The lead designer of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories has told ONM that there is a good reason why games such as Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles and Dead Space extraction didn't sell big numbers on the Wii - because the genre died with Dreamcast.
Responding to recent claims from Capcom and Sega employees suggesting that Wii owners don't want to play Wii games, Climax's Sam Barlow said "Without badmouthing people, a lot of the games they've been complaining about are rail shooters and a rail shooter wouldn't have sold no matter what platform you put it on because it's a rail shooter and that's a niche genre that had its heyday back in the Dreamcast."
For Climax, there is still a market for mature games on the Wii. "Ultimately the way we looked at it was that there's a huge audience who own Wiis," said Barlow.
"We own Wiis and we know that amongst that audience there is a sub-sect who love dark stories, love thrillers, mysteries and horror movies and so the development [of Shattered memories] was all about removing the obstacles to those people enjoying this game.
"If they really enjoy a good horror story, they should enjoy this so we've tried to create a product that has broad appeal but does something really good and unique," he said.
You can read the full interview with Climax on ONM next week.
I think if developers did something cool and new with the onrail format then gamers would love it. However all that we get is the same tired format which was originally brought in as a solution to processor limitations or the limitations of arcade lightguns.
Nice to see a developer talking up darker games on the wii though. We need something good so lets hope this version of SH is at least as good as the original (which is still one of my all time favourite horror games).
Sounds like the man is on to something. He gets my vote and it's refreshing to hear some intelligent insight coming from an industry insider as opposed to some of the chest beating crapolla we hear/read so often.
YEs but unlike shattered memories DEad Space Extraction is actually tense and frightening. the main character cuts his own arm off for frigs sake.
While as Shattered memories although Equally awesome in different ways never really gets you out of your comfort zone in terms of scares. Its very thought provoking and sucks you in though. Its more about the game getting under your skin i think. than oh f**k we're all gonna die.
But i would definately agree that most of the excitement from gamers died as soon as the words on rails were said. Basically capcom and EA didn't go far enough and weren't marketed at all.
Now if Extraction had been a new fully fledged deadspace game for the wii. it would of sold. If it was turned into an fps or onrails in a killer 7 sense i think it would of gotten more praise.
Likewise if capcom had rather than making the chronicles games given us remakes of resi 2 and 3 in 4's style of play it would of flown off the shelves.
However the biggest factor in these titles not selling is the complete lack of hype surrounding them. They just weren't advertised or backed. Which i think is even more needed on the wii than on the 360 and PS3 as you instantly have to fend off a lot of competition and cries that there are no 'proper games' on the system.
Yeah, Ghost Squad is really good. And House of the Dead 2 & 3 return is cool, as is Link's Crossbow Training (which features on-rails and free-roaming bits). In fact, when you add those to the utterly fantastic House of the Dead: Overkill, you've got a rather strong showing for a 'dead' genre. And sales of all the above combined can't be THAT bad.
I agree with 'wheresmymonkey' if both Chronicles and Extraction were controlled like Resi 4 Wii, or Capcom had re-made Resi 2 with an improved Resi 4 engine, these games would have sold like hot cakes.
Hardcore Resi and Dead Space fans may have even purchased a Wii just to get to play those games. If you look at scores on Metacritic:
Resi 4 received 96% on Cube and a slightly lower 91% on Wii, still amazing for a 2 year old re-make!
Dead Space scored 88% (PS3) and 89% (360)
It just goes to show that a true 3rd person action/adventure shooter scores high 80's to mid 90's and on-rails games from mid 70's to low 80's. Just that basic freedom of movement and control, offers a more immersive game with better replay value.
I don't mind a quick burst on a rails shooter, but it does need more replay value than simply "now do it harder" or "score 5 more kills to unlock this thing". Those are nice to have, but it's forcing replays rather than making a game people want to run through again.
Branching stories with multiple outcomes are easy enough to do, route choices give you a different experience each time. The ability to hold a button to hide in cover is good but sometimes makes it too easy. In co-op, using a mechanic like Army of Two where one player draws fire to give the other a clear shot would work really well.
In fact, why not have the player able to control which direction they face? Movement would still be on rails but that way you could fight enemies back to back with your co-op partner and the game could throw you into really tense situations.
Climax is just stating the obvious here. You dont see rail shooters being made for 360 and PS3 and thats because they wouldnt sell so what makes Capcom, Sega and EA think Wii owners are going to want them? I also agree that had Resi Darkside and Dead Space Extraction been third person action games they would have sold more regardless of what console they appear on.
