With E3 just weeks away, game developers are (understandably) keeping tight-lipped about developments but in an interview with Diehard GameFAN we find out a bit more about Ubisoft's Raving Rabbids TV Party. You can read the entire interview here, but for those of you just interested in the balance board stuff, here's a summary.
DHGF: Raving Rabbids TV Party is going to make use of the Wii Balance Board that came with Wii Fit. We've already seen the clips of the racing game in which gamers will be making ample use of their buttocks. What other mini-games will feature the balance board, and what happens to those gamers who don't have the balance board? How do they play these games?
Ubisoft: We'll be unveiling the next batch of Balance Board mini-games at E3, so you'll have to wait a few weeks to find out what's in store. However, there are also a few games where you get to stand and rest your behind. For people who don't have the Balance board yet, the game allows you the option of using the two controllers at the start of each game. The wii mote and nunchuck are tremendously versatile, so the balance board games are still intuitive and fun and have been developed and tweaked to fit the controllers. But (no pun intended!), the board does add a uniquely fun dimension to the gameplay!
DHGF: It's been mentioned that in both Party Mode and Co-Op that you can somehow sabotage your friends. How will this work?
Ubisoft: Basically if you are playing on the balance board, riding the Wildebeest in multiplayer, your adversaries can toss things to throw you off your butt-balancing. It means that you can still cause havoc, even when you're not the one riding the board.
DHGF: The first Rayman Raving Rabbids was a multi-console title. With the sequel and now TV Party, we've seen the game going Nintendo exclusive, only appearing on the Wii and DS. What was the decision behind focusing only on Nintendo's systems? Was it simply a gameplay decision or something else?
Ubisoft: RRR was designed to explore different controls and the way we prototyped them allowed us to showcase Nintendo’s new controllers. Movement off- and on-screen changed the development and the creative processes and the Wii became a perfect fit for Rabbid humor and gameplay style. This unique style benefits even further from the Balance Board, and we have tried to create weird and wonderful new movements using the board as well continuing to play with the Wii remote and Nunchuk in crazy ways!
So, nothing new there but one of the things that did grab my attention, and kudos to Ubisoft for thinking about this, was the ability for other players to interact with the balance board user within the game. The whole one balance board at a time limitation has already been covered and right now, there's no way around it so we've had to make do with throwing empty cans at the balance board user or trying to poke them with a stick but at least with RRR, other players aren't simply left watching while one person uses the board.