Wii Sports Resort: Post-Launch Developer Q&A

by Dave Rudden
September 11, 2009 00:00 AM PST

Take a look as GamePro sits down with Wii Sports Resort Producer Katsuya Eguchi to talk about the successful sequel to Wii Sports.

Wii Sports Resort has had a really good summer. It's been widely praised by the video game media as a worthy successor to the addictive and entertaining Wii Sports, as well as having sold roughly a million copies a month since its launch in June. GamePro recently got a chance to talk to Nintendo EAD's Katsuya Eguchi about the leaps in technology between the two games, potential Zelda features with Motion Plus, and the imminent future domination of our lives by the Wii Sports brand.

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Archery is arguably the most finely tuned part of Wii Sports Resort.

GamePro: What were some of the challenges of integrating the Wii Motion Plus into Wii Sports Resort? Any success/hardship stories?

Katsuya Eguchi: It was a careful balance in many cases. If we reflected too much of the player's motion or required them to make extremely precise movements, we would end up with games that are much too challenging. Comparatively, if the requirement for motion is too minimal, the game would be too shallow. It was a challenge to manage how much motion we should detect and reflect in the game.

GP: How much easier was it creating Wii Sports Resort given that a good amount of the groundwork had been laid by Wii Sports? Did it allow you to spend more time fine-tuning certain aspects of the game as a whole?

Eguchi: The most fundamental aspects, like the concept of a game focused on a variety of sports utilizing Mii characters were in place following the original Wii Sports game, which gave us time to polish our gameplay and add more detail to Wuhu Island from a very early period in the development cycle. Of course the original Wii Sports game was popular with a wide range of people, so we wanted to expand upon this concept with even more sports-based applications for motion controls.

GP: In Wii Sports Resort, the controller sometimes has to be recalibrated in-game. Is this because of the Wii MotionPlus hardware, or the Wii Sports Resort software? Should we expect to recalibrate several times with future Nintendo Wii MotionPlus-supported games?

Eguchi: There is very precise sensor inside Wii MotionPlus that occasionally needs to be recalibrated, especially when cycling through a variety of different game mechanics, as can be the case with Wii Sports Resort. Sometimes Wii MotionPlus is able to handle this on its own without any action from the user, but it occasionally required a manual recalibration. Of course, we will try to minimize the need for recalibration in the future, and look for ways to make the process of recalibration less impactful on the player.

Will Wii Motion Plus technology make an impact on other Nintendo titles? Eguchi's warm to the idea.

GP: Unlike the first Wii Sports, Resort has events in which you work with a partner against computer opponents. What inspired the development of this mode of gameplay?

Eguchi: There's actually a fun personal anecdote behind this change. One of the game directors has two children, and he says they almost always get into arguments when they play competitively. He wanted to try and make a game that would result in fewer arguments, which inspired us to try these new events.

GP: What sort of advancements in Mii integration have been made since the original Wii Sports that have been put into play in Resort?

Eguchi: I think that the variation in the expressions and outfits of Mii characters has improved since we first introduced them. It's out of our hands, but certainly users have become very skilled in creating all kinds of unique and creative Mii character designs. That's why we integrated the Check Mii Out Channel into Wii Sports Resort, so that you can have a new, fun and fresh selection of Mii characters to play with every time you play.

GP: We found the dog in the Frisbee Dog event extremely adorable. Were there any plans on making the dogs customizable, similar to Miis?

Eguchi: The same dog also appears in the Jogging activity from Wii Fit. We wanted to have the same dog in Wii Sports Resort to help make players who also experienced Wii Fit to feel more comfortable and familiar with the overall experience.

We couldn't live without that adorable little scamp!

GP: At E3, Miyamoto-san stated that the next Legend of Zelda would incorporate Wii Motion Plus controls if the sales for Wii Sports Resort were strong enough. Would you say its worldwide reception has met Miyamoto's goals?

Eguchi: To be honest, I really don't know what he is planning. I am personally proud of what we achieved with the Swordplay and Archery activities in Wii Sports Resort, so I ask Mr. Miyamoto and Mr. Aonuma all the time to try and integrate similar mechanics into their next Zelda title!

GP: Were there any sports that you wish you could've included, or any zany ones that the team bounced around that just couldn't work?

Eguchi: There were a few that didn't make the final cut, such as Fishing and a Water Slide activity. We also had some more unconventional proposals. One was Kendama, a traditional Japanese toy. We actually created a prototype that was very fun and intriguing to control, but it did not fit the resort theme of the game.

GP: Given the huge success of both Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort, where could you see the series going from here?

Eguchi: I feel that Wii Sports introduced the fun of video games to an audience that might not regularly play them. With Wii Sports Resort, we tried to develop an in-depth and challenging experience that more experienced players could really get into. We are always willing to explore game experiences that bring games to all audiences, regardless of age and gender.

"Faster, Honey! Kill, kill, kill, kill, KILL! Hit him in the sternum!"

GP: Do you plan on revisiting Wii Play, Wii Fit, and Wii Music with the new advancements created by Wii MotionPlus and the new gameplay elements included in Wii Sports Resort?

Eguchi: For every new device, we always strive to demonstrate its full capabilities to consumers. Regardless of the title, our goal is to always provide a fresh and original experience, rather than copying what worked in the past.