Between all the sword-swinging in the currently released Twilight Princess, Red Steel, and Wario Ware and more to come in planned Wii incarnations of Dragon Quest, Dynasty Warriors and Star Wars, you'd think developers would be getting a little tired of using the Wii remote to emulate a blade. Well, think again. On Friday, Zorro Productions announced that Pronto Games will be bringing the famous fictional swashbuckler to the Wii with "The Destiny of Zorro" this holiday season.
Pronto President and Creative Director Randy Angle told Joystiq that they have been working on the game since last August when they got the license from Zorro Productions. Angle said the game would build off of existing Zorro properties while presenting a totally new story that gets into the origins of the character and brings the player "fully into the moment of Zorro-ness."
The game is currently planned as a Wii exclusive, a decision that Angle said was predicated on the controller. "We would do a very different game if we were working on the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360," he said. Players will get to control Zorro as he uses his trademark sword and whip, according to Angle, but that the moves will most likely be linked to abstracted Wii remote motions rather than a one-to-one representation of real-world movement. "Players tend to do better and get less tired with abstraction," Angle said. "It's not a sword-fighting simulator."
Pronto, which also works on Wii middleware, has already secured a publishing partner in Europe but is still looking for a stateside publisher. They hope to have the game ready for production in September in advance of an early November release.
[Via VG Gen]
(Page 1) Reader Comments
Seriously, how hard can it possibly be to get a decent sword wielding game on a controller designed for decent sword wielding games?
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Because i'm starting to use 1:1 motions in Wii Sports Tennis, just for the thrill, and it fairly kicks ass, but i couldn't see everyone preferring that...
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It just seems like this Wiimote is begging to have a 1:1 sword game and all we're getting are abstract motion translation. Basically, they are just replacing a button with a motion. While that may be more intuitive to remember, it doesn't allow you to boldly go where no game has gone before. You are just getting an equal control replacement with last gen graphics, to be quite blunt. It is a game that can be done with buttons. We need games like WiiSports that cannot be done with buttons.
Someone, give us a 1:1 game. LucasArts, I may or may not be looking at you. Team up with Nintendo to bring a star wars game and people will go nuts for it. Please.
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the ONLY thing
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There's a big difference between not abstract and 1:1. I never said 1:1. But abstract implies something like "hold Z while making a U shaped motion pattern" to slash diagonally. That is abstract. Not abstract would be "slash left to right by moving the controller left to right." It doesn't have to go exactly where I go, but something like that is much preferable to the first example I described.
So I'll re-iterate: Boo on abstract moves!
Seriously, how hard can it possibly be to get a decent sword wielding game on a controller designed for decent sword wielding games?
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"Boo on abstract moves!
Seriously, how hard can it possibly be to get a decent sword wielding game on a controller designed for decent sword wielding games?"
Maybe they already tried it, and it sucked?
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Personally, I would probably not be capable of playing a game like that 1:1 (as another poster suggested) but I'd still like to try it, just for laughs.
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i can understand some people thinking 1:1 would be too difficult, but no one has given us a shot to decide for ourselves.
Wii Baseball has 1:1 batting and against someone who really understands how to pitch it can be fairly difficult. But isnt sometimes that part of the fun?
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Seriously, how about somebody actually PRODUCE a 1:1 swordfighting game and let us (the aforementioned "Players") decide.
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How about an updated version of PSone's Bushido Blade or PS2's Kengo? Structure it so that players actually go through a samurai school or something so they learn some (basic) sword techniques. Players can then square off against computer opponents in dojos or cool outdoor Japanese enviroments. And then, if Nintendo really wanted to score points with gamers, people could set up matches and touraments online.
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What?
The movements are closer to 1:1 as anyone else has done and it proves that the system is a) capable of doing it and b) while difficult, is still incredibly fun.
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Sorry, but Zorro was lame ten years ago and is still lame today.
Also, @ #14-- A new Bushido Blade would be awesome, but I have to say I'd prefer to see it on PS3...even Sony haters would have to agree that Bushido Blade + Online multiplayer + 1080p =
sheer gaming ecstasy
Wouldn't be surprised to see a BB or BB2 port on VC though.
~Hiro
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Which is one of the reasons why wii sports rocks so 'kin hard.
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Where are the good 3rd party games, with depth and substance?
I am starting to have flashbacks of my Gamecube.
People rag on the xbox and 360 for having nothing but FPS, but the wii is starting to look the same.
Remember how hyped everyone was about Red Steel before it came out? Turns out it was a pile of crap.
Expect the same from this.
I still feel like they dropped the ball with online play.
They have the virtual console up and running, so I can rebuy all the games I sold 10-15 years ago. They made sure they took care of that.
Nintendo knows how to get you to rebuy their games.
Hell, I paid $30 for Super Mario Bros. 3 on the GBA, and $20 for Metroid, now they want me to buy them again, on the Virtual Console?
$35 for the NEW Super Mario Bros? When does it end?
I owned all these games back in the day, and sold them. Why should I keep buying them?
Seems like online play not worth their effort, since they can't resell it to you 5 different times.
/end rant
PS, Don't flame me, I grew up on the NES. These are just my observations/ opinions on the current state of the Wii, and what the future holds.
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"you'd think developers would be getting a little tired of using the Wii remote to emulate a blade" - joystiq Feb 5th 2007 3:50PM
make your minds up!
As for abstraction: I'd think a zorro game would work better than most as a 1:1 game, as zorro's saber is pretty light and quick, unlike a katana.
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Funny thing to me is that Tod never showed up for work. I mean, the guy was there maybe one day a week for half a day. I don't know much other than that, I was just QA at the time. The pitch seemed interesting, but not as good as their other IP. Obviously none of the publishers were impressed because Pirate Games died a slow and painful death (twice if you want to get technical).
I think Pronto was also working on some educational games for a kids console that ended up getting canceled (PG was working on games for the same system). I guess it's good to hear that at least one company survived the death of that kiddie console and I wish them the best of luck with the Zorro game.
As for me, man am I glad to be out of that industry.
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As for "You won't stop when you hit stuff" all they need to do is make some penalty for not stopping when the "Swords clash, and controller rumbles" like "If you keep swinging past that point.. something bad happens!"
Like, you lose some of your footing, or increase the chance of being unarmed or something..
Honestly, just release something like Project HAMMER and throw 1:1 in it, and see how people appreciate it and if they enjoy it (Giving them a powerful enough weapon that.. perhaps not being super pro at it would hurt)
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