wii virtual console

[eddhewett]

i would be sooooooo happy if you would release worms armageddon on the wii virtual console. the classic 2d action with holy hand grenades and super sheep ahhhhhhh those were the days. or maybe a new worms 5 on wii which you can play online with. you could add some great features with the wiimote.

[AndrewTaylor]

...Yeah, but it'd presumably be the N64 version on the virtual console. Has anyone made an original game for that yet?

I think you'd be better off, given the nature of the Wii, just releasing Worms on a disc. It would certainly be good, though. A D-pad, a couple of buttons and a pointer? That's how Worms is supposed to be played! (I'd put camera panning on the motion sensors, personally.)

[Plasma]

Just to point out, WormsArmageddon is still being sold in a lot of gaming shops!

[AndrewTaylor]

Yeah, but it'd be great to have a Wii version. The PC version is a pain to set up in a communal space and the PC isn't really designed for local multiplay. The console versions aren't so easy to control and have missing bits and poor graphics.

W:OW on Wii would be fantastic, because it's the kind of game that anyone canpick up and play, and the Wii would have no problem running, and you can control it fine with a d-pad, a couple of buttons, and a pointer. It's almost ideally suited to the intended audience of the Wii, and I'd really like to see it.

[yappydog]

(Yes, I'm back!)

I would have thought that the Wii interface is exactly what Worms was waiting for. The idea of 'really' throwing banana bombs etc. seems too good to miss...

[Plasma]

(Yes, I'm back!)

I would have thought that the Wii interface is exactly what Worms was waiting for. The idea of 'really' throwing banana bombs etc. seems too good to miss...
...I don't think it's going to work like that. I'd say the wiimote would only be for aiming!

[AndrewTaylor]

...I don't think it's going to work like that, if it was in. I'd say the wiimote would only be for aiming!

I'd really hope the motion sensors weren't used for throwing weapons. That's not what Worms is about. The game would change from being a strategy game to a who-can-throw-best game and I think that would ruin it.

[Metal Alex]

I'd really hope the motion sensors weren't used for throwing weapons. That's not what Worms is about. The game would change from being a strategy game to a who-can-throw-best game and I think that would ruin it.

Well, now a grenade minigame would be perfect... A target in the middle, launch grenades with a fuse.

Or control a Sheep (like in excite truck)... (or even super sheep)

Or grenade baseball... (using the bat to launch to others)

Or Sniper Duel...

All minigames! :O

And then, the normal game too.

[Plasma]

Hmm... using the motion sensors for controlling the super sheep could be fun!

[AndrewTaylor]

Or control a Sheep (like in excite truck)... (or even super sheep)

Now that would work, certainly -- the Super Sheep was always supposed to be a bit hard to use. (Although I think we were talking about a 2D game and I'm not sure how it'd work with that.)

[edstittle]

if it did come onto the wii it should just be the normal 2d game using the controller as you do with VC games to control it. As the guy said above the wii motion sensing would be good for camera panning but i imagine using it to throw e.g. banana bombs would suck

[AndrewTaylor]

Yeah, the classic pad would work with Worms, but Worms would work pretty well on the normal remote too, so I'd hate to see it require a classic pad -- very few people have many of those.

[GigaBowser]

It would work great on the Wii. I'd like it better if the motion sensor was just for aiming, though. Maybe a Wii-exclusive game would be nice to have...

[Late-Murr]

Maybe they could release Worms XBLM on the VC? I heard they were releasing one new game for it originally intended for the Commodore 64, so it sounds perfect. Or maybe something like Metal Gear Anthology? It could have different modes of play.

[Glenn]

...Yeah, but it'd presumably be the N64 version on the virtual console. Has anyone made an original game for that yet?
Well, since the thread got bumped, I might as well answer this. Geometry Wars is being released for the Wii, presumably via a download. It's likely that there will be a new channel made for these non-Nintendo releases.

[AndrewTaylor]

"Wii Marketplace", I've heard it called. There was something in the Metro about it the other day but I ignored it because it was in the Metro. But yes, it's coming.

I'm personally holding out for Calculus Wars.

[Glenn]

What would you blow up there? Irrational numbers and derivatives?

Actually... I think you have something there...

