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Dust off those Wiimotes, Star Wars: The Clone Wars -- Lightsaber Duels confirmed photo

As Dale highlighted earlier this morning, LucasArts has no intention of attending this year's muted E3 summit, but that doesn't mean that good old Georgie blew his load with The Force Unleashed, and has nothing left to show. In fact, depending on one's console(s) of choice, the best may be yet to come.

Thanks to Venture Beat, we finally know what that lightsaber battle game is that's been shrouded in secrecy for so long: Star Wars: The Clone Wars -- Lightsaber Duels, an exclusive for the Wii. If your curiosity has been piqued, and you wonder just how well the game is suited for Nintendo's fabulous Wiimote, then you are going to want to pay close attention to Ken Fox's recent interview with IGN:

 "We've tried to make the lightsaber control as intuitive and fun as possible. It's not a Lightsaber simulator, but when you swing your Wii remote left to right; your character does the same. You use the thumbstick on the nunchuck to move your character and swing the Wii remote to swing your Lightsaber. The buttons all do cool stuff like use the force, block and dodge, but the focus is really on putting the Wii remote in the players hand and saying 'This is your Lightsaber!'"

Continued after the jump:

"I wouldn't describe what we're doing as one-to-one in the way that you might picture, but we really tried to make it feel like you get to swing your Lightsaber 'manually'. In short, it feels like the most natural and convincing sword type experience I've had on the Wii. And on top of that, it not just a sword, it's a lightsaber."

Come on now, you weren't really expecting the Wiimote to be capable of completely mimicking actual (were there such a grand thing in real life!) lightsaber battles... right? Nonetheless, LucasArts promises the finished product to be the best use of the Wiimote to date. With multiplayer being a given, this might be the game that reminds fans that the Wii remains a viable source for Star Wars entertainment. Are you buying it?

[Via Venture Beat and IGN -- Thanks, Jonathan]








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41 comments | showing # 1 to 41
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MechaMonkey's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 12:50
MechaMonkey
Still not Wiisabers, but as close as we're gonna get. Worth looking at.
JACK of No Trades's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 12:51
JACK of No Trades
I want 1:1 motion! Not jackoff jestures.
VWGTI's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 12:52
VWGTI
Meh, I really hope it's good, but I'm not counting on it.
Gameboi's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 12:53
Gameboi
I guess it's as close to 1:1 as we can get with the current technology offered by Nintendo.

Just wait until we get to the age of the holodeck! Who says you can't mix SW ans ST?
JACK of No Trades's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 12:55
JACK of No Trades
*gestures*
Gameboi's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 12:57
Gameboi
@ JACK of No Trades

I kind of liked your first spelling of gestures more. Just visualize that sentence again for a moment. Betcha can't keep a straight face!
galagabug 's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 12:58
galagabug
horray for unsatisfying waggle?
Excel-2011's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 12:59
Excel-2011
I don't know about this. I've only seen those with the lightsabers use two hands and this release suggests that the sword is going to be held in one.
JACK of No Trades's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 13:00
JACK of No Trades
lol, now I get it. That would be a wet experience mixed with fun and laughs.
JACK of No Trades's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 13:01
JACK of No Trades
Also, you joining us for FNF this weekend?
Gameboi's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 13:02
Gameboi
If all goes well, yes.
ace of knaves's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 13:06
ace of knaves
This could be PR over-hype, or the best thing ever. We shall see.
Chicken008's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 13:08
Chicken008
Battle in Lion King movie?
SteamyV's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 13:14
SteamyV
I hope they take a cue from (of all things) the Boxing on WiiSports. The required movement controls weren't exact replications of what was translated to the screen, but once you got the hang of it there was a relatively deep combat mechanic to enjoy.

Until the hardware can support 1:1 online lightsaber duels, I'll make due with my ForceFX sabers.
Rigor Mortis's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 13:23
Rigor Mortis
They should have 1:1 motion just so that people can accidentally hack their own character's limbs off.
SWE3tMadness's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 13:28
SWE3tMadness
*crosses fingers*

Don't screw this up, don't screw this up, pleasepleasepleaseplease don't screw this up...>.<
CBunn's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 13:32
CBunn
After I hooked up my wiimote to a mac, and saw what the output from the wiimote was, I'm sad to say, 1:1 movement is not going to happen. at least not fast movement, at best, the jerky one that we see on wii sports baseball. Moving at reasonable speed, the controller can pick its position, witch side is up and stuff like that, but being accelerometers, they go all wacky when you start sudden moves. It can pick to witch side you jerked it, but the other axis go bananas.
But hey, I'm not a dev, and the app that runs on the mac isn't exactly official, so I may be missing something.
WhiteX's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 13:32
WhiteX
1:1 is stupidity, if they were to release a 1:1 swordplay game, they´d have to dumb down the enemies so much that the game will stop being fun or keep it unplayable saved for fencing experts and sell 5 copies, ppl that complain about 1:1 sword movement knows not what they talk about.
king3vbo's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 13:34
king3vbo
I wont buy it, because it aint 1:1... which wont happen with the Wii... its just not capable
Scientist tz's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 13:36
Scientist tz
Most PvP games of this will consist of both players wildly swinging the wiimote from side to side until one player "wins."

