MadWorld
Encyclopedia
is a video game developed by Platinum Games and published by Sega
. It was released for the Wii
on March 10, 2009 in North America
, on March 20 in Europe
, March 26 in Australia
, and February 10 in Japan
. It was re-released in Australia on March 11, 2010 in Sega Australia's
"Welcome To Violence" boxset, which also includes House of the Dead: Overkill and The Conduit
.
MadWorld is divided into several levels representing different parts of Jefferson Island that have been converted into sets for the game show "DeathWatch". The player progresses through these levels in a linear fashion during the first playthrough, but can revisit any completed level to attempt to score more points or take on a harder challenge.
Most levels are open environments, allowing the player to explore them freely, although some sections of the level may require the player to earn a number of points before it will be accessible. A few levels feature motorcycle-based combat where the main character, Jack, is assaulted by foes as they race down a track or in a small arena. The player is challenged to beat the level's boss within a time limit, but in order to activate the boss fight, the player must accumulate enough points by defeating regular foes on the level. There will also be other challenges, bonuses, or mini-bosses that will become active after the player accumulates enough points. A common feature of each of these levels is the "Bloodbath Challenge", a time-limited minigame that rewards the player for completing a specific type of activity with additional points. For example, the player may need to attempt to swing a bat at foes to knock them into a giant dartboard to score points, or to ensure foes are trapped in front of a speeding train. Outside of these challenges, the player is awarded points for every defeat of a foe. The amount of points for beating foes increases by increasing the foe's power or using more unusual methods of winning. For example, while the player could throw an enemy on a wall, the player will earn significantly more points if they had previously forced a tire around the enemy.
The player controls Jack from a third-person perspective using the Wii Remote
and Nunchuk attachment for attacks and movement, respectively. MadWorld does not make use of the Wii Remote's infrared sensor, as its developers found it unnecessary to pinpoint movements on the screen in order to attack. When certain special attacks are possible, the player is prompted to press a button or move the controllers in a specific fashion to complete the action. In boss fights, the player must trigger special finishing moves that engage their foe in a series of quick time event
s in order to weaken, dismember attached weapons or defeat the boss, called Power Struggles. These are also possible against certain normal enemies.
The game features extreme, over-the-top violence, but designer Shigenori Nishikawa intends it to be seen in a comical light despite the dark tone of the game. For example, in a minigame
called "Man Darts", players must hit enemies onto a giant dart board with a baseball bat to score points. However, because of the intended level of violence Platinum Games is unsure of whether or not the game will ultimately be released in Japan
, stating "In certain markets there are a lot of limitations on the amount of violence you can show, so we definitely have the Western market much more in mind".
MadWorld features highly stylized graphics that use a limited color palette of high contrast black and white with red, partially inspired by Frank Miller
's Sin City
graphic novels.
called "DeathWatch", with announcers Howard "Buckshot" Holmes (Greg Proops
) and former DeathWatch fighter Kreese Kreeley (John DiMaggio
). The remaining citizens of Varrigan City as well as new hopefuls become the show's contestants, hoping to become the top-ranked fighter in the game and win a large cash prize.
Jack Cayman (Steven Blum
), a man with a retractable chainsaw built onto one arm, enters the games and manages to gain sponsorship from "Agent XIII" (Jim Ward
). The game's organizers, led by Noa (Dwight Schultz
), realize that Jack's motive is more than just to win, and learn that Jack is working with someone on the outside. They come to learn that Jack was a former marine, police officer, and rogue agent, but now seems intent on a mission. Noa surmises that Jack is after the mayor's daughter, who is still inside the city. While they could kill Jack at any time, they realize Jack has become an audience favorite, with many sponsors and viewers betting on his success, and are forced to try to kill Jack while he is in combat.
Jack, meanwhile, saves Leo (Danny Cooksey
), a doctor from a hospital that was unwittingly trapped in the city but managed to obtain the vaccine. Jack tells Leo to try to stay low until the games are over, and continues to seek the mayor's daughter. When he finds her, he realizes she's willingly staying in the city to watch and be near to the games. Jack refuses to do anything for her. Instead he seeks to find out exactly how and why Varrigan City became DeathWatch, recognizing that there was no way that the city could have been transformed that fast without deep planning. Meanwhile, the Organizers come to realize that Jack is the reigning champ, who quit the games by signing on to the Chasers. As Jack nears the last battle against reigning - feigning champ The Black Baron (Reno Wilson
), Agent XIII reveals himself to be Lord Gesser, an influential figure in politics. Lord Gesser reveals that he knows that the DeathWatch games were created to quench mankind's thirst for blood and violence in the absence of war, but admits that this particular incarnation of the games is solely driven by someone's greed, and passes on the name of Springvale to Jack and the Agency. The Agency quickly recognizes the name as a pharmaceutical company and that they were the silent hand that had built, in anticipation of DeathWatch, much of the sets for the games as soon as the Organizers had released the virus.
