Gearbox expects more Brothers in Arms, not planning on Wii Borderlands port
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Oct 23rd 2009 at 5:30PM } 
Gearbox Software Vice President Brian Martel reveals that gamers can expect another Brothers in Arms installment and that a Wii version of Borderlands isn't likely. Speaking with local TV station CBS 11, Martel notes that more Brothers in Arms is in "the future for sure" for the developer. A surprising admission, since BiA: Hell's Highway's retail performance was cited by sources as a cause for layoffs at the developer last year. Apparently the series warrants another go.
Martel also mentions that there are some ways Borderlands could work on the Wii and its control scheme, but it doesn't sound like the company is interested in porting the main game. He mentions that Gearbox may take the character Claptrap and possibly make him into a "sort of a side-scroller character." Gearbox will likely be protective of the IP that appears to be the surprise hit of the season.
[Via ThatVideoGameBlog]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
SoshiKitai @ Oct 23rd 2009 5:33PM
I'd be said if there was a Borderlands port for the Wii. I like my Wii and I like my Borderlands. A new game would be just fine... trying to port the quality+style of Borderlands would be a disappointment.
New game, please!
SoshiKitai @ Oct 23rd 2009 5:33PM
*said=sad
Mr Khan @ Oct 23rd 2009 5:38PM
Borderlands wouldn't lose quite as much. That sort of quasi cel-shaded look is being done quite well with Red Steel 2 (to the point where i often think i'm seeing an RS2 commercial when i see a borderlands commercial), and Wii FPS controls are win. The only thing it would lose (and not really lose, just be made much harder to implement) would be the smooth online co-op
I'm not saying they should, but in the field of "multiplat games that could be ported to Wii fairly well," this one is a little higher up. Certainly moreso than Dead Rising :/
SoshiKitai @ Oct 23rd 2009 5:48PM
I was actually thinking more about the size of the areas.
I like being completely surrounded by enemies while still being able to find advantage points ontop of cliffs and buildings.
And I haven't exactly seen much of that treatment with a good number of Wii games.... the most I've seen were large areas that were either flat, or had invisible walls preventing me from getting to a high spot.
Danny @ Oct 23rd 2009 8:46PM
Mr Khan if you think the wii could handle even a modicum of the real console versions areas you're sorely mistaken. If or when they did port this it would basically be Dead Rising all over again. So yeah the wii can totally handle Borderlands, in a small one room version with half the enemies of the console version on screen at once.
SoshiKitai @ Oct 23rd 2009 11:58PM
"the real console versions"
Ugh...
Filthy Assistant @ Oct 24th 2009 2:18AM
"Wii FPS controls are win"
1. 4chan shit, go away
2. no, they aren't. The Conduit was entirely based around the premise of making a full FPS control well on the Wii and they still couldn't do it.
HighFiveJesus @ Oct 24th 2009 12:38PM
b-b-b-ut metroid prime! and RE 4 wii! Re 4 wii!!!!!
Actually i think fps can be done fine, but the problem is wii owners would not buy borderlands.
tmacairjordan87 @ Oct 23rd 2009 5:51PM
Yeah I've been playing Borderlands for about 20 hours...a Wii port isn't happening (a successful one at least). Didn't even know wii owners even wanted Borderlands, although some of them like to ask for all of our games instead of going out and buying another system.
Bubbameister33 (Confused by Fanboyism) @ Oct 23rd 2009 6:35PM
It took me and a buddie at the most 8 hours to finish the Arid Badlands. So far how do you like it?
tmacairjordan87 @ Oct 23rd 2009 6:42PM
It's a really great game, love it. I'm level 32 at the moment.
SoshiKitai @ Oct 24th 2009 12:02AM
Yeah, not sure why Wii owners would even really want this one.
Even the style of it screams the other console audiences than a Wii audience.
There may be a good number of "hardcore" gamers that own a Wii, but last I checked, I don't remember any of them screaming for Borderlands - or screaming for a crazy almost senseless violence-crazy game... I thought most Wii owners said that the 360/PS3 could keep those games.
