14 DAY TRIAL // Publisher THQ is announcing that it is canceling the PlayStation Portable version of its Nintendo Wii title Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed. The game was set to be a third-person shooter with a humorous take, and was being developed by Locomotive Games. The main reason for the cancellation is the fact that the Nintendo Wii controls, which rely on motion tracking and on gestures, were hard to implement using the control scheme of the Sony-made handheld gaming device.
A spokesperson for THQ has told IGN that "Big Willy Unleashed was designed by Wii developer specifically for the Wii. When it was ported over to the PSP, the controls simply didn't translate well, and instead of pushing out the product with translated controls, it was canceled". But there could be more to the story than what the people at THQ are willing to share with the press.
Another version of the game, for the PlayStation 2 console this time, was canceled in February, with the company offering no clear reason for the move. THQ has also been limiting its development workload when it comes to other games: a planned PlayStation 3 version of Frontlines: Fuel of War was never released, the Stuntman and Juiced franchises were shelved, and two other announced titles seem to have been canceled, too.
It just might be that THQ is having such a bad year financially - with losses going over $20 million, more than triple those of last year - that it is severely limiting the money it puts into game development. Instead, it chooses to cancel ports and less known videogames, so that it can concentrate all resources on a handful of titles that might sell big and turn the financial situation of the company around. It seems that layoffs are also planned at THQ, with around 200 people already on their way out, while a foray into micro transaction supported MMO space is also being considered.