Jack fights and defeats the Black Baron, bludgeoning him on the Man Darts game one last time. After the battle, Noa attempts to accost him, but he is shot and killed by Leo. After dealing with the armed forces, Jack disables his communication link with the Chasers. Leo tries to thank Jack for his help, but Jack slices into his side. As Leo writhes in pain, Jack tells him he is aware that Leo's father, the president of Springvale Pharmaceuticals, had created both the virus and the vaccine, and were planning to use the televised DeathWatch event to demonstrate the effects of the virus as to blackmail other countries to pay handsomely for the vaccine under threat of the virus' release. Leo admits that their company lost a large amount of money on the last presidential election and saw this route as the easiest way to recoup their losses, and implies that the mass infection was designed to perfect the cure. Leo then admits he was only in the games to be close to the action, fascinated by the sport, and then begs for Jack to help him. Instead, Jack skewers him on his chainsaw and tosses the body off the high tower, stating "I don't help people, I kill them".
During the credits, Jack is shown presumably escaping from Varrigan City on his motorcycle while the announcers comically complain about the irrelevance of the credits.
. The black-and-white motif ultimately lead to the graphic novel-type approach used in them; both Inaba and Shigenori Nishikawa acknowledged the influence of Frank Miller
's Sin City
into the work, but also noted they borrowed from both Western and Japanese comic book styles to create a unique style.
MadWorld was developed using Softimage for creation of the game's art, and a custom engine built to handle the art aesthetic and limitations of the Wii's memory. The game's sets are completely modeled with complex lighting features, but only normal maps
are used to draw the game, avoiding the high-processing costs of light maps or layered textures. This also allowed the game's artists to have finer control of visibility and color balance in the game. Though the developers attempted to add reflection mapping
into the game, they found it did not fit well with the comic-book style and dropped it. Explosions and other effects, normally created in other games using particle effect
s to achieve a factor of realism, were also modeled with particles in MadWorld, but using specially-designed images to retain the comic book style.
To overcome the lighting issues, the main character of Jack was modeled with two different textures, one used when he was in a bright area, and second used in dark areas that highlighted the main lines of the character's face. Jack and other principal characters from the game were redesigned with the black-and-white features adjusted numerous times to make sure they did not simply blend into the background as the lesser enemies in the game. Other characters were drawn and modeled to be as destructible as possible, with numerous versions of each character having missing limbs or other bodily harm. These were put together in 2000-frame animations that were then motion-captured; movement from one animation to another was blended out with the use of Hermite interpolation
. Blood spurts from each of the methods that Jack could use to kill a foe were each uniquely modeled to capture the appropriate trajectory for the type of injury, and often increasing the realistic amount of blood in order to make it stand out in the world. The spatters of blood on the walls, floor, and other characters was also modeled within the game using a collision detection system and a complex system for how the blood would interact with Jack's clothing. Early builds of the game resulted in disorientation and eye strain due to the lack of colors. To avoid this, the developers limited the amount of on-screen movement and adjusted the game's textures to include more gradual changes from black to white. While some of MadWorld relies on the Havok
engine for modeling physical interactions in the game, the developers found they had to resort to their own programs to capture some of the reactions and behaviors of the enemies for many of the unique killing methods.
Comparisons have also been drawn between the game and Inaba's last project, God Hand
, a comedy beat 'em up for the PlayStation 2
. However, Inaba claims that while God Hand was developed for "hardcore" gamers, MadWorld is "a lot easier to pick up." The game's use of over-the-top violence was intentional to add humor to it.
The game's story was written by Yasumi Matsuno
, famous for his design in the Ogre Battle
series and a number of Square Enix
titles. Matsuno was given two opposing guidelines to writing the scenario. While the development team ruled that violence should acceptable in the game's world, Inaba expressed his desire for violence to be "denied in the end" due to current views of violence in the video game industry. Matsuno combined the ideas for MadWorld' s DeathWatch gameshow environment: violence is both accepted and required within the show, but not outside of it.
Greg Proops
and John DiMaggio
, who had previously worked together on animated films such as Asterix and the Vikings
and Kaena: The Prophecy
, were both contacted by the voice cast director Jack Fletcher
to play the parts of the announcers for the North American and European release. While most of their lines were already scripted, the two were able to ad-lib
during recording, with some lines being retained in the final game.
at the request of Inaba, rap
, and rock
, including inspirations from the mashup album Collision Course
from Linkin Park
and Jay-Z
. Tanaka created the backtracks first using Cubase SX
and ACID
, then gave these, along with the general theme of the level associated with the music, to the artists for them to add lyrics and other performances. Tanaka received feedback from the American branch of Platinum Games to refine the music to get the Western style down. Music was then assigned for the various stages and boss battles, requiring some revision of the existing works to make the music more apt for that stage of the game. A total of 50 minutes of music was created for the game, and a soundtrack of the game's music was released along with the game in the United Kingdom and Australia. The soundtrack was released in North America on June 30, 2009 by Sumthing Distribution
.
