Marvelous looking into HD ports of Wii games

by Andrew Yoon on Jul 2nd 2009 9:45PM

"Wii has no hardcore games" is about as old, lame and untrue as "the PS3 has no games," and "Xbox 360 has only shooters." Real gamers know that each of the platforms has its gems -- but not everyone can afford all three gaming consoles.

Marvelous may be expanding its portfolio to include more non-Nintendo systems. Already, the publisher is working on a PS3 and Xbox 360 game, Rainy Woods; however, according to a report by Siliconera, the publisher may look into porting some of its diverse Wii lineup onto the HD systems. Games like No More Heroes and the upcoming Muramasa would certainly appeal to the hardcore PlayStation and Xbox crowds. In fact, Suda 51's most recent comments suggest an HD future for his franchise. With just a little bit of polish, those two could easily transform from good-looking Wii games into gorgeous PS3 and 360 titles.

[Thanks, tmacairjordan87!]

Source

Tags: marvelous, Microsoft, muramasa, no-more-heroes, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (99)

Games are more easily pirated on the Wii than they are on the PS3 & 360. As far as I know the PS3 is really the only home console that doesn't have a big piracy problem. I think it's mostly to the blu-ray discs and compiling and storing all the redundant data.

I don't think PS360 gamers are more likely to pirate games ... Thats DS & PSP gamers for the most part are the ones who do that in droves.

Yeah ... I wouldn't be concerned with that if I were you.

Muramasa would be sweet.

I think it's Bob Dylan, though I could be wrong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgECKj9LSH4

These games would basically need to be remade. Just increasing the resolution would leave the graphics whores no better off than where they started with most of them. Things like Muramasa would do greatly though. The "I want to play Wii games, but can't afford to buy a Wii/it isn't worth it for the few games I want" crowd is probably too small to justify it-- if they wanted all these Wii games, and could afford to buy them, they would have bought a Wii already. If they only want a couple, it's going to be very hit or miss if yours is 'that' game (hint, it's probably not, it's a Nintendo game)

NMH was more appreciated because the Wii userbase was more willing to overlook its flaws. On the PS360, it would need huge improvements which probably don't make sense from a fiscal perspective, for what is pretty much a niche game from a niche developer. MadWorld also had more than its fair share of problems. Same with many of the cult-hit Wii games that people want ports of-- they were underbudgeted to begin with, porting them would almost certainly do nothing but make them worse. And if they fix the problems, they piss off the Wii owners that supported them by buying their substandard game. It's kind of a no-win.

Lots of Wii games would also lose charm without the Wii remote-- NMH would lose humour without it, and many action games would lose some 'oomph'.

I would imagine it would be more profitable to get into porting last gen games to Wii-- toss in 16:9 and maybe smooth the graphics out a bit, maybe combine multiple game series into single titles (Shenmue, Xenosaga, .hack, Kingdom Hearts, etc.), repackage and ship. Aim at people who have scrapped their PS2s, who just got into (or back into) gaming, etc. I don't see how porting from Wii to PS360 is going to work out well for all but some WiiWare titles and things like Blast Works and Muramasa

Bingo. These aren't games that are being held back by Wii, these are games that could only rationally exist on Wii, and ever hope to achieve profit.

The complexities of development make this whole proposal a quandary.

I was right! It is Bob Dylan!

Sadly most of these are niche games that won't do well on any console.

And it's even sadder because some of these are some of the best I played this generation (RFF, NMH, LKS).

I got them for the wii, and if they add some extras I'll probably get them for the xbox.

Rune Factory: Frontier is probably the best RPG I've played since Final Fantasy IX, hell maybe all the way back to Final Fantasy VI

Oboro Muramasa for the PS3 with trophies is all i want.....DO IT!

they don't have a choice about trophies. they have to put them in. it's sony's new rule for all games published this year (after some day in january if i remember correctly).

Ports of Wii games to 360/PS3 is good but PS2/NGC to Wii is bad? The power of HD truely is an opinion changing force. Let the hypocrites rises and voice changing views.

So you don't see the difference from porting current gen-current gen to last gen-current gen?

@Tmac
Not when it's only a graphical difference. I know this is old news but they don't make the game.

If the people who want these ports are to be believed, The Wii IS last gen, anyway!

I would almost buy a Wii for No More Heroes, but then I'd be left with a Wii.

It has to be Muramasa. Anything else wouldn't be a wise (profitable) investment. Downporting to Wii is almost always profitable, but you would have to have one hell of a marketable Wii game to make money off of it on PS360.

Muramasa cuts down on the problematic side of it, because it is natively made in high res for some reason, then downscaled to fit. Anything else would require too much investment for returns that just won't be there. MMV's Wii games have been very niche, by and large. That's why they made them for Wii in the first place (especially since a lot of them do nothing to take advantage of Wii, like Muramasa, Little King's Story, and Rune Factory Frontier)

Why are you kind of running circles about this poo-poo-ing the idea?

