This reminds me of the early N64 days, when the only Capcom game was the Disney-themed Tetris, while all the Mega Man X’s and Street Fighters were going over to Sony. And even by the end of it all, all they could be bothered to do was port over Mega Man Legends and Resident Evil 2. (Not to pooh-pooh RE2-64.) The difference is that people are actually buying the Wii, so WTF guys? WTF-ing F?

How do you know that Spyborgs isn’t taking advantage of the Wii’s features. There has been a trailer and some screen-shots. That’s it. Also, its incredibly callous to just write off the game’s style so quickly. A lot of talented game designers and artists are working on Spyborgs. I’m personally looking forward to seeing what they’ll come up with. It may not be exactly the game you want, but I don’t believe it’s fair to lump it with Dogz and Imagine Babyz.

I’d be inclined to play Spyborgs over whatever that generic brown tropical thing is on the left, just based on color palette.

Ban the brown! But we need a moratorium on minigame collections, too.

Yeah, I will wait until I know something about what the game actually is before I write Spyborgs off. The Dogz, and Imagine crap though, I wish they’d stop it. Do these games *really* sell that well?

The reason I don’t like Spyborgs, from what I’ve seen so far, is that the devs have accomplished their goal. It looks like an utterly generic Saturday morning cartoon. Past that, look at the time and money they are putting into the other systems compared to the Wii.

Also, Raindog, you’re crazy if you don’t want to play RE5. RE4 is one of the best games to come out recently. Originally, I didn’t buy into the hype, but after beating the GCN version 3 times and the Wii version twice, I gotta say that it does live up to it.

I’m considering getting a PS3 now, I really dont want to miss out on some of the top titles, RE5 ang MGS4. It is also nice to have some pretty looking games for once, even if its mainly brown…

@ rawktapus: I’m surprised you were able to finish that statement without cracking up. (presuming you didn’t) While there is a small chance that it might end up being an actual good game, you have to know that won’t move any more systems. Graphics aren’t everything, but those are on par with Nintendo 64/DS. I think you can forgive rbelmont for his low opinion of it. (Besides, this is an opinion blog…not a unbiased news outlet like IGN or Games…heheheh, sorry, I couldn’t finish that up with a straight face. :-p

Anyway, saying that the games on the right look better then the games on the left is just fan-boy nonsense. Yes, those games are nothing but rehashes with over-used graphical tones, but I find it hard to believe anyone would find those others more enticing.

Despite being the number 1 home gaming system in the world, 3rd party developers still turn their back to the Wii. The sales of RE4 and Umbrella Chronicles prove we want hardcore games, but publishers still give everything to PS3/Xbox 360. The 3rd party drought is worse than it was during the N64 age!

Even though I hate Sony for their shady business practices, I find myself considering to get a PS3, simply because it’s starting to get a lot of games I’d be interested in. Mark my words, if 3rd Parties don’t improve very soon, PS3 will be #1 in monthly sales by the end of this year, just like PSP is in Japan.

The bottom line is that there are companies out there making hardcore games for the Wii and actually see the potential in it. A lot of them are even up and coming companies I’ve never even heard of before… High Voltage Software(WIP: The Conduit), and Platinum Games Inc. (WIP: MadWorld.)

Then you have a few familiars working on some pretty interesting and hardcore stuff, like Silicon Knights which is working on some psychological thriller (most likely an Eternal Darkness sequel), Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of a New World by Namco which I’m sure will prove to satisfy a lot of RPG gamers who have been dying for a reason to get excited and even Factor 5 is got some mystery project in the works which I’m sure will at least be interesting to see.

So if these companies can create fresh new material for the hardcore gamers to play and enjoy on the Wii… how is it that companies like Capcom and Ubisoft can’t?? It’s just inexcusable… and right now the big excuse I hear now is the size issue in terms of the Wii’s hardware.

It can’t have such and such visual effects, or this high a polygon count yaddad yadda… it’s processors are too slow… blah blah. The games are too big for Wii discs something or other they blame their inability to port these games to the Wii. Still such limitations don’t stop companies such as Sega and Lucas Arts from creating Wii versions for games like Sonic Unleashed or The Force Unleashed.

If other companies can make things work, I think they can too.

The PSP line up for Australia makes me glad I have a DS!

And I do agree that games are beginning to lose their colour as well.

Now back to inding a single copy of Valkyrie Profile 2 in the PS2 section, which has more Singstar, Movie games, and Bratz type games then you can shake a Nintendog at!

dont know if the comments mention this, but even alone in the dark is looking OK at best on Wii compared to the other versions. its confirmed a ps2 port linear game which also sounds like it will be aimed more at casuals then spooking us.

i hope my prediction is right and the ps2 dies by the end of 2008. sales are showing its decline, software and hardware, but its up to publishers to see the writing on the wall, and we know how quick they are.

