Gamers want to know: Will the first batch of games for Nintendo's Wii console make elegant, intuitive use of the system's motion-sensing controls? Or will they just be the same old games, with gesture control tacked on as an afterthought?
If the software from Ubisoft is any indication, the answer is: both.
France-based Ubisoft, the fourth-largest game publisher in the Western world, is betting big on Wii.
The company is readying seven games, including versions of its hit Rayman and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell brands, that will be on shelves when Wii launches Nov. 19. That's more than any other publisher – including Nintendo itself, traditionally the key provider of software for its machines.
Other publishers like Electronic Arts have taken a largely wait-and-see attitude toward the $250 game machine, choosing instead to throw the bulk of their support behind Sony's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360. Ubisoft hopes its stronger lineup will fill any gaps left by the bigger players.
"We started earlier versus our competition to have games for the Wii," Laurent Detoc, president of Ubisoft North America, told Wired News last month. "The intent was to try to be where Nintendo was not going to be, with something really strong."
The launch lineup features something for every taste, from gritty, realistic, "Mature"-rated violence like Red Steel and Splinter Cell: Double Agent to the kid-friendly fun of Rayman Raving Rabbids and Open Season.
I went to Ubisoft's North American office recently to try out some of the company's launch games and find out exactly how each of them uses the console's unique motion-sensing, position-detecting controller.
I enjoyed the titles that were built from the ground up on Wii. But the games that were simply ported from traditional game consoles and had motion controls shoehorned in were far less engaging.
The standout hit in Ubisoft's catalog this year – maybe even across all the game systems – is Red Steel, an action shooter. You're a hapless American guy named Scott who suddenly finds himself deep in the world of the yakuza (Japanese mobster).
Once you pick up a pistol, you'll aim it simply by pointing the Wii remote control at the screen, then move it around in your hand to control a small targeting reticule.
It's not as if you need to hold the Wii controller up to your eyeball and stare down the "barrel." Red Steel's control scheme is more akin to using a computer mouse. You can hold it in your lap and make the cursor move anywhere on the screen with just a few small wrist movements.
As Tokyo's seemingly limitless supply of black-suited gangsters tries to mow you down, you can quickly learn to take them out with precision. And then you find a sword.
From that point on, enemies will frequently challenge you to one-on-one sword battles. Now you'll be holding the remote out in front of you, looking for an opening and slashing away.
You can parry an opponent's thrusts by swinging the controller's left-hand attachment – called the "nunchuk" because, when connected to the remote, the whole contraption strongly resembles the two-handed martial arts weapon.
Similarly engaging – but aimed at a more general audience – is Rayman Raving Rabbids, which has gained a significant YouTube following even before its release. The hilarious viral videos star the game's cast of demented, psychotic, screaming alien bunnies.
The game itself is just as funny and novel, a collection of 70 different minigames that use the Wii controller in a different way. You might be swinging a cow around your head, then tossing it like a hammer throw. Or you might have to use the Wii remote like a dental tool, pulling worms out of a Rabbid's rotting teeth.
Because all the games can be played solo or with up to four players, Rayman should be the hit at any party full of kids – not to mention slightly tipsy adults.
But the rest of Ubisoft's Wii games aren't likely to be as polished. For example, the publisher will have two racing games for launch: Monster 4x4 and GT Pro. They're based on games for older systems, and they look like it: The graphical quality makes each game look about 5 years old.
Both games will ship with a free-floating, plastic "steering wheel" attachment into which the Wii remote can be securely fastened. Steering your vehicles is as easy as turning the wheel.
It's a good idea, intuitive and fun. But it's likely that Nintendo's own Excite Truck will be the racing game of choice on Wii.
I also played the first level of Splinter Cell: Double Agent, which turned out to be identical in nearly every way to the PlayStation 2 game that's already available.
Yes, in the Wii version you can use the pointer to move the in-game "camera" around secret agent Sam Fisher as he infiltrates enemy bases. But that's the only major change.
Otherwise, all your secret agent gadgets and sneaky moves are mapped to buttons on both the remote and the nunchuk. And reaching every button at once on the Wii controller requires some serious finger acrobatics, much more so than on traditional game pads.
I struggled with Splinter Cell on Wii, but went home and survived the same game area on PS2 without a scratch. Traditional video games, perhaps, do better with traditional controllers.
I haven't had more than an hour of play time with any of these games, so passing judgment would be premature. But holiday shoppers would do well to bear in mind that all Wii games are not created equal.