[Bawb]

At last! An opportunity to fight back against the integrals that have taunted me this past school year.

[SupSuper]

I smell a hit.

[Metal Alex]

The game is simple:

1- Equations or math operations appear.
2- They start to approach.
3- You smack them with a baseball bat, with an aimed move of the wiimote.
4- Look at your home run.

[PsychoFrea]

Using the motion-sensor to pan the camera? Terrible idea.

[Squirminator2k]

Well, since the thread got bumped, I might as well answer this. Geometry Wars is being released for the Wii, presumably via a download. It's likely that there will be a new channel made for these non-Nintendo releases.

Actually they're fleshing Geometry Wars out into a fully-fledged retail release. It looks fantastic, from what I've seen so far.

The Wii could rather easily run Worms: Open Warfare. Porting it would be another matter entirely, though (Franpa and Trippenz would probably argue that point, but they'd be wrong). I think classic Worms would work really well.

That said, there have long been rumours of the Amiga being added to the Virtual Console at some point in the future. I think the rumours specifically state that it'd be the Amiga 500, but if they expanded that to include the A1200 then a Virtual Console release of Worms: The Director's Cut wouldn't be out of the question... I mean, I'd buy it. And, of course, there's Superfrog... :)

Edit: I think it's safe to say that Team 17 will be considering all the possibilities here, both in terms of retail and Virtual Console/Marketplace for the Wii. While I think we can all agree that a new Worms game would be ideal on the console (someone suggested to me that a special edition of Worms 4 Mayhem would be awesome) I'd personally love to see Team 17 come up with something new. At the same time, I also think that Worms Blast or a variant thereof would work exceptionally well with the controls.

[Vader]

The Wii could rather easily run Worms: Open Warfare. Porting it would be another matter entirely, though (Franpa and Trippenz would probably argue that point, but they'd be wrong). I think classic Worms would work really well.

Presumably they'd port the PSP version, then.

My opinion might change when I play W:OW2 but I feel that to be a success on the Wii there'd need to be a whole bunch of new weapons involving the Wii Remote's capabilities. I'm not sure having classic weapons fudged onto a Wii Remote would be all that great.

That said, some adaptations of weapons could work, such as a baseball bat you actually swing, the distance and angle of the worm's trajectory determined by the swing itself. Another would of course be steering the Super Sheep as you would in ExciteTruck. How about grenades you throw using the Wii Remote? I dunno, my point is that simply porting W:OW and making its interface Wii Remote-based in terms of cursor, camera, etc. instead of, say, stylus-based would be a bit rubbish.

[Squirminator2k]

Who says it needs Motion Sensor supportive weapons?

[quakerworm]

if you discard wiimote, wii is just a last-gen machine. surely, if you are not going to use wiimote, you might as well release it for any other system. in which case, why are you arguing for wii specifically?

[Squirminator2k]

I think that now you're trying to specifically pick on me. Well done you.

Your question is easily answered, in fact I unknowingly answered it in another thread mere moment ago. The Wii has a very large non-gamer fanbase, as does Worms. Therefore it stands to reason that Worms would sell reasonably well on a system aimed at getting on-gamers to game.

[quakerworm]

didn't mean to pick on you. you just seem to be more active here than most people, and actually try to support your point with arguments. it's hard to argue with someone, even if you find their opinion disagreeable, if they don't say why they hold such an opinion.

you need to keep in mind that the reason that non-gamers buy wii is to use the wiimote, and that the sets of non-gamers who like worms and non-gamers who bought wii are rather unlikely to have a large intersection. in other words, just because there are a lot of non-gamer wii fans, and non-gamer worms fans, these are probably not the same people, leaving few non-gamer worms fans who own wii. and seeing how wii non-gamers got it for the wiimote, you'd have much better odds of gaining new worms fans by making another pc release, than wii release that doesn't use wiimote.

i rather like vader's suggestion on it. just throw in some new weapons that use wiimote. then everyone is happy. and if t17 got good imagination on anything, it's on inventing new wacky weapons.

