Ok no one has posted about this yet so I will do the honor. I could not find an article online to show this so I will cite the exact article from Game Informer issue 199 - November 2009.
DISCLAIMER - I do not own any of this text or published it.
Game Informer - Issue 199, November 2009, pg. 87
When Nintendo first announced the capabilities of the Wii remote, many speculated the system would revolutionize the FPS genre. It seemed a natural enough assumption, with the nunchuck handling movement and the remote tackling the aiming and shooting. Almost three years later, it's clear that the genre hasn't flourished on Nintendo's console. Metroid Prime 3, Medal of Honor, and The Conduit have proven that first-person controls on the Wii can be smooth and accessible, but other factors have prevented a full-scale FPS revolution. The Wii's cumbersome online system prevents easy access to friends, the Wii Zapper is a poorly designed joke of a peripheral, and there still isn't a widely used voice device for communicating in multiplayer matches (how many people do you know with WiiSpeak?).
Treyarch hopes to change that by bringing one of the most successful first-person shooters of all time to the Wii. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Reflec includes the full multiplayer experience from the PS3 and 360 versions. For the most part, this is a lower-resolution version of the shooter we all know and love. Treyarch is trying to make the Wii version match the original as closely as possible, but there are some minor additions. The most noteworthy is a feature that resembles a co-op mode, allowing a second player to play along in the main campaign. The first player controls all movement, while the second player has a seperate reticle allowing them to shoot alongside the first player at onscreen enemies. This works much in the same way as Super Mario Galaxy or the Wii version of Call of Duty: World at War, meaning a second player can join in or drop out at any time without disrupting gameplay.
Online multiplayer is limited to ten players, and there is no voice support whatsoever. While these limitations negatively affect the online experience, Treyarch offers one significant improvement: a new host migration feature. Players are no longer booted to the lobby if a host leaves the match, which means no more unexpected and abrupt endings to matches. If you have a list of Wii friends, it's possible to directly import them into COD 4 without having to manually enter any additional codes. It seems odd that is worth mentioning as a feature in 2009, but it's definitely a plus considering how many hoops Wii owners have to jump through to play against their friends online.
The most immediately noticeable change will obviously be the visual department. Treyarch is attempting to make the game look as good as possible by improving upon the graphics engine used for last year's World at War; the textures, fire effects, and explosions look surprisingly good for a Wii game. The developers also claim the game runs at a consistent 30 frames per second.
It won't be easy for Modern Warfare's Wii debut to garner attention. The original came out almost two years ago, and (most importantly) the entire gaming world's eyes will be firmly fixed on Modern Warfare 2 this holiday. If this were released a few months after COD 4's initial debut, this decision would make more sense. As it is, Activision is definitely gambling. If Treyarch comes through with its promise of fully cuztomizable controls and the uncut multiplayer experience, Wii owners might have something to look forward to come November. >> Dan Ryckert
For tl;dr readers: New port of CoD 4 on the Wii will surely have worse graphics. The single-player campaign will have some sort of co-op feature in which a second player can jump in and shoot along with the first player, kind of like an arcade two-player rail shooter or something. Online is limited to 10 players max, there is no voice support. However it will feature a host migration feature like upcoming MW 2 so that if a host leaves the match a new host will be picked so the match doesn't end. You will be able to import your list of friends on your Wii so you don't have to enter more friend codes for any of them who also play this game.
Ok so now, what are our thougths and views on this? Personally when I saw it as first glance I thought it was an immediate joke. How could CoD 4 possibly succeed on the Wii? Even with all this work to try and make the game as definite as possible like its other platform counterparts, you're talking about a game that came out 2 years ago that already succeeded on the other platforms with all the complete features the game should have but the Wii port won't. Not to mention it comes out Nov 10, isn't it the same day MW 2 comes out? Ouch. Good luck, you'll need it. Needless to say anyone who wants this should have gotten it on the other platforms anyway. If you want to play CoD 4, chances are you already own a 360, PS3, or PC that handles it, so I don't see how anyone would want to get this.
