Oblivion engine Wii-vamped

  • By thorsen-ink, GameSpot
  • Posted Sep 13, 2007 3:14 pm PT

When asked if Epic Games ever planned to release a game on the Nintendo Wii, studio vice president Mark Rein famously said the console "couldn't handle" the Unreal Engine 3. This week, though, California-based Emergent Game Technologies, makers of the easy-on-the-eyes Gamebryo Engine, announced...

When asked if Epic Games ever planned to release a game on the Nintendo Wii, studio vice president Mark Rein famously said the console "couldn't handle" the Unreal Engine 3. This week, though, California-based Emergent Game Technologies, makers of the easy-on-the-eyes Gamebryo Engine, announced they had specifically optimized their game tech to work on the Wii as part of Nintendo's Third Party Tools program.

"With the success of Nintendo's Wii console catching much of the industry off guard and offering fresh interactive features, developers need new tools to be able to develop for multiple platforms that offer vastly different capabilities and require different programming techniques," said Emergent CEO Geoffrey Selzer in a statement.

Though Sid Meier's Pirates! and the forthcoming Warhammer Online also use the Gamebryo engine, it is most famous for powering Bethesda Softworks' The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3). Though no Gamebryo-powered title has yet been announced for the Wii, a likely candidate is the console-tailored 2008 strategy title Civilization Revolutions, given that its PC cousin Civilization IV uses the engine.

234 Comments

  • drewciferpike

    Posted Apr 22, 2008 6:29 pm PT

    To jump in on the graphics/next-gen/why-the-Wii? discussion...

    Hm... anyone not playing games since the early 80's probably won't understand this, but:

    It was time for a change.

    Really. Analog controls have been around from the beginning, and it was high time for a different way of doing things. I understand that the Wii doesn't have superior graphics or the ability to handle amazing physics engines. To be honest, I don't care. Pumping out better and better graphics each generation while not really changing HOW games are played isn't evolution, it's settling for same-old, same-old. People wanted something different, and the Wii delivered. Once neural control schemes are developed, we'll be home-free... until then, we need to get those little air-thingies like Stephen Hawking and "Superman" use(d) to control their wheelchairs.

  • m4573r_n1nj4

    Posted Apr 22, 2008 6:08 pm PT

    man i wish WAR would play on wii. XD hehe nice to hear bout this engine.

  • ColdfireTrilogy

    Posted Apr 22, 2008 5:44 pm PT

    Odd idea .... truely odd lol, its very possible to make it sucessful being the only product on the market providing this type of game so ... they jsut need to make it a great game from the start.

  • playstation_wii

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 3:28 pm PT

    Theres not going to be a "gears of War" like game on the wii though

  • suchafool

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 4:40 pm PT

    Screw oblivion, give me a souped-up Morrowind on the Wii and I'll see daylight again in about 5 years

  • Kladd1

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 3:58 pm PT

    Oblivion will not get a Wii conversion,but maybe Pirates or Civ4.
    It's not just Oblivion that uses the Gamebryo Engine.

  • frostbach_basic

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 3:55 pm PT

    PC > * for oblivion :-P

  • d4rkod

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 3:47 pm PT

    Tycoonmike- You are absolutely right, nintendo is indeed doing something right. By recycling their old gamecube hardware with some very minor tweaks to create the overrated Wii, they are contributing to mother nature by trashing less junk Take care and dont forget to swing those magic sticks!!

  • madrigals

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 2:52 pm PT

    Oblivion would look and run like utter crap on the wii. Why doesn't anyone understand this?

  • darkzerogamer

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 2:09 pm PT

    Epic Games CEO: WOW the Wii is making tons of money! LETS port our games on it no matter how inferior the graphics engine is.

  • tycoonmike

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 1:52 pm PT

    d4rkod- So says you. Simply because no one has tried to do so does NOT mean that it isn't possible. I am not about to say that ES4 would be able to run on the Wii, but perhaps if you would open your ears and try for some tolerance towards Nintendo, you would see that it, like the 360 and the PS3, has its pros and cons to it.

    And I guess Nintendo must be doing something right, because it is outselling both the 360 and PS3 in units per month. Other than its price, of course, because if Mario Kart, SMB, Zelda, and SSB weren't fun, they wouldn't sell nearly as well as they have sold before and are selling now.

  • hitmanlee

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 12:51 pm PT

    Man, that would be cool to have graphics as nice as Oblivions. i hope it's not just limited to something like an Oblivion port. I wasn't a fan on Oblivion, at all. It'd be a shame.

