Capcom reveals Bionic Commando for PS3, Xbox 360, PC

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Oct 15th 2007 at 9:30PM }

As is the case with the eponymous character himself, Capcom thinks it's time to implant newfangled "Three Dee" technology into an old intellectual property. Gamespot reveals that the Bionic Commando franchise is set to return in a new game for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. The robotic revamp, cleverly dubbed "Bionic Commando," follows one Nathan Spencer as he runs from the law (he was framed!) through a ruined city (~~badds~~ terrorists blew it up!). His only companion? The trusty grappling arm, perfect for swinging across gaps, hurling objects, rappelling down buildings and rudely reaching across the table for the salt.

Capcom is collaborating with Swedish studio GRIN (surely you remember its Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter PC conversions!) on the project, which currently lacks release date and, as you may have noticed, a Wii version.

Tags: Bionic-Commando, BreakingNews, Capcom

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

blooh (CDF - Nipple Ring) @ Oct 15th 2007 9:32PM

sounds good, we could use a ratchet-ish game for 360

Brent @ Oct 15th 2007 9:36PM

Bionic Commando was awesome. Please let it be a side scroller.

BPM (FDF - Hypno-Toad) @ Oct 15th 2007 9:39PM

As awesome as that would be, don't hold your breath:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6181070.html

ruibing @ Oct 15th 2007 9:53PM

It feels like its been forever since I last heard of the word "bionic".

Fernando Rocker (NDF - Water Ring) @ Oct 15th 2007 9:55PM

Bionic is an 80's word. =)

blooh (CDF - Nipple Ring) @ Oct 15th 2007 9:56PM

ooh, cool lookin screenies

NaeemTHM @ Oct 15th 2007 9:38PM

OMG Bionic was my favorite game for the NES!! I'm super excited for this one. I bet it will be like Prince of Persia...with a grappling hook....errrr....but better than Two Thrones.

Fernando Rocker (NDF - Water Ring) @ Oct 15th 2007 9:39PM

I will pick this game for the 360. I se my 360 for multiplatform games, always. The Wii is only for exclusives and Nintendo games.

The PS3 is for my sunday grills.

phattie @ Oct 15th 2007 9:42PM

You're better off using your RRoD360 for grilling; itll get the job done 1000x faster.

And, hope they dont fock this one up.

Ludwig Kietzmann @ Oct 15th 2007 9:43PM

Last warning, Fernando. Enough with the Sony trolling.

Same goes for you, Phattie, with regards to 360 trolling.

Rollins @ Oct 15th 2007 9:46PM

Oddly enough, I feel the same. I'm still not convinced that my Wii is worth it, but I've put too much money into the virtual console to ditch it. =\

Fernando Rocker (NDF - Water Ring) @ Oct 15th 2007 9:46PM

=( sorry Ludwig.

Jon @ Oct 16th 2007 5:53AM

Just ban him already. In other forums he would have been kicked off months ago.

upz @ Oct 16th 2007 10:37AM

Guys like Fernando and Phattie are some of the most entertaining aspects of reading Joystiq. I often click the Comments link just to see what kind of crazy comments they'll make and how many lurkers they'll bait into making bullet list first posts. In all seriousness, you stop the flame war and you stop the advertising revenue.

EihBeir @ Oct 15th 2007 9:54PM

YEEESSSSSSS!

i_hate_mtv @ Oct 15th 2007 10:04PM

Is this the PS3 game Capcom were talking about earlier (you know, the game that was supposed to 'make up' for Monster Hunter 3 going Wii exclusive)?

Anyway, I've never played the original. If they don't mess it up, I might check it out.

upz @ Oct 16th 2007 10:46AM

You know, this would be a perfect fit for making an innovative Wii control scheme. Instead we have a new Monster Hunter milked by reusing last gen art assets (which Capcom does with less shame than any other developer) simply because it has the largest Japanese user base. If Capcom wanted to prove their devotion to their fans, they'd make Monster Hunter for PS3 and Bionic Commando for Wii. All this does is prove their devotion to the mighty Yen.

samekila @ Oct 15th 2007 10:05PM

God I wish for a side scroller myself. I loved this game back in the day.

Shadow Hog @ Oct 15th 2007 10:08PM

Do we still get to watch Hitler's head explode?

