On porting AAA-games to Wii U; interview with Aussie studio, Straight Right

Interview by Matt S. 

Of all the third party developers working on the Nintendo Wii U, there is one that stands out as going out of its way to take the unique features of the console; the Australian porting house, Straight Right.

When the Wii U launched Straight Right gave us the best version of the brilliant Mass Effect 3, that really showed the way a game can provide players with information on the bottom screen in a way that enhances the overall experience. Then Straight Right was responsible for the excellent remake of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The Director's Cut was initially meant to be a Wii U exclusive and use the Wii U Game Pad in a way that is integral to the game's experience. And it worked. After playing The Director's Cut I can't imagine playing Deus Ex without that excellent second screen enhancing the play.

Unfortunately for Straight Right both of its games have been mired by controversy that has meant the players have overlooked the games for superficial reasons. At the same time that Mass Effect 3 launched with the Wii U, players felt hard done by because EA also released the Mass Effect Collection (1, 2 and 3) for the same price on the other consoles. It didn't matter that the PS3 and Xbox 360 games in the collection had no work done to them, while the Wii U Mass Effect 3 was almost a remake, it was so extensively reworked for the Wii U; apparently players want quantity rather than quality.

And then the Deus Ex port was hampered by the fact it was also released (complete with second screen experience) for the PS3 and Xbox 360 at a slightly less price.

It's disappointing that the gaming community is more interested in complaining about what they're not getting than appreciating that they have the best version of two great games, but Straight Right Managing Director, Tom Crago, still wants to work on the console. Straight Right's sister company, Tantalus, is working on a sequel to the excellent casual farming sim Funky Barn, and even with two new consoles now on the market, Crago says his team has ideas for even more games.

We sat down to have a chat with Crago about Deus Ex, his hopes for the Wii U and other opportunities he sees in the market.

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Review: Deus Ex: Human Revolution The Director's Cut (Wii U)

Review by Matt S.

Straight Right deserves recognition for being the best developer in the industry when it comes to porting games to the Wii U. Its port of Mass Effect 3 was a tragic tale; despite producing the finest version of one of the finest games of the generation (by some margin, in fact) to launch the Wii U in style, too many people chose to instead focus on the fact that EA released an easy compilation of all three Mass Effect games for the other two consoles.

That compilation had no extra work done to it, but in this industry 'fans' like to see the world with the glass half empty, it seems. So it pains me to say this, but I think Straight Right is headed right towards tragedy number two with its Wii U remake of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Without a doubt Human Revolution on the Wii U is the ultimate version of the game, and it's also one of the finest uses of the Gamepad and MiiVerse that we've seen to date (including from Nintendo itself). But I'm sure there will be plenty of people out there that criticise its price or how old the game is compared to the other AAA-games out there or something.

So much for putting all that extra effort in, right?

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