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Are they stupid? Bethesda wants to corner mature Wii market photo

We're scratching our heads at this one. Despite the failure of recent mature titles to get any meaningful gain on the Wii, famed RPG developer Bethesda is willing to have a crack at the whip. The studio plans to announce a major Wii title later this year, which makes the team either very brave or very stupid.

"We are going to make an announcement on a really big Wii game this year, we've got a couple of other things in the pipeline, and it's a format we're really looking at with the right approach," reveals European managing director Sean Brennan. "I've got consoles at home but I wouldn't sit and play an 18-rated game with my family on the Wii.

"Is there space in the Wii market for that? I think there is, but again, it's all about finding out how big that is. Is it 5 per cent? If it's five per cent of the market and you can own that space it's worth doing because you can achieve volume. If you can't own it at five per cent, it's not worth doing, quite frankly."

Recent M-rated titles in House of the Dead: Overkill and MadWorld have been unable to capture to imagination of the general public. In spite of this, Bethesda is not looking to produce Bratz: Big Rubbish Makeover Workshop or any of the other puerile crap that has congealed on the Wii like that dry brown crusty mucus you wake up with in the morning when you have a cold. 

All I can say is, best of luck to 'em.








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Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize. Likes PS2, iPod Touch, Silent Hill 2, Metal Gear Solid, Dynasty Warriors 3 Meet the rest of the team



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28 comments | showing # 1 to 28
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JACK of No Trades's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2009 09:18
JACK of No Trades
Well, if they do make a Elder Scrolls game it will most likely look worst than the Morrowind on the reg xbox. Man that game gave me headaches. It could be cool for the Wii crowd, but will it sell like Oblivion & Fallout? Nope.
Jack8274's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2009 09:32
Jack8274
Elder scrolls oblivion with motion plus sword swinging? I would but cumming loads, but I know it's going to suck, they always do.
Darren Nakamura's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2009 09:34
Darren Nakamura
Why would it look worse than Morrowind? Isn't the Wii supposed to be more powerful than the original Xbox?
Trevor McGee's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2009 09:41
Trevor McGee
Fuck, this is the sort of thing I was waiting for. A Elder Scrolls or Fallout optimized for the Wii would be amazing. I don't give a damn about the graphics.
Tubatic's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2009 09:42
Tubatic
I think what realyl hasn't been done in the the Wii Mature space is something with a mature theme AND an epic amount of content. Madworld, NMH even Deadly Creatures to a certain degree all hit us up on our mature content sensibilities. But they're each roughly 4 to 7 hours of a single play through, low replay experience.

But nobody's done the epic RPG or huge playspace sort of game that a "hardcore" player can really sink into and get hardcore-lost in, like a Morrowind or other such RPG space.

Do that, on any system, and I think you'll tap into a space in the market that's been dry for the last few years, across the board (save for maybe the "dead" PC space. funny eh?)
bart999's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2009 09:44
bart999
If anyone can pull off a decent Mature Wii game it could be Bethesda. Madworld and Overkill were both waaaaay too over the top for my liking. Also I don't think an on rails light gun game with extreme profanity, and a bizarre third person beat em up really constitute the best mature titles for the Wii.

If Bethesda gives me a solid action rpg, I'll buy 2 copies just to promote it.
Sexualchocolate's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2009 09:51
Sexualchocolate
Mature Wii market? - Monster Hunter 3?
CocoJambo's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2009 10:05
CocoJambo
Love it that you hate it, Mr. Stirling.

Anyway, I don't think it will be the usual RPG stuff, and most probably has nothing to do with that dev team or franchises.

And I don't think the success (or lack of it) of games as niche as Madworld shouldn't hold example for this one.
Tony Ponce's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2009 10:27
Tony Ponce
Hasn't Bethesda been one of the big Wii holdouts in the past?

Now, if Epic were to ever say it was making a Wii game, I would check out my window to make sure there are no pink elephants and flying pigs roaming around.
Lord The Night Knight's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2009 10:29
Lord The Night Knight
Call of Duty World At War is an M rated game, but because it had some meat, it's a million seller already. Being part of a hit franchise helped, but so did marketing.

