're sticking with what they feel they can work comfortably with - regular controllers, good, solid GPU power and a working online infrastructure (PS3/360). The Wii is a risk for them as it's something they'd have to get right (control wise), else it could fail at the market. With the other two, a control scheme has already been done to death for most games, but with the Wii it's not been tested so much.

In his eyes, its probably too much effort - but what he fails to see imo, is the potential the remote/nunchuck has to give a completely new experience to control, and in itself introduce some unique gameplay mechanics. I'm not saying the Wii remote is the only way to introduce new gameplay, no way, but it's great piece of kit that should be given a chance.

I just hope other developers will step in and show that it can, and should be done on the Wii.

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DaOne is offline. DaOne 20.04.2008#24

I play games to relax, I tend to not like flailing around on the air.

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knighty is offline. knighty 20.04.2008#25

Just finished reading the interview and the quote is slightly out of context. He explains how bringing UE3 to the Wii is totally impossible. If you've ever played around in Unreal Editor 3 you'll know what the engine is based off, and he says how converting the engine which they've worked on for years to the Wii would basically be impossible with its total reliance on shaders and materials. Is it hard to see why they wouldn't want to butcher something they've put so much blood and sweat in to? It certainly pains me when I have to rip out all of the effects in my engine to get it running properly on the less good computers at Uni....

 

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