I have a Wii and this game, but I don't really want it for my Wii.
........... it kinda' reminds me of Fallout 3, except you're not there to survive: You're there to shoot at things. And shoot some more.
HippoHero @ Oct 23rd 2009 5:59PM
I think the majority of wii owners who might be interested in games like Borderlands have also already purchased a PS3 or Xbox.
Anthony M. @ Oct 23rd 2009 6:01PM
I hear they want to make a Phantasy Star Online remake.
Or that might be my wishful thinking catching up to me.
Mr Khan @ Oct 23rd 2009 6:07PM
They have a track record of working with SEGA and Sonic Team after all, and the elements displayed in Borderlands would be extremely successful in a new PSO (aside from the actual shooting mechanics, but that's aside the point)
Anthony M. @ Oct 23rd 2009 6:11PM
Oh I know. I could see a Gearbox made PSO being fantastically popular. So much I've started a topic on their forums about it:
http://gbxforums.gearboxsoftware.com/showthread.php?t=77699
Who knows, but if it even has the slightest possibility of happening color me excited already.
GohanGVO @ Oct 23rd 2009 6:19PM
From the video:
[In reference to Samba de Amigo and BiA: Double Time]
"So we love the Wii."
Considering that is the level of support and contempt Gearbox has shown the Wii thus far, I am hardly up in arms about what the developer thinks about developing for the console.
Too many developers and publishers are, apparently, content with shoving garbage into Wii owners' faces then deriding them for not lovingly lapping it up. Sorry, folks, but I have no intention of trying to pass any silly "tests" as a way to prove that I enjoy non-shovelware/minigame content.
Cj @ Oct 23rd 2009 6:28PM
I would like to see Borderlands 2. B1 looks nice but the cell shaded graphics were added half way through. Seeing what they would look like from scratch would be nice.
Bobby Kotick 2: Echoes @ Oct 23rd 2009 7:12PM
Isn't Borderlands rated M?
Most Wii owners wouldn't be allowed to play it, anyway.
HighFiveJesus @ Oct 24th 2009 12:43PM
Borderlands Shooting Party Bash. E for All.
All weapons have been replaced by paint ball guns. Red paint was removed from the game because it raised the rating to T.
TriviumSuffocationTheBlackDahliaMurderLambOfGod @ Oct 23rd 2009 7:21PM
I love the BIA franchise, but it will never be a huge hit again. It's the type of shooter that won't meet a mass market like a MW2, which is sad, because I prefer the strategic thinking involved in BIA titles. It'd be a mistake for Gearbox to continue with a franchise that won't be accepted.
Gearbox should continue to push themselves with new IP's like Borderlands. Something that surprises, amazes, and gets attention. Keep bringing the new and blowing us gamers away, Gearbox.
esposch @ Oct 23rd 2009 7:26PM
Good thing we all have PC's!
Just get it off Steam, guys!
JoeStillLife @ Oct 23rd 2009 7:38PM
a claptrap side-scroller would be interesting. a wii port of borderlands would probably be horrible. i hope the next brothers in arms is better, though i did like Hell's Highway.
Lurkero @ Oct 23rd 2009 9:31PM
More Brothers in Arms? I guess they expect more failure too
Dv8thwonder @ Oct 23rd 2009 11:10PM
No love for the Wii on this site I see. I must be confusing the fact that this is Joystiq Nintendo. Why even comment on something that doesn't effect you. *directed at all above me that are jaded to the point of liver spots.
SoshiKitai @ Oct 24th 2009 12:07AM
So wait.... you think a PORT would be great for the Wii?
The thing that makes me love my Wii is the originality of the good quality games (or the classic-ness, if you're talking about Nintendo-brand games).
The only port that ever deserves attention is Resident Evil 4.
All other ports and re-creations of games have been.....awwwwwful for the Wii.
I'd just really like a new game for the Wii by these guys.