Mr Intel @ Oct 15th 2007 10:45PM

i was wishing for captain commando o well this will have to do

Word of the street(IDF-Digital Ruler). @ Oct 15th 2007 10:52PM

I was wishing for Megaman 2 and 3 powered up!,Dead Rising 2 or MvsC2 for the xlive but thats off topic.

IslandLife @ Oct 16th 2007 7:58AM

I was wishing for STRIDER!!

dan stabbingworth @ Oct 15th 2007 10:14PM

Fucking YES!!!!!!!!

Also, 2D plz.

3D? Do not want!

Word of the street(IDF-Digital Ruler). @ Oct 15th 2007 10:24PM

I vaguely remember that game I only know is old,BTW is Capcom bringing Megaman 1,2,or 3 or Marvel VS capcom 2 soon?,I would pay 800p for MvsC2

FM @ Oct 15th 2007 10:25PM

Alright we get to kill Hitler again!(maybe)

JodyAnthony @ Oct 15th 2007 10:28PM

YES!!!

AzaMcWazza @ Oct 15th 2007 10:29PM

What about the Wii you tards!

Psaakyrn @ Oct 15th 2007 10:36PM

Face it, the Wii isn't equipped to handle the games that focus on the XBox/PS3 core strength (memory, pure processing power, graphics). In exchange though, the Wii has other strengths like stability, user interface, power consumption, specialized processing. (if I'm not wrong, the Wii processer is actually better at processing physics, though I may be absolutely wrong on this. But the physics is vastly superior to that in Prey, based on the gravity calculations in SMG)

Psaakyrn @ Oct 15th 2007 10:32PM

My question is, how would this game improve on the existing grappling formula utilized by current Spiderman games?

blooh (CDF - Nipple Ring) @ Oct 15th 2007 10:43PM

maybe the rest of the game won't suck?

Carmine @ Oct 15th 2007 10:37PM

Bionic Commando would do well to check out the oft-overlooked Gameboy Color iteration. It was done by NST and is actually really faithful to the feel of the original.

Carmine @ Oct 15th 2007 10:37PM

Bionic Commando fans would do well to check out the oft-overlooked Gameboy Color iteration. It was done by NST and is actually really faithful to the feel of the original.

lk @ Oct 15th 2007 10:47PM

In the year 2000...

Word of the street(IDF-Digital Ruler). @ Oct 15th 2007 10:56PM

In A.D. 2101 war was beginning.

Word of the street(IDF-Digital Ruler). @ Oct 15th 2007 10:58PM

In A.D. 2101 war was beginning.

Word of the street(IDF-Digital Ruler). @ Oct 15th 2007 10:59PM

Sorry for the double post,my internet is sucking today.

CaptainAmericaX @ Oct 15th 2007 10:54PM

In all seriousness was this "BIG announcement" that ps3fanboy kept harping on and on about?

I thought it was supposed to be an exclusive for sony?

elmer @ Oct 15th 2007 10:55PM

Let me get this straight.

This is a game where the principle mechanic is that the protagonist POINTS his HAND at things in fornt of him and grabs them. This is also a NOSTALGIA driven game with a 'fanbase' (if it still exists) composed of ex-NES gamers.

Does anyone else see a problem with Capcom ignoring the only console that lets you POINT your HAND at things in front of you and grab them on the screen, AND download NOSTALGIC NES games?

No, I must be wrong. This is obviously a better fit for a PS3 with its, err, ex-PS2 fanbase? And motion control thingy pad?... OBVIOUSLY.

Fernando Rocker (NDF - Water Ring) @ Oct 15th 2007 11:14PM

Can I send your post to Capcom? It was very good what you said. Really.

CaptainAmericaX @ Oct 15th 2007 11:17PM

Dude I'm a Wii owner and as Wii owners you and I have to accept a few things.

Nintendo decided to make a graphically weaker system. Hence this immediately destroys the chances of us getting any really powerfully games that that are pushing the limits of current technology or even this "next gen" crap/garbage that the sony fanboys keep clinging to. Developers want to creat this huge games that require a lot of power. Capcom is no different. You can't expect them to downgrade a game just to put it on a system where it might and it might not sell so well.

