Puzzle platformer de Blob racked up impressive sales for a third-party Wii game. THQ CEO Brian Farrell hopes the sequel will be successful on other platforms as well.
JC Fletcher from Joystick writes: When THQ announced that the De Blob franchise would continue this year, we didn't imagine it had anything this big in store for what we thought of as a semi-obscure Wii franchise. The publisher has partnered with the Syfy Channel (ugh) on a new banner called Syfy Kids, a multimedia initiative including web content, TV, and games -- and De Blob is going to be featured heavily.
THQ's unique paint-splattering Wii game de Blob has sold over 700K units worldwide, CEO Brian Farrell said on Tuesday during the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in San Francisco. Even in a wretched retail environment, the game has been able to hold its original $49.99 price point after about five months of availability. We can make money on games like that, Farrell said.
Launching an original core IP on the Wii is a bit risky, but it looks like THQ's investment in de Blob is paying off.
THQ's unique action puzzler, De Blob, took home five awards at the annual Games Developers' Association of Australia (GDAA) Awards on November 21st.
MTV Multiplayer's Patrick Klepek reports: After Nintendo unveiled their MotionPlus add-on for the Wiimote at E3, rumors suggested several companies were upset they weren't tipped off about the device. MotionPlus finally will allow for 1:1 motion control, a criticism leveled at the Wiimote since its release. Nick Hagger, the producer of Wii's de Blob, however, told me MotionPlus could lead to unneeded complexity to motion controls.
Screen Play: Next week THQ is holding a party in Melbourne to celebrate the release of de Blob on Wii. The creative platform game, which sees players trying to bring fun back to Chroma city after a hostile invasion by splashing paint around the landscape, has been developed by local studio Blue Tongue based on a free downloadable game for PC designed by students in The Netherlands.
In a surprise move, Nintendo have announced a new brand, targeted at casual gamers, much like EA's 'Freeplay' range. This new brand goes by the name of 'Shake it Up Baby', and will allow less seasoned gamers to jump right in to the most complicated of games. More Ahead..
'The first third-party Wii game that would have Mr. Miyamoto bowing in awed respect. De Blob is da bomb! Gameplayer are reporting that the Wii has finally scored its third-party killer app, with the current issue of Ultimate Nintendo rewarding the game with the top score.
Speaking to VideoGamer.com de Blob lead producer Nick Hagger said that while the team didn't need a HDD for de Blob there are loads of things we could do with it. Hagger's comments come as speculation surrounding a possible Wii HDD release reaches critical mass. Earlier in the month a Nintendo job posting revealed the Japanese firm was seeking staff who have experience in developing software for USB. It's always good to have more storage space available, but we didn't need it for de Blob. I think it would be awesome if there was an HDD for the Wii; there are loads of things we could do with it. Let's keep our fingers crossed, said Hagger.
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