World of Wiicraft?
by Spencer Callaghan 
Nov 22nd 2006 at 3:15PM
For the past few months one of the most common requests by WoW players is to have the game ported to the Xbox 360, but with the launch of Nintendo's much hyped new system, what about WoW on Wii?Imagine how much fun it would be to smash Orcs and carve up Murlocs in your living room the your Wiimote acting as the Sword of a Thousand Truths.
It would certainly lead to a resurgence in fishing around Azeroth as apparently the new Zelda game has implemented the mechanics quite well.
Of course I would likely need to cover my living room in bubble wrap to protect my home from total destruction as swords and maces start flying around the room.
Nintendo's Wii is known for its lower graphical standards which melds perfectly with WoW's low system specs.
So who else would would relish the thought of getting out of their chair and turning WoW into an even more interactive experience?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
guest Nov 22nd 2006 3:32PM
I think that the game would become too difficult to play well on a console... I can't imagine trying to spot heal a raid without most of the hotkeys.
Mothra Nov 22nd 2006 3:40PM
The game would have to be completely redesign. In the end it would be a completely different game. Also I doubt the Wii is capable of handling the amount of polygons WoW can stock up at its most extreme times (big PVP battles etc).
Prauche Nov 22nd 2006 3:47PM
Did I sleep through four months? Is it April 1st already?
kuri Nov 22nd 2006 4:07PM
I, too, share your dream. There was a recent snippet in Electronic Gaming Monthly about World of Warcraft being ported to XBOX 360 at some point. I have to imagine it only makes sense to port World of Warcraft to other consoles as well, time and budget permitting.
The game will need a re-haul. The control scheme may not, if USB keyboards and mice (proprietary or not) are compatible.
As far as the UI conondrum, here would be my "quick fix": Instead of a World of Warcraft "Save" feature, allocate that space to hold an Interface folder. If the Wii couldn't unzip/unrar files, just do so on your PC and transfer it to your Wii's WoW Interface.
Now, the only issue with using the Wii would be the lack of a hard drive. Blizzard would have to engineer patches for the Wii release much differently than XBOX 360 or PS3. But it can be done, if you have a large enough SD stick.
Me Nov 22nd 2006 4:33PM
One of the things that held back the look of armors and textures in FFXI was the limited amount of memory on the PS2. The game's graphics couldn't be overhauled beyond the specs that the PS2 couldn't handle. It'd be sad for that to happen with WoW.
Kahja Nov 22nd 2006 4:34PM
It's a bad idea in general...
PC games are on the PC for a reason.
Besides... If you end up using a keyboard/mouse on your console then, effectively it's just a PC... so just get some cables and hook your PC to your tv instead...
For Xbox/PS3 not having point/click interface would destroy game play.
For Wii a lot of people wouldn't play because the load times and frame rates would drop because there is no hard drive so ALL data is pulled from a single location (Wii Disc). That and the graphics would be bad and apparently that's all people play games for these days... I miss centipede, 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit... /sigh
Spencer Callaghan Nov 22nd 2006 4:39PM
But the Wii has a point-and-click interface.
Again keep in mind this is a wish not anything that is close to reality.
kuri Nov 22nd 2006 4:43PM
#6:
Hmm, this is true. Somehow forgot WoW loads from the hard drive! I guess I got giddy over the console idea.
Merging the two markets (PC & console) with a game so popular as World of Warcraft would only do great things for the game, if executed carefully. Everquest and FFXI suffered untimely fates due to un-intuitive controls, ineffective hard drive use, and the games not needing particularly beefy PCs to begin with.
As games require greater specs, people might opt for console versions of the same game to save the $1000+ expenditure to overhaul their PC. This alone should launch MMO's into cross-platform popularity in ways unseen before. If Phantasy Star Online could (kind of) manage it, I feel World of Warcraft could also.
Now, if porting MMO's to consoles became a trend, that might signal the death of PCs. But this whole MMO-to-console-done-right is very tantalizing to my brain.
Chubbygamersftw Nov 22nd 2006 5:26PM
HEY!! If I wanted to exercise I would stop playing WOW and get off my computer!!
Nay to this idea...What do you expect from a gamer? To be healthy and stuff???!!
That is rubbish! I shall remain in my chair eating cheetos sucking down soda like oxygen thank you!
=p
Raawr Nov 22nd 2006 5:32PM
Console& PC mmo Topic:
FFXI "Did not fail" ...why is this false claim even out?
The game did superbly great. I played on the PC launch US side...while japan launched on the PS2 end. Over time PS2 usa and later Xbox was in on the game.
The UI was tough I admit but that's just by design.
The way to make WoW work for machines like PS3...Keyboard (which they do have out for pS2 so why not ps3) and Hard drive...which is already out for ps2 and ps3 has one already.
