No Online Co-op for Call of Duty WaWii
08 Aug 2008 22:04
David MarseillesDavid Marseilles

No Online Co-op for Call of Duty WaWii

wawii.jpg

"JD", a community manager for Treyarch, has confirmed that the Wii Version of Call of Duty, World at War (WaWii), will feature only 2 player offline co-op, rather than the 4 player online co-op found in the PS360 versions. In a prior interview with Joystiq, Treyarch told us this:

But, [the Wii Version] will be the exact [same] experience except for the changes that we need to make for the controls and everything else. (emphasis WiiHD's)

"And everything else" seems to encompass quite a bit. We warned you not to count on a full feature set for WaWii until you actually see it with your own eyes.

As for a reason why the Wii won't be getting 4 player online co-op, JD claims that they opted for more impressive visuals, and in the process had to sacrifice the feature set. The specifically cite DX9 shader tech for the impact on online play.

How's that for a tradeoff? Everyone wants games on Wii that look better than PS2 titles, but is it worth it to sacrifice features? Do you really think Treyarch was stuck here, or is their inability to strike a balance between graphics and features just evidence that Wii is still getting the short end of the stick? Would 2 player online coop have been doable? Would a co-op version with DX9 turned off have been possible?

WiiHD doubts Treyarch really went to the mattresses for us. What do you think? Hit the break to see the email exchange that revealed this information.

Letter from Stephen3593 to Treyarch:

Apparently, while other versions of the game are getting 4-player online cooperative, the Wii is getting 2-player local co-op. This is completely unnacceptable. Call of Duty 3 Wii by Treyarch was a piece of garbage, with awful graphics and no online modes on an online capable system. Now, after promises of an even experience across all consoles, you have denied Wii gamers something that they deserve. Here are a few examples of the idiocy that it must have taken to remove online 4-player co-op from the Wii version:

The Wii has proven itself capable of handling 32 players online simultaneously with a fluid framerate in Medal of Honor:Heroes 2 (a GOOD game).

Super SMash Brothers Brawl, by Nintendo, is able to support 4 players online with beautiful graphics and fluid gameplay

Mario Kart Wii, by Nintendo, supports 12 players with far more fast-paced gameplay. It also allows 2 people to go online simultaneously with purposley lowered graphics for fluidity, which is a perfectly acceptable thing to do.

The upcoming game The Conduit will feature 16-player online battles with incredible graphics and superb gameplay.
Star Fox Command, by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS (A handheld system several times smaller and far less powerful than the Wii) can handle 4 players online simultaneously.

Pokemon, Transformers, Mario Kart DS, Diddy Kong Racing DS, and inumerable other handheld games all support 4 or more players online.

So why, people of Tryarch, have you chosen to take away a fundamental experience from a perfectly capable system? If the Wii can handle 32 people in unpredictable online matches, why not have 4 in pre-rendered levels with only Artificially Intelligent enemies? The Wii may not have the same graphical capabilities of other systems, but it has the exact potential for online gaming. The lack of 4-player online co-op as on other systems are a testament to Treyarch's lazy, underdeveloped, spit-in-the-face attitude forced upon Wii owners. Unfortuantely, I must take an unpleasant (For you) course of action.

I am a part of a very large guild of hardcore gamers, numbering in the thousands, who were similarly dissappointed, just as I am, with Call of Duty: World at War. We have regular contact with several other large or larger guilds who together make up hundreds of thousands of hard-core Wii gamers (No exaggeration!). We also have access to very popular online Wii gaming forums, including the ones at IGN, 1up.com and Eurogamer. If Treyarch does not implement four-player online co-op on the Wii version of Call of Duty: World at War, me, my clan, and a very large portion of the gamers of America will boycott Call of Duty: World at War. We will also boycott other Treyarch games such as Quantom of Solace. This boycott will also be spread to other nations, and will easily encompass millions of Wii owners. There will be online petitions, individual boycotts and severasl online petitions. All we ask is that Treyarch implement what was done on other consoles on the Wii as well. We are tired of your underdeveloped garbage being shoved onto us. It is a simple solution to our anger, and will be a testament to Treyarch's customer satisfaction. Please do not ignore this e-mail or reply to it with a form letter, as you may be soon seeeing a flood of hate mail. Thank you for complying with your customers wishes in advanced!

Treyarch's Response:

Hi XXXXXXX-

I'm glad to see you are interested in Call of Duty: World at War.

Unfortunately, you're trying to compare apples to oranges with the below listed games and Call of Duty: World at War. I don't believe any of the games you listed utilize any form of DX9 shader technology, or any of the other numerous advancements with the CoD4: Modern Warfare engine which is now running on the Wii with CoD:WW. These ramifications for online play are far-reaching

We are proud to bring what we believe will be the best-looking Wii game this fall to the community, but that comes with technical trade-offs. The difference between competitive MP and co-op is non-trivial. Think of a size of an MP level, then compare that to an SP level. Then consider all the AI code, level scripting, and endless other content in a SP / co-op environment that is just too much for the Wii to sustain with our engine.

That said, we have great plans for competitive MP, with more details to come later this year. I am confident you and the community-at-large are going to be satisfied with the game we've got in store for you. We've been working for over two years to make this engine compatible with the Wii, and it's really going to show in the end-product.

Thanks for writing!

Regards,
-JD
Treyarch/Community Manager

del.icio.usdiggFurlRedditFacebook

Thanks to Army of 2 and Stephen3593 from Bravo Company
Source | Permalink


Nintendo Wii DS videogame video games play strategy fps rpg shooter console gaming Conduit Call of Duty Activision EA ubisoft racing action adventure halo gta arcade mario zelda metroid pacman

Similar Posts

rating: 0+x
Add a New Comment

WiiHD Currents

WiiHD's Community Efforts
WiiHD's Homebrew Guide
WiiHD Clan Directory
User Video Gallery
WiiHD Forums
fortunz.com

Recent Posts

The ListPages module does not work recursively.

Sponsored By

Subscribe

Subscribe in a reader RSS
Add to Google Reader or Homepagesub_modern11.gif
addtomyyahoo4.gifAdd to My AOL

Popular Posts

WiiHD's WaWii Hands On (Rating: 2, Comments: 27)
Death of The Conduit? (Rating: 1, Comments: 22)
Exclusive Civ Rev Technology Guide (Rating: 1, Comments: 0)
WiiHD's Homebrew Guide (Rating: 1, Comments: 65)

Recent Comments

Where are you suppose to install the hombrew channel? what website I know the steps but I didnt...
(by Amauri Rodriguez (guest) 13 May 2010 22:58, posts: 2)
I have "Homebrew" installed on my Nintendo Wii, but I do not know how to make back up's...
(by star66 12 May 2010 13:05, posts: 2)
This game is a really good game david and if you think that MW:Reflex has bad controls you...
(by Wild_Fire (guest) 23 Apr 2010 17:47, posts: 19)
I wasn't sure if you had seen the episode yet, so that's why I haven't posted anything on the SGU...
(by leiger 06 Apr 2010 03:54, posts: 8)
I've been a PC gamer for more than a decade. Last console I owned before Wii was an NES. It's a...
(by David Marseilles (guest) 05 Apr 2010 21:34, posts: 8)

WiiHD Tags