These developers could sit down and say, lets redefine third person gameplay with the Wii controls, but instead take the easy way out and lump us with half assed on rails shooters then have the nerve to complain when they dont sell.
In their defense they were really good on rails shooters, Well Extraction was. Darkside chronicles was just a vast improvement on the other resi light gun games but thats not too much of a stretch.
Dajamin. I highly suggest if you've got a wii to go and pick up a copy of extraction becasue its pretty much the light gun game you described. Its incredibly tense and frantic in places and it does have properly defined branches in places. Failing that try and find a copy of Killer 7 if you can. It plays how these games should of done and is another display of the genius that is suda 51.
He's probably right, last good one I played was Panzer Dragoon Orta on Xbox. It got good reviews, but sold poorly, although this could be down to the fact the franchise has only released on poor selling systems.
i know the hotdverkill team where interested in doing a new virtua cop on the wii for sega but the (criminal) sales it recieved put paid to that.
i honestly think those games he mentioned haven't sold because they were seen by the majority of core wii owners to be half ar*ed cop outs. to be fair,extraction was good. it would have been twice as good if it had played like we all wanted it too though.
on an unrelated note: i wish suda and tecmo would patch silent hill: shattered memories' torch control in to fatal frame/project zero IV. i've just got it and it's an incredible horror game with one of the best atmospheres i've come across in years but the clunky controls really do hinder it.
tbh though,it makes resi 5 and silent hill look a bit tame really.
He's probably right, last good one I played was Panzer Dragoon Orta on Xbox. It got good reviews, but sold poorly, although this could be down to the fact the franchise has only released on poor selling systems.
i love orta,i've still got my xbox original lying in wait in the vain hope that ms finally let me play it on 360 past the 3rd level.
i'll be honest,i love those old school in to the screen shooters. there's still a place in my collection when done well.
strangely though i 'm not a big fan of on rail lightgun shooters that don't let me control my movement.
i'm playing sin and punishment 2 at the moment and it really is a top draw old school shooter. i'd love treasure and nintendo to co dev a new starfox tbh.
those games aren't quite the same as extraction,etc... though. they afford you a modicum of control to avoid attacks and such.
'chronicles and the like strap you in for the ride and dictate were you look,go and let you twiddle the analogue stick for no other use than to maybe select a weapon.
oh yeah@'monkey: that bit were you cut your arm off in extraction WAS cool. i'll give you that.
I'm so glad that rail shooters didn't die with the Dreamcast, otherwise I wouldn't own the fantastic Panzer Dragoon Orta, or REZ HD. And, I cannot wait for After Burner Climax. I'd also love to see Sega release Planet Harriers for XBLA/PSN.
I don't think it's quite literally a 'dead' genre, but games of it have been spbottom and rarely good lately. I remember playing Dead Space Extraction and getting bored within half an hour, despite thoroughly enjoying the first game. It's quite possible input into the genre did go down with the Dreamcast, but I can't comment well because it's a genre I know little about in terms of history.
The only reason it isn't a *great* game is because of the decision to have parts of the game where you know you are completely safe from the monsters. The ability to open doors slowly and peek inside rooms during these parts is therefore completely pointless.
That said, there are some great moments in the game that kept me thinking a lot well after I'd finished it. I'll definitely be giving it another play through.
I agree completely with the developer. The demand is there for mature titles - as long as they're good.
Maybe Sega haven't been as consistently good as they were during the Dreamcast days but that's to be expected - with the Dreamcast they relied on making great games not only for their games to sell but for their console to sell. The games then had to be AAA a lot of the time. And some of their games that were AAA didn't sell well.
Since then, apart from ports of some Dreamcast games (and some Saturn games with sequel Panzer Dragoon Orta on the Xbox and the Wii version of NiGHTS), they've created Super Monkey Ball, F Zero GX, Jet Set Radio Future (more of a reimagining of the Dreamcast game than a true sequel), Outrun 2 (great game), various House of the Dead sequels and Sega Supertars Tennis. They also made this great arcade game (that probably relatively few people have played because few go to the arcades anymore) called 'Let's Go Jungle'.
One Sega series that I haven't read much about, and I'm not sure why, is Yakuza- Yakuza 3 has been released in Japan on the PS3.
I haven't played any Sonic game since Sonic Adventure 2 and I know that many of them have had poor reviews. Sonic Heroes and the daytime sections of Sonic Unleashed look like they have some good aspects though.
I think that Sega need to stop giving Sonic games such bad voice acting and scripts. It's alright in one of their arcade games but in an adventure game it's annoying.
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verkill team where interested in doing a new virtua cop on the wii for sega but the (criminal) sales it recieved put paid to that.
