Dustin Browder, the lead designer of Starcraft II, thinks that bringing the PC strategy game to the Wii U "might be a good fit". Browder told Kotaku he feels that the tablet-like gamepad for Nintendo's upcoming console may be exactly the type of device needed to make the game work on consoles.
"If I can control a cursor on the television with my hand on the touchscreen, that might be able to work," said Browder. "[But] because of the hotkey scenario, it's not like players actually play StarCraft with the mouse only—they play with the mouse and keyboard... We obviously allow new users to play mouse-only and that's really fun, but when you get serious about the game you do move into the mouse and keyboard space."
Blizzard has, very occasionally, ported games to consoles: They brought the original Diablo to the PS1 and Starcraft to the N64. It's been a long time since the company designed a game for any platform other than the PC, but they've shown a renewed interest recently, revealing that they've been "exploring" the idea of bringing Diablo III to consoles. If there's a chance it might work, why wouldn't Blizzard be interested in bringing another of their wildly successful franchises to consoles?
Before you get too excited, though, the developer made it clear that isn't a plan to release Starcraft II on any console right now. Not even the kind of "console-gaming exploratory committee" like they have going for Diablo III. Browder says he hasn't even tried the Wii U, so his opinion on the matter is purely speculation.
That said, even speculatory approval is a whole lot better than how Browder felt about putting SCII on other platforms. Browder explained that console-makers occasionally pitch Blizzard on the idea of bringing their games to the platform. For example, Browder once tried a mock-up of Starcraft II using the PlayStation Move:
"...When I tried it, I wanted to kill myself. I found it very difficult to make it work. I believe that if I had practiced as much as he had, I would've enjoyed it more... but for us it felt like it was gonna be a lot more effort to still make that work, to still make that really sing. And for us, control is king, and it's so critical."
So no, Starcraft II probably isn't coming to the Wii U, but as a mostly console gamer, it's nice to know that Blizzard's still keeping their options open.
[Via Kotaku]
