Spyborgs dev: Wii 'not excuse' for bad graphics
by Randy Nelson 
{ Aug 28th 2009 at 6:15PM }
The gang at 4 Color Rebellion nabbed an interview with Spyborgs lead producer Daryl Allison, in which he (very) subtly slams Wii developers for using the system itself as a cop-out for delivering sub-par visuals. "We were going to make a game that fans of Devil May Cry and God of War would enjoy," Allison said. "Those gamers expect great graphics. Being on the Wii was not an excuse to disappoint them."
We're not sure it's kosher for Allison to throw rocks at other Wii titles before his is completely finished, but we do agree with his point. Wii may not be an HD powerhouse, but it's capable of some truly lovely looking games. Unfortunately, those titles take the type of motivation that isn't printed by the US Treasury to make.
We're not sure it's kosher for Allison to throw rocks at other Wii titles before his is completely finished, but we do agree with his point. Wii may not be an HD powerhouse, but it's capable of some truly lovely looking games. Unfortunately, those titles take the type of motivation that isn't printed by the US Treasury to make.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
cylet @ Aug 28th 2009 7:05PM
hm..
Autobot @ Aug 28th 2009 7:12PM
They're damn right it's not wii's fault. With a name like "4 Color Rebellion" I wouldn't blame Nintendo.
Josh @ Aug 28th 2009 7:24PM
...
Autobot @ Aug 28th 2009 7:25PM
I was kidding, asshat.
Josh @ Aug 28th 2009 10:28PM
I still don't know what you said, though.
ChromeAlchemist @ Aug 28th 2009 7:38PM
Not enough negativity on this one? I expected tmac and the usual suspects to be all over this one, but an hour passes and nothing. Oh well.
Spyborgs looks great, so they have enough reason to point the finger at this point. I'm all for it. Like I always say, I don't really care about graphics much, but I would at least like to know that the devs are making an effort, as they should be.
Gyrocoptor @ Aug 28th 2009 8:30PM
Agreed entirely. The Wii doesn't cause bad graphics; it's the devs who are too lazy to work with the capabilities and limitations of the system who do that.
Filthy Assistant @ Aug 30th 2009 3:49AM
Well, you can make a Wii game look good compared to other Wii games, but they simply won't look as good as a PS3 or 360 game. It's just simply not as powerful. So, yes, comparitively, they will always have "bad" graphics. I found Madworld to be the most visually interesting game in a while, but it's not like the other consoles couldn't handle it.
Covarr @ Aug 28th 2009 9:37PM
Twilight Princess and Resident Evil 4 were GAMECUBE games, and looked far better than the average Wii game. I think that really says something. The PS2 is even less powerful than that, but it was enough for Final Fantasy XII and Kingdom Hearts 2, two of the best looking games ever made. Hell, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days for the DS looks better than most Wii games, and even some 360 and PS3 games.
The problem is, a lot of people (including many devs) seem to be under the impression that good graphics require high poly counts, high-res textures, and 1080p. They forget that the quality of models and textures, combined with smart and efficient use of vram, can produce incredible results.
jakey @ Aug 28th 2009 10:20PM
"..Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days for the DS looks better than most Wii games, and even some 360 and PS3 games."
ps3 and 360? are you sure your not referring to a ps1 title on the psn or something?
Covarr @ Aug 29th 2009 12:49AM
Actually, I'm referring to the very bottom tier of games on the PS3 and 360. Games like Bomberman: Act Zero and Rapala Fishing Frenzy. Games that don't even almost use their host system to its full potential.
Bomberman: Act Zero actually looks bad because they OVERDID the graphics in some ways. Hideously gritty gray textures, etc.
kmanabe @ Aug 29th 2009 1:28AM
^ That game is horrible in general, don't compare it.
harvsorrow @ Aug 29th 2009 1:06PM
So. Damn. Lazy.
Dv8thwonder @ Aug 29th 2009 2:23PM
It's about damn time a developer spoke up on the issue. A witchhunt on crap developers needs to happen now! Shovelware be gone!
ChromeAlchemist @ Aug 29th 2009 3:07PM
...Witch hunt eh?
Epsilon @ Aug 29th 2009 4:46PM
Witch hunt, witch hunt.
orangecrush @ Aug 29th 2009 10:16PM
Wii is capable of at least original Xbox graphics. It's lazy developers who throw shovel ware at the system that have made the poor graphics so common. Just look at Metroid Prime 3--it's awesome.
tuunicopapi @ Aug 30th 2009 12:10AM
actually the Wii is capable of producing BETTER graphics then the XBOX.
SoshiKitai @ Aug 30th 2009 1:15AM
That's why he said "AT LEAST" xbox graphics.
...except developers have shown that it can go even lower than that. :P
KaBob799 @ Aug 30th 2009 1:22AM
The gamecube could produce graphics better than the original xbox.
