Top 5 Cancelled Wii Games

On 04/26/2013 at 10:04 AM by NintendoFanJon

Hey, hey, hey! Another blog in April!? Sacre Bleu! (Didn't take French not really sure what it means) Anyways I finally finished my list of top 5 cancelled Wii games. So I hope you enjoy and make sure to read or leave a comment! Perhaps there was a cancelled game I didn't mention!

5. Sadness

The saddest part about Sadness was waiting to see if it would ever come out. Developer Nibris certainly had an intriguing premise to their game. It was described to be a survival horror game with fresh, new ideas and a black and white style. The developers talked up the huge expectations and all of the various ideas within the game. Once they finished it would all be revealed at E3. So what happened? Nibris honestly only had ideas. Rumors surfaced that Nibris wasn't even working on the game. It even escalated to the point of the developer not having even received a dev kit for the Wii. After all the promises and hype Sadness faded away. This of course left the people who wanted the game just Sad...

4. Bonk: Brink of Exctinction

When Hudson was still around (R.I.P.) they made several big announcements for Wii. One big announcement was to revitalize an old TurboGrafx series in Bonk. The Bonk series had been re-energized thanks to Wii virtual console sales and Hudson saw the potential to literally bring Bonk from the Brink of Extinction. Pi Studios was set to develop the game and they were a fairly new studio. Images soon leaked and gameplay videos surfaced. So what happened? Konami happened. Konami bought out Hudson in what was supposed to be a fruitful partnership. Unfortunately it got swallowed up into a subsidiary. Once it started making mobile games, Hudson just faded. Once Hudson dissolved fully into Konami any hopes to have a new Bonk game became...Extinct.

3. The Grinder

Ah the Grinder... In what would be High Voltage Software's ambitious FPS game for Wii certainly turned out to be the biggest let down of all. Before announcing The Grinder High Voltage software developed The Conduit (A similar ambitious FPS shooter with online capabilities) for the Nintendo Wii. It seemed like a surefire thing. The Wii would have an exclusive FPS series and bring in hardcore fans. So what happened? The Conduit unfortunately suffered from a lack of strong sales and strong reviews (Currently at a 69 on Metacritic which is only about decent). High Voltage still promised to bring it (This time multiplatform) Unfortunately what came to be was The Conduit 2 which was supposed to fix the problems of the first game, but managed to do worse. High Voltage Software then cancelled The The Grinder after failing to grind into the FPS market.

2. Project H.A.M.M.E.R.

Project H.A.M.M.E.R. was certainly a unique case. Revealed during the Wii's launch demo and being developed by Nintendo was certainly something that guarenteed a successful game. The project that Nintendo was working on was a beat em up game that many Wii gamers might have enjoyed. Plus you got to smash everything with a hammer! While it wasn't playable, the demo certainly showed that Nintendo was working on a game that would most certainly come out. So what happened? The project got cancelled. Many gamers speculated it was just to show what exactly the Wii could do with motion controls and that the ideas within the game were applied to other titles. Others felt that Nintendo wasted an oppurtunity even when motion plus was announced rumors surfaced the game would return. But Nintendo ultimately dropped the hammer down on this cancelled title.

1. Tenkuu no Kishi Rodea (Rodea the Sky Soldier)

And the number 1 cancelled Wii game is Rodea the Sky Soldier. Yes I know it's still TBA according to Kadokawa and various other sources. However setting a goal for the game to be released sometime in 2013 is a bit lofty. According to Yuji Naka, founder of Prope and 1 of 3 people credited for making Sonic...the Wii version is finished. It's done, complete, ready to go. So what's holding it back? Kadokawa is. While it may certainly see a 3DS release as the 3DS is currently the new portable system, the Wii has reached it's end. So what's happening? I have absolutely no idea. Xseed has stated it would help bring the game stateside should it ever see the light of day (The 3DS version they are less keen on). Kadokawa still has it listed on their website and until that website goes down...I'm going to remain optimistic. But if TBA really does mean That This bitch ain't coming then I will be one of the many who is sad disappointed to not travel through the skies with Rodea.

Nick DiMola Director

04/26/2013 at 11:06 AM

Don't feel too bad about The Grinder. I played it at E3 2009 (I think, could've been 10) and it was just awful. It was essentially a poor man's Left 4 Dead with some very serious problems.

While High Voltage seemed like a real boon for Wii gamers, most of their stuff was just subpar. The Grinder would've reviewed similarly to The Conduit 1 and 2 and Tournament of Legends.

I have no tears for Sadness either. It was painfully obvious from day 1 that it was vaporware, but it continued to get press. Now Project HAMMER on the other hand is a game I still totally want to play...

NintendoFanJon

04/26/2013 at 01:47 PM

I really enjoyed the first Conduit game. It definitely could have been better and it's parctically unplayable online thanks to the people who mod the spam rocket launcher, but I really did think it was decent at least. I have yet to play tournament of Legends or Conduit 2, but yeah I haven't heard good things lol.

I think Sadness was a really unique case of just ambition clouding fact. I mean Nibris really seemed to have a neat idea...even if it was only an idea. Project HAMMER. I think might have ended up like a MadWorld. I can see why it was cancelled, but at the same time just the idea alone is enough for me to be like I want to smash crap with a hammer Nintendo! Take my money and make the game already!

Alex-C25

04/26/2013 at 11:36 AM

I heard about Project HAMMER and it's cancellation. The game did had potential to be pretty good based on some screenshots I saw years ago. Really sad it went nowhere.

04/26/2013 at 01:51 PM

I still think they could have made the game when Wii Motion Plus was announced...sadly it never came to be. I guess thats why Nintendo makes projects at times. Like with the Mario 128 thing, aspects of that were translated to other Mario games. Perhaps Whatever project HAMMER could have been was put into other titles.

mothman

04/26/2013 at 05:15 PM

I'd completely forgotten about Sadness and I didn't know there was supposed to be a new Bonk which I would have definitely been interested in. I've never heard of the Sky Soldier game.

Thanks for the info. Good blog.

04/26/2013 at 07:32 PM

Yeah the new Bonk was something I was excited for. I bought the Turbo-Grafx games based on positive reviews. They were incredibly fun and I was so excited for the new game. It's too bad really what happened with it. Also I'm glad to have shed light on Rodea for someone else. We need to support the game getting released. I'll make my own campaign! I gotta have it!

BrokenH

04/26/2013 at 05:20 PM

Figures, we got news of another great survival horror game only for it to be as elusive and etheral as an urban legend!

04/26/2013 at 07:35 PM

I really thought that Sadness would've made a really unique game...had it actually been made of course. From the developer interviews and images I've seen the game seemed like it could've really been something. Alas the idea just wasn't enough to become a game.

Cary Woodham

04/26/2013 at 06:25 PM

I still have a Bonk: Brink of Extinction T-shirt from when they showed off that game at E3 or PAX (can't remember where I was at now). Hudson was actually a very strong supporter of the Wii.

04/26/2013 at 07:38 PM

Oh man that would have been great to get a T-shirt. I really did like what Hudson was doing for the Wii. They really had some unique games released for it. I remember when Lost in Shadow was announced and I just thought how unique it was or something like Kororinpa with it's simple, yet highly addictive gameplay. It really is sad not to see them in the game business anymore.

PixlBit