MADWORLD vs. The Wii Remote
March 25th, 2009 by Shigenori Nishikawa
Filed: Games, MadWorld, PlatinumGames
Now that MADWORLD is released, I can focus this blog on things like difficult periods during development, or how to get the most out of your MADWORLD experience. I’m also going to do something new at the end of the blog – Insider Information! If you read my blog and then play MADWORLD, it will be 10 times as fun as it was before! (I think…)
With that out of the way, let’s get to the topic at hand. Controls!
But since this is a Wii game, that automatically translates into how you use gesture controls in gameplay. Right!? I think we ended up with absolutely awesome Wii Controls, but it was definitely one of the biggest challenges during development. It was a long hard road to arrive at the final product.
At the start, once we decided to make MADWORLD a Wii game, we began to think about how we would use the Wii Remote. What we initially ran up against was that gesture controls and MADWORLD didn’t seem to match tempo-wise. The more and more you swung the Wii Remote around, the slower the game tempo became, and that feeling of visceral fun that comes with an action game fell by the wayside.
But you can’t just eliminate gesture controls entirely, so we would try various control schemes, and iterate upon them again and again. For instance, we tried things like using only the Wii Remote (no nunchuk) turned sideways (like Mario Kart)… Of course, all of these attempts were thrown out pretty quickly.
Amongst all these efforts, I found an answer. We needed to make the buttons the center of our scheme. Up until that point, we had been focused on how we would swing the Wii Remote, but we switched things up and focused on a button-based control scheme that maintained the tempo of “existing action games.” But that doesn’t mean that we abandoned gestures entirely. We turned it over to members of our team, the Bayonetta team, and Mikami-san’s team and listened to their opinions on where they would like us to introduce gesture controls, whittling down the possibilities.
Basically, we moved all of the player movement to the nunchuk, and let the Wii Remote handle all the player actions. The only gesture used in movement is the Backflip, which you execute by yanking the nunchuk towards you. With the chainsaw, you hold down the B button to activate it, and then swing it sideways or up and down. The chainsaw responds to that and cuts horizontally or vertically. We also added specific gestures for the finishing moves. There are also specific gestures for attacks used during the boss fights.
By doing this, we placed the basic controls on the buttons, but were able to get a good balance by accenting these controls with gestures. That’s when we knew MADWORLD’s controls were set. Controls are absolutely critical, and can affect the quality of a game, especially action games, and even more so action games on the Wii. Starting with our lead programmer, Tarukado-san, we were able to pull through thanks to our numerous talented staff. I’m not sure if the controls will please everyone, but I think that we are using the best points of the Wii and integrating them into the controls. I’m quite satisfied with the result.
Insider Information!
When you swing the Wii remote, are you swinging the Wii Remote with all you might? To make sure we maintained the tempo of the game, and also to make sure you arm does get tired, we adjusted the way we detected swing strength. So you don’t have to flail your arms around, please just flick your wrist and destroy all the enemies in your path! Of course, if you get into the Jack state of mind and want to swing for the fences, you are more than welcome to! However, just make sure you don’t destroy the room you are in by the time you are done…
The soundtracks have finally arrived at the office!
15 Comments Add Your Own
Roth Posted on March 25, 2009 at 6:36 pm
I noticed how well the swing strength of the Wii remote is in MadWorld.
But for me, I like to play MadWorld with all my might during intense boss battles.
It's the one game I Iove where I can freely express my anger towards.
// Roth
Gavin W. Posted on March 25, 2009 at 7:39 pm
The only time I had trouble with the Wii remote was during the "power struggle" with The Shamans in which the wolfpack members charge you before their Leader. The whole sequence always reminds me of the Kiba Ichizoku ( キバ一族 ) from Hokuto no Ken ( 北斗の拳 ).
Sometimes, the Wii remote would be unresponsive. I never had this trouble during previous battles, it seemed a bit odd. Also, during the battle with Black Baron, I had the same trouble. It was only once or twice, but it is frustrating when you take such damage and want to win the fight as perfectly as possible. Especially on the Hard difficulty setting.
On one hand, a friend of mine who had no experience with the Nintendo Wii, or the motion controls, found it very easy to get to grips with the control system within five or ten minutes. He was pretty drunk, too. Call him an idiot savant … or you could say that the controls and motions are easy to learn, even for beginners. Not to mention those who are intoxicated.
I think I can safely say that the control system is the best it could have been, even for those unfamiliar with the functions of the Wii remote and nunchuk accessory. I'm guilty of swinging the controllers like a madman possessed, but it is nice to get a little exercise while I am sat on my rear end participating in the Death Watch on Shock TV.
In my opinion, the moment in which the player become excited and agitated the most is during the Boss Battles. Your blood becomes hot, because … Jack must not lose!
dragonlife29 Posted on March 26, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Nishikawa-san! Many thanks to you and your team for opting to put this on the Wii. Seriously.
I thought the controls were great, though I did find myself having a couple hiccups here and there–mainly when I would be in the middle of an A combo and the game registers a MOTION input and Jack does his sidesweep/uppercut move. This happens on occasion but, It really isn't a big deal for me, to be honest.
Haha…one day was pretty bad, though, as I recall: I kept dodging and doing motion controls by mistake for a good while because I would get an itch or something and I'd be too stubborn to pause the game. That time, it DID annoy me but, well…I got over it since it was smooth sailing after that.
I'm surprised–and liked–how many small things you guys incorporated to the combat without many buttons. Little things like that make me as giddy as a schoolgirl–you know, stuff like being able to run by double-tapping the stick and slamming into an enemy during that run; being able to attack after dodging (you should've seen how excited I got when I discovered you could this with weapons, too! I found out in the last area, though ;_;)–I really enjoyed finding out all these things.
I'm satisfied with the controls, too, basically.
OM NOM NOM soundtrack!
By the way, I noticed it was your Birthday in the "Today's Birthdays" thing, JP–Happy 27th, man.
BGBW Posted on March 30, 2009 at 12:33 am
I hear some say this game would be better on other system, but removing the motion controls would remove part of Mad World's soul. Usually I'm quite tame with my movements when I play Wii games, but with Mad World I really get into it that I sometimes risk pulling the nunchuck out. Guess I really want to pull those enemies apart!
Funny that PAL gamers got the soundtrack before the developers!
Serpoo Posted on March 31, 2009 at 9:59 am
I hit my sister in her arm while playing MadWorld for the first time, haha.
She's ok, we just laugh for a while. I usually don't play swinging like crazy, but in that case… I just wanted to go crazy with it.
Making a crazy Beat 'em up game for the Wii based mostly with buttons and leaving the waggle just for some moves, is a wise decision. You guys made a really good job with the gameplay, actually, MadWorld is one of the few games that makes a good use of ALL buttons and movements that the controller can offer. You just knew how to make a good game for the Wii.
I had the same problem as "Gavin W.", with the Shaman boss. and sometimes when I want to do a movement wich requeries to swing the controller to a side, it ends up making an upper attack (maybe I just made it wrong). Anyway, it's not a big problem, since I made it right.
By the way, when I got the game… the store did not gave me any soundtrack o_o (wich is funny, because when I got HotD: Overkill, they gave me the comic book… and I even did not reserve my copy). There is another way to get the soundtrack?. Can I buy it in this very website or on another store?.
Peter Lakanen Posted on April 20, 2009 at 5:12 am
How can I get a copy of the soundtrack? I'll pay for it. You could at least upload it Amazon or iTunes.
Thanks!
-peter