Topic: IGN reveals new Wii launch title and first pics of the Wii sterring wheel attachment

[Rhoq]

Spliner Cell: Double Agent to launch with Wii (includes first screenshots)

New deatils on UbiSoft's GT Pro Series including screenshots of the cell-shaded racer plus the steering wheel attachment, which is confirmed to work with most (if not all) racers that will use the Wii-mote as a steering wheel, including Nintendo's own Excite Truck.  

[King of Twitch]

Nice, another attachment. I wonder if you can lunge the controller to grab people? Why'd they kill off his daughter?

[capamerica]

NICE!
I almost feel sorry for Sony since the PS3 is the Only next gen system not getting a version of Spliner Cell: Double Agent. The PS3 owners can only play it by playing the ugly looking PS2 version.

GT Pro doesn't impress me much, it looks like Auto Modellista.

[Deguello]

I believe the killing off of his daughter has little bearing on the plot and is merely there to remove a moral baseline for Mr. Fisher.  The idea that he is to be a double agent in a terrorist organization probably would not sit well with the daughter in question, AND since Mr. Fisher is to be falsely incarcerated, she would either end up being a liability or if she is in on the ruse the spy group would have to just hope she doesn't spill the beans at random.  So the best option for the plot writers is to simply have her die in a random accident, which twofold gets rid of a moral baseline which might prevent him from doing certain jobs, such as being a double agent in a terror cell, and increases his angry angst enough so that he will take on more dangerous missions, such as being a double agent in a terrorist cell.

I know way too much about a game I hate.  

[Caliban]

I want a "real" racer, none of that cel-shading techinque on "real" racing games please!

Attachment looks cool.

Another Splinter? Meh. I will read many reviews before I purchase it.

[ShyGuy]

Well, IGN delivered, Joystiq and Kotaku decieved.

[wandering]

Yes.

Sterring wheel, finally. Looks awesome.

Games don't look bad. I know it's cliche to hide lower horespower with cel-shading, but, hey it works. The racer is looking snazzier than carbon. Oh, and Splinter Cell isn't looking bad.

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with most (if not all) racers

Well, it won't work with Carbon (pointing at an on-screen steering wheel and dragging it around ftw!)

[Mario]

Cel shading hardly impacts driving gameplay mechanics, but I knew this wouldn't be a serious racer back when I heard about the Ridge Racer style emphasis on drifting. It still looks like it could be neat, i'm not going to expect anything amazing but i'll give it a go when  it comes out.

FREE steering wheel too! I hope it gives more turning

[Spak-Spang]

I was pleasantly surprised to see Cell Shading in the racer.  Auto Modellista wasn't that great of a game, but it did have wonderful style.  

GT Pro Series is very much like Grand Turismo, it uses real cars and simulates real driving.  I think it is more important in this case to differentiate yourself with visual style than to be compared directly to the other racer.

It is a very smart move.

[Crimm]

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Originally posted by: ShyGuy
Joystiq... decieved.

Hey they apologized!

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Originally posted by: Christopher Grant
The worst part is, we understand that it was our hard-earned credibility that contributed to this excitement cocktail.

Which leads me to ask, what part of posting unconfirmed rumors and editorials from PSM as fact is the "hard-earning" of credibility?  

[Pale]

It's really just a hunk of plastic.  Probably costs five cents to make.  These types of things could be interesting novelties that could be included in game preorders and what not.

[mantidor]

so are the Splinter Cell screenshots photoshopped or not? Im bad at recognizing this things. It looks a lot better than what Ive come to expect from games for the console.

[Arbok]

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Originally posted by: mantidor
so are the Splinter Cell screenshots photoshopped or not? Im bad at recognizing this things. It looks a lot better than what Ive come to expect from games for the console.

It's Ubisoft, so much like the Red Steel ones you can pretty much be assured that they are.

[JonLeung]

I don't like racing games - I don't even currently drive a car.  So you may slap me if what I say next doesn't make sense.