Basically, offer a game people think is worth buying, AND make sure people know about it, and they will buy it. Rating doesn't matter.
Hiltz's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2009 10:44
Hiltz
Games like Overkill and MadWorld are niche despite being promoted well. They're not mainstream titles.One's an on-rails shooter and the other is an original action title with a unique art style.

As far as I'm concerned, it's The Conduit that everyone should be looking at to see how well it does.

I've never cared for any of Bethesda's previous titles but I won't be quick to turn it down until I've learned more about it.
HiddenAHB's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2009 10:58
HiddenAHB
If Bethesda make a Fallout for the Wii, i swear to God, i go all the way to the States and enter the Bethesda HQ with a Uzi and tear those muthefuckers down(Marcus Fenix Style).

Plus, i eat my foot.
-PL-'s Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2009 11:08
-PL-
It doesn't surprise me... Bully: Scholarship Edition on Wii used the same engine as Oblivion (Gamebryo). So I'm sure it's possible to make an "Oblivion Lite" that's not too terrible.
Excel-2011's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2009 11:28
Excel-2011
@HiddenAHB:
Why? What if it turns out to be good?
Chronic Logic's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2009 11:42
Chronic Logic
Waggle in my Fallout?
Tony Ponce's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2009 11:42
Tony Ponce
@Tubatic

Funny: "Wii is kiddy and we aren't going to make stuff for them... so here's an iPhone game instead!"
Holyetheline's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2009 11:57
Holyetheline
I think they can do something great, even for the Wii.
BS3 Owner's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2009 11:59
BS3 Owner
I remember when the Developers at Bethesda said...
"The Wii was just a toy."
Gimic300's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2009 12:05
Gimic300
Well, whatever it is I hope it's a nice addition to the Wii's library.
elysse's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2009 12:37
elysse
I think it was already determined that Bethesda was stupid with the whole PS3 support-but-not-really-we-just-want-your-money-and-you-can-kiss-bigfixing-patches-goodbye debacle.. Or how about "Wii is just a toy"? Yeah, that was also kinda stupid.

If they manage to pull off something "Mature" for Wii, well, good for them.. I'm not going to give them any more acknowledgment than I give any other stupid person/entity. More like "Woooooooooow. That's very nice, you must be so proud. Good for you." *epic eyeroll*
pedrovay2003's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2009 13:38
pedrovay2003
@Tubatic

That's exactly what I thought of when I red this article.
WarZombie's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2009 14:43
WarZombie
Well, if they can make it work, good for them. Sometimes Mature games can work on a Nintendo console, and if anyone can do it, it's Bethesda. I wish them luck.
flabzilla's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2009 15:22
flabzilla
lol your full of shit motorobo
WhiteX's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2009 16:22
WhiteX
I´ll say it, now that no one said it yet!!!!

Madworld and HotD Overkill are the cash ins of the Core, we were bitching and moaning, as we always do, and SEGA published those two.

They are fun games but they are short, niche and highly flawed, MW is repetitive and HotD:O is choppy, no one in their right minds should take these two as indicatives of Mature games sellings.

Oh! Include Deadly creatures in this one, even though it is very innovative and all, the game is highly random, i do understand tha a critter life is kinda pointless but it sucks to be in a VG where you wander around for no reason and the story is accessory to the game.

Sad stories are Okami, even being a port, Tenchu 4, and Little King´s Story, very mature game buried under tons of sugar.
Wexx's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2009 21:11
Wexx
If it's good, I'll get it. I highly doubt they'll get anything good out of their first shot at a wii game though. They'll probably try and put some Oblivion-esque game on it that won't work. I like Bethesda, but I don't think that the wii is the right place for them.
Dv8thwonder's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2009 23:27
Dv8thwonder
Bethesda ain't the first developer to promise "the moon" when it comes to mature titles on the Wii.My response to their recent announcement is put up or shut up.
motti's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/19/2009 02:01
motti
Does this mean that I should plug my wii back in then?
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