New screens and interview from Newsweek inside.

NewsWeek's Level Up recently conducted an interview with Senior Producer Joel Wade about the forthcoming title The GodFather: Blackhand Edition for the Nintendo Wii. Here are some snippets from the interview.

NewsWeek: The Blackhand controls were an essential element of The Godfather on PS2 and Xbox. What was the philosophy behind translating those moves onto the Wii remote and the nunchuk? Have any new moves been added to Godfather Wii?

Joel Wade: The easiest approach for a developer of an existing game would be to figure out what gestures would work for the existing button-based actions, and simply plug them [into the Wii version.] Combat is core to The Godfather, and incredibly varied [punching, grabbing, strangling, throwing, clubbing, and shooting.] We knew that for the game to be successful we had to get the combat feeling just right, so decided to turn this approach on its head. We actually went around asking people to show us how they would throw a punch, or swing a bat. When we felt we had a good sample, we went out and re-mocapped most of our moves. We wanted to make it feel as close as possible to seeing "yourself" throw jabs and charged attacks.

Ultimately this philosophy led us to completely rework the melee system and make the nunchuk act as an extension of the player's left hand while the Wii remote would represent the player's right hand. We did also end up adding a bunch of new moves that suddenly made more sense for the controller. For example, grabbing and swinging both hands together does an overhead smash with a baseball bat, and making a twisting motion while garroting an enemy now performs a neck snap. Just to name a few.

NewsWeek: For those on the development team who worked on previous versions of The Godfather, how does using the Wii Remote and the Nunchuk change the feel and the vibe of the game experience?

Joel Wade: There is something inherently fun in grabbing the Wii controllers for the first time. When seasoned developers can pick up a game they've worked on for over two years and you see a smile quickly spread on their face you know you're doing something right. Grabbing an enemy with the two trigger buttons, swinging a crowbar with your arm, and pointing a firearm by pointing at the screen are all really powerful immersive experiences. Suddenly even non-gamers get excited when you show them what you can do just by moving your arms. Several weekends ago I had brought home my development Wii kit to play the game and take notes on anything that still needed polish. My girlfriend (a decided non-gamer) came over before we headed out to dinner and I let her play the tutorial missions while I finished getting ready. The next day I got a single-line text-message on my phone: "I want to throw more people around :-)"

NewsWeek: Does playing The Godfather on the Wii feel like a more violent or less violent experience as a result of using gestures for the actions--punching, slapping, throwing, pistol-whipping, etc.--than on the PS2 or the Xbox where you're simply pressing buttons and flicking the analog stick?

Joel Wade: The game was created to appeal to a more adult audience than any other Wii game. While the motion sensitivity of the Wii controller has allowed us to deliver a more interactive experience, we wanted to make sure we respected the fiction of the movie but not make it overly gratuitous. This is a Mafia game after all--not one about rainbows and puppies.

A few new screenshots were also available prior to the interview:

Click for Screens (3 new)