  • d4rkod

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 12:45 pm PT

    LOOK GUYS, YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE WII IS FAR FROM CAPABLE OF RUNNING A GAME WITH GRAPHICS THAT MEASURES UP TO 1/4 OF OBLIVION GRAPHICS, ITS TECHNICALLY IMPOSSIBLE. THE VIDEO CARD IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE GAMECUBE VIDEO CARD. IT AS HARDWARE EFFECTS SUCH AS TEXTURE COMPRESSION, BUMP MAPPING, SUBPIXEL ANTI-ALIASING AND MULTI-TEXTURING BUT THE VIDEO CARD ALMOST DIES WHEN IT TRIES TO RENDERS A SCENE USING THOSE EFFECTS AND A HIGH POLYGON COUNT. JUST LOOK AT FAR CRY ON THE WII... A TERRIBLE MESS WITH A HARDWARE THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE MASTERED AFTER 6 YEARS. TECHNOLOGIE IS ADVANCING RAPIDLY AND SADLY, THE WII WONT KEEP UP WITH ITS ''INNOVATIVE SWING STICKS'' LOL... WELL, HAVE FUN PLAYING YET ANOTHER REPETITIVE MARIO KART ON YOUR RECYCLED GAMECUBE HARDWARE WITH MAGIC STICKS.

  • fowad555

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 10:50 am PT

    Wow nice oblivion on the wii that will make the gameplay interesting, they should release it when the Wii 2 comes out with a more powerful chip and better graphics card, If nintendo can add a direct x 10 card, a better faster chip,Hdmi 1.3 output 1080 p games Wow, it would be a turnaround for the already succesful Wii I would buy it and it would sell like wild fire!!

  • Phazevariance

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 10:02 am PT

    I wish MS would just get a wii remote accessory and the graphics and fun can be merged into one great system called the miconin softendo thwii60.

  • d4rkod

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 9:54 am PT

    BY THE WAY, THE WII IS FAR FROM BEING TWICE AS POWERFUL AS THE ORIGINAL XBOX.. WHAT ARE YOU GUYS THINKING SERIOUSLY? THE XBOX'S 7YEARS OLD VIDEO CARD SERIOUSLY CRUSHES THE WII'S VIDEO CARD. AND THE PROCESSOR... ITS NOT ACTUALLY PROVEN TO BE AS POWERFUL AND EVEN IF IT WOULD BE, IT WOULD ONLY BE A WII-BIT BETTER. WELL ANYWAYS, HAPPY GAMING AND HAVE FUN WATCHING WATCHING DVD FORMAT MOVIES ON YOUR WII... HO WAIT! YOU CANT! NOW THAT'S RETARDED ISN'T IT? I GUESS ITS JUST ANOTHER NINTENDO QUALITY THAT MADE THE WII EVEN BETTER, LOL ... HERE'S AN IMAGINATIVE SCENARIO OF THE DVD MOVIES CAPABILITY THAT WAS CUT OUT : -''LET'S NOT INTEGRATE DVD MOVIE WATCHING CAPABILITY IN THE WII'' -''BUT SIR, THE GAMERS DESERVE THIS FEATURE'' -''QUIET YOU UNDERPAID SLAVE! THEY WILL NOT GET IT!! NEVER!!'' -''BUT SIR, THIS IS RIDICULOUS, YOUR GIVING AWAY A FREE FEATURE WITH THE ALREADY INTERGRATED DVD'' -''JUST...JUST SHUT UP, GO GET SOME COFFEE AND CLEAN MY TOILET''. WELL, HAPPY GAMING MAGIC STICK SWINGERS AND REMEMBER, NINTENDO IS THE BEST!!!! CANT WAIT TO PLAY OBLIVION ON THE WII-HD!!!! MAYBE I'LL BE ABLE TO PLAY AS HD-MARIO OR HD-LINK... OR MAYBE THEY'LL INTEGRATE A VIRTUAL HD-NINTENDO DS IN IT!! WOW LOL

  • goodemon

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 9:08 am PT

    dude nintendo just needs to hurry up with what I like to call "Wii HD" its a supersecret console in development right now, the original wii was a test-run to see how well the new control sceme would appeal to consumers as well as keep production costs extremely low. Now that Nintendo is probably rolling in substantial profit margins, it would be an opportune time to complete the Wii HD model, and release it sortof like 360 elite, but in will have more features like higher resolutions, it will play normal wii games, and "optimized wii HD games"