Theres no Hard Drive. This isn't a good move since demos and other things requiring space for saving are going to be comprised by this severe error IMO.

Online is really not that good. Especially when compared to Live. Sorry but for all the complaining about Live and the "kids/racists/etc..etc" Live is still a great service and the things it has done for Multiplayer are historical. Friend Codes suck and are stupid. And at the very least Nintendo should at least give us the OPTION of having lobbies, adding random people as friends, and creating games with random people at our OWN behest.

megaStryke @ Oct 15th 2007 11:27PM

You can't make huge games on the Wii. It is physically impossible. I mean, c'mon! Did you EVER see a huge game on the PS2, Xbox, or GC? Final Fantasy X through XII? Halo 1 and 2? Wind Waker and Twilight Princess? The Prince of Persia series? Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3? Ninja Gaiden? God of War 1 and 2? The Splinter Cell series? The Grand Theft Auto III trilogy? Those games were MINISCULE compared to the sprawling epic that is to be Bionic Commando!

Questworld @ Oct 16th 2007 12:20AM

Sorry CA, even I don't buy the number of reasons you just tacked on with the "Wii is too weak" argument. That's just over exaggeration to make it worse than it really is. Elmer does have a good point. This game could very well have been just a suitable for the Wii, though we'll just have to see. So far it looks to be a combination of Metroid Prime 3's grapple system, Spiderman 2/3 sans sans large city scapes (from what it looks like it could be enclosed sections networked together like Resident Evil 4 or Metroid Prime or similarly structured games) and generally Bionic Commando.

sheppy2.0 @ Oct 16th 2007 12:50AM

I know it may be hard to let go of this but CA is pretty much on the nose for a lot of his comments. Except he's missing a few.

64MB ram. I know people in the industry and they've told me the moment they have to move back a 360 or PS3 game to Wii is the moment they walk due to that very important factor. I mean, aside from the main system memory (read: dedicated to Wii functionality from the home menu), PSP-2000 and Wii have the same amount of RAM. That is a HUGE obstacle to overcome.

Actioneers ahoy! You can claim whatever you want about the hardcore gamers being on Wii and you could even be right. But the sales don't reflect that. I mean, Zelda struggled on Wii (far below sales expectations), Metroid IS struggling on Wii. Those were the two biggest action games on the platform. What's left to show Capcom the sales they need to warrant the massive investment this game will require? Don't they know that there's just No More Heroes to rally this campaign?

And in all honesty, you can't begrudge Capcom when they design a game and think "where will this have the best chance?" and your Wii isn't on their list. You're getting Capcom love, just not all of it. So just let stuff go once in a while. Wii cannot support the sales needed to profit from some of these games whereas 360 is a proven moneymaker for Capcom with both Lost Planet and Dead Rising. And since they're deving at that level, why not PS3 as well?

samfish (MSDF- Nurse Outfit!) @ Oct 16th 2007 1:25AM

There was a thing about how perfect this game is for the Wii at Infendo.com just a week or so ago. I can't believe Capcom missed this obvious boat, either.

I don't know if this game would be a million seller on the Wii, but I don't see why they'd assume it would be on the 360 or PS3, either. It's yet another "hardcore" style game that Wii owners are pleading for and being passed over again.
Thus, the vicious cycle continues.

megaStryke @ Oct 16th 2007 7:29AM

Twilight Princess? Struggling? Really? Let's check some sales, shall we?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games

For the GameCube, Wind Waker sold 3.07 million units. For a Zelda game? That's pathetic.

For the Wii, Twilight Princess sold 4.61 million units. That's not even including the 1.32 million units of the GameCube version.

In comparison, Gears of War has only sold 4 million units. Epic's highly publicized and much lauded Xbox 360 title which (next to Halo 3) it seems everybody purchased was outsold by Twilight Princess.

I don't know what sales expectations people had, but the best-selling Zelda game ever was Ocarina of Time at 7.6 million units. A Link to the Past sold 4.61 million, a number MATCHED by just Wii Twilight Princess sales, and the original Zelda sold 6.51 million units, roughly half a million more units than the combined Wii and GC sales of Twilight Princess, something that could change since Twilight Princess has only been out ONE year.

It boggles my mind where people got this notion that the latest Zelda game didn't sell.

