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The Wiimote As Yoda Intended - A Lightsaber
An anonymous reader writes "So what if the Wii can't handle the awesome 'next-generation' physics engine the other consoles will enjoy when Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is released? LucasArts announced today that Krome Studios is developing a version of the game for the Nintendo console, and players will finally get to use the Wiimote for its intended purpose — as a lightsaber. 'The sword-swinging action will be exclusive to the Wii version, and even then, it will only be available in an exclusive "duel mode." The description in the release says that this duel mode will be a multiplayer affair.'"
So, what they are actually saying is that they are adding a tacked on, last minute, third party mode. Then they are going to point to it and say "see we gave everyone what they were yelling for" and when no one is happy with it LucasArts is going to be all smug and start talking about how it shows the Wii was not a viable platform to start with. It is no secret that LucasArts hasn't been a big fan of the Wii because of the less powerful graphics. This is more of a slap in the face than a real attempt to port it to the Wii.
You want to feel when your sword hits the other, when your opponent pushes against you, when you have to block because you were blocked and can feel your opponent moving his sword to counter. With a wiimote the light saber will go through anyway and you have to just watch the screen to know. In any case getting a hit on the body will probably count as a point right away, instead of having to actually slice through the body.
In Wii boxing you have a bit of this, as you don't feel the difference between a block and a miss. Granted it's not as important there, but it would be necessary in a fencing simulator. Also Wii boxing is much slower than a prequel-style light saber battle, so it's ok to wait until people hear the swoosh of the miss.
Then again, the wiimote's motion sensor only has 3 degrees of freedom so they aren't up to the task of a real fencing simulator anyway. You can only calculate roll/inclination when the wiimote is stable, and don't have a great read on the direction you start moving afterwards.
Chances are this will play like a one-handed wii boxing (very few preset moves) crossed with a twilight princess combat engine (can move around and swing your light saber in one of the preset moves), plus a wii-baseball-like pointing of the light saber while you hold it up. The wiimote will probably help immersion but it's not like you'll have to spend a month mastering your fencing reflexes.
Check out WarioWare on the Wii. One of the bosses is a sword fight. You're mainly parrying with an attack at the end, but it follows your motion really well.
Not sure if this is a joke or not, but yes, the Wiimote is tracked in 3D space. The Wiimote uses the sensor-bar (a bar containing multiple infrared beacons that you place on top of, or underneath, the TV) to determine its approximate location, and sends this information back using Bluetooth to the Wii. The only issue with this is you have to point the Wiimote towards the bar (and clear line of sight must be maintained between the Wiimote and the bar.)
I remember being fairly impressed by an early video of the Wii which, uncharacteristically given its more recent family friendly publicity, included a shot of a gamer holding a sword to a victim's throat. As the Wiimote was moved, so was the sword.
It's an extremely impressive device. Oh, and if you can get a sensor bar (third party models exist), there are drivers to get Wiimotes working on PCs, albeit experimentally at the moment. In the medium term I can see PC games being released that support them.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
There's also an app called WiiSaber for OS X which lets you swing the WiiMote around and makes lightsaber noises.
In order for a stabbing motion to be truly effective in a combat situation, it has to be either very fast and unexpected, or easily redirected to slip by an opponents parry. The heavier the blade, the more difficult it is to change the direction of the point, and the easier it is to defend against a thrust. You can stab with almost any sword, but the heavier the sword is, the less useful the thrust becomes as a primary attack - with a rapier, the thrust can be very difficult to avoid (because in the process of the thrust, one can do devious feints and changes in direction), whereas with weapons with heavy, broad blades, slashing is far more effective as a means to put one's opponent in a position where they won't be able to avoid the slower, more direct thrust that the heavier blade makes.
The problem is that you really can't strike a balance (even the sword you describe, and assuming we're talking about period materials) because any blade that can withstand repeated lateral blows will be too heavy to achieve the speed necessary for an effective thrusting attack.
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