Bethesda making mature Wii games

By Games Industry.biz Published 18 May, 2009

"Really big" title to be revealed this year.

Oblivion and Fallout maker Bethesda plans to make mature games for the Wii.

"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," Sean Brennan, Bethesda's Euro boss, told GamesIndustry.biz.

"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 five 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," he added.

SEGA has already targeted the Wii with two 18-rated titles - MadWorld and House of the Dead: Overkill - and EA enters the adult fray this autumn with Dead Space: Extraction. Ignoring the runaway success of the console, which has sold 50 million units worldwide, would be "churlish", said Brennan.

But Bethesda won't be churning out sugar-sweet "hamster simulators" under a dedicated Wii publishing label like other companies.

"We're not going to establish a new range and call it 'My Girly Game Range' or whatever these other companies are doing, it's so me-too and boring," explained Brennan.

"Looking at the opportunities in the Nintendo space is interesting for us because it's more driven by getting the right product for the demographic and also the right quality. We're not going to do a hamster simulator, it's not us. We're not going to produce games for girls or pet-sim products. There's nothing to distinguish them from one another," he added.

The full interview with Sean Brennan, in which he also discusses the the pros and cons of DLC, can be eye-balled over on GamesIndustry.biz.

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Comments (44) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • qoobah #1 3 years ago

    "mature wii games"

    Ha, ha.

    Seriously though, what's up with all the devs suddenly being "mature"?

  • Chrono-Kun #2 3 years ago

    Devs need to stop with the whole 'mature games' on wii fiasco. It's getting annoying. But good luck to Bethesda. You impressed me helluva lot with Fallout 3, which is already one of my all-time favourites. It already beaten my enjoyment of Star Wars: KOTOR by a mile.
    Edited by 1 at 18/05/09 @ 10:54

  • Hulle #3 3 years ago

    Finally, Bethesda.. Love your games, so I am really looking forward to the announcement.

  • Xerx3s #4 3 years ago

    Maybe they will release ESIV with the daggerfall engine. ;)

  • des #5 3 years ago

    Probably Fallout something...cool

  • Zoro #6 3 years ago

    Devs need to stop with the whole 'mature games' on wii fiasco.

    This. You don't see people going 'hey we're developing a mature game for the 360/PS3'. Who cares? Galaxy isn't a 'mature' game and it's the best game on the damn system. It feels like they're saying it's fine to release crap on the Wii as long as it's knee deep in torn limbs and blood and people will still love it.

  • liverpoolfc #7 3 years ago

    Wheres oblivion for the PSP

  • Plewt #8 3 years ago

    Bethesda, Wii doesn't do patches...

  • kinky_mong #9 3 years ago

    Bethesda, don't bother. Madworld sold appallingly, Overkill only did marginally better. People won't forgive how shoddy your character animation is when the graphics aren't as shiny as you can manage on the 360, PS3 and PC. You could make one of the best games the Wii will ever see and most people will ignore it because it isn't a Nintendo franchise (see Okami for proof of this).

    Use the time and manpower more effectively working on Fallout: New Vegas, the next Elder Scrolls game and whatever else you have in the pipeline.

  • Hulle #10 3 years ago

    I just don't get it.. People cry about no "mature" games on Wii, and when the are finally announced or arrive, the get no support.. Just look at the first comments on this.. It sickens me!

  • lemonfist #11 3 years ago

    The Zelda Scrolls: Tomorrow's Link!

  • JahB #12 3 years ago

    It feels like they're saying it's fine to release crap on the Wii as long as it's knee deep in torn limbs and blood and people will still love it.

    as opposed to the current wii-attidude of "it's fine to to release crap on the Wii as long as it's kiddie shit and people are still loving it"

  • Xerx3s #13 3 years ago

    "I just don't get it.. People cry about no "mature" games on Wii, and when the are finally announced or arrive, the get no support.. Just look at the first comments on this.. It sickens me!"

    Not really, people would much rather have that bethesda made a proper next game instead of a technically handicapped game on the wii.

  • dr_faulk #14 3 years ago

    I got the flu on Thursday and spent 12 solid hours doing the entire Dark Brotherhood storyline in Oblivion. That's after 80 hours of play. Still have Mages and Thieves guilds to finish. It's clearly the best game ever.

    And my point is: if it's not Elder Scrolls V, I'm not entirely interested.

    @ lemonfist: Sir ROFLot!
    Edited by 1 at 18/05/09 @ 11:40

  • Freek #15 3 years ago

    People do want something other then sports and party games on the Wii. The problem is, when those games that appeal to an older audience arrive they turn out to be average at best.
    Mad World is a fun hack and slasher with a nice sense of humor but it gets incredibly repetitive, which is probably why it didn't do well.

