Finally: The Lightsabre comes to the Wii

[Natoma]

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article2491242.ece

w00t!!

A new weapon will soon join Nintendo’s armoury: a lightsabre.

Internet gaming sites across the web today cheered news of a new Star Wars game for the hit Wii console in which players will wield the Jedi weapon of choice using Nintendo’s motion sensitive “Wiimote” controller.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, developed by LucasArts, will also be released early next year on Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Nintendo’s handheld DS machine and Sony’s PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable.

But it is the Wii version that is causing the biggest buzz – literally, possibly, since the Wii Remote is equipped with a loudspeaker.

Jim Ward, President of LucasArts, said: "The Wii is a great platform for The Force Unleashed, because the console's motion-oriented controllers really bring the game to life.

"We've worked hard to make the Wii version of the game unique in order to truly let you unleash the Force."

If they get the motion controls down, it'd be sweet to hear the humming of a lightsaber changing as you fling it around. Then again, No More Heroes is doing something like this, and sooner.

I wonder if Lucas Arts would go the Guitar Hero route and package a plastic shell of a lightsaber in with the Wii game.

 

[zed]

nice i didnt know their was a speaker in the thing, swordfighting/tennis etc are the most obvious uses for the wii-mote
ild be interested to see how good this thing works for swordfighting specifically stabs.
btw due to the interest at the moment, does the wii-mote have rumble?

 

[Shifty Geezer]

If they get the motion controls down...

That's the crux. It'll feel just plain wrong if they don't have 1:1 motion mapping, but at the same time players aren't Jedi, so you can't expect the player to be able to accurately react to and deflect blaster shots. How is control going to be managed?

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

That's the crux. It'll feel just plain wrong if they don't have 1:1 motion mapping, but at the same time players aren't Jedi, so you can't expect the player to be able to accurately react to and deflect blaster shots. How is control going to be managed?

Knowing what a great job LucasArts pulled off in the Jedi Knight/Jedi Academy games, I think they'll make it work. IIRC, in those games you just had to move into a defence stance facing the shooter, and blaster shots got deflected back at the enemy. You didn't have to individually intercept each blaster shot.

I've not played any other game that managed to handle melee weapons as well as the LucasArts team did with the lightsaber. It was very natural and intuitive, so I can only see it getting better with a Wii style controller.

The only problem I can see is if the controller doesn't update fast enough or isn't accurate enough, it won't work very well.

 

[pjbliverpool]

Knowing what a great job LucasArts pulled off in the Jedi Knight/Jedi Academy games, I think they'll make it work. IIRC, in those games you just had to move into a defence stance facing the shooter, and blaster shots got deflected back at the enemy. You didn't have to individually intercept each blaster shot.

I've not played any other game that managed to handle melee weapons as well as the LucasArts team did with the lightsaber. It was very natural and intuitive, so I can only see it getting better with a Wii style controller.

The only problem I can see is if the controller doesn't update fast enough or isn't accurate enough, it won't work very well.

I think the best way would be for blaster shots to come in fairly slowly and be split into 4 differebt regions of the TV. You simply have to move the sabre to the correct quarter of the screen to deflect shots aimed at that quarter. Thus it would be relatively simple but still give the impression of jedi like skills.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

That'd work very will. It'd need a suitable reaction from the player, but would give them the sense they really were that accurate Although the slowdown might be distracting within the game, with it constantly slowing down. There was a PS1 SW games, I forget the name, which had a block button to deflect. After some practice I was pretty adept, and that didn't have any slow-mo. Might be a bit much too expect the player to react and move that quickly.

 

[nintenho]

does the wii-mote have rumble?

yes but not the nunchuk.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

I hope this game turns out good though I have my doubts as unlike the x360 and ps3 version the Wii version isnt made by lucasarts but is outsourced (according to someone who searched for it on a dutch tech forum).

 

[Laa-Yosh]

That's what I've been fearing... can't resist the Dark Side...