Spidey 3 being handled by two development teams

I can't help but feel that Spider-Man 3 is the key to Sony's survival in '07. Final Fantasy XIII (both of them) and Metal Gear Solid 4 have been pushed back to 2008, which isn't surprising at all considering the expectations those titles have to live up to.

In the mean time, there's been absolutely no news of White Knight Story and Assassin's Creed and GTA IV aren't exclusive titles. This is where Spidey 3 comes in. Now, while the game is multiplatform (and that includes the DS and PSP), the PlayStation 3 version of the game is clearly the one Spider-Man fans will want to get. It includes the ability to play as the Goblin, it incorporates the SIXAXIS's tilt-function abilties to provide a blend of motion-sensing and oldschool controls and it will probably be the best looking version of the game as well.

That said, I came across an interesting piece of news on IGN earlier today. It seems there are two different development teams working on different versions of Spider-Man 3. While Treyarch is developing the PS3 and 360 title, Vicarious Visions is the studio in charge of the Wii, DS, PS2 and PSP versions of the game. No need for worrying, though. Having played nearly every single Spidey game in existence to death, I can guarantee that both studios know themselves some Spider-Man.

IGN managed to catch up with VV CEO Karthik Bala and control designer Jonathan Mintz to get the lowdown on the Wii version of the game.

Karthik Bala: Although all skus of Spider-Man 3 share the premise and overarching storyline of the movie, the game design on PS2, PSP, Wii differ from the PS3/360. Our overall goal was to play to the strengths of the various hardware platforms, giving a different player experience depending on their platform of choice. The PS2 version features a city that is 2.5 times bigger than the city in Spider-Man 2 PS2. The PSP version offers an expansive free roaming city gameplay on a portable system (which wasn't there in SM2 PSP). The Wii version offers a whole new way of web shooting and swinging through the city. The Wii-mote and Nunchuk become your webshooters!

The two go on to talk a bit more about the motion-sensing, camera and other capabilities the Wiimote will offer to enhance the gameplay, but after reading through the entire interview I'm still rather confused as to whether the Wii version is a PS2 port or whether it's a different game entirely. There's also no mention of how big the cities are in the Wii version of the game.

The Vicarious Visions version of the game also allows you to switch back-and-forth between the red and black suits on the fly; something that the Treyarch version (PS3/360) doesn't allow for. Apparently, this was a design choice on the development teams' part. The Vicarious Visions versions also include exclusive storylines that feature Morbius and Shriek. Mintz also mentioned that VV wanted to allow Wii players to populate the city with their Miis, but weren't able to do it (probably because Nintendo still hasn't handed out the Mii devkits yet). Frankly, I'm glad they didn't get to do that. That would have been mighty ridiculous and would have ruined the mood of the game entirely.

Despite all this, I'm still going to suggest that hardcore Spidey fans stick with the PS3 version of the game (no, not even the 360 version will do!). It sounds the best of the lot in terms of graphics, gameplay and extras. Also, I'm still hoping at least one version of the game features the classic Symbiote costume from the comics as an unlockable extra. Hopefully all, but that's pushing it.

Of course, if you own a DS, you could pick up the DS version as well, just to give it a look. I know I will. It looks pretty cool for a handheld game.