If you've ever watched an episode of E.R. and thought 'I could do that,' Trauma Center gives you the chance!
Previously a hit on Nintendo DS, the original Trauma Center put you in the surgical gloves of rookie doctor Derek Stiles, charged with saving the lives of patients on a busy emergency ward. In the DS version you used the touch screen and stylus to wield your scalpels, syringes and sutures but with the new Wii version the Trauma Center experience becomes even more 'hands-on'.
Trauma Center for Wii (cleverly sub-titled 'Second Opinion') is what its maker's call a 'Wii-make'. The storyline, characters and basic gameplay remain the same but there are now new surprises in store including a new story chapter and a brand new playable character. Plus you now have full three-dimensional control over your surgical instruments with the Wii Remote.
To tell us more, we talked to the game's producer Katsura Hashino and director Daisuke Kanada from Atlus Japan, plus we hear from the team behind the Western version of the game at Atlus USA.
Why did you decide to return to Trauma Center for your first Wii title, and what are your thoughts on the hardware?
Ever since we heard about the control device of the Wii Remote, we felt that this game would be able to make full use of its capabilities. And when we were actually able to test out the Wii, we knew by intuition that this would be a big step in improving the original game.
We think the Wii opens up a world of game design possibilities, and when that happens it’s the gamers who win. Like on the DS, we think that you’ll start to see new game genres you never could have imagined pre-Wii.
Much of Second Opinion features the same plot covered in the original DS version. However, there are also new stages featuring a mysterious new character and there is the all-new sixth chapter. The operations themselves have been augmented with new procedures, additional tools, and a new scoring system. On top of all the new content, we’ve taken another look at the script to polish up any weak areas. Really, Second Opinion is a ‘Wii-make’ that presents the ultimate Trauma Center experience.
The original Trauma Center was pretty challenging, particularly in the later stages. Are you tweaking the difficulty at all for Second Opinion?
We have been thinking about the difficulty since we started developing this game. But, since the level of challenge is something that set Trauma Center apart from other games, we didn’t want to simply lower the difficulty. If we had, the game would no longer be Trauma Center. So, the Wii version will feature a Difficulty Select so the player can choose between Easy, Normal and Hard modes. They will even be able to change the difficulty mid-game if they get stuck. Returning players should consider 'Normal' difficulty the equivalent of the DS version.
What do you think the non-medical story scenes add to the game experience, and will there be any new ones for Second Opinion?
Here in America, land of the medical drama, people seem to expect more from their fictional doctors than just surgical expertise - we want angst, strife, and inter-O.R. romances! While the storyline does tread a bit into science-fiction territory, the character interaction between Dr. Stiles and his crew really adds context to the playable stages. Like we said above, returning Trauma Center fans can look forward to new stages in the previous chapters, as well as an all-new sixth chapter!
In an industry dominated by first-person shooters and driving games, Trauma Center is unique. What was your inspiration for creating a surgery game and what do you think people get out of playing Trauma Center?
For a long time, there have been dramas and movies about doctors. Doctor characters are usually professionals, and we see them chatting with co-workers, relaxing after work, and having problems in their daily lives. But, at the same time, they bravely stand up against all odds to save their patients’ lives once they step into the operating room. This is what fascinates the viewer. But, in reality, these are just characters and probably no match for the reality that doctors experience every day. I wanted to create a game that depicts doctors with this heroic image to show my respect for them. I hope people who play the Trauma Center games come to see that there really are heroes in our society who fight to save lives this way.
Having worked with the Wii, are there any other types of games that you think would work particularly well or that you would like to develop next?
I think the best feature of the Wii is its controller. By using polygons, we’ve made 3D games the standard, but the controller is still a 2D object. Now that we have the Wii, the player has a 3D interface to control 3D games. We believe this will push game design into its next phase, and we’ll start to see all new styles of play in brand new genres. I would like to create games that used these new possibilities to their fullest.
We haven’t made any concrete decisions about a DS sequel, but if we were to create one, our staff already has some ideas brewing about what it might be like.
