E3: Wii peripherals, hands-on
Friday, July 13, 2007 | 08:34 AM ET
by Erin Bell, special to CBCNews.ca
Capcom's first-person shooter Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and Nintendo's Wii Fit offered the first opportunities to demo Nintendo's new Wii Zapper and Wii mat peripherals for the Wii console.
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles' storyline, according to Capcom, fills in some of the plot points of Resident 0, 1 and 2 that players didn't get to see the first time around. The demo resembled a typical arcade-style rails shooter with Jill Valentine and Carlos Olivera playable characters in two-player co-op.
Screenshot from Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles
While the game is playable by holding the WIi remote and Nunchuk in the traditional way, The Wii Zapper helps to recreate the arcade feel of holding a heftier weapon in both hands. The Wii Zapper is essentially a plastic rifle-shaped casing that houses a detachable WIi remote and Nunchuk. The Wii remote is used to point and aim at enemies, and a trigger built into the Zapper is used to fire. The Nunchuk fits to the back of the Zapper and lets players look from side to side using the thumbpad, change weapons, and pick up objects.
The Wiimote's motion sensitivity features are also put to use in the context of the Zapper. Players can reload with a quick flick of the device, or shake it around to break free of an enemy's grip or execute a melee knife attack.
I also got "foots-on" time with Nintendo's Wii mat, which is being packaged with Wii Fit. Based on the demo shown, Wii Fit seems to be similar to the Wii Sports and Wii Play titles, offering short easy-to-learn and fun experiences that revolve around simple concepts. When a player stands on the Wii mat, the device uses sensors to detect how much weight is being put on each foot, and based on that can sense actions including crouching, leaning to either side, and standing tall.
Nintendo's Wii Fit game
The first Wii Fit game I tried out was a ski jumping game where I had to crouch while on my way down the hill to pick up speed, then stand up at the correct time to launch myself off the ramp. There was also a soccer-based game that involved heading soccer balls into a net as they launched to the left or right or straight up the middle.
What I'm most excited about, but didn't get to try in person, is the Wii mat's potential as a workout aid for performing yoga, step classes and other exercise routines.
Erin Bell is a Toronto-based freelance video game and technology journalist, and is reporting on her fourth E3.
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Comments
Garet
Winnipeg
The zapper actually sounds kinda cool, although pointless.
The board though...
Posted July 13, 2007 09:40 AM
Charles
Ontario
Finally; a game that can tell me just how awful I am at Yoga. I actually WANT this thng. Very badly, I might add. I need to improve. ^^;
Posted July 13, 2007 10:54 AM
John
toronto
What could be really interesting is if Nintendo can find ways to use multiple peripherals together. The FPS genre would be like an arcade experience on the Wii.
... Now if only they could keep production up with demand, they'd be leading the console wars by now.
Posted July 13, 2007 12:38 PM
Carolyn
I wish there wasn't a console war. I wish they all just worked together.
But anyway, I think the zapper reminds me a lot of Duck Hunt's add-on. Anyone else remember it? It's really nice to see an ancient idea coming back for yet another round. Almost like how the Wiimote is the original Nintendo's controller, only flipped vertically! :D
Posted July 13, 2007 01:23 PM
Monkey
Winnipeg
Always happy to hear of ways to workout without leaving my house. Giddy am I? Yesss
They should redo Duck Hunt only this time you pretend to shoot at the ducks to make the dog pop up laughing and then blast HIM in the head... Teaches his to laugh at me when Ducks are flying faster than F-18s
Posted July 17, 2007 07:45 PM
Carolyn
XD Duck-18s!!!
I'd love to see a remake of Duck Hunt. Frankly, I'm surprised there hasn't been one yet. O.o
I mean... there have been remakes of many, many games...
OH. LEGACY OF THW WIZARD NEEDS TO BE REMADE!!
Posted July 18, 2007 08:07 AM
Claudio
Ontario
Hmm, a new Duck Hunt? Well there IS a new light gun peripheral on the way...you never know. Of course this light zapper looks more like a machine gun. Duck Massacre maybe? XD
You know what I'd like to see remade? Kid Icarus. Long overdue, and no, ActRaiser 2 doesn't count! Actually my xbox tag was partly inspired by Kid Icarus: Icarus72
Posted July 18, 2007 09:38 AM
Carolyn
Let's just hope DUCKHUNT 2 won't get labeled the same as MANHUNT 2, which has basically the same premise: Shoot everything on the screen.
Posted July 18, 2007 12:43 PM
Monkey
Winnipeg
Icarus is an awesome name Claudio.
Duck-18 WITH a Machinegun, hehehe
Ingredients for massive killing sprees, lol
Posted July 18, 2007 01:05 PM
Carolyn
Game Slogans for Duckhunt 2:
Rise of Duck-18
"The next time you scream Duck, you won't be alone."
"Duck, Duck, Die."
"They don't just fly south anymore."
"This time, the dog won't be laughing for long."
Posted July 18, 2007 02:16 PM
Monkey
Winnipeg
hehehe, "Get Ducked!"
Posted July 18, 2007 05:26 PM
Charles
Ontario
"A Ducking good time!"
Posted July 19, 2007 08:25 AM
Garet
Winnipeg
Here's to hoping the announce a ROB the robot for the new generation.
Posted July 19, 2007 12:03 PM