It seems everything we know about Red Steel 2 we know from job postings, including its very existence. The latest rumblings stem from a job opening on Gamasutra from developer Ubisoft seeking an online programmer specifically for Nintendo Wii.

The position is for a studio in Paris, "where Red Steel and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter games have been developed." The listing also notes that "knowledge of Unreal" (presumably the engine) is a plus.

Nothing has been confirmed; Ubisoft has committed to making a plethora of Wii games, meaning than any possible unveiling might be a ways off.

The first Red Steel, a Wii launch title, received much press in the months before its release but ultimately did not meet the hype, as indicated by tepid reviews.

[Via NeoGAF and Wii Fanboy]

Leading to the obvious conclusion: Ubisoft needs to somehow combine the gritty realism of the Tom Clancy franchise with the anthropomorphic antics of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Politically charged yet irresistibly adorable properties like Tom Clancy's Splinter Shell and Tom Clancy's The War on Terrapins are sure to tap into hitherto untapped fountains of marketability and financial prosperity. Not that Ubisoft is currently in dire need of money, mind you. Gamasutra's detailing of L'Ubi's most recent financial report suggests that the publisher is already exceeding analyst expectations by exchanging one type of green for another.

The company's fourth quarter sales saw an increase of 37% to $267.5 million, largely instigated by the one million unit success of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 on Xbox 360, as well as the TMNT film-based game which dragged in 1.1 million units in its eight platform-wide net. Sales for the full 2006/2007 fiscal year stand at $923.4 million following a jump of 24.4%, with earlier titles such as Red Steel, Rayman: Raving Rabbids, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas and Petz being key contributors.

Ubisoft expects profitability to increase further in the coming year by supporting new-gen consoles and expanding their presence in "the casual market on the Wii and Nintendo DS systems." Oh! We've yet to add casual games into our bubbling cauldron of cross-franchise success! So, that'll be Tom Clancy's Krang Age, then?

Nintendo's advertising efforts have apparently hurt the company's kid-friendly image with at least a few Britons. An adjudication statement from Britain's Advertising Standards Authority outlines seventeen distinct complaints over the animated violence in an ad for Twilight Princess and Red Steel. One complainant even thought the ad was "reminiscent of recent videos released by hostage-takers in Iraq." Yikes!

Fear not, freedom-of-speech loving Brits; the Authority reviewed the content and determined that "the ad was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence. [sic]" Surprisingly, we have yet to hear any similarly official complaints about Sony's excessively weird PS3 ad campaign. Apparently a creepy guy in a jock strap ranks below simulated sword violence on the British disturb-o-meter.

[Via VNUNet]

Ubisoft's closely watched project has failed. True, Red Steel has likely enjoyed enough press to move units through the holiday, but critical reception is decidedly underwhelmed.

Ubisoft's would-be-grand FPS is still broke, dashing hopes that a third-party developer would 'get' Wii at launch. Instead, Nintendo's lust for innovation has again proved to be a hurdle for developers conditioned in the old ways. Give it time.

• Game Informer (75/100) - "Aside from Zelda, Red Steel may be the most-anticipated Wii launch title. Unlike our boy in the green tights, this game's doesn't fully deliver on its promise ... Most of Red Steel's faults lie with the game's presentation. Enemies shout annoying obscenities in your direction during every firefight, the cheesy score is bad enough to incite chuckles, and the jaggy graphics look worse than many Xbox and PlayStation 2 games."
• IGN (60/100) - "When we first started playing the title, we were prepared to score it in the low 5s because of the controls. Defenders may claim that the Wii is unable to simulate a faster, quicker aiming mechanic, which is untrue. Activision's Call of Duty 3 looks like a mess compared to Ubisoft's effort, but it is still the better shooter because its controls are much more responsive ... [We] think that there will be a lot of gamers who will completely ignore any control drawbacks and focus on the prettier visuals and varied play. But these people will be kidding themselves, for although Red Steel was born to use Wii's controller, it rarely uses it in a satisfyingly intuitive manner."
• 1UP (50/100) - "[The] four-player splitscreen multiplayer, while somewhat fun, is sooo two gens ago. After playing games online, it's hard to revert back to the archaic act of herding four friends together in a room ... Don't be fooled into thinking Red Steel reinvents the FPS. It's nothing more than a ho-hum shooter with a creative but flawed gimmick stapled on."

