Square Enix Extends New Engine to Wii

Square Enix’s new next-gen engine, called Crystal Tools is now compatible with the Wii. This cross compatibility is a good sign for us Wii users. Hopefully this indicates that more game producers are taking the Wii seriously and ready to give us real titles instead of cheap knock offs. On one hand, it is good that Square is including the Wii, but on the other, I hope they realize that in order for a game to be really enjoyable on the Wii, the controls need to take advantage of motion detection to the fullest.

The first game that will be using the Crystal Tools engine will be FFXIII, but don’t expect that to come out for the Wii anytime soon, this title is 100% PS3, and Sony is hoping it’ll boost sales.

Due to the Wii’s low processing power and the younger user base, many publishers haven’t really given Wii games a good effort. The average rating of Wii games is significantly lower then either the Ps3 or the Xbox 360. It is a crying shame, because the Wiimote has so much to offer and game developers are glossing right over it and heading towards the bigger processors. As a society, I think we are reaching the point of processor saturation. That is to say that the power of are machines are doing everything they can do. Now it is up to the game designers and the graphic artists to take us to the next level. Innovation is becoming more and more important as the catalogue of existing games grows. Soon the developers will catch on, and when they do, they’ll realize that the Wii is the best medium for innovation. Square is hopefully making steps in that direction.

The Wii has really broken game developers normal chain, and while they’re still figuring things out, it has led to many low quality games for the Wii. Producers can’t just port things to the Wii, they have to take into account the unique controls and work them it. Many games would really showcase the Wii’s power just wouldn’t work on other consoles, which makes it hard for developers to justify spending time on them. I think that eventually the market will show reward for games that do take that chance, and then the Wii game market will really bloom.

Until then, we’ve still got some great titles and we’re still shaping the future of the gaming industry. Even though the Wii game’s average rating is lower than either the PS3 or the Xbox 360, the Wii has had more top rated titles (90%+) than either of the others. It just goes to show you that when they are good, they are really good, which is the reason I own a Wii.