Ask Joystiq Nintendo: On rails edition

by JC Fletcher { Jun 11th 2009 at 4:30PM }

We thought we would be inundated with questions following E3, but it appears that you guys are still too shell-shocked from the Metroid: Other M trailer to speak. Or from the Wii Vitality Sensor reveal. We don't mind telling you, by the way, that we can't help but be delighted that Nintendo is making something that weird. And if you don't think it's a good idea, don't worry too much about it. It's Nintendo, after all, and the thing will end up being used in one game at most.

Anyway, our question this week is about rail shooters. If you have a question for us, send an email to asknintendo AT joystiq DOT com!

Steve Mann asks:

I was just wondering why all the rails based shooters instead of FPS on the Wii. With the Nunchuk/analog stick combo you get what I felt was a very enjoyable and natural FPS experience with Metroid Prime 3, so why are the new RE and Dead Space going on rails? Is it that hard to make things move freely on the Wii? Or is it a "casual gamer" cash grab because it's easier to point and click, then point, click and steer? Have we come so far with controller technology only to play prettier versions of Duck Hunt? If that's the case I shudder at the thought of Microsoft's new control tech, where we just smile or frown at the TV to make characters do good or bad.

Follow up question: Why are there no split screen deathmatch modes in Wii FPS shooters? Wii processing issue? Does it remind Nintendo too much of Goldeneye and therefore their old buddies at Rare, and the wounds are just too fresh to be reminded of still?

You nailed it, sort of: the move to on-rails gameplay is generally intended to make the games more accessible to people outside of the usual FPS audience. Dead Space: Extraction's producer Steve Papoutsis also said that the more "casual" approach helps them satisfy the goal of simple, drop-in co-op -- which makes sense, given the arcade origins of this style of play. That part is somewhat hard to argue with, unless you absolutely hate this kind of game -- it's pretty appealing to be able to have a friend sit right down and play.

That said, there is definitely a technical element. By putting the game on rails, the developer can tightly control the composition of every shot, requiring fewer elements of the game world to be highly detailed.

Resident Evil games are somewhat of a special case. There have been on-rails spinoffs since the PlayStation. Umbrella Chronicles, then, isn't as much a "watered down" main Resident Evil game as it is the first actually good Gun Survivor game. It was a beneficial move.

As for the split-screen issue, here's a theory: pointer-based aiming would be miserable if you were restricted to a quarter of the screen.

Every week, we'll answer reader questions about the Wii, the DS, or any other Nintendo-related topic in Ask Joystiq Nintendo. If you have a question, e-mail it to asknintendo AT joystiq DOT com! You need your questions answered, and we need content for this column. It's a symbiotic relationship!

Tags: ask-nintendo, dead-space-extraction, on-rails, rail-shooter, resident-evil-the-darkside-chronicles

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Mr Khan @ Jun 11th 2009 4:50PM

Thing is, they already did splitscreen with Red Steel. With my limited experience with it, i don't remember having too much trouble with it.

James @ Jun 11th 2009 5:13PM

I thought it was pretty good. Not perfect but it worked very well, controls were no problem and it had some nice game modes.

lobotomies4free @ Jun 12th 2009 9:04PM

Yeah didn't we have split screen working fine on our ps2s and gamecubes with decent detail?

joeybeast @ Jun 11th 2009 4:57PM

Is there any on rail shooter without zombies on the Wii?
Some thing a little less intense.

uncle jesse @ Jun 11th 2009 5:17PM

Ghost Squad (yes, the arcade game) is cheap and pretty damn fun. Check that one out.

Nigeria @ Jun 11th 2009 5:18PM

Sin and Punishment on the VC is just awesome. Then there's Ghost Squad and Disaster which both feature some kind of terrorists. It's really not that intense as in the former you can shoot bikini clad women with dolphin-shaped water pistols, while in the latter you can outrun a tsunami in a Hawaiian t-shirt.

There's also Target Terror, which also features terrorists. I haven't managed to play that game yet. Still looking for a cheap import.

But where's Point Blank, I wonder? Namco are really missing the boat.

Anti-Villian @ Jun 12th 2009 12:10AM

I HATE on rail shooter, I despise them so much so that I can't bear to play them. The longest I spent on one was about 15 minutes with a mate at time zone, i think it was house of the dead or something.

Anyway, putting a game on-rails takes away everything that makes a shooter good, shooters are about ducking behind corner, running frantically through the open to find better hiding spots and sneaking around the sides to get better angles of your enemies. If you can't move what do you do? something pops up, you click it, something else pops up, click that too. I think using the OS of a computer is more fun.

Freudian Lemur @ Jun 12th 2009 6:59AM

I agree that on-rails shooter isn't the best genre of game. I prefer games with a bit more depth, however, I don't hate them. I can still enjoy them because, plain and simply, shooting things is fun. I think comparing them FPSs isn't a good idea, as they really are a very different type of game. The fact that you don't have an on-screen crosshairs or reticle means the gameplay is hugely different.
I am maybe getting tired of the amount of them on the Wii, but I just won't buy them.
(Not all aimed at you, Anti-Vilian, your comment just provided a good backdrop to mine)