The machine has the tech to handle mmorpg's like WoW.
They just have to implement it.
Karnifex Nov 22nd 2006 5:43PM
The worst thing (aisde from general lack of creativity) to happen to Everquest was the EQ console game (I think it was PS2, cannot remember, too lazy to research).
I think the same thing would happen with WoW, even if they found some way to merge the console and PC platforms.
In a perfect world, yeah that would be great. It would make one huge world that gamers of both types could enjoy. That being aside from the lack of communication abilities of the console gamers (unless as previously posted there was a keyboard/mouse combo for console).
Even if given the choice, I would still stick with PC version for the graphics that consoles are yet to be able to deliver.
Arras Nov 22nd 2006 7:02PM
File under: Fug No
It might be a neat idea and just because the Wii controller might be good at fighting or fishing doesn't mean the Wii or PS3 or Xbox controller would be appropriate for WoW
How would people chat? How would people receive patches? Use mods? Load expansions? (TBC is not going to be the only one) Use the Auction Hosue? Cast spells?
You might say, "all of that can be solved with a usb keyboard and mouse" And yes, you're right. And we have a name for that...a box with a cpu, power supply, memory, a video card, sound card, a keyboard and mouse...oh yeah, it's a computer.
Freehugz Nov 22nd 2006 7:46PM
how will i use my uber mods!?!?!??!
rikitikitik Nov 22nd 2006 8:00PM
Geez, you people cry as if porting WoW to the consoles will erase the game you installed in your PC.
I'm not totally sold with the idea. Console players might be at a disadvantage when it comes to the competitive aspects of WoW such as PVP. If they can somehow make the UI just as accessible for a console, why not?
PsyClerk Nov 22nd 2006 10:13PM
Forget all the technical details, those are surpassed by a bigger problem: Nintendo fanboys. As if I don't run into enough idiots playing already.
Aaron Nov 23rd 2006 6:06AM
Well since Mythic (now EA Mythic) had a early version of their Warhammer Online running on the Xbox 360 I could see WoW joining Final Fantasy on either the 360 or the PS3.
According to some of the reports I've read the PS3 does recognize USB Keyboards and Mice.
But given the development tools I'm guessing that the XBox360 would be a more likely canidate than the PS3.
As for the WII, I don't think it has the power for a MMO like the other two do.
Ebulum Nov 23rd 2006 7:11AM
Might add a cool angle to crafting.
Adam Nov 23rd 2006 7:39AM
Not gonna happen...
The wii runs on a mere 729MHz PowerPC based CPU, and has only 88MB of RAM...yes, eighty-eight megs.
The Wii is so far behind in tech that its basically a GameCube with a new controller.
The Xbox 360 (with a keyboard and mouse plugged in) is the most likely candidate. It has the power to run it, and it has the online infrastructure in place that could ease the transition, but it will won't happen IMO. And it will never, ever happen on the PS3 which as someone else mentioned would be too much of a hassle to port over.
Ryan D. Nov 23rd 2006 8:34AM
Technical specs, shmechnical pecs! This wouldn never happen, not because of the technology, not because of ease (or lack thereof) of use, this wouldn't happen because WoW's market share would plummet if the game required physical effort. I don't deny that I'm hooked on WoW.. I get WoW trackmarks near my wrists from the edge of my desk digging into them as I angle one arm over the laptop's keyboard for my hotkeys, the other on the mouse.
However, I also have a Wii as of last Sunday morning, and the comparison between the two is dramatic. I enjoy the simple fun of Wii Sports, but I also enjoy that some games (ie: Rayman) require a great deal of movement, and leave me slightly exhausted.. it's like night and day. I'll grind in WoW for an hour or two, or run an instance/raid and come away feeling lethargic and exhausted, for a different reason entirely.
Mind you, I'm not shooting for, nor do I fit, the stereotypical portrayal of an MMO gamer as a slovenly, acne pocked, internet male - perhaps only in jest - but realistically, if WoW were to be given the same attention on the Wii as it is on the PC (read: hours at a time), the hardest core players would be simply passed out tired from excessive hacking away.
For the sake of babbling just a little more though, the first thought that I had when getting the Wii was that Blizzard certainly does have a place on the Wii, vis a vis Diablo. To this day, myself and friends of mine, still manage to get on B.net and play. That game, so polarizing in terms of people either hating it, or becoming addicted to it, is just begging to be ported to the Wii. Control the pointer/movement with the nunchuk, attack with swings of the remote, B button to cast, Z button to use potions.. had it all worked out in my head.. Alas, I fear I can only dream of something this badass..
Jason Nov 23rd 2006 11:49AM
WoWWii!