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Children and adults with movement impairing handicaps have access to many devices to help them get around, but what about disabled infants? Researchers have come up with a baby-moving robot that uses a Wii Balance Board as its guide.
At least one Ubisoft staffer out there thinks I have a nice arse. (It’s not Jade… as far as I know.) That commendation was handed out during my cheeks-on time with the forthcoming Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party, as I virtually surfed a dead cow via the Wii Balance Board.
After suffering through the rather mundane Wii-mote waggling “party” game pictured — it involved four Rabbids in a whack-duel to the death armed with toilet plungers — we plopped down on the balance board, controllers in hand.
The butt steering mechanics worked pretty well, as we slalomed down a slight grade, leaning left and right to steer our livestock, occasionally jumping off ramps to pull off cattle tricks. These were simply two-handed jerks of the remote and nunchuk. It was good for a laugh.
And if that’s all you need from your Wii software, the next Rayman Raving Rabbids entry will probably fit the bill. The balance board isn’t required, but will probably help make the fifty-ish mini-games feel that much more varied.
The concept of yet another mini-game collection being hastily brought to the Wii may not light a fire under you, but at least Ubisoft is putting some effort into Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party‘s presentation. The television theme is well implemented via micro-games within mini-games based on commercial breaks. Wii waggling in short bursts with friends and family, should that be up your alley, looks to be well represented here.
And we’ll leave it at that.
As posted earlier, Kotaku’s own Mike “Michael” McWhertor was impressed with Skate It‘s straight forward incorporation of the Wii Balance Board. But for some, maybe just the regular Wii Balance Board isn’t enough to get them in the mood for skating. Maybe they want something to sexy the board up. You know, like some sort of snap-on peripheral. Nothing’s been announced by EA, but rumours persist Skate It will ship with something like that. When asked if such Balance Board peripheral exists, EA replied:
That’s something I haven’t heard. So… Our focus is just working with what is provided by Nintendo. So there’s not an extra piece. You know, it’s really about working with the Balance Board. So if you have one, this is another game you can play with it. It’s not about fitness, it’s about skateboarding and having fun.
There’s a video after the jump. Watch it if you like.
First Balance Board Blog got hold of a rather bizarre YouTube clip that features — women in jogging leotards? dudes with horrid combovers in corsets and black socks? — running to a 60-Minutes style stopwatch. Nothing in the vid suggests it’s a promo for a game, much less one using the Wii Balance Board, so methinks viral marketing straight away.
But BBB got hold of the video’s poster and subsequent confirmation that PheroseSoft, a seven-person team made up of former devs for EA Canada Burnaby and Rockstar North, is developing something called “WiiMove”. It should be available by WiiWare sometime after October this year, Balance Board Blog reports.
A representative of PheroseSoft told BBB that “the game looks to put an unexpected slant on the Wii Balance Board”. Ya don’t say. The video’s after the jump.
If losing weight balance training isn’t your thing, and you find the idea of skiing fundamentally abhorrent, THQ might have a Wii Balance Boarding alternative for you: All-Star Cheerleading, a game they’ve got in development for the Wii. THQ boss Brian Farrell, speaking today at the Morgan Stanley Tech Conference, says it’s “going right after girls”, but I think he’s underestimating the number of 20-something guys who own a copy of Bring It On.
The Wii Balance Board for WiiFit will not support those who weigh over 300lbs (136kg), at least not in Japan. Given the largeness impressiveness of the American waistline, Nintendo would do well to beef up the specs a bit while the rest of us beef down. But at the same time, what a slap in the face that would be: “Here’s your cinder block board, America. Complete with cupholder!”
Given our experience with WiiFit, it’s a lackluster product bordering on 99% marketing gimmick. So our guess is that the 300+ pounders among us will be better off going for a walk anyway. And besides, that Nike iPod integration is way more impressive than this whole WiiFit thing, and just about as fun (because it’s not really at all). And you won’t trip over the pea-sized device every time you walk in the room. Just our two cents.
