Red Steel 2 Message Board

In developing Red Steel 2, Ubisoft Creative Director Jason VanderBerge learned quite a bit about Nintendo's optional Wii MotionPlus accessory (and how people use it). So he seemed like a good person to ask about the potential of Sony and Microsoft's impending motion control accessories, the Move and Kinect. When we did just that, catching up with VanderBerge after his talk at GDC Europe this week, he was a bit ambivalent about the subject.

#motion Red Steel 2 was reviewed favorably, but that doesn't mean it was a success. Its disappointing sales performance, says the game's creative director, can be chalked up to gamers unwillingness "to get up and move and exert themselves for fun." More »

If there's one thing Ubisoft Creative Director Jason VanderBerge learned in playtesting Red Steel 2, it's that different people respond to the simple direction "swing the Wii Remote like a sword" in very different ways. At his talk at GDC Europe today, VanderBerge showed off just how different those swings can be, using a cane to demonstrate the movements of the seven major types of Wii Remote swingers he's identified. Besides being highly entertaining, the demonstration showed just how hard it is to train motion control players to perform even simple actions the way a developer expects.

We weren't quick enough to get a video of the hilarious, high-energy performance, but we did manage to snap some pictures that show off the intensity of VanderBerge's flailing. Hit the break and see how many of these specimens you've encountered in the wild.

The game was good and they figured out how to make motion controls really work. So why didn't it sell?

#wii The Wii-only and well-reviewed samurai Western Red Steel 2 sold about 50,000 copies in the U.S. in its first month of release, according to financial analyst Michael Pachter. More »

What does everyone thing about UbiSoft's gunslinging, sword swinging action title?

Now this is a commercial that I think you guys will enjoy a bit more. It may be old promo footage to us, but it’s new to TV viewers!

Amazon UK: ranked 9th in Wii best sellers Amazon France: ranked 22 in Wii best sellers Amazon Canada: ranked 22 in Wii bestsellers Amazon Germany: ranked 26 in Wii bestsellers Looks like the game might be fairing quite well around the rest of the world. Let’s hope North America catches on…and quick! Thanks to LittleMac for the [...]

#lightsabers The man behind the most advanced video game swordplay available today says the time is now right — and the technology is now good enough — for a motion-controlled Star Wars lightsaber video game. More »

Would you like to hear a developer speak freely about making a sequel to a game that was panned? Red Steel 2's Jason VandenBerghe did that today, from Paris. You can download one of our best hours of audio now. More »

#podcast Kotaku Talk Radio is coming to you live RIGHT NOW with special guest Ubisoft's Jason VandenBerghe, the creative director of Red Steel 2. More »

You're a gun-slinging samurai. What the hell else could you want?

#podcast Just in time for the release of Red Steel 2 comes this week's episode of Kotaku Talk Radio with special guest Ubisoft's Jason VandenBerghe, the creative director of the Motionplus Wii title. More »

A portion of an ONM review… It’s not perfect, but it’s a highly enjoyable, unique twist on first person action gaming.

Slash and burn, return...

#review A skeptical world might not see video games as essential. But we can point to many games that feel worthy of this planet. Games about eating mushrooms, arranging falling blocks, saving the world. However: A first-person shooter with motion-based swordplay? More »

Click to enlarge I'm not going to sugar coat it: Red Steel 2 isn't a hardcore first-person shooter. In fact, it's not actually an FPS per se, unless you take the acronym to mean "First-Person Sword-er." What Ubisoft Paris has made here is an arcade-style game that most closely resembles a good old-fashioned hack-'n-slash side-scroller -- only viewed through the eyes of its protagonist.

There's some light exploration -- even some hidden areas and items to be found -- but Red Steel 2 is, at its heart, a brawler that relies heavily on combos, special moves and finishers. There's some shooting, but it plays only the slightest supporting role to the main attraction: Swinging the Wiimote around like a sword and looking cool (on-screen, at least) in a stylized, sci-fi western world.

Ubisoft rights the wrongs with this rebooting of the Wii launch title.

#clips Ubisoft's Red Steel 2 hits stores this week, so you'd best get familiar with the weapons you'll be using to get the job done. More »