Firaxis has put the Wii version of Civilization Revolution on indefinite hold.
If they were only continuing with the 360/PS3 versions, I could see the argument being that the Wii doesn't have the horsepower chops for it; but since the DS version is still being developed, it's hard to see this as anything other than them just deciding that a Wii version isn't worth spending money developing.
On the plus side, Kitty Luv is still on track for a summer release. I mean, as far as I know.
What's the theory behind third party Wii games not being worth it?
I mean, the Wii obviously has a massive install base that seems likely to grow. Is the concern just that most of those people bought their Wii as a Wii Sports platform and that's it? Mario Galaxy sold pretty well no? Is it that only first party titles will sell?
You've pretty much got it.
Given that the only big PS3/Wii multiplatform title (GH3) sold a ton more copies on the Wii than the PS3, dropping the Wii version seems like a pretty stupid move.
I suspect that the DS version already had a separate team, and it's just a matter of discovering that the Wii version would really deserve its own separate team, modified design, reworked content, etc., but not having the budget for it.
It's not necessarily a slight on the Wii, but in this case it doesn't have a proven track record for this series, where as the 360 at least has the PC refugees and the PS3 could reuse all the same content and design as-is.
More chicken and egg. They push shovelware PS2 port crap on the Wii and then complain that it doesn't sell.
Strange. One technical reason I can think of is the Wii's lack of a disk cache. It would be the only version that loads from a disk and doesn't have an HD cache -- possibly that would cause the game to constantly access the disk and slow down gameplay too much?
But I didn't intend to get the Wii version anyway. The one I'm looking forward to most is the DS version, and perhaps the PS3 version if the DS screen turns out to be too tiny.
DS version is looking a bit cluttered though:
The reality is a bit different than the conjecture. CivRev was originally a 360/PS3 project and was in development for over a year before the Wii/DS platforms were added, largely because we saw the success of those platforms and a lot of people (including myself) were very excited about them.Originally Posted by mkozlows
There were two main problems with Wii development: assets and input.
All of our assets were originally created with the 360/PS3 in mind. In order to bring them to the Wii, a great deal of work would have to go into making those assets look appropriate on Nintendo's system. If we had started the project with all four platforms in mind, it is far more likely that we would not have put the Wii version of CivRev on hold.
Obviously the Wii has a drastically different input system than the 360 and PS3. We're using every button on the 360/PS3 controllers and are working very hard to make the player's experience as accessible and usable as possible with those controllers. The Wii version came online very late and we think that the audience would not be happy with a simple mapping of the 360/PS3 controls. (It is particularly tough because the Wii has fewer buttons.) I think the Wii would be perfect for a game like Civ, but we'd have to throw out all of our interface work (and some of our game design decisions) to make it feel like it truly fits on the platform.
The simple truth is that we had too many projects going on and not enough people. When we were stretched for resources and time, of the platforms the Wii version had the most question marks, so it got put on hold. It's not a mandate on what Firaxis/2K/Take 2 thinks about the Wii. The "hold" is a tough decision we made to make sure that the 360/PS3/DS games turn out as good as possible.
The King's Own Armor, Ninja Spies, and Denver? Toss in pirates (Denver no longer seems to be landlocked) and I am SOLD.
Boooring!
The Wii is D0med. D0med I tell you.
Now go make Pirates! with Wiimote swordfighting.
Not a big surprise, given how much they have to fit on that screen! I hope the top screen can be switched to info displays, though. Where's that screenshot from?
Nintendo came to us before the launch, demonstrated the Wii, and asked us to consider making Pirates! for the system. It was great fun to play Wii Sports and Mario Galaxy early!
I read that as Pirates! for the Wii being very close to release.
Found the source of the screenshot above, it's a new IGN UK interview with lead programmer Don Wuenschell and producer Clint McCaul. I spot cultural borders in one screenshot, and another shows multiple units per side in a battle... it's really handheld Civ4! But surely we can switch the top screen to an info display?
"Third-party chickens coming home to roost on the Wii?"
What the fuck does this mean? Could possibly mean?
I figured it was some sort of reference to the blue-titted chicken-woman in Zelda.
It's an idiot, you idiom.
Yeah, what a tease. Why struggle to fit RTSes onto consoles when there are already titles like that waiting to be Wiid?
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