As part of an interview with Joystiq, Takeuchi was asked why the game wasn't coming to the Wii despite Nintendo's market dominance, cheaper development, and the success of Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition. Takeuchi explained that the decision came "from the development team." Resident Evil 5 would arrive on the Xbox 360 and PS3, and not the Wii, because of the team's ambitions, including those for "the graphical aspect of the game."
Takeuchi also stated that "actual development time itself has been just about three years." Including planning, Takeuchi put the figure closer to four years. The Wii in comparison is only a little over two years old. When Resident Evil 5 was announced in mid-2005, the Wii was still known by the codename "Revolution," technical details were still scarce, and Nintendo's console was still over a year away from launch.
Takeuchi explained that the decision came "from the development team."
Another thing I just thought of - is it possible that developers don't want to support the Wii specifically because they don't like what it stands for and thus don't want it to succeed? Developers are usually also gamers and I imagine there is a desire to make games one would like to play. Dora the Explorer games may exist but I doubt anybody who dreamed of making videogames wanted to get stuck developing them. Developers want to be ambitious in the games they design.
The Wii seems to be designed specifically to discourage ambitious design. It's targetted at non-gamers with simplified non-games that are intentionally restrictive so as to not confuse or intimidate non-gamers. If you want to make ambitious games this is not a business model you want to succeed. Publishers are always going to push for the hot trend and don't usually care if those are the types of games you want to make or not. So if you don't like non-gaming and waggle and intentionally scaled down hardware you may want to see the Wii fail, so you don't have to get assigned to working on games with last-gen graphics and waggle controls aimed at children and women. You make all your best games for the competition because that's the style of console and style of games you want to win.
Developers are NEVER going to be non-gamers so on a personal level they're likely not that interested in making games that they aren't really interested in playing.
Is anyone else picking up that this sounds more like damage control in case the game doesn't sell anywhere near as well as they're expecting it too considering they're basically cutting off half of their possible market?
idk, i've been pretty pessimistic lately. I do think a new wii Resident evil is still possible. I wouldn't mind resident evil 4 with new levels..ie resident evil 5
Nintendo's ultimate problem with the Wii design is that the whole thing is a tradeoff. If they had Xbox 360 comparable hardware with the Wii remote they could say they have an advantage because their console can do more than the others. But the Wii CAN'T do more than the others, it is merely different.
I've come to the conclusion that the Wii's third party situation has no realistic hope of improving. Nintendo has just made a console that game developers are not interested in developing for. They are so uninterested that they will make shovelware for the Wii to finance the creation of the games they want to make on the other consoles. The waggle wand isn't good enough. The Wii is actually so unappealing to developers that they would rather risk financial ruin than focus on it. That's pretty idiotic since the Wii's hardware is perfectly capable of producing good games.
The Wii seems to be designed specifically to discourage ambitious design. It's targetted at non-gamers with simplified non-games that are intentionally restrictive so as to not confuse or intimidate non-gamers.
In the last paragraph of the newspost are you implying that Capcom is lying, due to the game starting development prior the Wii's official reveal?
In the last paragraph of the newspost are you implying that Capcom is lying, due to the game starting development prior the Wii's official reveal?
TOTALLY misreading. &P
I think it goes to show that Capcom started planning for something on a grand scale, and by the time the Wii was revealed their project was on a course that couldn't be changed.
Well, Rize beat me to responding to Ian. There is absolutely no reason why developers can't develop full-featured games. Nintendo has done a handful that have been successful, but publishers seem too distracted by trying to reproduce the lower-budget success to consider pursuing a more traditional, larger budget title on Wii like Brawl or Metroid Prime 3.
In the last paragraph of the newspost are you implying that Capcom is lying, due to the game starting development prior the Wii's official reveal?
TOTALLY misreading. &P
I think it goes to show that Capcom started planning for something on a grand scale, and by the time the Wii was revealed their project was on a course that couldn't be changed.