, has expressed his distaste over the game's content, stating his desire for it to not receive a rating from the BBFC
, which would effectively ban it from being sold. He stated "We need to ensure that modern and civilized values take priority rather than killing and maiming people." Fans' response to the organization have been hostile, accusing mediawatch-uk of being "cowards" and "narrow-minded bigots."
On August 19, 2008, Sega announced that MadWorld will not be released in Germany
. Sega has released MadWorld in Australia, another country with strict video game classification. Despite this, the game has been released in Australia unedited, with an MA15+ rating.
Nintendo
representatives have supported the game, reiterating that the Wii is a system for anybody, including adults, and that the game, like all video games, would be rated and would therefore be available for purchase to people of and above that age rating. In a preview, Eurogamer
commented: "It's difficult to understand why there's so much controversy surrounding MadWorld when the violence is so very Tom and Jerry
... It really is hard to be offended... because it's just so ridiculous."
On March 10, the National Institute on Media and the Family
issued a press release expressing its disappointment in Nintendo for allowing Madworld to be released on the Wii. Stating, "In the past, the Wii has successfully sold itself as being the gaming console for the entire family and a way to bring family-game nights back into people's living rooms. Unfortunately, Nintendo opened its doors to the violent videogame genre, since the video game contains such outrages and violent content
gave MadWorld a 9/10 rating. IGN gave the game a 9.0/10, praising the style, gameplay, and music, but criticizing the camera and short length, though it mentions that the hard difficulty level lengthens the game and increases the challenge considerably. Eurogamer
gave MadWorld 7/10. Pixel Hunt called it "one of the few must-have Wii titles". StageSelect.com praised the title for its artistic game design, but stated that the overall delivery had trouble living up to the hype. About.com felt the game was more flash than substance, giving it a 3/5 and stating that, "Divorced of its unique graphics and over-the-top presentation, this is actually a rather mediocre beat-em-up."
Game Informer
disagreed, praising the deep combat system and arguing that "for an amateur to become a talented executioner, you'll have to lash out creatively, prolonging your victim's death through multiple phases of pain. MadWorld runs the gamut in violence, taking an encyclopedic approach to its variety in kills. Some of the bloodletting will make you squirm uncomfortably." IGN
noted that "you might trap an enemy in a tire, stab him several times with street signs and then slam him into a wall of spikes -- the entire act will earn you several times the point value you'd garner if you had simply butchered the foe with a chainsaw instead. This combo system plays heavily into the action and if you don't respect it, your quest will be more difficult," "the developer has created an assortment of kills exclusive to certain regions, some of them weapon-based and others environmental," and "the controls feel well thought out and responsive;" concluding that "MadWorld does not place emphasis on style over gameplay...there's plenty of fun, smart mechanics to back up the overwhelmingly slick look and sound of the title."
. These sales numbers have been used by market research firm OTX Research to justify their assertion that hype and marketing do not translate into sales figures; MadWorld, while commanding the "highest level of unique interest" based on user input at IGN
, ranks 41st in OTX's sales metric for all Wii titles. Sales of the game have reached 123,000 units in North America as of August 2009. MadWorld fared much poorer in Japan, where it debuted at number 33 on Japanese sales charts and only selling around 3,000 units during its release week. It eventually went to sell 640,000 copies worldwide.
Despite low sales for both MadWorld and The House of the Dead: Overkill
, Sega stated that it would continue to explore mature games for the Wii, according to Gary Dunn, a director at Sega Europe, noting that such games have a long tail
in sales as such games become more discounted. On January 4, 2010 it was announced that Sega would unlikely publish any future M-rated video games for the Wii. Nevertheless, Platinum Games announced a few days later that they would like to do a sequel to MadWorld. An upcoming "massively-multiplayer melee fighting action" game currently in development by Platinum Games for PlayStation 3
and Xbox 360
, titled Anarchy Reigns
, will feature Jack Cayman and the Black Baron as playable characters.
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
. It was released for the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
on March 10, 2009 in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, on March 20 in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, March 26 in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and February 10 in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. It was re-released in Australia on March 11, 2010 in Sega Australia's
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
"Welcome To Violence" boxset, which also includes House of the Dead: Overkill and The Conduit
The Conduit
The Conduit is a first-person shooter video game developed by High Voltage Software for the Wii console. The Conduit was first revealed by the developer on the video game website IGN on April 17, 2008, and on October 29, 2008, the developer announced that Sega had signed on to be the game's...