IT’S SOOOOOOOOO sad how you erased my comment, only because i was typping in spanish.. i’m a huge fan of this site and you know it.. sad sad sad.. my friends and i here en margarita island are really disappointment.

Note: there are many web solutions if have you problems translating the comments of your visitors.(i’m feeling like in the movie be kind rewind, just asking for: WHY THE HELL YOU ERASE THE COMMENT! jaja) pathetic.. don’t be scared to the spanish language.

Peace and be nice
esmilodonte

o my god o my , i’m so embarrassing my message was up there.. and i’m so blind!
MY MISTAKE

4 colour rebelion 1, Blind dude from Margarita island and friends 0.

this is ridiculous,,jajaja

Peace and be nice
esmilodonte

@ mr_dna:

yeah, people are buying the wii. but look at what kind of people they are: many of them are soccer moms, the elderly, etc. etc. which comprise the blue ocean nintendo often refers to. you think these people know or care about the quality difference between fucking spyborgs and resident evil 5? hell, even if they knew that these family-friendly wii games were absolute shit compared to street fighter, resident evil, and the like, they’d probably choose the former simply because, well, they’re soccer moms and the elderly.

i recently saw a mother at gamestop buying some shovelware for her presumed kid (or maybe herself). i was about to stop her and recommend zack and wiki or mario galaxy or something, but truth be told neither her nor her kid would probably care. in fact, despite shovelware being low-cost crap that’s pushed through the development doors, i bet a lot of blue ocean consumers truly enjoy playing these games a lot more than hardcore games that you clamor for on the wii.

that’s why the F’ing F. think before you F’ing speak.

OK, I think your perspective is skewed here. If you want to say “Third party developers aren’t making games FOR ME”, then just say that. I realize it’s not in vogue to note that video game developers are trying to appeal to multiple demographics, but skewing your argument with specific examples doesn’t make your case so well.

Have you seen Madworld? Hardly kiddie-fare. Spyborgs we know virtually nothing about…but it’s from a team that worked on a LOT of good games. Are Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank terrible games because they’re cartoony? Fatal Frame 4 is a Wii exclusive, and is hardly for the casual gamer.

And yes, the Imagine games DO sell well. They sold well BEFORE THE WII. Ubisoft is releasing some pretty good games for the Wii, as well. Rabbids 3 and Shaun White will both use the Wii Fit board. And frankly, I think it’s a little unfair to slam Ubisoft for releasing The Dog Island while ignoring the fact they also release No More Heroes.

The odd thing about this is that Monster Hunter is Capcom’s and Alone in the Dark is Ubisoft.

There’s a lot of crap on all of the systems. At this point, however, I think it’s clear that if you want to cover everything you simply can’t have one console this generation.

WizarDru is right about Spyborgs, by the way. The people on the team have made some of the best and most important platformers and video games of the past two generations. The response of Wii owners seems to be “MORE KIDDY CRAP!!?!” and it’s so shortsided here it’s insane.

The video of the game was funny (I mean, they even had the foresight in the trailer to make fun of stupid mini-games), the style is nice and the game doesn’t look bad graphically in motion either. I was at GoNintendo when this was announced and all anyone did was complain, said it looked ridiculous, screaming out things like “fuck you” to the developers. Literally.

Yet the Wii is the ONLY system that got a newly announced game during that Capcom event. Dark Void, the only other “new” title there (for PS3/360) was announced last October. Yet somehow people were expecting this landslide of awesome stuff simply on the virtue that the Wii is selling well. The thing is, the software that is selling best on the system on a regular basis is the stuff so many people seem to think is terrible.

I think some games are simply going to benefit from the power and technology the PS3/360 can provide. It’s just how it’s going to be. I am surprised there are people who bought a Nintendo system after the past two generations without having some idea that this trend would continue. Stuff like RE4 on the GCN was a fluke that probably would have never happened if Mikami didn’t get a bug up his ass… remember what happened to most of the other titles announced as part of that Capcom push for the GameCube?

For all we know Spyborgs could wind up being the next Psychonauts or Beyond Good and Evil. Wii owners need to get over this “mature” vs “kiddy” stuff just like Wii owners want everyone else to get over “casual” vs “hardcore”.

I support Spyworlds… come on it’s not always blood and gore! (and mudcolors!)

PS, given how terrible the last two Tenchu games were I think it’s safe to not be excited about a Wii verison lol.

