While talking with Jorge Diaz, we got a moment to talk with Jonathan Mintz and Leo Zuniga who worked on Spiderman 3 for the Wii and the DS respectively. We threw some questions at them and ended up with two great interviews. Read on for the goods and let us know if you have seen the movie or played either game and what your thoughts are.

Wii

Hi, tell us a little bit about yourself.
My name is Jonathan Mintz and I worked on the Wii design team for Spider-Man 3 at Vicarious Visions. Among other things, I was responsible for the Wii controls design. I’ve also been a fan of 4cr for a while – I dig your “Import Worthy” reviews.

When faced with the choice of which version to buy, why should the consumer pick up the Wii version of Spider-Man 3?
I could start listing features, but I’m sure you guys have seen that already. For me, it comes down to this: remember the scene in the first Spider-Man movie where Peter learns to web swing for the first time? When players pick up Spider-Man 3 for the Wii, I want them to have that same feeling. I expect them to have a little uncertainty at first, but once they find their rhythm, I think that they’re going to have a lot of fun.

The idea of being Spider-Man applies to other aspects of the game as well. You’re going to have to learn to control the black suit while maximizing its power without pushing it too far. It’s up to you to decide how to take back territory from the gangs. And as you get into the game, you can select new moves and upgrades based on your play style. That is where I think the Wii version excels. Starting from the way the controller physically makes you a part of the action, we tried to find ways to make sure that our Wii game would draw players in, and give them a unique Spider-Man experience.

Spider-Man 2 was acclaimed for its sandbox-style gameplay. How did you expand on that for this sequel?
Spider-Man 3’s big, new addition to the open-city mechanic is the crime wave gameplay. When you first check out the city map, you’ll see territories throughout Manhattan that are controlled by four different gangs. At any point, you can travel to one of those locations, talk to an informant and start a crime patrol. This will send you on a series of quick missions as you deal with the crimes committed by the gang in that area. If you defeat the gang, the police will regain control of the turf.

As I mentioned earlier, though, how you target the gangs is your choice. You might start fighting the gangs at the edges of police territory, helping the police to expand outwards. Alternatively, you could go to the gangs’ most strongly-held turfs, battling the tougher opponents there in the hopes of creating a power vacuum. Another option would be to target a single gang, hitting all of their territories and working to eliminate them entirely.

The gangs won’t be idle while you’re doing this, though. As you swing around the city, you’ll be alerted to gang activity. If you check out the map at these times, you’ll be able to see how power is shifting and adjust your strategy accordingly. Of course, you’ll still hear about small crimes and other events as you swing around the city. You can also try your hand at some of our trick races or search for items to unlock secrets, among other activities. As you explore or ignore the city gameplay, you’ll be able to look around and listen to the city to experience the results of your actions. If crime is low, people will be cheerful and the city will look bright and inviting. If you’ve been ignoring your great responsibility, however, you’ll know it just by looking at the dirty streets and hearing the New Yorkers’ angry comments.

How closely do you work with the movie studio on a license title like Spider-Man 3? How much freedom do you have on what you can and can’t do with the license?
When we begin a project like Spider-Man 3, we review the story of the movie. From that, we pick the big action moments that people will want to play. (That’s pretty easy, because we’d want to play them ourselves!) From there, we start thinking about how to make the game-specific storylines and other content. Our goal is to build a cohesive whole, letting people experience their favorite parts of the movie and discover a lot of cool, new characters and action in the game.

Working with Spider-Man is pretty excellent. There’s a lot of freedom to use his powers and his classic foes to create original gameplay. Of course, Spider-Man will always be a hero at the end of the day, but with the black suit, we do get to blur the line just a little bit.

What other non-licensed games did you draw inspiration from when designing this title?
We looked at a lot of titles, but one that stands out for me is certainly The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. As one of the first action-adventure games on the Wii, it helped me to think about different ways to use the controller. Experienced Zelda players will have an easy time getting into Spider-Man 3.

What are some of the ways that the Wii’s motion-sensing capabilities are used? How do they add to the overall experience?
Let’s start with the web swinging – to cast out a line, you hold down the “B” button and flick the Wii Remote or hold down the “Z” button and flick the Nunchuk. This means that using your right hand fires a line from Spidey’s right hand and vice versa (and yes, left handed players can switch this in the options.) But the way you flick the controllers is important. That’s how you determine the aim of the web lines. If you want to swing straight down a street, try alternating left and right, flicking the controllers with a forward motion (think casting a fishing rod.) When you want to take a wide turn to the right, flick the Wii Remote right as you cast your web line. The more strongly and quickly you move to the right as you cast, the tighter your turn will be.

As you play, you’ll learn to aim your web lines while moving Spidey with the Control Stick and using the swing boost system. This allows for fast, fluid and controlled swinging. Some players find a style that keeps them just above the city traffic with low, arcing swings. Personally, I like to go for height, building up speed to launch myself up above the skyscrapers and then plummet back towards the ground.

Using the motions in combat is all about timing. A small swing left or right with the Wii Remote will allow you to perform a quick attack. To make combat fast and responsive, we’re very forgiving about letting players move the controller in a way they find comfortable. If players time their motions well, though, they will be able to perform combos more quickly than if they just flail the controller around.

