Chance meeting at Game Developers Conference led to Okami Wii

by Ross Miller { Apr 9th 2008 at 1:00AM }

Our waggle-loving friends at Nintendo Wii Fanboy had a chance to sit down with Didier Malenfant, Ready at Dawn's president and co-founder, to talk about the developer's port of Okami for Wii (also dubbed "Okam-Wii"). Malenfant talked about, among other parts of the porting process, the origins of the project -- turns out it was a chance meeting with Capcom's Christian Svensson at a Game Developers Conference party. Behold the power of an industry-wide networking opportunity, folks.

Tags: capcom, didier-malenfant, okami, ready-at-dawn

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

mr nimblewick @ Apr 9th 2008 1:04AM

Ugh, I wish they would release this game later. I don't enough time for all these wii games!

bounchfx @ Apr 9th 2008 1:08AM

joke?

mr nimblewick @ Apr 9th 2008 1:09AM

Nope, I really don't have enough time to play all the Wii games I want to.

Fernando Rocker @ Apr 9th 2008 1:12AM

Yeah... I feel the same... Mario Kart Wii, then Tales of Symphonia, Okami... and there's this other game:

My most hyped third party game is by tri-Cresendo, and so far, they are developed some amazing games. I'm looking forward to Fragile: Farewell Ruins of the Moon.

And WiiWare is going to be released in a month... can't wait to play Final Fantasy, Eternity's, World of Goo, Sam and Max developers game, LostWind.

It's going to be good.

Fernando Rocker @ Apr 9th 2008 1:08AM

I wonder... if I go to a GDC... what are the chances that some developer wants to do "Super Paper Fernando Rocker: Fall of Sony"?

It has potential. =p

Shmil (Brawl Code 2621-2310-1994) @ Apr 9th 2008 2:05AM

the odds are 1 in 134350385

"never tell me the odds"

ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ Apr 9th 2008 2:24AM

Tips for you if you go to a GDC:

- Bring a backpack to carry all of your free stuff.
- Bring hundreds of business cards if you want to network with game designers.

Kael @ Apr 9th 2008 1:27AM

Was this discussed in the Bionic Commando podcast, or am I just confused? No, I'm sure that's where I heard it. Good story. Since I didn't own a Playstation, Okami passed me by. I hear good things about it from time to time, so I'm going to play this Wii version.

soccerdrew17 @ Apr 9th 2008 1:32AM

this story is old, but any news for okami is good news.

everyone should buy okami. yes, even for a second time.

iofthestorm @ Apr 9th 2008 1:50AM

I'll probably buy it for the first time, since I never had a PS2.

samfish @ Apr 9th 2008 3:05AM

samfish endorses soccerdrew17's statement.

mr mobius @ Apr 9th 2008 8:58AM

It seems to be the type of long and epic game that I don't have time for...

but that I usually buy and love playing.

I still haven't finished the final dungeon in Twilight Princess (18 months almost) or got 60 stars in galaxy (55 or so, not because can't get but haven't had time to play any more).

gir @ Apr 9th 2008 3:29AM

Its so late at Night. What the hell am I doing here.

Raikage (LDF CRAB BATTLE!!!) @ Apr 9th 2008 4:18AM

And why aren't you wearing any clothes...

Noshino @ Apr 9th 2008 4:53AM

and how do you know he isn't wearing any?...

gir, run, and don't look back....

markhill66 @ Apr 9th 2008 3:45AM

Ready at Dawn impressed me so much God of War: Chains of Olympus, that now I'm really looking forward to playing this.

flameofdoom666 @ Apr 9th 2008 8:15AM

They only ported it, Clover made it.

I own it for PS2, its fantastic. IGN game of the year 2006.

markhill66 @ Apr 9th 2008 11:29AM

Yes, and what do you think they are doing with Okami? My point is that they do quality work and I'm a fan of it.

Sir Fidlious Wong (Zeon Defense Force) @ Apr 9th 2008 9:08AM

According the EGM, the controls were wonked up in the conversion. But that's just one source and EGM has a tendacy to cry.

mrlokievil @ Apr 9th 2008 9:14AM

EGM also gave it a good score even though they said the controls sucked and Nintendo Power said the same thing about the controls.

baby sea tuna @ Apr 9th 2008 10:45AM

I've heard that a couple of places now. Based on that, and the fact that I don't have another 30-40 hours to devote to this right now, I don't think I'll be buying Okami again. Even though I thought it was better than the last Zelda...

C'est la vie.

J @ Apr 9th 2008 10:51AM

Yeah, from what I've read, the controls on the Wii version suck. If they really do, that is an INCREDIBLE shame because that was kind of the whole point in porting it to the Wii in the first place. One way or another, I'm still going to check it out for myself, though.

Okami really shouldn't have been treated as "just another port" and rushed out like it seems to have been. Someone really should have taken the time to get the controls right to really give this game the chance it deserves.