    You want to make casual games for the Wii, it can work, you want to make more mature games for the Wii? That could also work. but the quality has to be there! And right now, outside of Nintendo's games, there's very little good games out there for the Wii, be it casual or mature.

  • Plewt #16 3 years ago

    @Xerx3s

    People think you're an idiot. It's true, the people told me that.

  • Plewt #17 3 years ago

    Oh and Madworld was crap, I'm sick and tired of it being brought up every time as some sort of great game that we all should feel bad about for not buying.

  • Xerx3s #18 3 years ago

    Takes one to know one.

  • Twin_snakes #19 3 years ago

    The words "mature" and "Wii" don't really go together.

  • Plewt #20 3 years ago

    So not only do you miss the jab at how utterly stupid your statement was "Takes one to know one" was the best you could come up with?

    Maybe you should at least try to use your brain when writing or just stop being such a dick.

  • MORZTAN #21 3 years ago

    The words "mature" and "This thread" don't really go together.

  • Les #22 3 years ago

    What annoys me the most is that for some reason the Western obsession with creating poor HD representations of reality is perceived as being mature while the artistically much more interesting (and demanding) method of creating abstract representations of the world somehow has received the "kiddy" stamp...

    "People won't forgive how shoddy your character animation is when the graphics aren't as shiny as you can manage on the 360, PS3 and PC."

    True.

    "You could make one of the best games the Wii will ever see and most people will ignore it because it isn't a Nintendo franchise (see Okami for proof of this)."

    The fact hat a large part of the Wii installed base already had a PS2 might have had some impact as well...

  • Zomoniac #23 3 years ago

    People cry about no "mature" games on Wii

    No they don't, they cry about no "good" games on the Wii. Nobody cares if it has graphic beheading or little dancing pixies, as long as it isn't shit, but they can't deliver either.

    MotionPlus may potentially help cure this, as so far combat games (that we all thought Wii would excel at originally) like Red Steel, Force Unleashed and the fighting bits of TP have all been crap because the player has felt so detached from the action. 1:1 swordplay could really bring the Wii into its own for "mature" combat games, but I shall remain cynical until something is delivered.

  • rayk2099 #24 3 years ago

    Sim Hamster 2000, yes please.

  • Zomoniac #25 3 years ago

    What annoys me the most is that for some reason the Western obsession with creating poor HD representations of reality is perceived as being mature while the artistically much more interesting (and demanding) method of creating abstract representations of the world somehow has received the "kiddy" stamp...

    Do they? MadWorld and Killer 7 were very abstract, don't recall much 'kiddy' labelling. GTA IV is quite cartoony in its appearance.

  • makeamazing #26 3 years ago

    People cry about no "mature" games on Wii, and when the are finally announced or arrive, the get no support

    Well only the people on gaming sites complain there are no mature titles on the Wii, and when it comes down to it, many of the people who own wiis are under 18 or moms/grannies with Wii Fit (or the rest of us who are already past the wii controller aspect and have other consoles). I do not see mature games ever being a success on this platform. In fact at the moment I dont think there has been too much success for anyone except Nintendo on the Wii, I'm sure at some point developers will find this out and if it continues they will abandon the platform (except shovelware producers).

  • Linkified #27 3 years ago

    Fallout and Elder Scroll first person on rails games confirmed. Seriously everything that are games that are for above 15 year olds have bombed on that console. Instead crap like Wii Play, etc sells. Focus on HD gaming and tell your publishing friends to do the same.

  • Moonprince #28 3 years ago

    'Bethesda, Wii doesn't do patches... '

    Does it not? They're fk'd then.

  • Inigo #29 3 years ago

    The average age of a gamer is 33 so more mature games should be made....

    However, all we end up with is games like Dragon Age http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=6SuJ5T9sfAA :(

  • FogHeart #30 3 years ago

    They're aiming at me. I'm a WiiPC owner. I don't own the other consoles because most of the games can be bought for cheaper for the PC, look better on 2 year old hardware and since the PC can be hooked up to a TV these days and played with a gamepad there's very little that will motivate me into spending £200+ on the other two consoles.

    But using motion control convinced me to get a Wii and has kept me going. And I have bemoaned the fact that on the platform you always seem to need to buy a game with dancing pixies to get at good gameplay (well, not dancing pixies but you know what I mean). The question that's being put is, how big a slice of the Wii pie do I represent? 5%? As Bethesda point out, it's worth pursuing that 1 in 20 Wii console owners if you can 'own' the market. We're worth pursuing, I think, because our attach rate is much higher.

    So games like Okami, No More Heroes, Mad World, House of the Dead Overkill - they were all day one purchases. If there enough people like me out there to justify developing games for us, then more companies like Bethesda should try.

    (PS 'Mature' doesn't have to be 'Gory'. Mature can be Fatal Frame, or Fahrenheit.)