And yet they pull out a Dead Rising port. How is that any different?
I'm agreeing with those predicting an RE 5: Wii Edition. If anything Capcom will force the devs to make it due to the sales of the 4th on Wii.
Well, Rize beat me to responding to Ian. There is absolutely no reason why developers can't develop full-featured games. Nintendo has done a handful that have been successful, but publishers seem too distracted by trying to reproduce the lower-budget success to consider pursuing a more traditional, larger budget title on Wii like Brawl or Metroid Prime 3.
TYP Monster Hunter 3 and DQX seem to be changing that trend. I do expect it to start shifting now unless Madworld/DC/Conduit end up bombing. Those titles will be key to weather or not developers are willing to take the risk developing full featured titles more often, or hide behind more simple games (though I want to clarify I don't think simple games are bad if done well).
In the last paragraph of the newspost are you implying that Capcom is lying, due to the game starting development prior the Wii's official reveal?
TOTALLY misreading. &P
I think it goes to show that Capcom started planning for something on a grand scale, and by the time the Wii was revealed their project was on a course that couldn't be changed.
And yet they pull out a Dead Rising port. How is that any different?
I'm agreeing with those predicting an RE 5: Wii Edition. If anything Capcom will force the devs to make it due to the sales of the 4th on Wii.
Oh man, an RE5:Wii edition would be sorta amazing to hear about. Then afterwards, they could make a sequel to Umbrella Chronicles! ... or not. Please don't kill me.
In the last paragraph of the newspost are you implying that Capcom is lying, due to the game starting development prior the Wii's official reveal?
TOTALLY misreading. &P
I think it goes to show that Capcom started planning for something on a grand scale, and by the time the Wii was revealed their project was on a course that couldn't be changed.
And yet they pull out a Dead Rising port. How is that any different?
I'm agreeing with those predicting an RE 5: Wii Edition. If anything Capcom will force the devs to make it due to the sales of the 4th on Wii.
Oh man, an RE5:Wii edition would be sorta amazing to hear about. Then afterwards, they could make a sequel to Umbrella Chronicles! ... or not. Please don't kill me.
Kairon is bumming me out...
In the last paragraph of the newspost are you implying that Capcom is lying, due to the game starting development prior the Wii's official reveal?
TOTALLY misreading. &P
I think it goes to show that Capcom started planning for something on a grand scale, and by the time the Wii was revealed their project was on a course that couldn't be changed.
And yet they pull out a Dead Rising port. How is that any different?
I'm agreeing with those predicting an RE 5: Wii Edition. If anything Capcom will force the devs to make it due to the sales of the 4th on Wii.
Oh man, an RE5:Wii edition would be sorta amazing to hear about. Then afterwards, they could make a sequel to Umbrella Chronicles! ... or not. Please don't kill me.
At least UC was a fresher edition to the series then RE5! BURN ;)
I'd love to see RE5 Wii Edition, but honestly I think I'd rather they go back to their roots a bit and make a RE game specifically for Wii that cuts out the co-op, uses the RE4 engine but uses the atmosphere of games pre-RE4. Even a game that is more like a sequel to RE4 would be fine too.
Ultimate problem? Actually, this is really the only problem with the Wii. However, if Nintendo hadn't chosen this route, the Wii would almost certainly be no more successful than the GameCube was (marginally more successful at best).
Now that the Wii is the unquestionable market leader, publishers will start forcing their developers to make Wii games.
QuoteUltimate problem? Actually, this is really the only problem with the Wii. However, if Nintendo hadn't chosen this route, the Wii would almost certainly be no more successful than the GameCube was (marginally more successful at best).