[AndrewTaylor]

you need to keep in mind that the reason that non-gamers buy wii is to use the wiimote, and that the sets of non-gamers who like worms and non-gamers who bought wii are rather unlikely to have a large intersection

No, the Wiimote may be the hook, but it's not the be all and end all of Wii gaming. Once you've hooked a customer, you can show them what the Wii can really do, and if that means turning the motion sensors off for an hour or two then so be it. The motion sensors, like those on the PS3 or the rumble feature, or Mode 7, is a resource which is there for you to use if it's useful. Using it if it's not will only make the game worse, and that's a bad thing in the long run.

Edit: Also, I think the PC market has enough Worms games to be getting on with. They have a great 2D one and a great 3D one and that's probably enough for now. The Wii has no Worms games at all. That gives is a large market of customers almost by default -- PC owners who like Worms probably already own at least one Worms game. Wii owners don't (except for the PC, but that's Not The Same). :edit

Personally, I think that 2D Worms should never have any kind of motion-sensor based controls. It would be unintuitive and annoying and it would remove a lot of the tactics from the game. I think 3D Worms would actually get away with it, because it is a less tactical game and more about execution of shots. But it would have to be extremely accurate or it would make the game utterly unplayable, and I don't know if that's actually possible for something with as varied a technique as throwing. In any case, grenades are almost never used in the 3D games, so that would seem like a waste of time anyway.

[Muzer]

I reckon it should be released in the Wii Software (WiiWare for Americans) section. Nintendo said that it could be used in the future for game developers who have software that's not big enough to go commercial, just like the 360 live arcade. And according to ONM Nintendo are thinking about doing this in '08. It would be a good oppurtunity for a WOW1-WXBLA-style game on the Wii.

[quakerworm]

Once you've hooked a customer, you can show them what the Wii can really do, and if that means turning the motion sensors off for an hour or two then so be it.
and what exactly can the wii do besides the wiimote? without it, it's just a cheap console with no distinguishing features. without the offer of new ways to use wiimote, i really don't see how you are planning to get someone to play worms if they didn't already get hooked on pc or any number of previous consoles.

don't get me wrong, wii might as well get some version of 2d worms, but i don't see what makes it any better of a platform than any other platform out there, short of some really old systems.

[MtlAngelus]

and what exactly can the wii do besides the wiimote? without it, it's just a cheap console with no distinguishing features. without the offer of new ways to use wiimote, i really don't see how you are planning to get someone to play worms if they didn't already get hooked on pc or any number of previous consoles..
That would be true if you were trying to get people to buy a Wii to play worms, but we're assuming they already have a Wii, it won't make a difference to them if the game could be played on an older console or if it doesn't make use of the Wiimote, they already have the console and they want fun games for it, and Worms is a pretty damn fun game. And I'm more than certain that people who already own Worms games on pc and/or previous consoles would most likely buy it for Wii too, specially if new content/features were added, even if they don't involve the use of the Wiimote's motion sensing.
Edit: And I'm quite sure it's a great platform for it, because plenty of people have a Wii... there's certainly more of a market for a Worms game on the Wii than on any console previous to it.

[AndrewTaylor]

and what exactly can the wii do besides the wiimote? without it, it's just a cheap console with no distinguishing features. without the offer of new ways to use wiimote, i really don't see how you are planning to get someone to play worms if they didn't already get hooked on pc or any number of previous consoles.

Nothing, hardware-wise. But it has a large userbase of people who didn't play a lot of videogames before and in my limited experience it tends to live in living rooms rather than bedrooms more often than other consoles.

But it represents a simpler way of playing games. The idea is that you don't need to memorise a load of unintuitive button mappings, you just point and press the big friendly button. There's a trigger, which usually means "fire". It's easier than other consoles, and if developers use that right then it could be worth a lot more than a few million extra polygons. The unorthodox controller forces developers to think about controls, rather than just mapping everything to the nearest button. Shoehorning in inappropriate motion-sensor controls doesn't count as "thinking".

If I buy a PC primarily for its amazing 3D card, I wouldn't want all my applications to be presented in 3D regardless of how annoying it was.

[Vader]

Regardless of whether a Wii version of Worms needs to use the Wii Remote's motion sensors, I think the opportunity to exploit them in a Worms game would add a lot of fun. Imagine prodding your victim with a jab of the Nunchuk or firing off a Dragonball with the suitable motion. It might not be necessary but it would be fun and Worms is all about fun.