Dana @ Aug 30th 2009 2:03AM
Actually no, the Wii is NOT capable of old Xbox or better graphics. The GPU used in the Wii is exactly as it was in the gamecube down to a paltry 2mb for textures and far weaker than the Nvidia chip in the old Xbox. The thing is, it can still do good graphics, heck better than the average Xbox game. Its all about effort and artistic touch, even the Conduit with all its hype is rather fugly and could have been better looking had they tried harder imho.
Mike Sylvester @ Aug 30th 2009 3:28AM
Hollywood isn't so much weaker, as it is "differently abled." It's got plenty of fillrate and bandwidth, and that 2MB you speak of is for caching textures. The Wii has much more RAM than the Xbox, and can store more and/or bigger textures.
Filthy Assistant @ Aug 30th 2009 3:50AM
Did you forget what you were saying about halfway through that comment?
"the Wii is NOT capable of old Xbox or better graphics." and then later "The thing is, it can still do good graphics, heck better than the average Xbox game."
So I have no idea what you're getting at.
Dana @ Aug 30th 2009 3:55AM
only 24 MB of that ram could possibly be used by the GPU or older games like Rouge Squadron 3 would not identical chug on the wii the same as they did on the gamecube. Everything else must be lost on a background OS and such.
ChromeAlchemist @ Aug 30th 2009 10:21AM
Considering GameCube's TEV pipelining could theoretically enable the creation of games that are graphically superior to the Xbox (Julian Eggbrecht saying he never got round to postprocessing), then yes, I think the Wii is capable of Xbox or better graphics.
The Conduit excelled in technical effects, but failed in art direction. That's why the game looks "Bad" in a sense.
gord @ Aug 30th 2009 6:46AM
With the wii its just especially noticable when someone does not try. fairly early on we got a glimpse at what the wii could do with Super Mario Galaxy and Prime 3.. hell most gamecube games look prettier than the ps2-a-likes i see on my wii occasionally.
its not lazyness that causes bad graphics, its a lack of passion for what you are creating.
dswiibouy101 @ Aug 30th 2009 1:24PM
THE LAST TIME I CHECKED HD WAS A MARKETING TERM FOR HIGHER RESOLUTION
480P IS PERFECTLY DOABLE AS WII AT THAT RES IS A MINI POWERHOUSE
HD IS NOT GRAPHICS wipppeeeee i reached a million ££££ as i get a penny for each time i state the above fact
rollseyes
high fillrate high bandwidth tev efficiency all at a easy 480p STOP CALLING RESOLUTION GRAPHICS.....
halfway between gc/xbox and x360 is the kind of power/perforance wii should have at 480p thats more than enough
monster hunter 3/prime 3 / galaxy/conduit/hotd overkill/dead space/res evil
all have good graphics get a grip people ON REALITY
Jacksons @ Aug 31st 2009 9:17PM
What do you mean HD is a marketing term? The Wii is 480p---which is not HD. There's a good reason I have my PS3 hooked up the HDTV and my Wii on an older 480p CRT EDTV. It looks way, way better on the old set.
But really, this article had nothing to do with that. It's about lazy developers who make a quick buck by churning out terrible looking games that appeal to the masses. The Wii is well capable of beautiful games, everyone knows this.
WMcPete @ Aug 30th 2009 7:58PM
I don't know... There have been a few Wii games that I thought looked alright (mainly Mario Galaxy, Metriod Prime 3, Deadly Creatures, Madworld). But even those games running at 480p look pretty bad on my HDTV compared to the PS3 or 360 in 1080p. Lots of jaggies and blurry textures even at the best of times on the Wii. I thought the Conduit was ugly as heck.
Over 3 years on the market, and Wii developers still have not gotten graphics on the system better or even equal to some that the original Xbox had to offer. I have a hard time believing the Wii really can do better than the Xbox. You really think the Wii can handle something looking as good as Conker: Live and Reloaded or Halo 2? I have yet to see it. I hope Dead Space: Extraction proves me wrong.
Rocketboy @ Aug 31st 2009 1:38PM
"We were going to make a game that fans of Devil May Cry and God of War would enjoy,"
Really?
Big cartoony "Spyborgs" is going to appeal to the Devil May Cry & the God Of War crowd?
ChromeAlchemist @ Aug 31st 2009 4:00PM
They explained that they meant in terms of graphical fidelity.
The damn corniness is what made me think twice about getting this game. Still buying it though, it's got Co-Op.
Jacksons @ Aug 31st 2009 8:51PM
This goes without saying. A great deal of PSP games are far more impressive visually than all too many Wii games for crying out loud. But really, you can't blame the developers. Spend a ton of money developing a nice, polished game and sell some copies, or slap together a throwaway party game in a matter of weeks and sell the same or more copies. What would you do from a business standpoint?
All we can hope is that the Wii's popularity amongst these types of buyers fades. So far for me it's "Wait and see what Nintendo EAD groups 3 and Tokyo make"