I disagree. The PS3 was a complete disaster at first. Nintendo could likely have beaten Sony by merely being competent. I think Wii Sports has enough of a mainstream hook with the real-time racket swinging and such that Nintendo could still have sold buttloads of hardware with it at a higher price point. iPods are really expensive for example and yet sell like hotcakes because they're got that "it" factor that people just love and thus cost no longer becomes a concern. The Wii could have cost as much as the Xbox 360 and I think it still could have had near identical success due to the widespread appeal of Wii Sports. The Wii has "it" and it isn't because it's cheap. People had to wait up to a year to find one in stores. The demand was such that it could have cost a good $100 more and I think it would have been fine.QuoteNow that the Wii is the unquestionable market leader, publishers will start forcing their developers to make Wii games.
I assumed this too but the Wii has been the market leader for quite a while now. We got Dragon Quest X and that Monster Hunter game that gets lousy review scores and no one in America ever gave a **** about before it was announced to the Wii but we still get bull**** like that Dead Space spin-off rail shooter crap. I think if we were going to see a real improvement, like PS2 level support which we SHOULD have, it would have happened already. The "well no one assumed the Wii would be so huge" argument no longer makes sense. Now third parties like Capcom here are looking for excuse to not support the Wii. Well there has to be some reason for that. That's why I assume it will never change because it's taken WAY too long.
I think that time has come and you will start to see the games flow. However, they need to finish being developed first.
the "well no one assumed the Wii would be so huge" argument no longer makes sense. Now third parties like Capcom here are looking for excuse to not support the Wii. Well there has to be some reason for that.
But for the overall feeling like many prominent 3rd parties aren't supporting the Wii nearly as well as they should, I think it's because the Wii is such a clear change for gaming "philosophy." Nintendo's little white box, more clearly than many of their previous systems, epitomizes innovation over excess.
It's perfectly possible to make huge, technically excellent, and "conventional" games on the wii -- just look at RE4! Sure the models have to be a bit lower poly, and the sweat might not glisten quite as brightly, but those are the sort of restrictions that game developers have always worked under.
Examples like those are why I don't really buy the "whining devs" excuse. I think the problem falls squarely on the shoulders of the people doing the planning, and that's management.
The biggest problem I see with all of this is that games seem to be following a trend of trading off hours of gameplay for prettier graphics and overall less content.
If what I hear is correct, a basic walkthrough with RE5 is 7 hours. That's half of RE4's 14 hours.
I know that older gamers have less time, but a game that can be beaten in a day with little replay value? Really? And given the $60 pricetag, that's $8.50 an hour you're paying for entertainment. The game is begging to be rented instead of purchased.
And WHY is the game only 7 hours long? Because it costs so damn much to have HD textures on every model in the game and it's so time consuming, that's why.
Are we really willing to trade-off hours of gameplay for prettier graphics? I know I'm not, but it's a trend a lot of so-called AAA titles have been following, like Heavenly Sword, Lair and now RE5.
It's not worth it. Spending 7 hours in a pretty game with mediocre gameplay is not an ideal situation when we could've spent 14-20 hours in a game with average graphics and decent gameplay.
Why are we complaining about the Wii being cheap when it's Nintendo's most expensive console to date?
Love it.
First Capcom leaves Sony to develop for the Gamecube and Nintendo fans rejoice but when it does the opposite they pound-their-fists and cry like little babies. :)
I wouldn't be surprised to see this title ported to WII 2.
Why are we complaining about the Wii being cheap when it's Nintendo's most expensive console to date?
Love it.
First Capcom leaves Sony to develop for the Gamecube and Nintendo fans rejoice but when it does the opposite they pound-their-fists and cry like little babies. :)
I wouldn't be surprised to see this title ported to WII 2.
Love it.
First Capcom leaves Sony to develop for the Gamecube and Nintendo fans rejoice but when it does the opposite they pound-their-fists and cry like little babies. :)
I wouldn't be surprised to see this title ported to WII 2.
Its the cycle of life, my friend.
I'd rather they not port it, but make a new game instead.
I'd rather they not port it, but make a new game instead.
I heard the later games in the series sucked so I would either want a new team to make a new Wii version or have them remake the first ones.