.
Gameplay
Most levels are open environments, allowing the player to explore them freely, although some sections of the level may require the player to earn a number of points before it will be accessible. A few levels feature motorcycle-based combat where the main character, Jack, is assaulted by foes as they race down a track or in a small arena. The player is challenged to beat the level's boss within a time limit, but in order to activate the boss fight, the player must accumulate enough points by defeating regular foes on the level. There will also be other challenges, bonuses, or mini-bosses that will become active after the player accumulates enough points. A common feature of each of these levels is the "Bloodbath Challenge", a time-limited minigame that rewards the player for completing a specific type of activity with additional points. For example, the player may need to attempt to swing a bat at foes to knock them into a giant dartboard to score points, or to ensure foes are trapped in front of a speeding train. Outside of these challenges, the player is awarded points for every defeat of a foe. The amount of points for beating foes increases by increasing the foe's power or using more unusual methods of winning. For example, while the player could throw an enemy on a wall, the player will earn significantly more points if they had previously forced a tire around the enemy.
The player controls Jack from a third-person perspective using the Wii Remote
Wii Remote
The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...
and Nunchuk attachment for attacks and movement, respectively. MadWorld does not make use of the Wii Remote's infrared sensor, as its developers found it unnecessary to pinpoint movements on the screen in order to attack. When certain special attacks are possible, the player is prompted to press a button or move the controllers in a specific fashion to complete the action. In boss fights, the player must trigger special finishing moves that engage their foe in a series of quick time event
Quick Time Event
In video games, a Quick Time Event is a method of context-sensitive gameplay in which the player performs actions on the control device shortly after the appearance of an on-screen prompt. It allows for limited control of the game character during cut scenes or cinematic sequences in the game...
s in order to weaken, dismember attached weapons or defeat the boss, called Power Struggles. These are also possible against certain normal enemies.
The game features extreme, over-the-top violence, but designer Shigenori Nishikawa intends it to be seen in a comical light despite the dark tone of the game. For example, in a minigame
Minigame
A minigame is a short video game often contained within another video game. A minigame is always smaller or more simplistic than the game in which it is contained. Minigames are sometimes also offered separately for free to promote the main game...
called "Man Darts", players must hit enemies onto a giant dart board with a baseball bat to score points. However, because of the intended level of violence Platinum Games is unsure of whether or not the game will ultimately be released in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, stating "In certain markets there are a lot of limitations on the amount of violence you can show, so we definitely have the Western market much more in mind".
MadWorld features highly stylized graphics that use a limited color palette of high contrast black and white with red, partially inspired by Frank Miller
Frank Miller (comics)
Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...
's Sin City
Sin City
Sin City is the title for a series of neo-noir comics by Frank Miller. The first story originally appeared in "Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special" , and continued in Dark Horse Presents #51–62 from May 1991 to June 1992, under the title of Sin City, serialized in thirteen parts. Several...
graphic novels.
Plot
Three days prior to the events in the game, the fictional Varrigan City had become a target for a group of terrorists known as "The Organizers", who severed the island city's transportation and communication ties with the rest of the world, and then released a virus onto its population that would kill them in less than 24 hours. However, the Organizers informed the populace that any person that killed another would receive the vaccine. The city was quickly transformed into the stage of a recurring game showGame show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
called "DeathWatch", with announcers Howard "Buckshot" Holmes (Greg Proops
Greg Proops
Gregory Everett "Greg" Proops is an American actor, stand-up comedian and television host. He is widely known for his work as an improvisational comedian on the UK and U.S. versions of Whose Line Is It Anyway?...
) and former DeathWatch fighter Kreese Kreeley (John DiMaggio
John DiMaggio
John William DiMaggio is an American voice actor. A native of North Plainfield, New Jersey, he is known for his gruff, deep voice and New Jersey accent, which he uses to voice mainly villains and anti-heroes.-Filmography:...
). The remaining citizens of Varrigan City as well as new hopefuls become the show's contestants, hoping to become the top-ranked fighter in the game and win a large cash prize.
Jack Cayman (Steven Blum
Steven Blum
Steven Jay Blum is an American voice actor known primarily for his work in anime dubs and video games, using his distinctive deep voice. Among his credits include the voice of Spike Spiegel of the anime series Cowboy Bebop and Mugen of the anime series Samurai Champloo...