  • d4rkod

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 9:03 am PT

    LOOK GUYS, YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE WII IS FAR FROM CAPABLE OF RUNNING A GAME WITH GRAPHICS THAT MEASURES UP TO 1/4 OF OBLIVION GRAPHICS, ITS TECHNICALLY IMPOSSIBLE. THE VIDEO CARD IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE GAMECUBE VIDEO CARD. IT AS HARDWARE EFFECTS SUCH AS TEXTURE COMPRESSION, BUMP MAPPING, SUBPIXEL ANTI-ALIASING AND MULTI-TEXTURING BUT THE VIDEO CARD ALMOST DIES WHEN IT TRIES TO RENDERS A SCENE USING THOSE EFFECTS AND A HIGH POLYGON COUNT. JUST LOOK AT FAR CRY ON THE WII... TERRIBLE MESS WITH A HARDWARE THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE MASTERED AFTER 6 YEARS. TECHNOLOGIE IS ADVANCING RAPIDLY AND SADLY THE WII WONT KEEP UP WITH ITS ''INNOVATIVE SWING STICKS'' LOL... WELL, HAVE FUN PLAYING YET ANOTHER REPETITIVE MARIO KART ON YOUR RECYCLED GAMECUBE HARDWARE WITH MAGIC STICKS.

  • Stabby

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 7:39 am PT

    Well while it would be nice to see more RPGs on the Wii I'm not sure whether trying to convert a big package such as Oblivion would work... let alone start off well.

    Oblivion was fun and imersive BUT its populatrity over others was this AND the scale and beauty of the game world and if you take away that then you've lost alot of the experience already (plus there would be no SI or KotN expansions). Might be fun to play with the Wii controls but I can't see it being even nearly as good as the PC/360/PS3.

  • KingChainz31684

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 7:34 am PT

    its funny how people say it won't be as good having games like oblivion on the wii and what not even after the wii has proved time and time again in their game library thats about to be huge after Xmas that people are more than willing to sac some graphics (its not like we are sacing much in that department its no harder on my eyes to play my PS3 than it is my Wii & if it was the only thing i would be able to game on would be my PC cuz it handles much better than the 360 or PS3)if it means some fresh fun well put together gameplay and you know whats nice after the initial paperweight issue in which nintendo promplty refunded me and i quickly got a new wii I am still weighting on my refund on my 360 after 6 months thanks to the red ring of death that happened within 8 months of having the system so now i got my new comp and am just going to let that be my 360. My PS3 has held up nicely just wish i had more to play on but hopefully after the winter i can max out my collection. Heavenly sword is cool though i think i prefer Kratos.

  • kristjanp07

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 4:05 am PT

    as soon as oblivion will come 2 da wii il buy wii until that time i shall play it on da pc, man i luv oblivion

  • GunGriffin

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 3:20 am PT

    This is great news! I hope we get both A Oblivon style game! something me and my dad would both like to play! Of course an RTS would also rock too!

    BTW The idea of blocking and sword fighting with the wiimote/nunchuk is too good an idea for developers not to try! It would mek RPGs on the Wii so much fun! No more button smashing! you have to fight like a real swordsmen! That would rock so hard!

    If they did this with Nintendo Wi-Fi and MMORPG style games it would make the Wii one of the best online gameing consoles ever in history!

  • Unreal_007

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 3:12 am PT

    wii does not use regular dvds

  • izni

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 2:35 am PT

    I think it´s enough with Oblivion on the PS3 and 360, it would not be as good as them anyway,
    It could be good, but i think the graphics and controller would make it less better.

    Im not saying that i dont like the Wii, i got both 360 and Wii, and like both consoles very much!
    But enough with Oblivion now, the could surely make some other similar game, like a sequel or a whole new game

  • kappareign

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 12:28 am PT

    that would be really cool if they could pull off oblivion on the wii. it could use a good in-depth action RPG

  • cocolite

    Posted Sep 16, 2007 7:36 pm PT

    oblivion on wii would be so awesome!

  • power-baron

    Posted Sep 16, 2007 6:29 pm PT

    First off, a game like Oblivion on the Wii is a bad idea. Who is going to play a game like Oblivion swinging the wiimote around for hours on end? Oblivion is a loooong game and tech. hurdles aside it's the human factor I would be more concerned about.

    The Wii will never support games like Oblivion simply due to the fact no one has the stamina for it. I will stick with the PS3 thanks. Much better system (shameless fanboy plug).

  • GTAPsychoFan

    Posted Sep 16, 2007 4:43 pm PT

    Wii is not for tough games

  • ukillwegrill

    Posted Sep 16, 2007 3:21 pm PT

    i dont think bringing oblivion to the wii would help i got a wii just for its original titles i already had the others and out of all the games i have i play the wii the most (until halo 3) games like paper mario and metroid suit the wii lets keep the high end crap on the other 2 consoles

  • MOOKUU

    Posted Sep 16, 2007 12:36 pm PT

    amen BATERI!!!!

