Illogical Choices
So here's a blog post that made it to Digg (which sensationally broadened the topic into how developers, in general, might not like the Wii) about how the new Clover Studios (now called Seeds) is reportedly not producing games for the Wii. Complicated sentence... Hope you understand it!
I couldn't help but completely disregard everything the post said when I read this:
I'm still not sold on how a "traditional video game" (which Okami almost certainly is if the brush is not considered) feels using the Wii and that ninja instrument.
Okami makes a huge deal out of "the brush", Mister. Stripping out the Celestial Brush and calling it a "traditional video game" is like stripping the puzzles out of Riven and calling it a "pretty slide show". Okami has traditional elements, yes. In fact, it's very much like Zelda, much to the chagrin of hardcore Nintendo fanatics. Personally, I don't care. Okami is awesome, as is Zelda. And yes, it would be a regular ol' adventure action game without the Celestial Brush, but it DOES have the Celestial Brush so it's NOT a "traditional video game".
Then again, he does say this before the traditional bit:
While Okami would almost certainly be a great candidate for the Wii treatment (if only because the celestial brush would work great with the Wii remote)...
So it could be that he just doesn't think REAL traditional games would work very well on the Wii, as he goes on to say that he couldn't help but think that Twilight Princess would be more fun on the Gamecube with a traditional controller. Well, duh. Remember that Twilight Princess was INTENDED for the Gamecube, and then the Wii Remote controls were tacked on later in development. While I personally think that this choice was a make or break decision for me (I can't aim worth squat with joysticks... It's much easier to aim the bow by pointing where you want it to go), I've heard lots of people say they like the Gamecube version better. That's fine, but now you're going so far as to predict that all Wii games are going to have tacked-on controls based on the fact that Twilight Princess had tacked-on controls.
The bottom line is that we really haven't seen a REAL Wii game, yet, with the exception of Wii Sports. It's so cliche, but since everyone tries to defend the Playstation 3 and everything under the sun with "wait until it has some good games" or "wait until this" or "wait until that until you judge", I'm going to say: Why don't we wait until there are some REAL, ORIGINAL Wii games before we wonder if developers are going to do a good job and/or even want to develop for the Wii.
How many times do we have to tell you that everyone was afraid of the thing when it was released, but now, almost six months later, with Wiis still impossibly difficult to find, developers have been shocked out of their fear and are scrambling to release games for the fastest selling console. (With the exception of Sega, I guess... They seem to doubt the creativity of their own developers, it seems.) All the games so far have either been first-party Nintendo games, or lame ports of old games adapted to the new control system.
Then there's this little gem:
If I had to choose, I'd rather that Clover have the extra processing power offered by the PS3 and 360 than the magic wand novelty of the Wii.
Totally despite the fact that Okami was built for only the SECOND Playstation console. Not the new, upcoming third? Despite the fact that Okami was built on the weakest console of its generation? You would rather Clover harnass the stagnant uncreative, but sheer power of the PS3 and 360 rather than the entirely brand new "novelty" of the Wii Remote? That just doesn't sound like Clover to me. I have to say that I would be disappointed with Seeds if they didn't follow the footsteps of Clover Studios. Clover seemed to excel and making creative, odd, but fun games. The Wii would be a perfect platform for them to unleash their full creative potential. Power is so uncreative minds can go 'ooh' and 'aah' at the pretty high-definition graphics and sound. (I'm not saying there aren't come pretty neat games on the 360, now, but I will say that most of the games are just spectacles of light and sound and not much else.)
Did people already forget this 1UP interview with Inaba, Clover's president? He says that they didn't know about the Wii at all until after they began making Okami. He doesn't actually say that they would have, beyond a doubt, that they would have made a Wii version of Okami, but he does say they would have definitely thought about it. Remember, this was before the Wii was actually released, so he brings up some doubts about people wanting to hold the controller for that long, and how Okami was incredibly finely tuned to the PS2. (The Wii, however, is easily more powerful than the PS2, especially since the Gamecube was even a smidgen more powerful than the PS2.) But now, it's become abundantly clear that people can use the Wii Remote just as easily and as long as any other controller. I'm happy with the way Okami turned out, but I still think that Inaba's fears of the Wii controller are just the sad paranoia that the industry has to new things.
Finally, the blost post ends with this:
Its slowly becoming my view that the Wii will only excel at novelty products and 1st party Nintendo games. Not too terribly different from the GameCube when you think about it.
Then your view is clouded, just like everyone at Digg. There have been NO good third party games for the Wii because the developers were TOO AFRAID to make release games. Now that the Wii has just about as many units out there as the Xbox 360, with a sell-out spree with no signs of ending, the greedy publishers are jumping on the bandwagon and have finally begun to make REAL Wii games. Not ported games. Now that the Wii is super successful, developers and publishers aren't afraid to take a chance. You can't make a game in 2 months, people. You'll start seeing new Wii-specific games at the end of this year, and many more coming in the following years.
Give it time, and stop writing off the Wii so quickly. It hasn't had a chance, just like your precious PS3. It's inevitable, especially with the third-party failure of the Gamecube. Everyone was scared to make Wii games because Nintendo's last console was so poor for them. Everyone was all geared up for the next whopper console from Sony, but look what happened there? They misplaced their predictions of what was going to be successful and it's taking them a long time to shift focus. The Wii will get games!
BE PATIENT.