If you've been unable to score yourself a Wii yet, we'll give you the next best thing: a live video feed of someone playing the Wii for a week straight. Gamer Yoshi Madness will be playing the Wii using these guidelines:

• He will only be sleeping four hours a day (usually from 2:00AM until 6:00AM, he claims)
• He'll update the blog on his site every four hours
  
• He will only be leaving his room to a) use the bathroom (thank god -- although he goes on to say "if it's a deuce then it might take 15 minutes, classy) or b) if his dad needs something (parents and relatives might be over for Thanksgiving).

While this is pretty ambitious, it's also a bit over the edge ... one week straight with only four hours sleep a night? That's a recipe for insanity. Still, the feed is more informative than most in-game videos you'll find online, and it gives you some real insight. If you're wondering about a game you want to pick up for the Wii, watch the video for awhile and then make your decision. Heck, watch it all week and see if you can keep up.

Just be sure to allow yourself ample time for deucing.

[Thanks, BB]

Ubisoft's first Wii ad, a Red Steel TV spot, has all the makings of an effective after-school commercial:

• Action (swords, guns, flailing arms, etc.)
• Humor (stereotyped Asian "master" ridicules disciple: "you suck")
• Reassurance (older gamer is playing; it must be cool)

Are we sold? Nope -- but we're not the target. Think Ubisoft captures the kids' imaginations with this one?

Game|Life has scored some precious hands-ons with Ubisoft's Wii launch titles and also managed some time with the Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice For All (DS) import while traveling to and from the Ubisoft offices. Check out the coverage:

• Monster Truck 4x4 and GT Pro - "...just old games with Wii controls shoehorned in, and how do you really get excited about that?"
• Red Steel - "I didn't play Red Steel at E3 ... So I had no firsthand knowledge of the game until today. And what I played was great. Apparently they've made great strides between E3 and today, because the controls ... were spot-on..."
• Rayman Raving Rabbids - "...this might be the best non-Zelda game of the launch, and easily a great showpiece for the controller's abilities."
• Splinter Cell: Double Agent - "After spending a half an hour struggling to complete the first level of Double Agent on Wii, I went home, popped in the PS2 version, and blasted through it unscathed in minutes."

• Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice For All (DS import) - "Not only is the game bilingual, it's actually a global product. When plugged into an American DS system, the title bar on the console's menu screen reads -- instead of Gyakuten Saiban 2 -- 'Phoenix Wright: Justice For All.'"
  

Thanks to a truly dedicated poster over at the Nintendo forums, we get some new information from Australian game magazine Hyper on how Red Steel is progressing as it nears Wii launch time. Most notable of the facts revealed were how things have changed since a so-so E3 debut.

The Wii controls are changing a lot especially since the E3 version ... The system needs a little time to recognize your move (This I'm worried about...) but at the end this is your move that is performed on screen. Besides, today on the current version, we have some movement being mapped and some not. Some will stay mapped at the end so that with an accessible move you can unleash and impressive action you would never be able to perform in real life.

Also, the representative admits that the Red Steel team is pushing an improved Unreal engine to "its limits."

Red Steel is running on the improved version Unreal engine for the Wii system. A large portion of our team has already worked with the Unreal engine. They are already well aware of its strengths and weaknesses. We have pushed the engine to its limits to offer a rich, colored and different setting to the player.

Check out the full interview after the break.

