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Wii

Okami on Wii: How it Happened

by Steven Rodriguez - November 19, 2007, 1:15 pm EST
Total comments: 6 Source: Capcom

Capcom USA explains how much was involved in migrating platforms.

Wii and Capcom's Okami seemed like a perfect match for each other. Speculation had run rampant for the longest time as to whether or not the Clover Studio game would hit Nintendo's console, and it wasn't until a few weeks ago that Capcom finally admitted that it was happening. It was not, however, as easy as just retooling the game to work with the Wii Remote.

Capcom has posted an entry on its blog that details how the Wii version of Okami came to be. Capcom noticed how much feedback it was receiving for a Wii version of Okami even before it came out on the PlayStation 2. After not selling terribly well in North America, likely due to it coming out so late in the console's lifecycle, Capcom USA decided to take a second look at the game and reconsider its options. Introducing an already critically-praised, award-winning game to the Wii at an early point in its life cycle made a lot of sense to the company. Capcom USA got in touch with its parent in Japan, who provided the necessary approval to go forward with the project.

However, there was still the matter of who was going to develop the game. The original development team from Clover couldn't do it, because the studio had been disbanded. Capcom didn't want to make a quick port, so it wanted to be sure that it picked the right people for the job. While searching, Capcom VP of Strategic Planning & Business Development Christian Svensson (also the author of the blog post) casually met with someone at developer Ready at Dawn at Game Developer's Conference earlier this year and liked what RAD was all about. That meeting led to more formal talks, which eventually led to a green light on the whole shebang.

But even then, things weren't going to be very easy. Ready at Dawn was given the original game code, but it was incomplete and commented on in Japanese. Nevertheless, these problems didn't stop them from figuring out how things worked. Eventually, the missing assets were found, and the project was able to progress at full speed. Today, Capcom says the game is up and running on the Wii, though Wii Remote motion controls still need to be implemented.

For the full details on this interesting look behind the scenes, check out Capcom's blog post here.

Talkback

MorariNovember 19, 2007

CENSORED FOR YOUR PROTECTION

Soooo buying this...

jpc168November 19, 2007

sounds great! more companies need to take this approach. don't just make a quick port over to the wii. give games the attention they need!!! looking forward to this!

NinGurl69 *hugglesNovember 19, 2007

Another lackluster effort from Capcom.

The game was already presented to the most important audience on the planet, and it was ignored. Case closed; it doesn't need more attention cuz the attention doesn't exist.

Way to waste dev resources, Capcom. What'd you do? Hire former Sega execs?

pSYCO-gAMER321November 19, 2007

Well at least Capcom know what they are doing. That's good.

couchmonkeyNovember 20, 2007

Someone needs to up Pro's meds, he's been extra meancastic lately! though he's not wrong.

I will buy it.

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