NintendoDpad: "Many Wii games that actually look great on the system have a huge flaw, always being compared to the HD consoles. This is changing though as many developers are starting to stylize their games in a very unique way. This stylization is actually making it hard to compare graphics on the Wii and the HD consoles since they are so different. Art director for Red Steel 2 Stephane.
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During a talk at the Game Developers Conference Europe today, Ubisoft's Jason Vandenbergite, Creative Director for, explained his thoughts on why the sequel didn't exactly fly off shelves. Released in March of this year, has sold 270,000 copies. It definitely reviewed well and earned a score of 80 on Metacritic, so what happened?Vandenbergite broke down several factors that each reduced the potential audience for Red Steel 2. It was a Wii-exclusive first-person combat game that required some physical exertion and you had to own the Wii MotionPlus peripheral. So, who is the audience for Red Steel 2? People who: - Own a Wii - Also own the Wii MotionPlus peripheral - Want to get up and move around with their games - And are interested in a first-person combat title That's a lot of factors limiting the game's potential audience.
Vandenbergite also mentioned that the target hardcore audience might be a mismatch for the Wii, there was lingering disappointment about the first Red Steel, and the sequel missed the important holiday season release window. Finally, Vandenbergite guessed that only 10 to 20 percent of Wii owners have Wii MotionPlus. Looking back at all of these factors, he said he wouldn't invest in his own business model. 'No higher than 20 percent of gamers want to exert themselves,' Vandenbergite said, referring to motion-controlled games that require a certain amount of physical activity. Of course, a little title called Wii Sports Resort is also a MotionPlus game and also requires physical exertion and has sold 16,747,716 copies to date, Vandenbergite pointed out. This is a source of frustration for the Red Steel team.
Ten percent of Wii Sports Resort's sales would be 1.6 million. Vandenbergite said he would have been thrilled to have even 10 percent of Wii Sports Resort's sales.
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Here are the pros and cons of Red Steel 2, according to its Creative Director. Pros: - Enthusiastic Red Steel fanbase - Great pre-release buzz from press - The team was able to innovate with motion controls - It didn't suck (80 on Metacritic) - It had Nintendo's support Cons: - It was only available on a single platform (Wii) - Piracy (Vandenbergite didn't go into detail about this one) - The hardcore audience is on 360/PS3 - There is lingering disappointment about the first Red Steel - It missed its holiday release window What advice did Vandenbergite have for attendees working on their own motion-controlled games? 'We're f.ed.' In all honesty, Vandenbergite said the future of motion-controlled games can be bright if the next generation of hardware comes with the motion controllers standard and if developers go multiplatform (although Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft will likely give resistance to multiplatform releases).
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