), a man with a retractable chainsaw built onto one arm, enters the games and manages to gain sponsorship from "Agent XIII" (Jim Ward
Jim Ward (voice actor)
James Kevin "Jim" Ward is a voice actor who has contributed to a large number of video games and movies. He co-hosts The Stephanie Miller Show, a nationally-syndicated liberal radio talk show which features a number of his impersonations of political figures and other celebrities and newsmakers...
). The game's organizers, led by Noa (Dwight Schultz
Dwight Schultz
William Dwight Schultz is an American stage, television, film actor, and voice artist. He is best known for his roles as Captain "Howling Mad" Murdock on the 1980s action show The A-Team, and as Reginald Barclay in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, and the film Star Trek: First...
), realize that Jack's motive is more than just to win, and learn that Jack is working with someone on the outside. They come to learn that Jack was a former marine, police officer, and rogue agent, but now seems intent on a mission. Noa surmises that Jack is after the mayor's daughter, who is still inside the city. While they could kill Jack at any time, they realize Jack has become an audience favorite, with many sponsors and viewers betting on his success, and are forced to try to kill Jack while he is in combat.
Jack, meanwhile, saves Leo (Danny Cooksey
Danny Cooksey
Danny Cooksey is an American singer, actor and voice actor. He has been in show business since he was very young and is best remembered for playing the roles of Sam McKinney on the last years of the TV show Diff'rent Strokes and Robert "Bobby" Budnick on the Nickelodeon program, Salute Your...
), a doctor from a hospital that was unwittingly trapped in the city but managed to obtain the vaccine. Jack tells Leo to try to stay low until the games are over, and continues to seek the mayor's daughter. When he finds her, he realizes she's willingly staying in the city to watch and be near to the games. Jack refuses to do anything for her. Instead he seeks to find out exactly how and why Varrigan City became DeathWatch, recognizing that there was no way that the city could have been transformed that fast without deep planning. Meanwhile, the Organizers come to realize that Jack is the reigning champ, who quit the games by signing on to the Chasers. As Jack nears the last battle against reigning - feigning champ The Black Baron (Reno Wilson
Reno Wilson
Roy Reno Wilson is an American actor and voice artist who has appeared in a number of television programs and films. His first television role was on the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show, where he portrayed Theo Huxtable's college friend Howard during Seasons 5 and 6 of the series...
), Agent XIII reveals himself to be Lord Gesser, an influential figure in politics. Lord Gesser reveals that he knows that the DeathWatch games were created to quench mankind's thirst for blood and violence in the absence of war, but admits that this particular incarnation of the games is solely driven by someone's greed, and passes on the name of Springvale to Jack and the Agency. The Agency quickly recognizes the name as a pharmaceutical company and that they were the silent hand that had built, in anticipation of DeathWatch, much of the sets for the games as soon as the Organizers had released the virus.
Jack fights and defeats the Black Baron, bludgeoning him on the Man Darts game one last time. After the battle, Noa attempts to accost him, but he is shot and killed by Leo. After dealing with the armed forces, Jack disables his communication link with the Chasers. Leo tries to thank Jack for his help, but Jack slices into his side. As Leo writhes in pain, Jack tells him he is aware that Leo's father, the president of Springvale Pharmaceuticals, had created both the virus and the vaccine, and were planning to use the televised DeathWatch event to demonstrate the effects of the virus as to blackmail other countries to pay handsomely for the vaccine under threat of the virus' release. Leo admits that their company lost a large amount of money on the last presidential election and saw this route as the easiest way to recoup their losses, and implies that the mass infection was designed to perfect the cure. Leo then admits he was only in the games to be close to the action, fascinated by the sport, and then begs for Jack to help him. Instead, Jack skewers him on his chainsaw and tosses the body off the high tower, stating "I don't help people, I kill them".
During the credits, Jack is shown presumably escaping from Varrigan City on his motorcycle while the announcers comically complain about the irrelevance of the credits.
Development
MadWorld was created by Platinum Games in their attempt to make a game that would be "fun and attractive" for the Wii, but that would also have a high level of violence that would make it unique among other games. Their aim was to make use of a simpler and more elegant art style, leading them to develop the black-and-white scheme. However, this choice was not due to any limitations of the Wii's hardware, according to producer Atsushi InabaAtsushi Inaba
is a Japanese video game producer for Platinum Games. He is also the former CEO and producer of the Capcom subsidiary Clover Studio, best known as the creative force behind Viewtiful Joe, Ōkami and God Hand.-Career:...
. The black-and-white motif ultimately lead to the graphic novel-type approach used in them; both Inaba and Shigenori Nishikawa acknowledged the influence of Frank Miller
Frank Miller (comics)
Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...
