Bemoaning the lack of mature, long-session games on the Wii? Then you might want to avoid looking at n-Space's aborted Winter, a survival horror game for the Wii that will, quite possibly, never be released.
IGN's exclusive look at Winter, from the developer of the lukewarm Gamecube title Geist, is about as depressing for "core" Wii owners as it probably is for n-Space employees. The game, which looks to have been heavily inspired by the Silent Hill series, looks to have taken advantage of the Wii's control scheme and processing power wisely.
Winter appears to not only have the player battling monsters, but the harshly cold conditions of a Midwestern town. Finding warmth to stay alive puts the survival back in survival horror.
So why didn't Winter find a home, existing as little more than a concept and playable demo? n-Space president Dan O'Leary explains...
"In almost every case we got hung up with the sales and marketing groups. They simply could not get behind a survival horror title on the Wii," O'Leary tells IGN. "In spite of great sales for Resident Evil 4 and the Umbrella Chronicles, these groups were unable to support the projections required to create a viable [profit and loss statement] for the title."
"The idea of an 'adult' game on what they perceived to be a 'kids' console was simply too big a leap for them, regardless of the enthusiastic support of the PD department and the Wii's total domination in the marketplace," O'Leary adds.
IGN has video of the game in action — which looks promising — if you're interested. Maybe, if interest is vocal enough, someone will be able to divert some mini-game development funds n-Space's way.
Wii's Lost Game: Winter [IGN]