  • Les #31 3 years ago

    The point is there are already plenty of 'mature' games on the Wii, in the sense that there are lots of games played by mature people. What people around here are wishing for is that the Wii receives more adolescent games (e.g. games with muscular men shooting aliens)...

    IMO it's folly to try to create adolescent games on Wii as the public interested in that uninventive crap only cares for shiny pixels, the one thing the Wii lacks when compared to the competition.

  • cerebralbored #32 3 years ago

    @kinky_mong

    How many copies of House of the Dead Overkill were sold compared to MadWorld? I can't argue with your point about poor MadWorld sales, but with House of the Dead Overkill reaching a high of number 10 or 15 in the All Formats chart at one time, I would have thought it would have sold far more than MadWorld, but I don't know the actual sales number for Overkill.

  • kinky_mong #33 3 years ago

    @cerebralbored: I don't know the lifetime figures but HOTD: Overkill sold 45,000 copies in February (it's month of release) which for a game from an established series is pretty shoddy.

    It's pretty safe to say that a game that is dropped to half price within it's first month of release in most online stores, as Madworld and Overkill were, didn't sell very well.

    @Les: Okami didn't exactly set the PS2 sales chart alight when it was released either, so it will a very small percentage of Wii and PS2 owners who bought it anyway.
    Edited by 1 at 18/05/09 @ 14:00

  • sneetch #34 3 years ago

    So another dev who is going to make "mature" games. No details on what those games might be, just mature games. You know, mature? With maturity in them and... stuff?

    I'm probably not alone in thinking that the maturity level (or lack thereof) is the wrong thing to focus on with games? That they might be focused on the wrong goal? (i.e. making a mature game to fill a perceived niche on the biggest selling home console).

    Might be awesome it's just that this press release just doesn't inspire that much confidence in me. To butcher the old war cry: maturity alone does not a good game make.

  • Les #35 3 years ago

    "@Les: Okami didn't exactly set the PS2 sales chart alight when it was released either, so it will a very small percentage of Wii and PS2 owners who bought it anyway."

    True but that still undermines your argument that Okami didn't sell on Wii because it isn't from Nintendo... ;)

    Guess we can conclude that games that don't feature muscular men shooting things that didn't come from Earth originally in general don't sell well, regardless of the hardware platform.

    As for the Nintendo-fondness of the new Wii-converts, I belief that's hugely exaggerated. It's just that Nintendo has been best so far to create stuff for the new controls. Not really that strange given that they were the first to know about the direction the Wii would take combined with 3rd party publishers' initial expectations that the HD consoles would set the world alight.

  • Canyarion #36 3 years ago

    Didn't they say they weren't going to make Wii games the last time? I guess the number of 50.000.000 changed their minds.

    Sounds good! I might give a big serious game like another Elder Scrolls a chance on Wii.

  • oktava #37 3 years ago

    I think the mature focus is the right thing to go for as I'm a little sick and tired of dumb games made for teenage boys. But I suspect when they say mature they mean gore.
    House of the Dead or Saints Row, although fun games, are not something I would consider being very mature.

  • lemonfist #38 3 years ago

    Guys, you're right. The Wii has nothing to do with being "mature", apparently. I just did a google search on it, and there were no Wii games at all in the thousands of pictures I found.

  • UncleLou #39 3 years ago

    What annoys me the most is that for some reason the Western obsession with creating poor HD representations of reality is perceived as being mature while the artistically much more interesting (and demanding) method of creating abstract representations of the world somehow has received the "kiddy" stamp...

    Your statement is just the other side of the same coin, funnily enough.

  • Ryze #40 3 years ago

    GOOD MAN.

    Just make it mature, but fun - it doesn't have to be bloodsoaked and sweary.

    Just make a gaming 'StarTrek', for example.

    edit: Also - market your fucking game. It's no wonder Okami never sold. The only fucking marketing was on games websites. For fuck's sake. I bet they left the 20 min unskippable / unhurryable 'text and noise' intro in the Wii version of Okami as well.

    Can't tell first hand, as the Wii isn't good enough value for me to buy yet.

    Sorry - but fuck 'em if they make mistakes like this with marketing and user interface / experience.
    Edited by 1 at 18/05/09 @ 19:24

  • Burkey123 #41 3 years ago

    Cool! Looking forward to the announcement.

  • FogHeart #42 3 years ago

    I bet they left the 20 min unskippable / unhurryable 'text and noise' intro in the Wii version of Okami as well.

    Yes- but it was skippable.

  • Les #43 3 years ago

    "Your statement is just the other side of the same coin, funnily enough."

    Of course it is. How could it not be?!

  • grussbarbar #44 3 years ago

    I'd love to play Morrowind on the Wii. Maybe include Balance Board support as well for movement?