http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3154407
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1UP: That's true for the most part, but the Wii has changed things a little bit because it affords so many new gameplay possibilities. Are you thinking about sticking with more traditional game concepts or are you thinking about something that might take advantage of the Wii controller?
Inaba: I understand what you are saying, but I think that if you consider the Wii controller and you start making a game that takes advantage of the controller, then you might make a game that overuses that controller. I think making a game for a controller is a mistake. I think you make a game that is an interesting game and then if that controller makes the game more interesting then you implement those features. You don't make a "controller game" -- you make a game and then the controller makes it more interesting. I think a good example of this is The Eye of Judgement on the PS3. If you look at that game, it's about using a camera and cards and making monsters appear in your hand. That's not a game where they set out to say "oh we're going to make a camera game." It's a game that they probably had the idea for, thought about the abilities of the PS3 and then decided how to go about making that game a reality. That's the approach we want to take with our games in the future.
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Click on the link for the full interview. It's really sad to see their end, especially since Okami is such a great game to me in so many ways. There aren't many games in my mind that top this one, but I hope that wherever the members of the studio end up in, that they can share some of their magic in new games to come, no matter what system it's in.
Thank you, Clover.
I think you need a bit of both. If you design a game then look at how to use the controller it ends up feeling kind of tacked on and doesn't really take advantage of it, wheras if you design a game that attempts to use a controller to it's fullest you just end up with a tangled mess of connected tech demos.
You really have to do both at the same time, think of a new kind of game and think of what interesting possibilities the controller opens up that weren't there before. Then you have a game that's good in it's own right and is a brilliant showcase for the controller.
The exact same can be said for graphics, really. No one designs games thinking about how much they can push the power of the system, likewise they don't totally ignore the power and then later on try to enhance the plan they already have with the system's capabilities.
The studio shouldn't have closed, though. It was a seriously foolish decision by Capcom, in my opinion.