Wiimotes Unleashed: Lightsaber Duels Coming in November

On November 11th, Krome Studios and LucasArts will be launching Star Wars The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels, and we’ll once again see how the Wii is truly different from other game consoles. Unlike Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, which was a modification of the PlayStation 2 title, Star Wars The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels is built from the ground up for the Wii. There’s a lot of speculation and debate over which will ultimately have the better graphics and storyline, but quite frankly, I really don’t care. I’m in it for the lightsaber action! That said, since the game has been built specifically for the Wii, there are high expectations for a fairly realistic lightsaber experience. More on that in a moment.

There will be ten playable characters, including Anakin Skywalker and General Grevious and the duels themselves will take players throughout locations like Tatooine and Teth. You will also be able to interact with the game enviornment, demolishing structures and throwing the broken pieces at your opponents. To add to the experience, you can also shell out for Thrustmaster’s Glow Sabers. Sorry, limb severing light beam not included.

Back to the lightsaber experience. According to LucasArts, in Lightsaber Duels you can “Wield your Wii Remote like a Lightsaber and experience first-hand the unique weapon of the Jedi knights with intuitive controls, so no matter what your gaming experience you can become a Lightsaber master.” Hmmm. OK, I’ll take their word for it - expectation set! Despite their promises, however, I have a concern about the wiimote motion sensitivity. Will we really be able to wave our wiimotes quickly as in a real duel, or will it be more akin to an old man practicing Tai Chi in the park? The other thing that I’m curious about is what happens when lightsabers clash in battle? On the screen they will stop, but the gamers will follow through on their motion. Despite my hopes, I’m not expecting miracles out of the gate, particularly since the game will not use the Wii MotionPlus that Nintendo announced in August. Seems that Nintendo didn’t bother to tell LucasArts ahead of time. Needless to say, LucasArts probably isn’t too happy about not being able to integrate the MotionPlus 1:1 motion into the game initially.

Here’s the official LucasArts trailer to wet your appetite:

Line Rider 2 Producer Chris Keenan details Wii sequel, set for Sept. 9

Line Rider was one of 2006’s biggest flash games toys. When it exploded on the deviantART site hosting it (and has received over 30 million views in 2007 alone), creator Bostjan Cadez never imagined his school project would turn into the madness you find when typing “Line Rider” into Youtube.

Months after the flash toy exploded, inXile announced the development of a true sequel to the toy and its updated versions.  It is now anticipated for a Sept. 9 release for PC, DS, and Wii.

Producer of Line Rider 2: Unbound, Chris Keenan, clued us in on some of the features we can expect from the Wii version, and how development of the game has progressed as a “dream project” for him and the team. Read more »

Iwata Doesn’t Fear Duplication

It’s been heavily rumored that both Microsoft and Sony are looking to create their own Wii Remotes for their systems. It’s an obvious move. The Wii has done incredibly well, so logic dictates that a Wii Remote-like controller for the other systems would do well too, right? So everyone is jumping on the bandwagon and getting motion control. Does this scare Nintendo? Hardly.

In a recent statement to investors, Nintendo’s Satoru Iwata said:

“…what matters to us is whether or not we can continue to constantly create and offer new surprises one after another. If we can, then (other attempts to mimic the Wii Remote) should not be a big threat. The efforts in this field to try to appeal to a wide variety of customers are something in which we saw potential early on and that we have been working on the longest, so there appears to be no reason whatsoever why we need to be concerned.”

I say this is absolutely true. Of course Iwata fails to mention that these added-on motion controllers for the 360 and PS3 will probably also lackluster since they’ll likely garner little developer support, and will probably fade off into gaming history like so many needless peripherals before them. The reason the Wii Remote works and works so  well is that it is Nintendo’s main focus, not a secondary form of control. Developers are forced to work with the innovation, not just encouraged to. There is a difference between committing yourself to an idea and being involved in it. It’s like my rowing coach use to say, “The difference between commitment and involvement can be seen in a breakfast of eggs and bacon. The chicken was involved; the pig was committed.” The point? Motion controls and ideas like the Wii need to be all-in or they’re just going to suck.

Also, it’s a well known fact that the first to the party always does better than the late comers looking for a quick buck. Fashionably late does not apply to the world of gaming.