But from what I've seen people doing in real-life cars (even in non-racing driving) and in arcade racing cabinets, I don't see how the steering wheel would work other than for basic steering - since it's not actually attached to anything.

It'd be hard if not impossible to perform hand-over-hand motions, one-handed palm spins, or simply letting the wheel slide through your hands.  Without a central pivot or whatever it's like you're just going to be doing tilts.

Maybe I have no idea what I'm talking about - I've done that from time to time.  I guess it could be better than just holding the remote.  But like the whole uncanny valley discussion, I feel it makes it closer to a steering wheel all right...but the fact that one has to hold the whole thing up and that it lacks a pivot of its own will probably make me drive worse than I already do - or at least not any better.  Good thing it's probably cheap enough to not increase the price of the game it comes with - and optional for gameplay.

Now did I sound as stupid as I think I do?  (Regardless, I should probably get a car.)

[Kairon]

I've never played a Splinter Cell game before...

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[Mario]

Quote
Originally posted by: JonLeung
I don't like racing games - I don't even currently drive a car.  So you may slap me if what I say next doesn't make sense.

But from what I've seen people doing in real-life cars (even in non-racing driving) and in arcade racing cabinets, I don't see how the steering wheel would work other than for basic steering - since it's not actually attached to anything.

It'd be hard if not impossible to perform hand-over-hand motions, one-handed palm spins, or simply letting the wheel slide through your hands.  Without a central pivot or whatever it's like you're just going to be doing tilts.

Maybe I have no idea what I'm talking about - I've done that from time to time.  I guess it could be better than just holding the remote.  But like the whole uncanny valley discussion, I feel it makes it closer to a steering wheel all right...but the fact that one has to hold the whole thing up and that it lacks a pivot of its own will probably make me drive worse than I already do - or at least not any better.  Good thing it's probably cheap enough to not increase the price of the game it comes with - and optional for gameplay.

Now did I sound as stupid as I think I do?  (Regardless, I should probably get a car.)

It's just  a more comfortable way to use the controller in that position.

[UncleBob]

Okay, now that we have a Wii-Steering Wheel, can we have a port of Mario Kart GP please?

[trip1eX]

From the Ubi press release.      ".......  The Splinter Cell franchise has always translated very well across multiple platforms."  

Yeah right.  The 'Cube versions of most Tom Clancy games by Ubi were half-ass ports.  I just don't see Ubi really taking time to do a proper Wii game with Splinter Cell.  I see that alot with other 3rd party stuff.  A couple of 'em are putting in the time.  But many are just tacking on a couple of Wiimote gestures.  I hope they understand that's the recipe for failure.


Then there's that steering wheel.  A 5 cent piece of plastic.  Ok it's good for a couple laughs.  But seriously I rather have a real racing wheel.  I can only wish that the game is compatible with the Logitech SpeedForce wheel I have for the 'Cube.   (Of course it won't be, but...)

[Athrun Zala]

the steering wheel is exactly what I was expecting (well, mostly, it seems to be lacking pedals (and the stick, but that wouldn't have been included regardless...)), and it's as real as you can get, because the Wiimote has gyroscopes anyways, so there isn't much to be done to the wheel....

and Splinter Cell.....not really surprised....actually I'm surprised they took this long to announce it....

[NWR_pap64]

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Originally posted by: trip1eX
From the Ubi press release.      ".......  The Splinter Cell franchise has always translated very well across multiple platforms."  

Yeah right.  The 'Cube versions of most Tom Clancy games by Ubi were half-ass ports.  I just don't see Ubi really taking time to do a proper Wii game with Splinter Cell.  I see that alot with other 3rd party stuff.  A couple of 'em are putting in the time.  But many are just tacking on a couple of Wiimote gestures.  I hope they understand that's the recipe for failure.

O RLY? Tell that to Sony...

In all seriousness, one of the reasons the PSone and PS2 were so successful was because they featured a HUGE library of games. True, many of them were uninspired pieces of crap, but in the end what the consumer will see is a HUGE library of games to explore, thus making the console really attractive and even worth buying.

