Wii-like motion-control games to come to the PS2 A UK-based video games company is taking advantage of Nintendo’s ongoing Wii shortage, and launching its own range of PS2 motion-controlled video games. RealPlay_golf RealPlay's swinging golf title Developed by In2Games, the RealPlay range includes several Wii-esque titles, such as pool and golf. Each game copy ships with …
There doesn't seem to be a shortage of Wii controllers (seperate or with Wii Play). Why doesn't some hardware bod come up with a PS2 device that you plug into the USB port of the PS2 that interfaces with the Wii controller. Produce a couple of games and a whole new market is born.
Hedley - you are the epitome of whats wrong with the current gaming market. photo realistic graphics does not a good game guarantee. sure, some good looking games are also great - but lets look back historically to all the best games. none of them had 1080p 32bit anti-aliased 256 z-buffered 3 pass anisotropic filtering with bezier phong mipmapping. all of them had simple layouts, suggestive pixels or polygons and a hell of a lot of gaming.
'as an adult' in my mid-thirties I am very happy with gaming on the Wii. I was also happy with the gamecube and the PS2. the xbox360 (and in some ways the PS3) is simply a high-spec PC slipped into a console-ish shaped box. PC gaming to the masses.
The thing about the Wii remote is that it's cunningly designed so as to be usable in a practically infinite number of ways - use it as a gun, a steering wheel, a dildo, whatever. If every game I bought for the Wii came with it's own controller I wouldn't bother - waste of resources, waste of money. Why didn't these dudes release a universal controller that works with all the games? I can't see it being any more in breach of whatever patents Nintendo might hold than the controllers they're releasing, especially as things like the Wii Sports Pack let you turn the Wii remote into a golf club or tennis racquet etc.
'Hedley - you are the epitome of whats wrong with the current gaming market. photo realistic graphics does not a good game guarantee.'
I think you are missing the point here, the graphic quality wasnt mentioned, its the STYLE. I have to agree that a lot of the Wii's games are a little off putting simply because the graphical style is unpalatable, the gameplay may be superb but if the graphical style doesnt engage the player then it doesnt work for them.
The PS3 doesn't have the market penetration anywhere to make game development viable. Sony has failed miserably to overcome their justly-deserved reputation as an untrustworthy megacorp who lets greed overrule ethics, and the PS3 is overpriced for the current market, so it's not going to get much more in the way of sales for quite a while.
Bottom line: If you want Wiimotes, and you don't have a PS2, get a Wii.
"Do they just think that the PS2 is a more reliable platform in terms of market penetration? Is it a cheaper dev kit for the developers?"
I expect the answer is yes and yes. Although the PS2 is old news (so probably a cheaper dev kit) it has survived the last 7 years and is still going strong. It is still strongly being sold in shops and Sony are bringing out a new revision.
Do you think parents are really going to shell out £450 for the latest console when they could instead spend £100 for old new and get the mostly the same games (ex, The Simpsons Game)?
I hear that the Wii controller is bluetooth based, and so is the PS3 controller. Too bad I've never heard of people using one controller on another. It would be pretty amusing to hear of someone using a PS3 controller on the Wii.
While we're at it, why not just slap a USB Bluetooth dongle on a PS2 (they do have USB ports, after all) and then write games that could take advantage of that? The other upshot of doing so is that people would also be able to use bluetooth keyboards and mice that're meant for cellphones and desktops.
"I think you are missing the point here, the graphic quality wasnt mentioned, its the STYLE. I have to agree that a lot of the Wii's games are a little off putting simply because the graphical style is unpalatable, the gameplay may be superb but if the graphical style doesnt engage the player then it doesnt work for them"
Actualy I think you are missing the point here. The fact is they do engage many players (of many age groups). I've been gaming now for about 25 years (since I was 5 or so). First on the Atari 2600, then C64, then on consoles. I go the PS2 the first week it was released, but haven't yet seen a reason to get the PS3 (or an Xbox360 for that matter). I did get a Wii (7 months after it was released dur to shortages here in Holland) and so far my wife hogs it at least as much as I do, my parents in law play it, my sister in law and her husband liked it that much they brought one - and they are not gamers) and it getsmore use then either the PS2 or original Xbox did. If the games are not engaging how do you explain these 5 non gamers picking it up as they have?
As for these controllers, whilst I like the idea, as other have said why is there a controller for each game, rather then one controller for all?
And say it's the death of gaming. I'm someone who has played games since the early 80s and has worked in the industry so here's my oppinion.
Yes good graphics doesn't make a good game but bad graphics/tech doesn't make a good game either.
What advancements in technology allow developers to do is:
1. Greater freedom with the design e.g. the ability to model whole worlds to allow for sandbox design or take part in MMORG like Eve Online
2. The ability to make it more and more immersive and realistic. I've recently completed Call Of Duty 4 and while it was nothing new it did take that genre to the next level largely due to the tech. The same can be said of Project Gotham, Madden or Pro Evo etc.
Even games like technical masterpieces like Heavenly Sword that also have repetitive and poor gameplay do advance other areas such as story telling, voice acting, production values. While you may argue that style over substance is wrong, I argue that even games that are like this move the industry forward as a whole resulting in truly breakthrough games later.
Hopefully the next step for the industry is to move to 3D like the movie Behewolf and other cinema releases.
When you're playing a game in fully 3D with motion picture quality graphics interacting with the world with a realistic intuitive control system (like a Wii Remote) taking part with millions of people online in a futurustic world.
Then tell me that the technology advancements that allow this isn't important.
Or maybe you simply want to play another game of Pac-Man!
My Dad had a Golf game on the PS2, complete with a swingy club thingy for Christmas last year (and he's 63) so this is hardly "new"... oh, and there's Guitar Hero and now Band Hero - it's all been on the PS2 for a while now. And yes these things are great for non-traditional (and even traditional) gamers... they're a bit of a laugh.
None of this means the PS3 is a flop (yet) - PS1 games were still being churned out (might still be for all I know) long after the launch of the PS2, so that's not why they're not available on the PS3 yet. It could just be that it's already been done on the PS2 so the software/hardware problems have already been overcome.
As for games... well I'm into my god/strategy games, think the Total War or Civilisation Series with the odd smattering of Team Fortress 2 (damn you Valve, I didn't get to bed until nearly 2 this morning) and Neverwinter Nights type games. I really, really can't see something like "The Witcher" coming out on the Wii (it's very bleak and shows people as the petty, small-minded, bigoted scrotes they often are)... ah yes, that's why I'm a PC gamer more than a console gamer. I do have a PS2 - the PlayStation was the original "grown up" console (think GTA as opposed to Mario or Sonic) - it's great for things like Final Fantasy or Gran Turismo through the big telly.
And no, it's not always about the graphics... Elite on the Beeb or Electron was one of the greatest games ever - x3 is about the closest thing I've managed to find for the PC.
I think Graham is supporting the idea that individuals actually have distinct tastes. Just because five people you know enjoy Wii's game styles doesn't mean that everyone does. I know, it might take a while for that to sink in. I'll wait.
Ready, now? Good. I still play, for instance, a game that was released on SNES and repackaged for the PS1. I'm thinking of getting a PS2 so that I can play my single PS2 game, as well as all my old PS1 games, without having to hook up multiple consoles. I'm perfectly fine enjoying the sprite-based ultra-pixellated graphics from my old beloved SNES game, despite the fat cartoonish Wii style, or the super-photorealistic PC/PS3 games I could be playing.
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