Resident Evil 5 producer says Wii couldn’t even handle the game’s title screen
Friday, October 24th, 2008 at 5:55pm by Derek
Still hoping for Resident Evil 5 on Wii? Don’t hold your breath.
According to producer Masachika Kawata, Nintendo’s system couldn’t even handle the game’s title screen.
In a Thursday interview with CVG, Kawata was asked what has been improved for Resident Evil 5.
“First of all, and quite obviously, the graphics. Even the title screen of this couldn’t have been done on PS2 or Wii,” says Kawata.
“Online co-op as well, the number of enemies you can have on-screen at one time, destructible scenery, physics — we’re using Havok this time. We can do more complex stuff with AI.”
Kawata also spoke about the importance of lighting in Resident Evil 5, the African setting controversy and the influence of BioShock.
Resident Evil 5 is scheduled to release in March for PS3 and Xbox 360. Despite a curious slip of tongue from SEGA President Simon Jeffery in July, no Wii version has been announced.
October 24th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
“no Wii version has been announced.”
Thank God.
I could imagine a watered down, RE4 powered, no online, scarce enemies on screen, disappointment with poor IA and physics. If Dead rising is a dissapointement, and it IS, Imagine how much worse RE5 would turn out be.
This doesn’t mean the Wii should not have a new RE game, but make it unique to the system, stick with the LAST gen RE4 engine ,and go from there. Something unique with the Wii mote could work out well.
Cant wait to play RE5 !
October 24th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
At the same time, Gametrailers posted today an interview in which the producers reveal that a new Resident Evil should be published for the Wii in a couple of years.
Actually, I wouldn’t have a problem with RE5 being ported with the RE4 engine. I was not very impressed by the RE5 footage anyway. They would have to introduce sun’s glare effects and restrict the size of the ambiance. Well executed, it could work pretty well. There is no good reason why the Wii wouldn’t be able to handle good IA and modern physics engines are overrated, as shown by Force Unleashed.
October 24th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Just reduce the poly count for objects and character and enemies. With how many polys these things are, who’s gonna miss a few thousand polys?
October 24th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
“Oh no he didn’t!!”
October 24th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
hooray for buying a PS3 for this and MGS4!
October 24th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
unsurprising- the most powerful systems, several years in, get games that cannot be done on the less powerful one. but most solely wii owners probably don’t care, and would prefer a wiimote re4 style re5 anyways. those that get a lot out of havoc engines chewing up scenery and stuff probably have ps3s or 360s.
played a good deal of ps3 last weekend. really makes me hate the jet engine sound of my 360…
also started hotel dusk finally. sweet.
also i voted. you should prob do that too.
October 24th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Capcom has a record of spurious comments regarding what is and isn’t technically possible. To paraphrase: “There’s no way RE4 could ever be done on PS2. If I have to do it, i’ll cut my head off”.
I’m sure there are plenty of graphical effects the Wii isn’t capable of reproducing, and the effects and scene capacity would obviously be restricted as well, but funnily enough, outside of Dead Rising, I’ve yet to see a game this gen that was so technically advanced from the last gen that it couldn’t be reasonably adapted in an essentially complete form on Wii.
October 24th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Wow! We’re being a bit of a bastard aren’t we? All companies care about money and little else. Can they afford not to put this game on the Wii if they want to rake in tons more extra cash?
I would think that money alone would dictate them giving us a version of this game.
None of us expected the graphics to look like the 360 or PS3 versions. That’s not the be all end all to having fun.
October 25th, 2008 at 12:58 am
“The Wii couldn’t even handle the title screen?” They’re going to have a field day with that quote over at Kotaku.
Resi5 is basically just a graphical update of Resi4 anyway, but the fact that the developer lumps the Wii in with the PS2 shows 3rd party developers’ lackadaisical approach to the system.
October 25th, 2008 at 1:02 am
Well, if that is so, then they should show some game footage that does not directly resemble RE4. All videos I have seen this far are ganados, scripted scenes and so on. Even that scene of a truck/bus inside the bridge looks exactly like the one from RE4, right before you go into the castle. And yes, deepthough, the other consoles are years in front of the Wii in the graphics department, but are far more years behind it in gameplay mechanics. I for one, would love to play it (or another game with same RE4 mechanics) on the Wii instead of any of the other consoles.
Best!!
October 25th, 2008 at 1:08 am
what gameplay mechanics?
i honestly don’t care about waving a controller, and as a result don’t yet see that as an advancement. any other mechanics?
October 25th, 2008 at 1:22 am
Wait a second, Fabio enjoys “waggle”??
October 25th, 2008 at 2:47 am
Fact 1: I’ve been a hardcore Nintendo fanboy for nearly my entire life
Fact 2: …I want an XBox now,,,(If only for RE5)
October 25th, 2008 at 2:53 am
So much for Miyamato’s idea of straying away from a “POWER SYSTEM” being a view of optimism.
=(
October 25th, 2008 at 3:14 am
Mikami isn’t involved, it won’t be as good as RE4, there’ll almost certainly be a PC port once the consoles have been milked anyway.
And what a stupid statement, duh, of course the wii couldn’t handle the title screen if it was being rendered with the /same/ detail.
October 25th, 2008 at 3:16 am
Plus after playing RE4 on Wii, i don’t think i’d want to play it with the clunky analog method again, I can’t play the Cube version of RE4 again as it is.
October 25th, 2008 at 6:21 am
It’s just a marketing speech. You know, to hype their gfx they say “this wasn’t possible before on past generation consoles”.