I think deep down inside you don't want these games to go to other systems.

'Downporting to Wii'??
Spose with games that were on Last Gen, you could just use the olde engines.. Wasn't there something where, Capcom, would of had to build RE5 from scratch, because the Wii wouldn't even be able to run the menu screen..

Mostly because it makes no sense. I wouldn't be like this if they were talking porting to PSP, for instance, because that at least would make sense given the kind of games we're talking about.

Hell, even if they were the kind of games that would fit on PS360, i would find something more reasonable about all this

But why does that even matter to you?

They haven't confirmed they were even doing it or which games they would port over. It's just speculation as to what games it coulsd be at this point.

If they want to assume the risk and port it over I say go for it. It's ballsy but it might just work.

Most of those hardcore "niche" Wii games were niche because there was awareness with the general consumer - just the hardcore. If they do a good port and put some marketing into them I think they could be successful.

I'm excited about the propositions (as should everyone) because people without a Wii might get to play some of the great 3rd party stuff.

The other thing is that the hardcore niche on the Wii is much smaller than on the PS360 which are majority of hardcore gamers. Even though there are less people on each there are more people willing to buy 3rd party games and mature niche games. PS3 owners are starved for JRPGs and hack and slash games ... we also don't have many light gun shooters (one I can think of in Time Crisis).

I think the management of Marvelous has probably run some figures and will only port a game if they believe there is a good chance for making profit. Remember, the entire game doesn't have to be redone from scratch - they aren't assuming any risk in terms of developing an IP from the ground up ... they are just porting the game over and maybe adding a few things here and there.

I would love some of those 3rd party games on my PS3 even though I have most of the niche ones everyone is talking about.

there ***wasn't*** awareness with the general consumer

I like the way alot of those games in the picture look but don't play them isnce I don't have a wii. It would be nice to see some of them come to other consoles. Looks like a decent amount of variety then what's (mostly) available right now. Im not saying there isnt variety, but its not like the ps2 had. I miss playing niche games. Little kings story, harvest moons in the picture (well rune factory), and the game in middle row far left look good. I like games like that in addition to all the shooters and other mature games.

Uhh... yeahh... that sounds like you should buy a Wii, maybe? Some of you people confuse me.

Plus niche games like this did decent on PS2 and alot of niche games releassed on ps2, maybe they'll find some amount of success on 360/ps3. If all these games went to 360 and never to ps3 Id actually probably get a 360. Yes, I do really like games like this (though not enough for a wii, just not into the whole motion controls and stuff).

Wait, so you like them enough to spend hundreds of dollars on a console, but not enough to spend hundreds of dollars on a console?

If you want to play Wii games, why in the world would you want to buy a 360 that would be lucky to get a few Wii ports?

If you like playing niche games and have exhausted the supply on the PS2, then GET A WII. There is a good variety of them on there if you know where to look (and current Wii exclusives Rune Factory Frontier and Little King's Story are definite must-gets for me once my PS2 backlog shrinks). Don't let motion controls deter you; not all of the good niche games have them, and some of those that do only use them sparingly, like for minigames.

The only other suggestion I could make is to get a DS if you don't have one already. That system's the current niche genre king.

@Feba I'm sorry but I'm just not that into Wii controls. Plus I like things like achievements / trophies that aren't on the wii but are on the 360 and ps3. Not to metion the fact that there is a good online service for either of those consoles and even if I'm not playing a game online I like being able to log into it and just have a decent feature. Price isn't so much an issue, I'm just not a big fan of the wii's set up. It's just my personal preference that I prefer the other systems. If I was going to buy a 2nd system it would be the 360 not the wii.

@ R. Kas I do have a DS already and like it but like I said I'm still more into the main home systems.

hmm..... No More Heroes on Natal.....

how do you charge the sword? :D
pump it!

I wouldn't mind seeing a third NMH done on another console but I don't think it's a good idea to port them over just for HD graphics.

Suda51 said himself that the game was made with the Wii in mind.

and IMHO I don't think NMH or Muramasa would sell much better on the 360 or PS3 as I find that they cater to a pretty niche market.

They at least have a bigger group of hardcore gamers to pull from. The PS360 niche for hardcore/strange/quirky games is bigger than the WIi one ... I would assume.

You want to know the funny thing? I'm still getting ripped by some people even though I haven't trolled nintendo in a couple weeks. Someone tore into me today even when I didn't say anything about them, for example.

Oh man pleeeeease make it so, I'd definitely buy some of those

I don't want any of them on a different console. I want as many exclusives on each console as possible. Besides, they really don't have the money to throw into porting something and actually doing a great job of it. And Suda would definitely not populate the overworld more or change the chores in NMH (those are like that for a reason). Either they'd do a poor job due to lack of funds and no one would buy them or they'd do a great job anyway and the vast majority would just ignore it because lol it came from the Wii.