1. I’m in the camp that says Spyborgs is still too early to write off. We have no idea how well/poor the final game will play, and we have no idea what demographic it’ll be reaching to. If it’s a solid title with the sensibilities of a Ratchet and Clank (or even an out-and-out parody like the Venture Bros.), it could do well.

2. Tenchu 4 is developed by the original Tenchu team (Tenchu 1 and 2), not the folks responsible for the most recent titles.

–R.J.

I think too it’s way too early to write off Spyborgs. It could end up being a really nice game.

What is really annoying right now is how developpers tend to see the Wii as a PS2 with motion controls. I’m tired of seeing second thought PS2 ports and cheap casual shovelware. In the end, we get poor PS2-like casual shovelware and that’s disgusting. But, I’m sure some guys will come up with something. At least, Nintendo will certainly bring up something good…

I have some hopes on the WiiWare side though. I think some indie developpers could bring some neat titles - even some Mature-themed ones.

About Capcom’s disney tetris on n64

Disney’s magical tetris was awesome and if you say otherwise you are a terrible person. It wasn’t even made by capcom anyways, it was published by them, Arika, the company who just put out Dr Mario Online did it, they also did Tetris the grand master challenge. It was just one of those games that had an unfortunate license attached.

@Tony

Yeah, I don’t know why I forgot that Monster Hunter was Capcom…

About Alone in the Dark, while the potential is there and the Wiimote controls look good, instead of being devved by a well respected developer, they threw it to the makers of Obscure. In addition to that, it’s the same as the PS2 version which is another ridiculous trend.

Wii != PS2.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/34797.html

Watch the interview about Spyborgs. The guy seems to notice all the same problems as you with Wii developers and seems to want to solve them with that game. It sounds like it will probably be decently good.

I never said the game looked “better” than Resident Evil 5. I just don’t think it looks bad, and I don’t think the style is generic. I hate when people just toss that word around because they don’t like the style.

And can someone tell me what’s wrong with a saturday morning cartoon look? Did you guys who hate the concept not have childhoods or something?! If this game can invoke the feelings of Freakazoid, The Tick, or even Animaniacs, then I am definitely interested.

P.S. @ rebelmont~ How long have the other games been in development compared to Spyborgs? Of course they look better right now. I agree the screen shots aren’t very good, but I remember when everyone was complaining about how awful Metroid Prime 3 looked in screenshots, and we all know how that turned out.

@ Boot Guy Joe~ Games like this won’t sell systems, just like Mario Galaxy or Mario Kart Wii didn’t sell systems. Because they didn’t

Dude, what is wrong with Saturday morning cartoons!?

Little has been shown about Spyborgs but what has been shown looks intriguing. The interview has made me even more hopeful. I have enjoyed every Capcom game for the Wii and I will be probably picking this one up too.

When I firs saw the trailer, Zack/Wiki and Psychonauts came to mind.

This makes me want to cry.

Mostly everyone in blogs and websites all around laughed and discriminated against Zack & Wiki when the game was revealed… and here we are a year later ralizing how good a game it is with a good decision on the art style (in the end) and great value for it’s price.

Spyborgs is by some of the same people that worked on Resistance, Ratchet & Clank and Jak & Daxter, so at LEAST we know it’s not a B-Team developing the game.

Wait until E3 and THEN start bitching…

Is it completely out of the question that RE5 and BG&E2 could appear on Wii? Because if neither of them do I’m practically being forced to buy another system.

@Goodgulf

I think it is. That really sucks for Resident Evil 5, since RE4 Wii is the definitive version because of the great pointer controls.

I can see where the author of this post is coming from.
In every other generation of gaming the console with the largest install base would get the most/best titles. The one exception being the Genesis/SNES era where it was almost even for awhile…..then Sega broke somehow.

What we are seeing now (thanks to the power of the bottomless cash barrel at MS) is great games for those companies willing to fork out the extra $$$ for game development and exclusives.

Nintendo seems to think that because they make great first party titles that is enough…..but they are wrong. They’ve made bucketloads of cash from the Wii and they shoud be investing some of it to 3rd parties who want to bring greatness to the system. If 80% of your games are crap and it sells and you don’t care then it won’t get better.

I feel MS is trying to BUY the home console market. Not to make it better, but worse. Once they have domination they will become another “utility” company you pay every month for the “privilege” of playing games.They have no concern for quality (as any 360 owner can tell you…..I have had 4 RRoD, my friends have all had 1-2 each….all of them. Numbers these bad did not exist in any other generation for a console…..yet they ignore it and cover it up).

I started playing in the Atari 2600 era and for me this has been the worst console generation ever.