  • prioritymail

    Posted Sep 16, 2007 11:10 am PT

    Oblivion for the wii please

  • ctg867

    Posted Sep 16, 2007 10:49 am PT

    This is nothing special, and it doesn't mean Oblivion or some other high profile next gen Bethesda game is coming to the Wii. The Gamebryo Engine is obviously not solely for the high quality next gen experience. Neither is the Unreal Engine 3, being that it's in a couple of games that aren't high end or next gen at all, which is why that statement from Epic is a bit odd.

    Anyway, if somehow this means Wii games will finally look as good as Halo 2, or Riddick, or Chaos Theory, or Ninja Gaiden, or Far Cry, or Half Life 2 on the Xbox, then good. If not, I really don't care. And I'm sorry, but absolutely none of the games on the Wii so far fit into that category.

  • jooohnnny

    Posted Sep 16, 2007 9:46 am PT

    what ever? hope ya all like the stripped down versions of games.....

  • Israels_Son

    Posted Sep 16, 2007 8:31 am PT

    That could be super awesome.

  • Brainkiller05

    Posted Sep 16, 2007 3:52 am PT

    Good news

  • rety5

    Posted Sep 16, 2007 2:57 am PT

    Bringing oblivon out on the wii is prepostrous. The graphical capabilities and processing power of the wii are just above if not the same as a playstation 2 and the size of the world in oblivion barely managed to fit onto the consoles with big memory. To offer anywhere near the same scale the graphical capabilities would have to be cut back so far you would thing you were playing a ps1 or nintendo 64. What the news DOES mean is that the wii will get a few more better looking titles, maybe even challenging the xbox 360 when it comes to smaller scale games like linear FPS.

  • masterchief9000

    Posted Sep 16, 2007 1:22 am PT

    to the guy that said xbox(733mhz) is more powerful than wii(he said it was 766mhz) is on crack..the wii hass a single core 2500GHZ..as opposed to the 360s dual core processors running at 3200GHZ and im not sure on the PS3s clock speed but its a bit faster than 360s..

  • osxgp

    Posted Sep 16, 2007 12:36 am PT

    The Nintendo fanboys are out tonight. Let's see how many negatives I get on this post to prove my point.

  • Shishio817

    Posted Sep 15, 2007 10:19 pm PT

    Their games will definitely be awesome on the Wii.

  • haadurin

    Posted Sep 15, 2007 9:51 pm PT

    @ Bateri: Morrowind WAS NOT ON THE GAMEBRYO ENGINE.

  • MasterAsh42

    Posted Sep 15, 2007 8:08 pm PT

    I'm excited, but only so much. Developers have a decent suite of tools already for the Wii, yet not much has resulted from them. I'm hoping this addition to the kit will make great games happen, but I wouldn't be surprised if the status quo remained.

  • Axe_336

    Posted Sep 15, 2007 7:10 pm PT

    The problem I have with this is the clear potential of developers porting their games to the Wii siimply because its so popular. Sure Oblivion is a good title and the more people who can play it the better, but I don't think that a popular title should be ported just because it can be if its not going to work well in that system.

    Who knows though, they could surprise me.

  • chad_m

    Posted Sep 15, 2007 6:05 pm PT

    Not saying I think Oblivion is coming to the Wii but if it did that would be sweet.

  • chad_m

    Posted Sep 15, 2007 5:57 pm PT

    Oblivion would be perfect for the Wii

  • nappan

    Posted Sep 15, 2007 12:33 pm PT

    Much simpler 3rd party games have come out for the Wii and all have been universally disastrous. I shudder to think what this is going to look and play like. Unless they redid the engine into an isometric view or reduced the draw distance to a few metres this is going to be a mess. The Wii is a great gaming platform, but not for something like Oblivion.

  • gatsbythepig

    Posted Sep 15, 2007 11:59 am PT

    Great news.

  • modem22

    Posted Sep 15, 2007 9:58 am PT

    Oblivion on Wii will probably suck just as every other Multi-gen game has sucked on Wii (excluding madden)

  • JimBurber

    Posted Sep 15, 2007 8:07 am PT

    Better online service would be more news to me... Smash bros. is just around the corner! But this is a step in the right direction! Wii is funtimes.

advertisement

Hot Stories

Newsmakers

Featured Stories

Submit News

Got tips? Send them in!