Movatterモバイル変換

Peek Behind the Scenes
These videos take you behind the creation of the biggest movies, TV shows and games of the year:

SECTIONS

CHANNELS

·Founders' Club

GET GAMES

July 5, 2007 - Cynical gamers have to come believe that THQ is exclusively in the business of pedaling SpongeBob and WWE sequels to console owners and that is a perception that the mega-publisher hopes to obliterate with a portfolio of titles that is both unpredictable and potentially innovative. The videogame giant has supported Wii from the very beginning and has recently - very likely in light of better-than-expected sales of Nintendo's platform - thrown even more development resources behind the little white box that could. Just last week we learned by way of embargo-breaking overseas magazines that two big new efforts are bound for Wii Land. The first is the third installment in the Destroy All Humans! series and the other is a game called, simply, "de Blob." (And if you're wondering, yes, it's spelled exactly like that, capitalization and all.) So what is this oddly named project all about? Would you believe one of Wii's most interesting third-party contributions was born to life as a student project?

The title that came to be known as de Blob first gained attention in 2006 when it was named Internet Game of the Year by Edge Magazine, and earned more respect when it became a finalist in the 2007 Slamdance Guerrilla Gamemaker Competition. Back then, of course, it was called The Blob and it was developed not by an experienced software company, but rather by nine students studying Game Design & Development at Utrecht School of the Arts in the Netherlands. When the game made the rounds on the Internet, THQ took notice, swooped in, nabbed the full rights, and handed the concept over to studio Blue Tongue, which has been pounding away on a Wii-ized re-imaging ever since.

We recently made the trek to THQ's Agoura Hills, California-based offices for an early peek at de Blob, and we do mean early; while fully playable on Wii, the game actually isn't set for release until February or March of 2008, which means that the developer still has some time to put into the ambitious project. We have for months complained that some companies are ignoring the strengths of Wii, choosing instead to duplicate experiences best suited on more powerful consoles. In other words, Nintendo's system has received its fair share of sloppy ports - games that look half as good as their high-definition counterparts and play worse, too. Thankfully, de Blob is exactly the opposite. This is a game created to capitalize on Wii's strengths, utilizing a style that translates well to the platform and control mechanics that effectively use the Wii remote.

In de Blob, you travel to an alien world literally devoid of color. The buildings of this planet have a stale, monochromatic presentation, the result of a new fascist regime known as the Ink Corp. Robbed of their natural hues, the patrons of the territory walk the cities in a zombie-like haze. Little is known about the regime itself, except that it may not practice what it preaches. According to THQ, members of the Ink Corp. sometimes hold secret color parties, where they are known to blanket each other in vivid shades of red, green and blue, the very same paints that have gone missing from the outside world. This general story theme is laid down in a cinematic before the game begins and it is continued in humorous cut-scenes interspersed throughout the adventure.

You control de Blob, a unique gelatinous extraterrestrial who can take on different colors and paint the world - and that truly, really is the uncomplicated premise. You move the character through lifeless locales with the nunchuk's analog stick. Since he doesn't have legs, he rolls through the environments, leaving a colored streak of paint behind him. You can jump into the air with a quick upward gesture on the Wii remote and you stomp downward onto enemies by making a stabbing motion with the controller. Both of these maneuvers feel responsive and good. There are a handful of other control options to consider, including a lock-on feature which enables you to stay centered on an object or enemy, or manual camera control mapped to waggle (it needs some work), but those are the basics.

Connections for de Blob (Wii)

By continuing past this page, and by your continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by theUser Agreement.IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed byPythian Remote DBA.