I hope they decide it isn't worth it. Because it isn't.

Yes, because you know it. For sure.

AWW man, I'm on the edge with this new info here. On one hand, it would be awesome to have a HD version of a game like Muramasa, but...on the other hand, I just freaking pre-ordered that game >_>, knowing that a better version of it is coming to another system WOULD PISS ME OFF (even if it occurs six months later). If Muramasa does get ported to HD, the fact that I'm getting a 1080p LCD TV soon, will increase my anguish. Not only would I have the now bitter-sweet SD Muramasa, but I would have to play it on a HDTV while knowing there's a HD version somewhere out there. And my sensibility towards saving money won't allow me to buy the same game twice, unless a good amount of worthwhile bonus content was added.
You know Marvelous, Wii exclusives, should stay as Wii exclusives, don't shaft us Wii owners anymore than what's been done already.

With that said...

The only way you oh-so-clever-nintendo-traitors are gonna suck another $60 outta me, is if I get 100% more demon slicing-visually-dazzling goodness, a 100% more content than the original in full 1080p, no simply upscaled ports allowed.

I don't understand you wii fanboys up in arms over this news. Hardly any of you guys even bought these damn games in the first place. It's not like they are some big AAA 3rd party exclusive franchises you are losing.

How would you be getting shafted?!??!?! You would get the game a damn year earlier and will have forgotten about it by the time it were ported to the other consoles.

Don't be such a baby about it ... First party stuff is the only stuff you can't count on being exclusive ... as a PS3 owner I know this lesson all to well.

I also own a Wii by the way (and a 1080p tv) and have most of the games pictured. Even if I knew Muramasa was coming to the PS3 I would still get it for the WIi because it looks awesome. It's not going to hurt sales of the Wii version even if it is announced before the Wii version is released.

I totally read the title as "Marvelous looking HD ports of Wii games" at first and got excited
:(

The UNSCleric doesn't have a brain though...

If out of some stroke of luck NMH is ported to the 360, I could sell my Wii. I could handle not having Trauma Center or Little Kings Story, but No More Heroes is the one that's keeping the Wii in my house.

I'm sure they will do just as well as Viewtiful Joe did on the PS2 after moving from the Gamecube.

Which is a shame really,as they really are quite good games that deserve to do well. Especialy Little King's Story.

If they were saying they would port some of these Wii games over to the DS or PSP, I'd find it believable. But to port some of these games over to the PS360? That would be a dumb financial move. I think PSN or XBLA is their only option if they go this route.

I would love to see Muramasa on the PS3!

Okay, first off, I'm NOT a NINTENDO FANBOY ( though me getting worked up about this, might have indicated otherwise). Please don't call me a fanboy, it's absolutely ludicrous for anyone to stick to one system (unless it's a matter of money), cause each console has it's gems. One of the Wii's gems just happens to be Muramasa. What gets me angry is the fact that MMV is just now "thinking" about making Muramasa HD. They should have made it cross-platform from the beginning, I would have loved to preorder Muramasa HD, instead of Muramasa SD ( this game deserves to be HD).

Okay, when I said "shafted," I didn't really mean Wii owners in general, it's more likely I'm the one who's getting shafted. You don't seem to understand how much I wanna play Muramasa in HD, but my mentally won't allow me to buy the same game twice. MMV should have decided whether or not they would've made it cross-platform from the beginning, at least for my sake :).

I could careless about any other game they're "thinking" about porting, cause to me only one needs a HD counterpart. I now also have the desire for Vanillaware to remake Princess Crown and Odin Sphere on the PS3.

Don't lie to me man, you would not buy Muramasa Wii over PS3 Muramasa?! Usually I'm not a graphics pig, but the visuals in this game beg for HD, and you would buy the Wii version instead?! >_> I don't understand you at all man.

damn comment system

This was a reply to Alistair Azimuth PSN: johnnynumber5

Who replied to my earlier comment.

I don't care for the wii and dont necessarilly have money to buy a wii just for a few games. If I buy a 2nd system it would be the 360. Wii just isn't my thing. Sure I like some of those games but thats about it on wii (aside from mario kart which i am a fan of). But I can live without those games, I'm just saying if they went to a system where I personally feel my money would be better spent then I'd like to play them. Im not dissing wii or saying its not a value, but to me its just not worth a couple hundred dollars for a few niche games.

I think we get your point. I love SRPGs, but I don't go on and on about not wanting to have to shell out a PS3 just to play Disgaea 3 and Valkyria Chronicles. There's more than enough other games I have to play, many of which are just as appealing to me.

It almost sounds to me like you're trying to justify to *yourself* why you don't want a Wii...

You know what I want? An Uncharted port, but I doubt it will happen, being that Naughty Dog is loyal to Sony.

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Marvelous looking into HD ports of Wii games

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