It’s classic marketing BS.
October 25th, 2008 at 10:05 am
Well it’s Nintendo’s fault, you can’t have everything in life. You don’t got a hard drive and no HD? Who’s to blame?
October 25th, 2008 at 10:14 am
@deepthought
Many of us find the Wii controller to be more fun and intuitive. I think that is the point Fabio was making, lest you forget the Wii is all about the control experience.
October 25th, 2008 at 10:17 am
@deepthough
what gameplay mechanics?
actually aiming at things instead of using clunky analog sticks. RE4 wii is better only because it can handle faster action than the GC version, all because of the controller. That is a fact, and it alone can result in more challenging games.
Best!!
October 25th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
yup, gotta disagree. that’s not years ahead to me. without rehashing the ‘you don’t really point at things’ bit, pointing and waiving my arms is just not a gameplay mechanic i seek. the coordination between squads and leaders in bf2, the hysterical open world bedlam of gta4 coop, the craziness of good ol bond on the 64, the fps chess game of the coop in the first two bia games, the amazing depth of games like fable2 and fallout3… those are far more interesting to me than pointing at my tv.
October 25th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
@deepthought
Yet you’re here on this site, so you must have a little appreciation for the Wii?
October 26th, 2008 at 12:49 am
wii’s not for me really. love my ds though. still working on zelda ii…. wish my 360 was as quiet as my friend’s ps3.
October 26th, 2008 at 3:52 am
@deepthought
I don’t know where you get waving your arms around when playing RE4. It’s just a smoother overall experience using the Wii remote and nunchuck. I wasn’t going to buy RE4 for Wii because I completed it 3 times on the cube. I played it at a friend’s and bought it soon after. I had to have it. The controls are so much better. They draw you in. I went back to try to complete RE0 and had to stop. The controls feel outdated and awkward. Personally I would love another RE4 style game on Wii. It doesn’t have to be RE5, but there needs to be another.
October 26th, 2008 at 9:20 am
RE4 on Wii is great, but it’s a Gamecube game.
CPU/GPU power isn’t just for graphics. Sure, when developed well, the Wii can churn out some really nice graphics. Definition aside, some could argue that the Wii can even hold its own to many 360/PS3 titles.
But when it comes to advanced AI, physics, and raw processing power, no amount of artwork tweaks can make a title run on hardware that was far out dated before its launch.
I own a Wii right now, but I’ll be getting a PS3 at some point, I’d rather play titles as they were meant to be played than ones hacked to run on a system with a fraction of the power. Kawata tells the truth, sometimes it hurts, but Nintendo chose this course, and let’s face it, it’s paid off for them.
For now, to have our cake and eat it, we need a couple consoles, which has basically been the console world for the past 13 years or so anyway.
October 26th, 2008 at 10:01 am
If the Wii can;t even handle the TITLE SCREEN, that must mean Capcom doesn’t know how to clean up code. Or they are throwing every single polygon, texture, and effect imaginable on that screen.
I could care less about the super smooth graphics. Gimmie a fun game to play.
Capcom also comes off as being sort of dickish with this, and their console series like RE and DMC.
October 26th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
@Gausser
Exactly. The same happened to me.
@James
I agree with you, but my complain is that the AI, physics (if there is any) they showcased is far too similar to the RE4 one. And physics still has to be explored significantly better to be worth. There are just a handful of games that actually use it to enhance the gameplay experience (Half-live 2 comes to mind), while most titles use it only for visual impact and fancy effects, and scripted physics would have the same effect at a fraction of the computational cost. Just my thoughs on this issue.
Best!
October 26th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
I bought a PS3 for things just like this, the wii is superbly fun but sometimes it’s best to have the power behind the game, I doubt I’ll get this game, I’m RUBBISH at resi games but still, sometimes I just want games like MGS4 that are just beautiful to look at, like watching a movie with interactivity.
October 26th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
The sad thing about this is that having a thousand zombies coming at you and being able to see their sweat stains in HD doesn’t make for a fun game experience. I had a ton of fun with Resident Evil 4 and felt that it had more than enough zombies to give me hell.
So all of a sudden Capcom is acting like they can’t make a scaled back game that is still just as fun? Of course they can. It just takes getting to work and giving a damn about the finished product.
October 26th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
i think it may be more about capcom seeing an experience they want to bring. you can retool the game and make it fun, but it just may not be the game they want to make.
October 29th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
@Brian:
You’re right, they should care more about the relatively tiny percentage of people who bought a Wii as their ONLY console (which, by definition, shows that they aren’t interested in high-end games made in the last 5 years to begin with), and less about the tens of millions who have at least one next-gen console, because hey, making a profit isn’t something that a business needs to bother with, right?
The Wii, by Nintendo’s own design decisions, is not a console that is physically capable of doing the things that the next-gen consoles can do. 3rd party devs know this, and make games for each platform according to what MAKES SENSE. If you bought a Wii expecting all new games to have a scaled-down version for it – especially games like this, that would cost a crap-load of money to port for a relatively crippled system – then you obviously weren’t paying attention to Nintendo before they released it.
I own a Wii for what it does well (as well a DS, which is why i visit this site), and an HD console for what THAT does well, but some of you (like Brian) need to get over the whole 5-7 year old hardware aspect of the Wii. For fuck’s sake, it’s getting old.
November 10th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Yes they should care more more about the relatively tiny number one selling console. Thank you.