At this time Hudson has more announced WiiWare games than any third party developer. Alien Crush, Bomberman, Tetris and the mysterious Blue Ocean are scheduled to come out in Japan this year. I was fortunate enough to have a chance to as Kentaro Murayama, Hudson Entertainment’s Executive Vice President in Japan, about the line up.
Let’s start by clearing up the Bomberman Wii versus Bomberman WiiWare debacle.
Hudson Japan announced Bomberman for Wii and Bomberman Wi-Fi 8 Person Battle Bomberman for WiiWare. What is the difference between the two?
Aside from the retail differences, the Wii version has pretty deep Story Mode, which has 39 stages across 5 areas, 31 different unique enemies and 5 big, bad bosses. We’ve even included a “Bomberman for Beginners” tutorial mode, so newcomers to the series can quickly learn how to bomb their way to victory.
Both the Wii version and WiiWare version have the famous Battle Mode, with the Wii version having 2 extra stages for a total of 12 (vs. WiiWare’s 10) and 20 different “appeal motions” vs. WiiWare’s 10. These appeal motions are extra moves you can have your Bomberman do to express emotions.
Of course, the big draw here is that Battle Mode works across both Wii and WiiWare; owners of one version can play against owners of the other version, so no matter which one you have, you’ll have plenty of people to compete with.
Is Hudson developing both the retail and WiiWare Bomberman games in-house or is one of them outsourced like Live was? (Thanks for the question Hero of Legend!)
We’re handling both in-house.
I was really surprised to see Alien Crush get a remake. How long has it been in development? How does it play?
About seven months. It stays true to the Alien Crush/Devil’s Crush gameplay, but we’ve added some controls that take advantage of the uniqueness of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk.
Will Tetris for WiiWare have any new features other than Mii support or online play? Maybe drag and drop play like Dr. Mario & Virus Busters?
It features a number of new rules and items. Currently, we’re tossing around the idea of using the Balance Board. The game also supports 6-Player Wi-Fi battle.
Blue Oasis is the enigma of the WiiWare line up. Can you tell us anything about the game? Maybe how it extracts weather data?
In this brand new game, users can decorate their own fish tanks and take care of their fish, just like a real aquarium. The more days you play, the more fish you can add to the tanks. Fish will dance and celebrate when you hit an anniversary date, too. We’re also considering linking the game to the Weather Channel to impact in-game conditions. Overall, it’s a really relaxing game and will be enjoyable for people who like fish, life sims, or having something soothing to watch.
Recently, it seems like Hudson is reviving their old franchises. Are there any in particular you would like to modernize?
Hudson has been developing software for a long time now. With today’s new technology, control schemes, and networking features, we can do a lot of things that past platforms didn’t allow. We have a huge library to draw from as we refine some of our classics using the latest available tech, while at the same time we can keep innovating and developing brand new games.
Images courtesy of Hudson.