's Sin City
Sin City
Sin City is the title for a series of neo-noir comics by Frank Miller. The first story originally appeared in "Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special" , and continued in Dark Horse Presents #51–62 from May 1991 to June 1992, under the title of Sin City, serialized in thirteen parts. Several...
into the work, but also noted they borrowed from both Western and Japanese comic book styles to create a unique style.
MadWorld was developed using Softimage for creation of the game's art, and a custom engine built to handle the art aesthetic and limitations of the Wii's memory. The game's sets are completely modeled with complex lighting features, but only normal maps
Normal mapping
In 3D computer graphics, normal mapping, or "Dot3 bump mapping", is a technique used for faking the lighting of bumps and dents. It is used to add details without using more polygons. A common use of this technique is to greatly enhance the appearance and details of a low polygon model by...
are used to draw the game, avoiding the high-processing costs of light maps or layered textures. This also allowed the game's artists to have finer control of visibility and color balance in the game. Though the developers attempted to add reflection mapping
Reflection mapping
In computer graphics, environment mapping, or reflection mapping, is an efficient Image-based lighting technique for approximating the appearance of a reflective surface by means of a precomputed texture image. The texture is used to store the image of the distant environment surrounding the...
into the game, they found it did not fit well with the comic-book style and dropped it. Explosions and other effects, normally created in other games using particle effect
Particle system
The term particle system refers to a computer graphics technique to simulate certain fuzzy phenomena, which are otherwise very hard to reproduce with conventional rendering techniques...
s to achieve a factor of realism, were also modeled with particles in MadWorld, but using specially-designed images to retain the comic book style.
To overcome the lighting issues, the main character of Jack was modeled with two different textures, one used when he was in a bright area, and second used in dark areas that highlighted the main lines of the character's face. Jack and other principal characters from the game were redesigned with the black-and-white features adjusted numerous times to make sure they did not simply blend into the background as the lesser enemies in the game. Other characters were drawn and modeled to be as destructible as possible, with numerous versions of each character having missing limbs or other bodily harm. These were put together in 2000-frame animations that were then motion-captured; movement from one animation to another was blended out with the use of Hermite interpolation
Hermite interpolation
In numerical analysis, Hermite interpolation, named after Charles Hermite, is a method of interpolating data points as a polynomial function. The generated Hermite polynomial is closely related to the Newton polynomial, in that both are derived from the calculation of divided differences.Unlike...
. Blood spurts from each of the methods that Jack could use to kill a foe were each uniquely modeled to capture the appropriate trajectory for the type of injury, and often increasing the realistic amount of blood in order to make it stand out in the world. The spatters of blood on the walls, floor, and other characters was also modeled within the game using a collision detection system and a complex system for how the blood would interact with Jack's clothing. Early builds of the game resulted in disorientation and eye strain due to the lack of colors. To avoid this, the developers limited the amount of on-screen movement and adjusted the game's textures to include more gradual changes from black to white. While some of MadWorld relies on the Havok
Havok (software)
Havok Physics is a physics engine developed by Irish company Havok. It is designed primarily for video games, and allows for real-time collision and dynamics of rigid bodies in three dimensions. It provides multiple types of dynamic constraints between rigid bodies , and has a highly optimized...
engine for modeling physical interactions in the game, the developers found they had to resort to their own programs to capture some of the reactions and behaviors of the enemies for many of the unique killing methods.
Comparisons have also been drawn between the game and Inaba's last project, God Hand
God Hand
God Hand is a 2006 PlayStation 2 gameGod hand may also refer to:-Video games:* Ken "Godhand" Mishima, a character from the PlayStation game, Ehrgeiz* Godhand, the demonic version of Lenny from Shadow Hearts: Covenant...
, a comedy beat 'em up for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
. However, Inaba claims that while God Hand was developed for "hardcore" gamers, MadWorld is "a lot easier to pick up." The game's use of over-the-top violence was intentional to add humor to it.
The game's story was written by Yasumi Matsuno
Yasumi Matsuno
is a video game designer. He is one of a few designers to have two games receive a perfect score by Famitsu magazine. Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy XII were critically acclaimed by the magazine with a 40/40 score.-Early projects:...
, famous for his design in the Ogre Battle
Ogre Battle
"Ogre Battle" may refer to:*Ogre Battle , a song by English rock band Queen from their album Queen II.* The Ogre Battle series of tactical role-playing games, which include:**Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen...
series and a number of Square Enix
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
titles. Matsuno was given two opposing guidelines to writing the scenario. While the development team ruled that violence should acceptable in the game's world, Inaba expressed his desire for violence to be "denied in the end" due to current views of violence in the video game industry. Matsuno combined the ideas for MadWorld
Greg Proops
Greg Proops
Gregory Everett "Greg" Proops is an American actor, stand-up comedian and television host. He is widely known for his work as an improvisational comedian on the UK and U.S. versions of Whose Line Is It Anyway?...
and John DiMaggio
John DiMaggio
John William DiMaggio is an American voice actor. A native of North Plainfield, New Jersey, he is known for his gruff, deep voice and New Jersey accent, which he uses to voice mainly villains and anti-heroes.-Filmography:...
