BioWare looking into PSP, Wii

By Robert Purchese Published 20 June, 2008

But still quiet on PS3.

BioWare is is "looking into" making games for Wii and PSP in order to offer a wider array of titles.

"We're looking into Wii and PSP as a company... but nothing has been decided, and nothing has been announced. And we are, from styles of games - we are trying to broaden our portfolio," Mark Darrah, project lead for Sonic Chronicles, told Gamasutra.

He revealed the DS role-playing project had swollen to around 30 staff at one point, but despite the help and scale it had remained a frustrating platform to develop for.

"I mean, the hardware is challenging for someone who's done console or PC development, just because it's got four megabytes of memory, and it's very much hardware from - if you compare it to a PC, it's like hardware from 14 years ago."

Traditionally, BioWare has been a PC developer, but it moved onto Xbox with Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire, before creating Xbox 360 epic Mass Effect.

It was also bought by mega-publisher EA last October.

Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood will be its first DS game when it comes out September.

Pop over to our hands-on with Sonic Chronicles to see what BioWare has done with the Sega mascot.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (26) Latest comment 4 years ago

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

  • miiiguel #1 4 years ago

    It's just a matter of time, developers are jumping ship, as PS3 is the future of entertainment.

    PS3 is going to monopolize the market, MGS started it all. M$ can't get away with their goal to make profit. Profit sucks.

  • NewbieZilla #2 4 years ago

    Actually, it looks like the Wii will be it. It will have such a big install base as it can not be ignored. I'm optimistic about what Bio could do on the Wii.

  • Skywise #3 4 years ago

    I think the Wii is a fantastic machine, but Bioware's games should be more immersive on more powerful hardware.

    I hope they'll focus on PC/360 and PS3

  • reddevil93 #4 4 years ago

    lol @ miiguel

    Predicted this comments section right I think. ;-)

  • Bluetribe #5 4 years ago

    and so more and more companies are starting to realise that HD game production takes too much resources and time to survive and will make serious efforts of bringing quality titles to "safer" platforms like the Wii

    I would love to see a Neverwinter Nights kind of RPG using the Wiimote as a mouse pointer

  • GamesConnoisseur #6 4 years ago

    LOL at miiiguel!

    No developers can ignore DS and Wii, PSP seem to be doing well and will be a worth considering doing business for as well.

    X360 is easy to develop for due to cross platformability with PC, mainly the multi processing set up to take care of and then PS3 is the next step in the complexity and most devs now using to devoping and sharing resources for both X360/PS3 from PC anyway.

    Most businesses NOW cannot afford not do multi platforms, that is the future. PS3 is just one of them, whereas in the past at one time PS2 WAS the future which business live or die by.

  • hoster #7 4 years ago

    " I'm optimistic about what Bio could do on the Wii. "

    Mass Effect Party edition, with over 80 zany minigames?

    "I think the Wii is a fantastic machine, but Bioware's games should be more immersive on more powerful hardware."

    seconded,

  • groovychainsaw #8 4 years ago

    Imagine a point and click, isometric rpg from bioware again on the wii. To be honest , baldur's gate and bg2 on the wii would be pretty cool, if the controls were tweaked and you could pause to do stuff still. Maybe thats just me tho.

  • miiiguel #9 4 years ago

    I should post a vgchartz spreadsheet to sustain my claims, but... you know the drill.

  • Bluetribe #10 4 years ago

    Yes, keep on making fun of Wii and party games, while the next half of 2008 and 2009 will see your favorite development team make serious Wii exclusives. :)
    And I higly disagree a good Bioware RPG needs to be on a HD console, a Neverwinter Nights or Baldur's Gate (with 3D graphics) style RPG with Wiimote controls can be just as good. It's not state of the art graphics that create immersiveness, it's the setting, story, dialogues and interesting NPC's that create it. Fallout 2 is an excellent example of this, to this day there aren't many RPG's that surpasses it immersiveness, even though the graphics can be considered a bit primitive.
    Edited by 1 at 20/06/08 @ 17:35

  • Xerx3s #11 4 years ago

    And so it begins.

  • johnnybrn #12 4 years ago

    They just saw that MGS4 got 8/10 and knew that the PS3 was doomed! Doomed I say!

  • NewbieZilla #13 4 years ago

    "Mass Effect Party edition, with over 80 zany minigames? "

    Idiot.

  • Stuz359 #14 4 years ago

    Why do people keep slagging off the wii? I mean it has graphics comparable to the last generation and in the last generation Knights of the Old republic, Jade empire, Final Fantasy X and XII, Halo, Zelda WW, Strangers Wrath, Beyond good and evil, psychonauts, project gotham 2, forza motorsport, I could go on, and these were some of the best and most immersive games of all time. The wii is obviously capable of producing these types of games its just a perception that the people buying wii would not go in for these types of games. I think they are wrong.

  • miiiguel #15 4 years ago

    "Why do people keep slagging off the wii?"
    Because it sells... a lot.

    Did you ever see anyone slagging Xbox 180 and Cube? I didn't. They were irrelevant. People are afraid of change, it scares. MS scares ppl, Wii scares ppl. Sony keeps us cosy.

  • Schiraman #16 4 years ago

    Wow, this thread certainly descended into fanboy bullshit fast. Ignoring all that crap, I'd just like to say that Bioware developing games for the PSP sounds like potentially great news. I await more specific announcements with interest.

  • Canyarion #17 4 years ago

    Hardware from 14 years ago, yeah right.

  • Miths #18 4 years ago

    "Hardware from 14 years ago, yeah right."

    You did notice he was talking about the DS, not the Wii, right? :)

  • Chalee #19 4 years ago

    I think Bioware developing games, on whatever platform, is good news for every one. Let's all hug!

  • zoch #20 4 years ago

    yeah mass effect on the psp would be great as well as kotor or some new sci fi RPG game like mass effect where you
    Explorer the Galaxy.

  • Lin #21 4 years ago

    Was a time when bioware was revolutionising and saving the RPG genre. Now they make kids games and 3rd person action adventures, just like everyone else.

  • Chalee #22 4 years ago

    I don't thinik Bioware ever really revolutionised the genre. My impression is that they take established conventions and produce great games around them.

  • Sevens #23 4 years ago

    "Actually, it looks like the Wii will be it. It will have such a big install base as it can not be ignored. I'm optimistic about what Bio could do on the Wii."

    True. Those casual gamers are really going to buy into role playing games. After all they are easily accessible, can be played for a short time every now and then and are perfect for when one has company around. Also I think there isn't a sports game yet that one can control with a motion input device, or maybe even some kind of a fitness game with a board to stand on. Think of the possibilities!
    Edited by 1 at 23/06/08 @ 02:08

  • Ranger101 #24 4 years ago

    OH NO!

    THERE'S A COMPANY OUT THERE THAT'S TRYING TO MAKE MONEY!

    They should be burned at the stake those capitalist pigs!

    733t Gaming 4EVER!

  • Stuz359 #25 4 years ago

    Final Fantasy XII the playstation 2 game?

  • IronCladChicken #26 4 years ago

    lol@Metal_Slime - I'm pretty sure it could?