Sega backs away from mature Wii projects | Game Development | News by Develop

Sega backs away from mature Wii projects | Game Development | News by Develop.

Rob Crossley reports on the announcement that Sega will no longer be focusing on creating Mature titles on the Wii console after “unpredictable” sales on titles like The Conduit and MadWorld. The primary reason for this decision is the fact that “the core audience failed to respond to Sega-published titles”, ie. lack of immediate release day/week/month sales.

Maybe its just me, but I feel that Sega is missing the real answer to why their Mature games aren’t selling as well as the Halo and COD series. The answer is two fold. One, developers have been struggling to create a game that utilizes the Wii control mechanism most efficiently. Most Wii shooters have come a long way from the nightmares of Red Steel, but I’ve yet to play a FPS that is easy to control on the Wii as it is on the PS3 or 360. Second, Sega needs to start producing worthy games. You did market research and you found that their is an audience that would play mature titles on the Wii, that doesn’t mean they’ll play any Mature title. A poorly designed game with gore is still poorly designed. Take a look at what the big names have done right, and if your game doesn’t at least measure up to that, then save your money and go somewhere else.

Look at the production value of Halo and COD (and I’m not talking about graphics here folks), and compare that to the shooters of the Wii.  MadWorld was in interesting attempt, but honestly, you want a hardcore gamer to shovel out 50 bucks for 5 hours of game play and wonky control scheme? The Conduit had similar issues. I constantly felt as if I was walking down the same hallway over and over again. What Sega needs to do is hire some designers that can bring a fresh set of eyes, ears, and brains to the table. Stop making games that exploit motion controls and start making ones that use them properly. Create a title that can be franchised and continually bring in the money. And if the audience is a little hesitant at first, do you really blame them?

Project Natal… Coolest thing since sliced bread.

What will the final version of Project Natal be like for the consumer? If its anything like Microsoft’s vision in the above video, it has the potential to change the video game industry on its head. Voice recognition, video conferencing, 3D scanning technology, and full body motion capture that appears to be a 1:1 relationship.

A Boy and His Blob

A Boy and His Blob Wii Cover Art

Original NES Cover

Blob NES Gameplay Screen

The same shot in the new and improved Wii version

Various jellybeans turn the Blob into useful tools to navigate the levels

Beautifully drawn environments make this game pleasing to explore

• Developer: WayForward Technologies
• Publisher: Majesco Entertainment
• Release Date: Oct 19, 2009
• ESRB: Everyone

INTRODUCTION

For those of you who don’t have a special place in their heart for the original “A Boy and His Blob” for the NES, this recent Wii release is a reboot from WayForward Technologies that reinvents one of my favorite NES classics.

Hello World!

Welcome to the brand new video game review blog from the mind of Craig Stevenson, a recent graduate of video game studies and aspiring level designer and game enthusiast. As time goes on you will be able to track my playing habits and get my opinion on some of the latest video games to reach the store shelves. My hope is that by critically analyzing professional titles, it will improve my own skills as a designer. Feel free to contribute to the conversation and give your own opinions if you’ve played these games. Thanks!