, who had previously worked together on animated films such as Asterix and the Vikings
Asterix and the Vikings
Asterix and the Vikings is an animated feature film, produced in France and Denmark, and directed by Stefan Fjeldmark and Jesper Møller. The story was adapted from the graphic novel Asterix and the Normans, which was written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo...
and Kaena: The Prophecy
Kaena: The Prophecy
Kaena: The Prophecy is a 2003 French-Canadian computer-generated fantasy movie. The United States release of the film is distributed by Sony Pictures and features the voices of Kirsten Dunst, Richard Harris, Anjelica Huston, Keith David and Ciara Janson.The idea originally started out as a...
, were both contacted by the voice cast director Jack Fletcher
Jack Fletcher
Jack Fletcher is a voice actor, casting director, and voice director. He has done voice casting and direction for many high-profile anime and video game projects. In addition, he is a well known and respected theatre director and teacher, having spent a number of years teaching and directing at the...
to play the parts of the announcers for the North American and European release. While most of their lines were already scripted, the two were able to ad-lib
Ad libitum
Ad libitum is Latin for "at one's pleasure"; it is often shortened to "ad lib" or "ad-lib"...
during recording, with some lines being retained in the final game.
Soundtrack
The music for the game was composed by Naoto Tanaka, Platinum Games' in-house composer, along with four different local artists—OX, Doujah Raze, Sick-YG, and Bandy Leggz. Tanaka wanted to "write in American style music and tried to avoid a true Japanese style". This included using music styles such as hip hopHip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
at the request of Inaba, rap
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
, and rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, including inspirations from the mashup album Collision Course
Collision Course (album)
Critics were divided over Collision Course, with some praising the album, while others negatively received it.David Jeffries of allmusic praised the album, calling it "awesomely fun". K.B...
from Linkin Park
Linkin Park
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. Formed in 1996, the band rose to international fame with their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2005 and multi-platinum in several other countries...
and Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
. Tanaka created the backtracks first using Cubase SX
Steinberg Cubase
Cubase is a music software product developed by Steinberg for music recording, arranging and editing as part of a Digital Audio Workstation. It is one of the oldest DAWs to still enjoy widespread use...
and ACID
ACID Pro
Sony ACID Pro is a professional digital audio workstation software program. It was originally called "ACID pH1" and published by Sonic Foundry, but is now developed and sold by Sony Creative Software....
, then gave these, along with the general theme of the level associated with the music, to the artists for them to add lyrics and other performances. Tanaka received feedback from the American branch of Platinum Games to refine the music to get the Western style down. Music was then assigned for the various stages and boss battles, requiring some revision of the existing works to make the music more apt for that stage of the game. A total of 50 minutes of music was created for the game, and a soundtrack of the game's music was released along with the game in the United Kingdom and Australia. The soundtrack was released in North America on June 30, 2009 by Sumthing Distribution
Sumthing Distribution
Sumthing Distribution is a New York based company started by Nile Rodgers that distributes recording artist and independent record labels. It is the largest African-American owned distribution company in America.-External links:**...
.
Controversy
MadWorld has been the subject of controversy in the United Kingdom due to its violent subject matter. John Beyer, director of mediawatch-ukMediawatch-uk
Mediawatch-uk, formerly known as the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association, is a pressure group in the United Kingdom, which campaigns against the publication and broadcast of media content that it views as harmful and offensive, such as violence, profanity, sex, homosexuality and...
, has expressed his distaste over the game's content, stating his desire for it to not receive a rating from the BBFC
British Board of Film Classification
The British Board of Film Classification , originally British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organisation, funded by the film industry and responsible for the national classification of films within the United Kingdom...
, which would effectively ban it from being sold. He stated "We need to ensure that modern and civilized values take priority rather than killing and maiming people." Fans' response to the organization have been hostile, accusing mediawatch-uk of being "cowards" and "narrow-minded bigots."
On August 19, 2008, Sega announced that MadWorld will not be released in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Sega has released MadWorld in Australia, another country with strict video game classification. Despite this, the game has been released in Australia unedited, with an MA15+ rating.
Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
representatives have supported the game, reiterating that the Wii is a system for anybody, including adults, and that the game, like all video games, would be rated and would therefore be available for purchase to people of and above that age rating. In a preview, Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
commented: "It's difficult to understand why there's so much controversy surrounding MadWorld when the violence is so very Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry are the cat and mouse cartoon characters that were evolved starting in 1939.Tom and Jerry also may refer to:Cartoon works featuring the cat and mouse so named:* The Tom and Jerry Show...