But Metroid didn't sell? OH BOY! It has never been CLOSE to being as massive as most other big Nintendo franchises. Neither the original NOR Super Metroid broke a million units! The ONLY one to do so was Metroid Prime at 1.49 million!

But third-party games can't sell on Nintendo platforms anymore. I mean, why gravitate towards the Wii when you could publish on, say, PS3! Let's check THOSE numbers!

Hmmmm... the only two games on the PS3 that broke a million units, Resistance (2 million) and MotorStorm (1 million), are both Sony franchises! Geez! Third parties can't sell on that machine!

The only console that is currently seeing strong third-party sales is the 360. Of course, that won't stop these companies from making games for the PS3 and NOT for the Wii because "they can't sell shit on the Wii."

elmer @ Oct 16th 2007 7:45AM

Let me correct you on some facts Sheppy. Wii has 91MB of RAM, not 64. PSP has 32MB of RAM, not 64. That's a three fold difference, ignoring speed and latency issues (which are in Wii's favour). For a developer to put actual code on the additional 32 that PSP2000 adds would mean breaking compatibility with almost every PSP sold to date. Thus the RAM is reserved only for disc buffering to increase UMD load efficiency. Wii system RAM is not reserved for background functions. It's used all the time by all the running code, otherwise the Wii would be performing all those background menu options all the time, which it clearly isn't.

If developers will 'walk' because they can't 'lower' themselves to providing for the largest single market in the industry then good ridence to bad rubbish. If they don't want the business opportunity then they can fuck off into oblivion, which funnily enough is exactly what they're doing when they announce heavy losses on expensive PS3/360 development.

Finally, I'm not complaining that Wii doesn't get every Capcom game. For computational reasons I don't expect Dead Rising in the slightest for instance (though if it were possible it would be fun). I'm complaining here because it's such an OBVIOUS FUCKING FIT. Furthermore, seen as there's very little that specifically screams out "HARDCORE" from this game, I seriously question why Capcom thinks it might sell so well on the other systems, particularly PC.

Oh, and finally Twilight Princess sold 3.78 million copies on Wii alone (another 1.32 on GC), and while I agree Metroid is performing below my expectations, it's not out in Europe, it suffered from reviews hating it both for being Metroid and for not being Metroid and for not being Halo all at the same time, and from poor marketing, (none of which Bionic Commando will be immune from by being on PS360).

Jake @ Oct 16th 2007 8:10AM

You guys are all missing the point. Capcom wanted to go multiplatform. They had to decide between Wii/PS2 or PS3/360/PC. The latter combination is selling more 3rd party games today than the former.

You can make a bigger game on Wii than 360 in theory. They both have about the same disc storage space and the 360 has to output 4X the pixels, which eats up memory.

The problem is that you can't sell a huge 3rd party game on the Wii. The people buying Wii's today, for the most part, aren't going to buy big complicated hardcore games from a 3rd party.

One other factor is that many game designers don't want to work on the Wii. The controller is fun to fart around with, but taking on a Wii project means that the majority of your programmers and art people have to create the same stuff they've been doing for 6 years when much more powerful systems allowing them more artistic freedom are available.

Seriously, working on the Wii is not that exciting for design teams. Guys want to make cooler looking stuff.

elmer @ Oct 16th 2007 8:47AM

@ Jake

Please don't be retarded.

If there is ONE company in the world that should know about 3rd party sales on Wii, it's Capcom (and if there's a second it's Ubisoft).

RE4??!!! It cost them fuck all to 'port' (I say tweak) and it sold bucketloads. They actually stated it was one of their big profit drivers two quarters ago. Ubisoft brought out the semi-descent non-exclusive Rayman and the 'mixed opinions at best' Red Steel, and both outsold just about every 3rd party PS3 game to date. Essentially, every 3rd game that was half way descent or had an ounce of effort in it has sold well. It's easy to keep a track of the validity of my argument because there's been about 3 of them. In a year.

Get this through your heads: If you invest talent or money into a Wii game it can sell! In fact, it probably will sell.

Also, if game developers can't see the creative opportunity in mixing a grappling game with a motion sensing wand control and would rather piss about with another HDR Bloom layer then they hardly deserve the title of "artists in interactive design".