Why are Wii games so ugly?

[The Fake Shemp]

Really?  Why?  It's got more horsepower than the GameCube, yet the games look routinely WORSE.  Have we ever gotten a serious answer other than the lame, "lolz gamecube turbo lolz!" comments?

[Ichirou]

Simple developer laziness, I think.

[Oblivion]

Mainly developers being lazy. I mean most games look equal or worse than first gen. PS2 games.

Though, I'm kinda hoping this continues, if only for the possibility that Nintendo would be forced to make their next console strong enough that it achieves a certain level of graphical fidelity even if developers get lazy as hell.

[Christopher]

Why put effort, time, and money into wii projects that can be half assed and be backed up as "graphics don't matter" crowd and retain the same profit?

Fuck, if I were a developer I'd port all my half ass dreamcast shit with stupid waggle and get away with it if I could.

[Ichirou]

Sakura Taisen for the Wii? We can only hope.

[bork]

Are you channeling Opa-Opa with these posts today, Willco?   

[demi]

Really?  Why?  It's got more horsepower than the GameCube, yet the games look routinely WORSE.  Have we ever gotten a serious answer other than the lame, "lolz gamecube turbo lolz!" comments?

STFU

[ananus]

everyone always blames the devs, but i think it's more along the lines of nintendo not offering good tools for them. nintendo might have stricter ndas which would keep them from complaining about it.

i just find it hard to believe they'd purposefully make their games look that bad.

[Fragamemnon]

Really?  Why?  It's got more horsepower than the GameCube, yet the games look routinely WORSE.  Have we ever gotten a serious answer other than the lame, "lolz gamecube turbo lolz!" comments?

Nintendo lowered the bar, and third parties-and hell, Nintendo dev teams-have been more than willing to go under that bar.

[Cheebs]

its mainly third parties I noticed. Stuff like Mario Galaxy look better than what GCN did.

[bud]

smg is the only wii game that looks better than what was on the gamecube.

[bud]

zelda is a port and resident evil looks exactly the same.

there's a comparison video on gametrailers if you want to check it out.

[Van Cruncheon]

a) same 3mb framebuffer as the gamecube
b) it's disingenuous to think of the wii as a gamecube x2 -- it's a geforce 2 to the gc's geforce 1 (albeit with games still in 16-bit color)
c) wii sucks

[ToxicAdam]

Why do we even care about the Wii? It's in the same category as the Xavix or those plug-n-play controllers. It's an alternate method of gaming that just happens to be wildly popular right now. It's a dead end machine.

[MrAngryFace]

Devs arent lazy on systems that they find interesting.

[Fragamemnon]

Devs arent lazy on systems that they find interesting.

This is sort of true-outside of Nintendo, getting sent to work on a Wii game may be interpreted as being a minor leaguer in the company. Smaller, ower budget houses will probably experience this less, but they will also probably have less of the prima donna talent who would feel this way to begin with.

[MrAngryFace]

I just think its kinda like making really fast cars because you love making fast cars, then having publishers who see a crappy system selling at a low price point that is pushing units telling you to stop making fast cars, and start making slow cars with little bells to ring instead of a horn.

[hyp]

maybe 'cause you're used to playing games in hi-def?  or not.

[Oblivion]

everyone always blames the devs, but i think it's more along the lines of nintendo not offering good tools for them. nintendo might have stricter ndas which would keep them from complaining about it.

i just find it hard to believe they'd purposefully make their games look that bad.

The Wii'is hardware may suck major ass, but even Gamecube games from third party titles (even some of the more non-serious ones) at least LOOKED like GC games. There's no fricken excuse to have your game look like a first gen. PS2 game, unless you're making something bigger than GTA, I suppose.

[bluemax]

Devs arent lazy on systems that they find interesting.

Honestly saying "lazy devs" just reeks of ignorance to me. Do people think game devs go "eh a Wii game? We'll just phone this one in?".

I think it is far more likely that Wii projects are being handled by more inexperience/less talented dev teams with fewer resources available to them and what not. How many games have we seen yet made by top tier development studios/teams? None?

[MrAngryFace]

I think devs hate the Wii and my opinion is #1.

[Van Cruncheon]

if i were a game dev and you assigned me to work on a wii game instead of a 360 game, i'd probably tender my resignation because i sure as shit don't wanna spend the next 18 months of my life working on a collection of shitball party games for maw and paw kettle or some morbidly obese ninthing.

[Cheebs]

I think devs hate the Wii and my opinion is #1.

Who would dare disagree with The Fall Guy?

[Mondain]

So how many decent-looking Wee-wee games have been released so far? Titles that can somewhat rivalize with good looking Xbox ones? The only one seems to be Sonic: Secret of the Rings.

And looking at the future, Mario Galaxy, Boogie and Dragon Quest Swords don't seem to be that bad, along with this "No More Heroes" cel-shaded game. Every other project looks like a first-generation PS2 game.

[Powerslave]

lolz gamecube turbo lolz

[dsn2k]

most titles are not even GC standard. 

only thing what has impressed me somewhat is Mario Galaxy.

[y2kev]

Is SMG doing anything technically advanced in particular or does the clean art style and fairly sparse aesthetic just help it along? A lot of people have said it is doing a lot with lighting and such, but it doesn't look anything beyond Rogue Squadron.

[demi]

Devs arent lazy on systems that they find interesting.

Honestly saying "lazy devs" just reeks of ignorance to me. Do people think game devs go "eh a Wii game? We'll just phone this one in?".

I think it is far more likely that Wii projects are being handled by more inexperience/less talented dev teams with fewer resources available to them and what not. How many games have we seen yet made by top tier development studios/teams? None?

*ding ding ding*

SpiderMan 3 Wii was done by Vicarious Visions, consisting of a team of mostly college students... still in college. Probably Interns.

EA also recently turned Headgate Studios into EA Salt Lake, where their primary focus is TIGER WOODS FOR DA WII, and other Wii projects.

[dsn2k]

have a look...

http://download.gametrailers.com/gt_vault/t_mariogalaxy_gdc07_gt_h264.wmv

looks clean texture wise with some nice lighting and also some use of bump, shine mapping. easily the most appealing Wii title to look at, still I wouldn't say it surpasses anything on xbox.