There is news from a couple different sources today, with interviews from both the developer Vigil and the publisher THQ on their follow-up to the critically acclaimed Darksiders, coming out next year. So, what did we learn? First of all, that the Wii U version of the game will be unique. ONM was talking to Jay Fitzloff.
Y’know, you could just throw in anything just to throw it in but we want to make sure it really works,.
So far we have visual parity with other formats and it’s been easy to port over, but making Darksiders 2 for Wii U is about using the system.
In the end it’ll have such as unique control set – we think it’s the best we can make for Wii U, but will it be definitive? You tell us when it comes out!
That isn’t really a surprise, given what we heard before about Vigil really looking to use the Wii U pad to do some interesting things. the ‘visual parity’ line bugged me a bit, as I know the Wii U is more powerful and I’d much rather they use that power to do something interesting. Thankfully FedWars was talking to THQ.
Question: Is there any graphical differences between the console versions and the PC version.
THQ Employee: Well I would expect the PC versions to be graphically superior over the console versions. And I’m sure the Wii U versions of Darksiders 2 and Metro Last Light will be superior to the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions.
Question: In what ways would the Wii U version be superior over the 360/PS3 versions?
THQ Employee: Well the Wii U is full of potential as far as specs go. I know that Metro: Last Light is running at a good 50-60 fps on the PC, so I’m not sure how the Wii U version will compare to that. But the Wii U version of games from ALL developers and publishers, have potential for much smoother framerates, improved textures, and additional bonus content that the 360/PS3 version’s won’t have. In a way, buying the Wii U version over the 360/PS3 versions, will be like buying the Blu-ray version of a movie instead of the standard dvd version. You get better visuals, and more additional content with the Wii U version of any game compared to the other console version. But this will only happen as long as a developer or publisher puts in the time and effort instead of doing a straight port.
Question: I noticed a lot of games for 360 and PS3 don’t take advantage of TRUE 1080p. Could we see more games on Wii U taking advantage of true 1080p resolution?
THQ Employee: The Wii U is much more powerful than the other HD consoles, so Wii U doesn’t have a huge problem doing 1080p for the majority of its games. Will Darksiders 2 and Metro: Last Light be in 1080p on Wii U? I can’t speak for the teams behind those games. I don’t work on those specific teams so I can’t say what they plan to do with the Wii U versions of their games as far as graphics or content go. I do know based on the specs I’ve seen, the console is more than capable of graphics that surpass current consoles. It’s like I said before. Expect majority of third party Wii U games from most publishers to have true 1080p, additional content, and smoother framrates than what the PS3/360 versions offer. If you want the DEFINITIVE version of any game in your library, I would suggest either the PC version or the Wii U version…at least for now. This is not a knock agains the 360/PS3 versions of any games either. Fans of the 360 and PS3 are the majority of the gamers who games…period. So publishers have to give them the best product we can.
Question: There is a lot of emphasis on graphics nowadays. Where do you see graphics going with future consoles? And will the Wii U be able to graphically compete against new consoles from Sony and Microsoft?
THQ Employee: Listening to people within the company, people are pretty happy with the specs of the Wii U. I don’t think anyone has anything to worry about. There is one thing I want to mention though. Better graphics is not all rosey for gamers in the long run. Better graphics means that game developers have to increase their staff and their budgets so games will tap into the full potential of next gen hardware. The costs to hire more artists or programmers to a team would get passed down to gamers. Which is why 360 and PS3 games went up 10 bucks compared to the previous generation with Playstation 2, GameCube, and Xbox. It’s fun to dream about the possibilities of the kind of graphics you could see if a console had 10 times better graphics than the current consoles. But with a console that is 10 times more powerful…expect 10 dollars to be added to the price tag every generation. Again, I’m just speculating. I’m not saying any publisher would add to the price. But games aren’t selling like they use to, and costs to produce high budget games need to be passed down to the consumers who can afford to play. I predict a very expensive future in gaming.
Which is something that has been talked about quite a bit. Games this generation are already very expensive to produce, and quite a bit of money has been invested in technology for the current platforms. The line that ‘games aren’t selling like they use to’, aside from a typo, is also a little odd. I’m quite curious as to where he is making his comparisons, as I was under the impression that the industry as a whole was actually doing quite well. So, if we can look forward to Battlefield 3-esque graphics and better from every title on future consoles, would you be willing to fork over $10 more? Is that even a realistic thing to hope for?