DISCLAIMER - I do not own any of this text or published it.
Game Informer - Issue 199, November 2009, pg. 87
When Nintendo first announced the capabilities of the Wii remote, many speculated the system would revolutionize the FPS genre. It seemed a natural enough assumption, with the nunchuck handling movement and the remote tackling the aiming and shooting. Almost three years later, it's clear that the genre hasn't flourished on Nintendo's console. Metroid Prime 3, Medal of Honor, and The Conduit have proven that first-person controls on the Wii can be smooth and accessible, but other factors have prevented a full-scale FPS revolution. The Wii's cumbersome online system prevents easy access to friends, the Wii Zapper is a poorly designed joke of a peripheral, and there still isn't a widely used voice device for communicating in multiplayer matches (how many people do you know with WiiSpeak?).
Treyarch hopes to change that by bringing one of the most successful first-person shooters of all time to the Wii. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Reflec includes the full multiplayer experience from the PS3 and 360 versions. For the most part, this is a lower-resolution version of the shooter we all know and love. Treyarch is trying to make the Wii version match the original as closely as possible, but there are some minor additions. The most noteworthy is a feature that resembles a co-op mode, allowing a second player to play along in the main campaign. The first player controls all movement, while the second player has a seperate reticle allowing them to shoot alongside the first player at onscreen enemies. This works much in the same way as Super Mario Galaxy or the Wii version of Call of Duty: World at War, meaning a second player can join in or drop out at any time without disrupting gameplay.
Online multiplayer is limited to ten players, and there is no voice support whatsoever. While these limitations negatively affect the online experience, Treyarch offers one significant improvement: a new host migration feature. Players are no longer booted to the lobby if a host leaves the match, which means no more unexpected and abrupt endings to matches. If you have a list of Wii friends, it's possible to directly import them into COD 4 without having to manually enter any additional codes. It seems odd that is worth mentioning as a feature in 2009, but it's definitely a plus considering how many hoops Wii owners have to jump through to play against their friends online.
The most immediately noticeable change will obviously be the visual department. Treyarch is attempting to make the game look as good as possible by improving upon the graphics engine used for last year's World at War; the textures, fire effects, and explosions look surprisingly good for a Wii game. The developers also claim the game runs at a consistent 30 frames per second.
It won't be easy for Modern Warfare's Wii debut to garner attention. The original came out almost two years ago, and (most importantly) the entire gaming world's eyes will be firmly fixed on Modern Warfare 2 this holiday. If this were released a few months after COD 4's initial debut, this decision would make more sense. As it is, Activision is definitely gambling. If Treyarch comes through with its promise of fully cuztomizable controls and the uncut multiplayer experience, Wii owners might have something to look forward to come November. >> Dan Ryckert
For tl;dr readers: New port of CoD 4 on the Wii will surely have worse graphics. The single-player campaign will have some sort of co-op feature in which a second player can jump in and shoot along with the first player, kind of like an arcade two-player rail shooter or something. Online is limited to 10 players max, there is no voice support. However it will feature a host migration feature like upcoming MW 2 so that if a host leaves the match a new host will be picked so the match doesn't end. You will be able to import your list of friends on your Wii so you don't have to enter more friend codes for any of them who also play this game.
Ok so now, what are our thougths and views on this? Personally when I saw it as first glance I thought it was an immediate joke. How could CoD 4 possibly succeed on the Wii? Even with all this work to try and make the game as definite as possible like its other platform counterparts, you're talking about a game that came out 2 years ago that already succeeded on the other platforms with all the complete features the game should have but the Wii port won't. Not to mention it comes out Nov 10, isn't it the same day MW 2 comes out? Ouch. Good luck, you'll need it. Needless to say anyone who wants this should have gotten it on the other platforms anyway. If you want to play CoD 4, chances are you already own a 360, PS3, or PC that handles it, so I don't see how anyone would want to get this.