MS trying to take over, yet ignoring any QC.
Nintendo just not caring as long as the cash rolls in.
Sony smoking crack and making weird game ads.

I refuse to buy anymore MS products so my “refurb” 360 collects dust as does my Wii (unless friends come over).
My faith is now in my PS3, but even that doesn’t look great. Too many developers seem to create on the 360 then port to the PS3 resulting in so many in game issues it brings a tear to my eye.

Sorry for the rant, but this may actually be the last game gen I buy into unless something gets better.

oh and a funny “oh so true” article I read recently about the game industry…..I’ll shut up now….promise:
http://www.cracked.com/article_16330_5-innovative-ways-gamin g-industry-screwing-you.html

Dear Capcom,

Is it really hard to throw us Wii owners a couple of Street Fighters in a compilation package?

haha, oh wow. Looks like when i finally get round to finishing no more heroes and mario galaxy the wii can take its final form as a console i leave at home for my family to play with. Sorry wii, too little too late.

I think that the Wii is doing okay with 3rd party support. The recent Capcom and Ubisoft events are disappointing but there are still plenty of significant titles coming around. Nintendo themselves are holding back until E3 and some other developers may be as well (I doubt that it is many considering the plethora of recent announcements). So give them a break until the release line up for the second half of the year is announced.

Well I wouldn’t complain about Spyborgs yet, but that said I’m not an idiot or blind. The contrast in what is being announced for the Wii and the other systems by Capcom is so obviously one sided. But I’ll give them a little slack, because compared to Ubisoft, who to me have yet to release one game that I’ll gladly pick up (Far Cry was one but then they butchered it, and it was an Xbox port with a new subtitle), they’ve at least provided a slightly decent show. Not that they are completely off the hook either. The three games mentioned that were released on the Wii are still pretty “safe” in what can be expected from a third-party (although not everyone has yet to even reach the mark of “safe” from my point of view - “safe” being porting high quality titles of last generation). A great port of Metal Gear Solid 3, Final Fantasy XII, Tales of the Abyss, etc. on the Wii, for instance, is better than having Elebits, Opoona, or any of the numerous shovelware on hand.

@Questworld

Actually, I’ve always thought about how awesome the MGS games would be with Wiimote controls…

I can dream, can’t I?

It’s like third parties are expecting the Wii market to crash ala videogames in the 80s, so they’re trying to cash in before that happens

has there been an E.T game for wii yet?

I think people are just getting short in patience with third-party “support” for the Nintendo consoles nowadays. I think the only reason the Cube got any multi-platform titles at all was more to a spillover effect (i.e. with just a little work, the Cube got what was ultimately merely intended for the PS2). Just look at the N64 or the Wii. If it was the PS2, it would be all about exclusives.

Capcom has Dark Void, Bionic Commando, Street Fighter IV, Resident Evil 5, etc. for the other systems. The Wii is getting Neopets, Spyborg, and Monster Hunter.

Konami has Silent Hill 5, Metal Gear Solid 4, etc. What’s coming to the Wii? More Elebits.

S-E has Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIII Vs., White Knight, etc. and they can’t even get Crystal Bearers out. Frankly I think they’re retooling the whole game because the original effort was simply a direct sequel to the original Crystal Bearers. I can only imagine what it would’ve been like had the Wii only sold about as well as the other systems. I’d be it would take the Wii five times as many systems sold as the other systems combined before we actually receive the same eye of support that the PS2 got. Of course by the time that happens, Nintendo fans and Nintendo system owners will be back to “proving” themselves all over again that they but third-party games.

I really didn’t recognize RE5; the picture isn’t captioned and that particular shot looks just like every other greyish-brown game out there.

I’ve bought RE4 twice for the Wii. One was a gift for my brother. One was for me. I’ve played 3 hours of it.

It is…. OK. Not the best game ever made, but hyperreal and visceral like 28 Days Later, with more vitality than almost any other Wii game despite basically being a Gamecube game. Its lack of color suits the subject matter, but it’s still pretty dull to look at after a while despite its beauty. I may go back to it someday… after Okami, Twilight Princess, Mario Galaxy and, I hope, de Blob.

Just wondering, is it really Nintendo’s fault that 3rd parties are not producing good titles for the system? And are there that many 3rd party titles that would be classified as “good” on the 360 and PS3?

@Bainick

Whose fault is it if not Nintendo’s? Despite their rhetoric, they’ve clearly compromised the power of their system by tailoring its capabilities towards girls and grannies. They’ve bet the farm on casual gamers and won; I think the term ‘hardcore Nintendo fan’ is about to become an oxymoron.