Some of the advanced combat moves take advantage of the Wii controllers in different ways. Being able to rotate the Wii Remote to spin a baddie around your head is a lot of fun, particularly when you knock him into his friends. And you’ll also find that our interactive cinema sequences and mini-games take advantage of the controllers, too.

Do you feel that the Wii’s lower system specs hurt the overall experience when compared with the PS3/Xbox 360 versions?
I think the Wii version of the game has just as much to offer as the other versions. I hope my answers to the other questions have demonstrated how we took advantage of the Wii’s strengths to create gameplay that you couldn’t find on any other platform. Of course, I’m admittedly a biased source!

The PS3 Collector’s Edition includes a mode where you control the New Goblin with the Sixaxis’ motion sensors. Does the Wii version include anything like that? If not, did you consider adding anything like that?
For the first Spider-Man game on the Wii, we wanted to make sure that playing as Spidey would feel as fun and polished as possible. As a result, we weren’t able to include other playable characters this time around.

What are some features that you would have liked to include, but couldn’t because of time constraints?
As with any project, there were a number of great ideas that we had to cut in order to get the game done in time. We may get a chance to include them in a future project, though, so I’m afraid I can’t really talk about them. Personally, I was hoping to see my Miis wandering around Manhattan!

Were the controls hard to come up with, or did you already have a control scheme in mind from the start?
Ever since we first saw the final controller design for the Wii, we’ve been thinking about how to bring Spider-Man to the system. Long before we got the hardware, we started brainstorming controls using a paper Wii Remote or a stapler with a paperclip “A” button taped to it. From that, we came up with at least a half a dozen possible approaches to the controls. As we built the game, we implemented several of our ideas and tried them out. Through that play testing, we were able to get a sense of what worked with the controller and what didn’t. That process allowed us to refine our ideas and arrive at our final control scheme.

NDS

Hi, tell us a little bit about yourself.
Hi, my name is Leo Zuniga and I was the Lead Designer on Spider-Man 3 for the NDS.

When faced with the choice of which version to buy, why should the consumer pick up the NDS version of Spider-Man 3?
Well, if you’re looking for the best Super Hero action game on the go, then Spider-Man 3 for the NDS is your best bet. This is our best Spider-Man game on the NDS yet. We’ve taken a lot of the lessons learned and experiences on the previous iterations to make an innovative game that takes full advantage of the NDS.

Spider-Man 2 was acclaimed for its sandbox-style gameplay. How did you expand on that for this sequel?
For the first time on NDS, we’ve given Spider-Man eight large neighborhoods to traverse. These areas provide several side missions for Spider-Man to tackle while taking a break from the main story lines. We’ve have a large variety of interior levels such as the Chemical Factory, Carlyle Building, sewers, Mercenary Base and more.

Our combat system is very open – several people can play the game and all will take a different approach to defeat a thug. This allows players to explore all the possibilities that the touch screen gesture system allows. The first time you see someone uppercut a thug up into the air, then follow him up for a knockdown to a web-retrieve you’ll know what I’m talking about. This is a context sensitive combat system that relies on just a handful of intuitive gestures.

How closely do you work with the movie studio on a license title like Spider-Man 3? How much freedom do you have on what you can and can’t do with the license?
When working on such as big license you’ve got to make sure things get cleared with the proper people. There’s a legacy you must follow and a general direction to make sure it stays on track. The “license” allows us to concentrate on the fun stuff, since someone has already worked out all the background story and character development, which is no easy task.

What other non-licensed games did you draw inspiration from when designing this title?
I can’t think of any specific titles but I enjoy games that are easily approachable but hard to master and those aren’t abundant. Also, just because you have six face buttons on the DS does not mean you must use them all constantly. Since we’re going for the touch screen approach I didn’t want the player to rely on shoulder buttons, which ended up being “info” related and not needed during combat or traversal.

What are some features that you would have liked to include, but couldn’t because of time constraints?
One of the features that we had to reassess and cut was a side-story line with its unique boss. We looked at all of our features and checked to see which ones were over scoped or unnecessary; these are the first to go. In the end re-scoping allowed us to focus on the game’s core features and make sure we provided an enjoyable experience to the player.

Were the controls hard to come up with, or did you already have a control scheme in mind from the start?
At the end of the last Spider-Man project, people worked on a prototype to develop the system further and the prototype showed a lot of promise. We had several discussions on the touch screen system with topics such as gesture recognition, accessibility and combat features. All of these had to come together for the final package. We’re all very happy with the end result and feel that this is one of the most innovative and intuitive games to come out on the NDS.

Another great aspect of our choice of controls is that the game’s controls are mirrored which is extremely helpful for us southpaws (we had 4 in our team). There’s no menu selection for right/left controls, you can just switch from d-pad to face buttons whenever you want.

Do you use any of the NDS’s unique features?
Our gesture based combat system takes full advantage of the NDS touch screen. The player can go from simple punch/kick attacks to in-depth combos all through a small number of gestures. These are clearly defined in our in-game tutorial and menus. The dual screen allows us to provide supportive info on the bottom screen. Our map system is also complemented with helpful objective descriptions and progression information. We still have to make sure the player does not get bombarded with info, so it’s a tricky balance which I think we accomplished well.

Also, the NDS is the only Spidey game to have multiplayer gameplay and this allows people to have a quick experience with friends between playing through the story.

Thanks for your time