Much like the recent Activision release schedule that featured three probable Wii launch titles, Ubisoft UK has confirmed a general release month for its high profile, day one shooter Red Steel. A press email sent out today clearly states: "Red Steel is set for release on the Nintendo Wii in November 2006."

So, following the logic: if a = b and b = c, then a = c, Wii will launch in November. There. We solved it! And whadaya know, that crabby ninth grade algebra teacher was actually right, math is applicable in the 'real world' -- even for video game blogging. Imagine that.

An intriguing Red Steel multiplayer detail recently surfaced during GamePro's interview with Ubisoft creative director Nicolas Eypert. When asked about the game's multiplayer, Eypert had this to say:

"[You'll] have up to four players. If they play together in split screens we can only say that the fight will not be only on screen."

While the 4-player figure is underwhelming by today's standards, we're certainly curious about the off-screen activity Eypert has hinted at. Cross-room shootouts? Mock swordfights? Could be groundbreaking ... could be awful -- it will most certainly be embarrassing.

Can Ubisoft resuscitate the current state of 'couch' co-op?

Despite confusion over Game Informer's latest Red Steel impression, Ubisoft has revealed that a redesign of the game's mechanics is in development. The E3 build of the game was harshly criticized for its poor swordplay controls, and Ubisoft Paris has appeared to take notice of those complaints.

According to French press sources, the development team is hard at work refining a number of Red Steel's elements, specifically the sword-fighting, which Ubisoft admitted was difficult to program. Thankfully, the team likely has several months before Nintendo comes calling for the final build, unless the title slips out of the Wii launch window -- in that case, Ubisoft would have all the time in the world...

According to the July issue of Game Informer, the latest build of Ubisoft's Red Steel seems to feature markedly improved controls over the much-maligned version that was playable at E3. GI reports:

"Not only did the remote replicate our actual sword-slashes, but the recently unveiled motion sensor in the Nunchuck could be thrust forward for parry attacks ... [It] felt just like the mock-saber duels nearly everyone had as kids."

[Update 1: It turns out the GI impressions are, shockingly, from the E3 build. Were these guys playing the same game we were? 'Cause the Red Steel we tested was broke.]

[Update 2: Ubisoft apparently told "the French press" they would be tweaking the gameplay based on the E3 showing, specifically the much-maligned swordplay.]

According to numerous reports, Nintendo Power has confirmed six Wii launch titles:

• Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors (Square Enix)
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo)
• Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Nintendo)
• Rayman Raving Rabbits (Ubisoft)
• Red Steel (Ubisoft)
• Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz (Sega)

While this list will surely double -- or even triple -- in size as we draw closer to the console's launch, one game that will likely slip out of the launch window is Super Mario Galaxy. Link and Samus will just have to hold it down until the plumber returns in 2007.

Red Steel disappointed me. The biggest problem with the game (and most worrisome to Nintendo) is its control scheme. What we found playing Red Steel, along with many other third-party Wii titles, is that the controls felt too sensitive. There is an issue with moving your remote slightly out of the range of the TV-mounted system, resulting in the cross hairs going stir-crazy off to the side of the screen. If Ubisoft can fix the sensitivity, then the rest of the control scheme is intuitively laid out and works well. Also, the sword fighting is pretty lacking, with only a variety of slashes available. The sword does not follow every move, and each slash requires a dramatic sweep of the remote -- the simplicity gave the sword-fighting moments the impression of a minigame.

TVG reports that Ubisoft's Revolution launch title, Red Steel, will avoid gratuitous violence. Despite influence from Tarantino's Kill Bill film series and sporting a name that seemingly implies blood-soaked katana, Red Steel will likely be released blood-free.

The omission will help land the game a Teen-rating, which will increase the consumer demographic and extend the unofficial 'kid-tested, parent-approved' Nintendo theme to the Revolution. If you're at all disappointed by this toned-down development, just keep in mind that blood isn't necessary for a visceral experience.