@Goodgulf

I don’t blame Nintendo. They are still pumping out awesome games. Even their casual games are fantastic. If there was just more of a nice blend coming from all companies, it’d be fine.

Wow, so Elebits is not a good game? Really? I played the hell out of it until 100% completion and never once was I bored.

As for Goodgulf’s comment, apperantly Resident Evil 4, No More Heroes, Madworld, Zelda, Metroid Prime 3, Super Smash Bross Brawl, Super Mario Galaxy, Zack & Wiki and both Trauma Centre (to name a few) don’t qualify as great Wii games. “Harcore” gamming is just a stupid term. I’ve been a gamer since I was 5 but as time passes by you realize having a family and a job reaaaally cut into your game time. I play at least for 30 minutes each day on Wii and another hour on the DS and I’m very happy with the lenght and quality of my purchases.

A game has to be FUN to deserve a purchase, not be labeled as “hardcore”.

@Eden

I’m sure it’s hectic over there at Nintendo PR.

Personally, I wouldn’t consider Elebits, No More Heroes, Zack & Wiki or Trauma Center to be great games. All of them are quite flawed, and none of them are as good as I expect Resident Evil 5, Beyond Good and Evil 2, Prince of Persia etc. etc. to be. RE4 is a last-gen port. And Madworld isn’t even out yet.

If the third-party situation is to change, I think we need to be unequivocal about our frustration and not be blinded by Nintendo fanboyism.

(By the way, I personally found Metroid Prime 3, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Zelda to be good but uninspired. The only ‘great’ game I’ve played on Wii is Super Mario Galaxy. So that’s one.)

@Goodgulf:

“Despite their rhetoric, they’ve clearly compromised the power of their system by tailoring its capabilities towards girls and grannies. They’ve bet the farm on casual gamers and won; I think the term ‘hardcore Nintendo fan’ is about to become an oxymoron.”

…

Speaking as someone with a vagina who prefers Prince of Persia to a pet sim game, would buy a FPS for the multiplayer to frag other people gleefully and without shame, etc etc, I resent the implication in your statement that based upon my gender gender I’m automatically a lesser, casual gamer.

…my gender gender? Well, my vagina might prevent me from possessing l33t gaming skillz, but it also seems to mess up my proofreading skills. Go figure.

‘Speaking as someone with a vagina who prefers Prince of Persia to a pet sim game, would buy a FPS for the multiplayer to frag other people gleefully and without shame, etc etc, I resent the implication in your statement that based upon my gender gender I’m automatically a lesser, casual gamer.’

When these kinds of conversations pop up, its better to think of the term ‘girls’ as those girls who wouldnt touch a game normally, and may see it as faux pas.

I find that those girls who would be intimidated by something like resident evil ( or just turn their noses up at it) love the hell out of rhythm action and singing games. We need more of what makes those appealing - being COMPETETIVE and having fun- (its a myth that women are not competetive- just look at how jealous a soccer mom will get if her neighbour gets a better minivan ) and less of watered down stuff which assumes non-gamers cannot handle anything beyond a speak and spell.

Simple controls, challenging gameplay. That way everyone happy, including hypocrites like me who blame the casuals for vidya being too easy.

@ALEXALEXALEX

Jesus, man, calm the F down. What the F did I do to you? Yes, I know the Wii is the choice of soccer moms. Yes, I know that means shovelware. But the point of this whole topic isn’t just the shovelware, it’s the fact that the big publishers are putting it out there, INSTEAD of games that are actually developed.

I think as Nintendo entheusiasts we simply have to grin and bare it. Wii simply won’t have the hardcore cross-platform titles, because the Wii simply can’t do it (didn’t Will Wright say that the Wii just didn’t have enough power to properly run Spore? I don’t mean graphically…). We really shouldn’t be surprised that the only pub putting out anything of note on the system is Nintendo- that’s been the norm for what, 3 hardware gens now? Goodgulf is right, Nintendo is focusing on the casual gamer (but what’s with singling out girls? There’s loads of girl gamers who play ‘real’ games, guy! ‘Casual’ would have sufficed) in an effort to keep gaming from cannibalizing itself.

I’m one of those who believe that even if Nintendo gave in on the specs, the power, the network and what not, they’d still get the same second-rate, afterthought efforts just like the Cube.

If RE5 plays anything like RE4, it’ll suck in comparison to the Wii RE4 version. Wich gives them a reason to make a Wii port

Hey, no dissing Spyborgs. I saw the trailer for that one, and it looked promising. Not OMGhavetopickitupnowwhyisn’titoutyet promising, but with a nice, skewed sense of humor. Humor can make up for an otherwise not-that-special game (see Psychonauts), so I’ll be watching out for this one.