Mark Rein: Epic seriously doesn't want to make Wii games

by David Hinkle { Jul 8th 2008 at 2:45PM }

People should probably stop asking them about it. Seriously. We think that's what Mark Rein wants.

But, people still keep doing it, the latest being an interview with GamesIndustry.biz. When asked about Wii development, Rein busted out his Fragalator 5000 and shot the possibility down into a heaping mess of blood and guts. "That's like asking a sculptor when he's going to start painting," he said. "That's just not our medium. That's not our area of expertise - our area of expertise is the more high-end consoles and things that push technology higher. That's what we do - there's a lot more water in that well for us, when that runs dry then maybe we'd have to think of doing something else but I don't think that well is going to run dry anytime soon."

Oh well, not like Unreal Tournament would be the same with Miis anyway ...

Tags: epic, gears-of-mii, mark-rein, markrein, unreal-3, unreal-engine-3

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Carl @ Jul 8th 2008 3:00PM

It's not like Epic makes good games anymore... I don't see why people bother to ask them... Unreal tournament hasn't been good since UT:Gotye... I played 2003... I have 2004... They don't have it... Gotye was awesome! Fast paced and felt perfect... I'm not bothering with UT:3...

offday @ Jul 8th 2008 9:56PM

I understand this makes you angry. It makes me angry too because I love my Wii. But I also love my 360, and to say that they don't make good games is just a stupid comment.

kodysandwich @ Jul 8th 2008 3:07PM

Robot!

Mr Khan @ Jul 8th 2008 3:07PM

Hey, he wasn't insulting this time!

Good for him

Mr Khan @ Jul 8th 2008 3:19PM

Oh, and check this out for your daily dose of hypocrisy

http://xbox.joystiq.com/2008/07/08/cliff-wants-less-controller-buttons-more-waggle/

macserv @ Jul 8th 2008 3:59PM

What gets me about that article is how the author seems to think that the 360 controls are better for first-person shooters than the Wii's. They need to stop kidding themselves... the Wii is easily the best console for FPS and rail-shooter gaming.

samfish @ Jul 8th 2008 5:08PM

OH MAH GAWD. I can't WAIT to see the 360 Fanboy site's reaction to MS's E3 press conference next week!

If he's saying good things about waggle all of a sudden, you KNOW Gears 2 is gonna use MS's Wiimote controller.

tan @ Jul 8th 2008 8:23PM

if gears made someone use a wii-mote like controller i would shoot myself
i hate using that thing for shooting games.
it just, feels strange to me:)

misfit410 @ Jul 8th 2008 3:15PM

Yea, so they are all about making more expensive games and making less money from them. UT3 was a pile of garbage, and it sold as such.

Luckily other people made good games with the engine or it would have been a rough time for them.

meist3r @ Jul 8th 2008 3:20PM

Just admit it Reindeer: You keep making the same mindless game with updated graphics and even if you locked them in the basement with tons of speed and twinkies your highly skilled code monkeys couldn't churn out something that has decent storytelling or adapts to it's given environment. That what I call "bloated". Every UT since 2004 was basically the same game with more maps and different textures. Come to think of it they usually recycle their maps also.

Just leave making phenomenally good games to someone else, k?

Poltergeist Clock @ Jul 8th 2008 3:28PM

What a pretentious d-bag! He compares his work to art then says he's willing to whore his art out if the money train stops coming by

AWade @ Jul 8th 2008 3:59PM

Uh, yeah, if one lives in a box where the only way to "push" games is to make the graphics more photo-realistic, then I see his point.

It's this old-school thinking by developers like him that is exactly why the Wii is outselling all other consoles. I have nothing against PS3 and XBOX360, but I have nothing for them either - I haven't bought either one because I have yet to find that "killer app" game that will lead me to invest $500 in the game and the console just to play it. It's all the same mindless FPS crap I can play on my PC, and I much prefer those with a keyboard and mouse anyway.

To use a common message board term :

EPIC FAIL.

Very apropos. Learn what customers want to play (and stop selling to the shrinking minority that is happy as long as the masculine details of their avatars get even more mansexy the more "realistic" they become), and then Developers like this can start to learn how they can function in the NEW video game business.

Jeff @ Jul 8th 2008 4:05PM

I couldn't care less.

I've never liked UT, even the first few. no big loss.

TheCoats @ Jul 8th 2008 4:14PM

I would think making a Wii version would be an easier port from the PC versions.......mouse=motion censor - kinda sorta maybe?......
I dont know i am not a code monkey but it just seems to make more sense to me..

phenylketonurics @ Jul 8th 2008 4:21PM

Holy christ, this sounds utterly insane. High-end consoles? These "high-end consoles" focus almost solely on getting high definition graphics to run smoothly. THAT'S IT. There's nothing impressive about a nice-looking game that plays like pure rubbish (as stated here many times).

These guys won't last if they keep the attitude of working in one direction (not to mention that the direction in itself is vague). Pushing technology higher sounds a lot like "taking it to the limit!". Which is stupid. Think out of the box, people, not within the confines of what technology alone can reach.

christian @ Jul 8th 2008 4:38PM

...um, I just bought a Wii based off of Wii Sports alone.
The last console I bought was a PS2 years ago, and I hadn't returned to gaming until the Wii made it FUN again. I got real tired of mindless FPS's and photorealistic sports games; they got old and the storytelling and gameplay just wasn't fun anymore. At this point, I wouldn't even download a pirated a copy of UT, because it's simply not interesting. Regardless of yr polygon count is, or how high you can clock your frames per second, or max out yr resolution, or make highly realistic textures - if your game isn't engaging, it's not going to last.
This Mark Rein scrotum-cheese should think about that before ripping on the Wii.

Roto13 @ Jul 8th 2008 4:40PM

And I was so looking forward to playing Unreal Tournament 50 on my Wii. Or at all.

Dio @ Jul 8th 2008 4:58PM

Fuck em. They're going down one way or another.

James Madley @ Jul 8th 2008 6:25PM

In English: The Wii is way too powerful. We just don't have the skills so we're trying to look uninterested.

In translated French: Le Wii est voie trop puissante. Nous juste n'avons pas les qualifications ainsi nous essayons de sembler indifférents.

In translated Chinese: Wii 是太强有力的。我们没有技能因此我们设法看起来不感兴趣。

In translated lolcat: TEH WII IZ WAI 2 POWERFUL. WE JUS DOAN HAS TEH SKILLS SO WERE TRYIN 2 LOOK UNINTERESTD.

jason @ Jul 8th 2008 7:10PM

Right.......James Madley the Wii is more powerfull haha yeah right its CPU is underpowered , its core is crap i mean the Wii uses 16 gamecube chip sets to get it powerful enought to even match Xbox's power .......you Fanboys and girls cant handly the truth ....

your little box of a ninitnedo crap has 100 crap games that got rated a 3 ......yeah nintendo is beating sony and microsoft ....but for how long you should ask .

jason @ Jul 8th 2008 7:22PM

i know Nintendo makes kids stupid and dumb when it coems to games but if you guys want to play the older games from the 80's to 90's get the real systems .

Nintendo copyed from the past systems oooooooh i dont know like Atari 2600 , Commodore PET and so on .

offday @ Jul 8th 2008 9:57PM

Rein obviously isn't a true gamer making stupid comments like this. He's just in it for the money.

jason @ Jul 9th 2008 1:08AM

offday are you that stupid or something game makers have the right to make any game on any system that means thye have the right not to make any games for the Wii ....sont dont be Bitching to Epic its there choice .....

How many crapy Wii games are out there that got a rating of 3 over 100 Wii games so site down and shut up .