Play Borderlands and then seriously think to yourself: Does this really match the audience for the Wii?
The answer is: No.
If you want more hardcore games for the Wii, ask for originals. The style of this game just doesn't match the Wii in ~almost~ every aspect.
tmacairjordan87 @ Oct 24th 2009 11:43AM
"I must be confusing the fact that this is Joystiq Nintendo"
You are confused, because I clearly remember reading this on the main joystiq page too.
gatotsu911 @ Oct 23rd 2009 11:18PM
I would love to see Gearbox develop a ground-up title for the Wii - they have a strong pedigree as a developer of shooters and the Wii is begging for some good ones - but a port of Borderlands would not be desirable. Basically, attempting to release any multiplatform game on the Wii will turn out badly simply due to the fact that it will be compared to the versions on more powerful systems. The Wii is a system that demands exclusives - games built from the bottom up to take advantage of the system's capabilities and address the system's limitations. A game developed from the ground up by a well-respected developer that ISN'T a B-effort, a rail shooter, a port, a minigame collection, or an aggressively niche title would be great, but unfortunately that doesn't seem like it's happening right now. Developers, by and large, just don't take the Wii seriously.
guttertalk @ Oct 24th 2009 12:04AM
I think the key is " a large number of consumers."
:)
The Wii would be an intriguing choice, given the demographics. Does the PS3 offer a significantly different market than the 360? Not really. But the Wii does, although it means some of owners would have to connect their Wii to the Internet for the first time.
Jtim @ Oct 24th 2009 1:05PM
i wish there was a Disable Comments Button
SoshiKitai @ Oct 24th 2009 4:18PM
There is. It's called: Not scrolling down after finishing the article.
Dv8thwonder @ Oct 24th 2009 5:23PM
@Soshi If more games like this existed on the Wii then an audience would be created. A quality port> shovelware anyday. RE4 and Okami are prime examples of this.
@Tmac I knew that one day that we would cross paths. Please don't let it happen again.
SoshiKitai @ Oct 24th 2009 7:27PM
Okami was okay for a port... it lost a lot of its artistic touch by being ported to the Wii. I miss the paper-look of it all.
RE4 was a great port.
I'm not sure if more games like THIS were created for the Wii then an audience would be created, because though an audience would be created- it wouldn't be that large of an audience.
However, if we did... let's say... a Dead Space that wasn't on-rails (as good as that game was, it doesn't attract the Dead Space audience that much), Left 4 Dead, Halo (like that'd ever happen, HA), Resistance, or a quality Call of Duty game came on the Wii --- THEN the impatient audience that has been there since the beginning will GROW large enough to be of profit.
A game like Borderlands? .....the style of it all just doesn't seem to fit with the general idea of a Wii. Even under hardcore-Wii standards, it seems a bit off-putting.
MadWorld seems to be the most gruesome game on the Wii, but it's excused enough for being "gimmicky" in style of black and white and senseless fun form of play. It would be awkward for other consoles to have MadWorld. (well, some people contend that House of the Dead Overkill was much more mature, but even that wouldn't do as well on other consoles... due to it being on-rails)
Borderlands... if you took out the "muahahaha, burn baby burn"-attitude and the "wish there was some serious metal playing in the background"-atmosphere and left the open-area'd 1-4 player FPS madness with leveling up systems, THEN it would be more in-tune with what people would expect for a Wii-version.
Because in all honesty, if it has EVERYTHING that the 360/PS3 version has... obviously those who own another console with a Wii would rather get it for the 360/PS3. If it was stylized to fit more with a Wii-style audience ("simple" [depends on your definition of 'simple'] fun + original output) (not the minigame/shovelware-crowd), then it would be a lot more successful.
Dv8thwonder @ Oct 24th 2009 7:55PM
@Soshi An audience cannot exist if it is not nutured. Any 3rd party developer ignoring the "hardcore" audience on the Wii is ignorant of what an impact this has on their future. A developer willing to provide these gamers with content will surely reap the rewards.