and this game aswell comming ........................................................US, November 16, 2007 - Ever since Capcom unveiled the PlayStation 2 game Okami, fans everywhere wondered why a Wii version wasn't also in development. After all, Nintendo's unique remote is an ideal fit for many of the adventure's engrossing gameplay mechanics, which challenge players to draw on-screen to complete actions. In an update to the company's official blog, Capcom's VP of strategic planning and business development, Christian Svensson, explains how Okami Wii came to be and what to expect from the finished project. Svensson admits that Okami on PlayStation 2 was a retail disappointment. "It's not a secret that the game in its first outing didn't fare as well sales-wise as a game of its quality deserved." He attributes the game's lackluster performance in the sales arena in part to its arrival during the final stage of PS2's illustrious life cycle.
Although Capcom had no plans to create a Wii version of the title, feedback from fans helped spur internal interest in such an undertaking. "Okami Wii specifically exists because of that direct communication [from fans], especially those we receive on our message boards."
Svensson elaborates on the beginnings of the Wii port. "So at some time, we started thinking of several 'what if?' statements. What if we took another shot with Okami's content on another console? A platform people were repeatedly asking for it on? A platform that could help with some of the core mechanics of the game? Our team at CEI started putting together feelers to the pwoers-that-be in Japan to see if this would e something that wouldn't trod too heavily on anyone politically. True to form, our executives in Japan were supportive of the concept."
The Capcom executive says that the company began looking for a talented third party developer to make the Wii version of the game and eventually selected Ready at Dawn by way of a chance meeting. Svensson ran into Ready at Dawn's co-founder and creator director, Ru Weerasuriya, at the Game Developers Conference, and learned he was a great fan of Capcom's titles. "We talked for quite a while over more beers and by the end of the conversation, I really liked the cut of Ru's jib. The thins that R&D was really interested in dovetailed well with where I saw CEI placing its priorities with our fledgling production development operation."
The next week, Svensson chatted with Didier Malenfan, co-founder and president of Ready at Dawn, and the two hit it off. "I just blurted out, 'How would you guys like to bring Okami to the Wii?' I don't quite recall the next thing they aid. I think there were a few moments of silence on the other end of the phone as the question sank in."
So how is Okami on Wii coming along? "As it stands today, the team has the game assets converted (quite the laborious process), up and running in a ported version of Clover's engine," explains Svensson. "There are still several systems getting set up properly but there's most definitely a Wii-driven Amaterasu running around Wii-rendered environments as we speak. We've got the home videos to prove it (and no, you can't see them yet, sorry)."
Ready at Dawn's Wii-ized take on Okami will very much be a port of the PS2 title with added Wii remote functionality. Explains Svensson: "As we've stated before, Okami is such a huge game (40+ hours to complete isn't at all uncommon), we aren't currently planning any additional content but we're exploring a few possible things on the technical side of things that might make for an improved Wii experience (no promises yet though). Obviously, the biggest change to the game will be the introduction of the Wii motion controls, the details of which we'll also share at a later date
