Midway On Wii

[Nester the Lark]

(That title, BTW, was not meant to be a pun. It just sounds like one.)

Midway announced that the next version of Blitz: The League would appear on the Wii, which I think is interesting since the previous version never made it to the Gamecube. I love the fact that a lot of third parties seem to have a "fresh start" attitude towards Nintendo's next system.

IGN's Mark Bozon interviewed Midway's Kraig Kujawa about it, and I think he had some pretty interesting things to say about the Wii in general. Here are some excerpts:

revolution.ign.com/articles/704/704831p1.html
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IGN: How have your teams responded to using the Wii development kits? We are hearing that it's an easy transition from the GameCube, but the controller has got to have people scratching their heads, right?

Kujawa: We're very excited… and still prodding and poking the Wii controller to see what works and doesn't. The transition from the GameCube shouldn't be too difficult, and that means we can spend more resources trying to maximize the uses of the controller to make it as fun as possible.

IGN: What about the additional functions? Any plans for using the Nunchaku accelerometer? Force feedback?

Kujawa: Love that name.. Nunchaku accelerometer. Does it run on Gigawatts as well? Erm, anyway. We can't really confirm any of those functions - yet.

IGN: Wii is a console all about innovation. How do you plan to win the fans over this time around?

Kujawa: You hit the nail on the head. Wii customers are buying this system because of its gameplay innovation and uniqueness, and the only way to win over its fans is to live up to those expectations.

. . .

IGN: People have got to be wondering about the "Mature" rating. Wii is more of a family console right? Does that matter, or are you going to push the limit again this time around?

Kujawa: Wii isn't just a family console, it's an all-inclusive console! The console name stands for "We", right? Seriously, though, there are going to be plenty of Mature gamers buying the platform - I know I will. All that aside, you can be rest assured that Blitz: The League won't pull any punches. We're not into censorship. That's not what we're about.
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I'm not personally interested in Blitz: The League (or most sports games, in general), but I love the attitude Midway seems to have about the Wii.

[Fryguy64]

Sounds like a good, hearty attitude. I hope this is reflective of the attitudes of most third-party companies.

It seems to me that quite a few third-parties are viewing this as a third pillar. PS3 and 360 are traditional gaming consoles, DS and PSP are handhelds... but the Wii seems to be receiving a third layer of attention - more exclusives, new kinds of game...

I am starting to think that the Wii will be the "other" console that many people have alongside their PS3 and 360.

[Dances in Undergarments]

I've been thinking that Wii will be the 'other' console, too, but that would work both ways - people with a Wii who want traditional games are going to have to pick up a PS3/X360. I hope thats not the case (although I want to pick up at least one of theo ther two consoles, I don't want to feel 'forced' to simply because I want to play a typical game').

[Fryguy64]

Nintendo will probably pull the old DS-style trojan horse. Get it into houses with some weird, addictive games, then slap 'em with a load of traditional games further down the line.

[kirbychu]

Hah, I remember when I was waiting for my turn to try WarioWare on the demo DS at GAME when it was released... one guy, who was middle-aged and looked to me like either an XBox, PC or casual gamer, spent ages playing it, then called a friend on his mobile phone, RIGHT THERE IN THE STORE to tell them about it. I remember that being the moment that I decided the DS was a better idea than I had realised. ;D