The Gamecube library had a lot of triple A titles, but it was the lack of third party support that killed it because consumers were attracted to the PS family's library of games rather than Nintendo's handful of great games.

Also, the DS is filled with games that are made to cash in on the success of the handheld and yet that hasn't stopped the handheld from becoming a worldwide phenomenon.

The same thing happened to the NES, the SNES and the Gameboy. All of them had a massive library of games, but about a 100 of them were actually worth playing, but in the end it was the variety of games that impressed the consumers, not the quality.

So while I agree with your logic that the Wii needs top rate third party games they also need a lot of titles from the start in order to make the console more appealing to the consumer.

I admit I am not a big fan of Splinter Cell and I prefer the Metal gear series, SC is a well known franchise, and having it at launch will make it even more impressive, so I am all for it.

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Then there's that steering wheel.  A 5 cent piece of plastic.  Ok it's good for a couple laughs.  But seriously I rather have a real racing wheel.  I can only wish that the game is compatible with the Logitech SpeedForce wheel I have for the 'Cube.   (Of course it won't be, but...)

I honestly don't see why you are so annoyed by this. It does look a bit silly, but it will be bundled with the game, it will work with the other racing games available at launch and it's wireless. I have to see how it works before passing judgement on it, but again this is something that will help Nintendo along.

[IceCold]

Splinter Cell does look quite impressive - even though those are probably doctored, I think it will turn out well..

[GoldenPhoenix]

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Originally posted by: IceCold
Splinter Cell does look quite impressive - even though those are probably doctored, I think it will turn out well..

Didn't splinter cell look really good on Xbox? If so I wouldn't be surprised if those pics weren't doctored.

[Crimm]

It does, indeed, look fabulous on the XBox.  I recall the first game being regarded as "graphically mindblowing"

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

What an embarrassment.

Having a freehand floaty steering wheel... is kinda weird.  I do believe it'll allow for a better grip and control over your tilt angles, but a steering wheel that ISN'T anchored... is kinda weird.  Definitely gets novelty points.

Now, the Logitech SpeedForce wheel is a great gadget.  BUT, it's difficult to utilize for extended periods or multiple sessions without a suitable seating arrangement, which is a problem with all steering wheels.  There's a lot of trouble/effort/luck to go thru to make it "feel" right.  And yes, using your lap sucks.

I believe the Splinter Cell shots are authentic, just as much as the Red Steel shots.  The only problem is they're SUPER HUGE, which i think falls in line with Ubi's usual high-rez PR tactics.  I've no clue if the high-rezness will actually translate to any benefits in the real-world, since they could be high-rez just for the sake of press distribution on the interweb.  And if you look at the dimensions of the shots, they have a ~1.25 ratio -- PAL TV ratio -- which makes sense for Ubi since they're a bunch of nutty Euro nutcases, which includes Canadia Land.

[trip1eX]

Splinter Cell on the Wii will look pretty much like on the Gamecube with slight enhancements here and there.

Ubi is putting out alot of games.  Ubi put out alot of half-ass 'Cube ports.  So expect many of their Wii games to be crap.  Let's not stray away from reality here.  Just because a 3rd party is making a game for the Wii doesn't mean it will be good.  I'm not trying to be negative, but realistic.  Some of these Ubi games will be half-ass ports.  

I have a feeling that Splinter Cell will be the biggest offender.  IT's just announced too late in the game and the 'Cube version ini which they are tacking on the gestures was probably no more than a half-ass port.  I hope it's not so.  But I don't have a lot of faith there.  

The plastic wheel is the very definition of a sparkling innovation.  I admit it will be fun to try out and I shouldn't have compared it to a racing wheel because obviously a racing wheel is far more money (well unless you're like me and picked up the SpeedForce/pedals for $10 new)  and a real gaming wheel delivers a far better experience than the wiimote ever could in a 5 cent piece of plastic.  The way I see it is that using a 5 cent piece of plastic isn't an  upgrade to my racing experience.