... It really is hard to be offended... because it's just so ridiculous."
On March 10, the National Institute on Media and the Family
National Institute on Media and the Family
The National Institute on Media and the Family , founded by psychologist Dr. David Walsh in 1996 and closed in 2009 was a non-profit organization based in Minneapolis, MN. It was a nonsectarian advocacy group which sought to monitor mass media for content that it deemed is harmful to children and...
issued a press release expressing its disappointment in Nintendo for allowing Madworld to be released on the Wii. Stating, "In the past, the Wii has successfully sold itself as being the gaming console for the entire family and a way to bring family-game nights back into people's living rooms. Unfortunately, Nintendo opened its doors to the violent videogame genre, since the video game contains such outrages and violent content
Reception
MadWorld has received generally positive reviews from critics. In its April 2009 issue, Nintendo PowerNintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
gave MadWorld a 9/10 rating. IGN gave the game a 9.0/10, praising the style, gameplay, and music, but criticizing the camera and short length, though it mentions that the hard difficulty level lengthens the game and increases the challenge considerably. Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
gave MadWorld 7/10. Pixel Hunt called it "one of the few must-have Wii titles". StageSelect.com praised the title for its artistic game design, but stated that the overall delivery had trouble living up to the hype. About.com felt the game was more flash than substance, giving it a 3/5 and stating that, "Divorced of its unique graphics and over-the-top presentation, this is actually a rather mediocre beat-em-up."
Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
disagreed, praising the deep combat system and arguing that "for an amateur to become a talented executioner, you'll have to lash out creatively, prolonging your victim's death through multiple phases of pain. MadWorld runs the gamut in violence, taking an encyclopedic approach to its variety in kills. Some of the bloodletting will make you squirm uncomfortably." IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
noted that "you might trap an enemy in a tire, stab him several times with street signs and then slam him into a wall of spikes -- the entire act will earn you several times the point value you'd garner if you had simply butchered the foe with a chainsaw instead. This combo system plays heavily into the action and if you don't respect it, your quest will be more difficult," "the developer has created an assortment of kills exclusive to certain regions, some of them weapon-based and others environmental," and "the controls feel well thought out and responsive;" concluding that "MadWorld does not place emphasis on style over gameplay...there's plenty of fun, smart mechanics to back up the overwhelmingly slick look and sound of the title."
Legacy
Sean Ratcliffe, Vice President of Marketing for Sega of America stated that, in terms of sales, "the first set of data for Madworld is very encouraging". The game sold around 66,000 copies in its first month of release in North America, according to NPD GroupNPD Group
The NPD Group, Inc. is a leading North American market research company. The NPD Group consistently ranks among the top 25 market research companies in the independent Honomichl Top 50 report, which the media and the research industry acknowledge as a credible source of information on the market...
. These sales numbers have been used by market research firm OTX Research to justify their assertion that hype and marketing do not translate into sales figures; MadWorld, while commanding the "highest level of unique interest" based on user input at IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
, ranks 41st in OTX's sales metric for all Wii titles. Sales of the game have reached 123,000 units in North America as of August 2009. MadWorld fared much poorer in Japan, where it debuted at number 33 on Japanese sales charts and only selling around 3,000 units during its release week. It eventually went to sell 640,000 copies worldwide.
Despite low sales for both MadWorld and The House of the Dead: Overkill
The House of the Dead: Overkill
The House of the Dead: Overkill is a first-person rail shooter video game developed by Headstrong Games and published by Sega. It is the fifth game developed in the The House of the Dead series, a prequel to the original House of the Dead chronologically and the first in the series to be released...
, Sega stated that it would continue to explore mature games for the Wii, according to Gary Dunn, a director at Sega Europe, noting that such games have a long tail
Long tail
Long tail may refer to:*The Long Tail, a consumer demographic in business*Power law's long tail, a statistics term describing certain kinds of distribution*Long-tail boat, a type of watercraft native to Southeast Asia...
in sales as such games become more discounted. On January 4, 2010 it was announced that Sega would unlikely publish any future M-rated video games for the Wii. Nevertheless, Platinum Games announced a few days later that they would like to do a sequel to MadWorld. An upcoming "massively-multiplayer melee fighting action" game currently in development by Platinum Games for PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
, titled Anarchy Reigns
Anarchy Reigns
Anarchy Reigns, known in Japan as is an upcoming online beat 'em up game currently in development by Platinum Games. It is their fifth game of their publishing deal with Sega and is being produced by Atsushi Inaba and directed by Masaki Yamanaka...
, will feature Jack Cayman and the Black Baron as playable characters.