If there's actually a deep combat mechanic I'll be VERY surprised.

Translation: This will be a casual game for casual gamers.
LarkOhiya's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 13:36
LarkOhiya
personally i don't see lack of 1:1 to be a flaw of the hardware. (though it doesn't make it easy) its a mixture of designers not working with what they have and fear of complexity and input misinterpretation.
GuitarAtomik's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 13:39
GuitarAtomik
I don't see what's going to make this game's lightsaber controls any diferent from the Wii version of Force Unleashed or even (dare I say it) Soul Calibur Legends. I guess I'm going to have to see a demonstration to fully understand what this guy is talking about.
CBunn's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 13:45
CBunn
Also, I think it's nice. I was contemplating buying the force unleash for the wii for the duels, Now I don't have to bother, and I can buy the proper version on the PS3 (I also consider the xbox360 the "proper" version, and it's sad that I have to say it not to be accused of fanboyism) the wii's getting this version. I leave my "fun" games to the wii, and my epic games for the ps3 and pc (there are exceptions, like Zelda, and pixeljunk monsters). See? we CAN get along!
JACK of No Trades's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 13:49
JACK of No Trades
Cbunn

Don't bring up pixeljunk monsters! I love that game. I juggle it in between Cod4 online, MGS4 single player & monsters co op.
4knuckleshuffle's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 14:00
4knuckleshuffle
Of course, it's set during the shitty timeline. I want moar of the classics.
Brad Nicholson's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 14:02
Brad Nicholson
@4knuckleshuffle - Maybe a "Han Shot First" mini-game pack.
gamesronlygames's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 14:19
gamesronlygames
I think it will be a fun rental if no online is avail., otherwise if online is available it would be sweet.
Twicky's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 14:28
Twicky
It looks cartoony from that shot above. I want 1:1, but I'm not going to put this down just yet.
Hitogoroshi's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 14:38
Hitogoroshi
Well Clone Wars was the best thing to come out of Star Wars in the last 20 years so I guess this is promising.
Y0j1mb0's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 14:38
Y0j1mb0
The game will probably be Meh but have you seen the Trailer to the new clone wars yet? That shit looks cool.
Misanthrope's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 15:18
Misanthrope
Now thats a wii based game I can get into. Interesting
Darren Nakamura's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 15:34
Darren Nakamura
It's not gonna work.
BluFire's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 15:59
BluFire
I hate to jump to conclusions, but IMO Dexter is correct.
Bricfa's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 16:11
Bricfa
If this is good, I will buy a Wii for it.
PappaDukes's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 16:27
PappaDukes
They best have a lightsaber peripheral that snaps onto the top of the wiimote. They have tennis racket peripherals for fucks sake! TENNIS RACKETS!
zardoz's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 16:47
zardoz
Of course it will work, the wiimote is just an input device, and like all input devices it relies on good game design to translate player movement, ALL input devices are there to best translate human interface, it doesn't matter if it's 1-1 control, what matters is if the control let's the player feel like they are in control and that their instinctive reactions are able to be translated in to the game in a fluid way.

Game design is all about creating the illusion of complex control through a very basic input device. The best racing games out there are still using the extremely basic left and right on the control pad to convey a feeling of advance road traction.

With the wiimote people seem to through all knowledge of how game design works out the window, the wiimote is more than capable of providing a fully immersive light sabre experience, it is all down to the developer and their understanding of human interface design. So of course it can work.
Kyousuke Nanbu's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 18:26
Kyousuke Nanbu
I can't wait for this come out and its terrible, the tears will flow like wine.

My guess is that this will end up working like the lightsaber duels in Star Wars Trilogy machine as there's no way the Wiimote can pull off precise movements similar to the ones in the movies.
Aaron Mxy Yost's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/19/2008 21:20
Aaron Mxy Yost
Pff, I'll stick to lightsaber dueling in real life. I just got my new cybernetic replacement hand last week and I'm ready to get back into it.
Excel-2011's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/20/2008 07:53
Excel-2011
@Mxyzptlk:
You and me. Outside. One hour.
bleep's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/20/2008 21:45
bleep
Hey look mom no hands!
Capn Birdseye's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/21/2008 17:46
Capn Birdseye
They have gimped themselves by setting it in the Clone Wars timeline - people now have expectations of actual swordplay.

They should have set it in the original trilogy. Then, they could have easily replicated the half hearted jerking overhand swings that passed for swordplay with the original movies.

The Wiimote could easily handle those two moves - "Blind Woodsman chop", and "Waiting patiently for blind woodsman chop with saber held in air".
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