When GameCyte cornered Ubisoft personnel at E3 2008, they were tight-lipped regarding the notion of a Red Steel sequel, but today their reticence is no more. In an interview with Gamesindustry.biz, executive director Alain Corre confirmed that Red Steel 2 is in development for the Nintendo Wii — and that the title will make use of the gyroscopic Wii MotionPlus peripheral:
Red Steel 2 has been in development for many months now, and this new device will help us be even more precise in what we do with the product. The Red Steel brand is strong - I think we released it on year one, and that people understood that it was a first try on new technology, technology that wasn’t completely finished.
And our game tried to grab the best out of it, and was a bit rushed to be sure to offer something in year one to Wii consumers. But Red Steel is still selling well - at a lower price of course, but still it’s in the top 30 or 40 in every country on Wii.
So Red Steel is a brand, and as with every brand we have, we now have to reach the top quality possible. What was missing was the preciseness of the sabre - and with this new device I think it will change the experience.
I won’t lie — the entire time I spent swinging swords in Nintendo’s internally developed Wii Sports Resort, I was thinking of how much better Red Steel would play with the MotionPlus, and I’m excited to learn Ubisoft feels the same way. But I do wonder — how long has Ubisoft known about Nintendo’s plans to enhance the Wiimote?
While most reports indicate that Nintendo’s gyroscopic Wii MotionPlus attachment took developers completely by surprise, here Ubisoft claims that Red Steel 2 has been in development for many months now. Then, Corre diverts blame for the lackluster original title on rushed development using unfamiliar technology — and suggests that same technology “wasn’t completely finished” back in 2006.
Is Ubisoft adding the Wii MotionPlus late in the game’s development cycle? Or, perhaps, did Ubisoft know all along that the Wii’s motion-sensing control scheme wasn’t complete, and — in exchange for providing a must-have Wii title at launch — obtained a head start on MotionPlus for this sequel?
Just some Monday morning speculation…
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