During the conference at Ubisoft’s Ubiday, a number of presenters were talking about the different ways of immersing players in a game. On a HD console, the visceral presentation of emotion came to the fore, while on the Wii, it was all about new and exciting methods of interaction. While Nintendo has been the frontrunner with this movement, we’re not sure that even they would have envisaged the latest use for their motioned peripherals.
The developers of Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party went so far to emphasise this ‘new’ level of interaction, that they gave us a demonstration on stage during the conference. Leading up to the presentation, the audience was quite discerned that the conference had devolved into bum jokes. While at first it seemed kind of strange to emphasis this, it all became clear once (in typical Rabbid humour) a man carrying the Wii balance board in jumpsuit came on stage. Huh?
Prepare for more screams.
Bascially, two games from Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party were shown off. The first was compatible with the Wii balance board. It was called “Beestie Boarding” and it had players sliding down a mountain on a Wildebeest. So how does your backside come into it? Well, you can actually control the sled down the mountain by siting on the balance board. Yes, so in effect, you are using your backside to control the game. This is done simply by leaning to change direction. You will also be allowed to perform tricks using the wiimote as well.
The demonstration made things look quite easy but things were a bit harder to grasp when we actually took it for a spin later. The responsiveness was quite similar to that of an actual toboggan, though you wouldn’t really get way out of control or cause serious injury to yourself. However, we did conclude that if your backside is on the bony side, you wouldn’t be comfortable playing this for long periods of time. Even if you don’t have a balance board, you can still play the game with the wiimote.
We don't know what's going on here either.
This wasn’t the only excitement that we got to experience at the conference, as everybody was asked to stand up and join in the next game, “Dancing with Dweebs”. With four players at once, players would use the wiimote and nunchuk to replicate the on-screen prompts in time. By doing so, they’d be essentially dancing to the beat of really cheesy songs. Still, it looked like on of those games that would be a lot of fun if everyone was in the right spirit. The controls seemed to be very responsive, but we were disappointed that the on-screen Rabbid animations didn’t correspond to your movements. They just stood there and did stupid things.
Raving Rabbids has always been more about the style then the graphical prowess, though it seems that this remains true for Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party. It may have just been the displays that we played on, but we still feel there is some room for improvement. If you’re a fan of the Rabbid craziness, then we guarantee that there will be plenty more in this game.
Being one of the better and more popular mini-game compilations on the Wii, we’re not surprised to see Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party and how its shaping up. It is good to see that the developers are still trying to find new and crazy ways for players to interact, and its endearingly hilarious about watching crazy screaming bunnies. If you’re a fan with some friends who want to join in the fun and the craziness is something that you like, then you’ll probably have a lot to like about Raving Rabbids TV Party.
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