Ubisoft: “Red Steel 2 Fantastic With Arc”

One of the perpetual franchises that gets a mention in relation to Sony’s upcoming Motion Controller is Ubisoft Paris’ Red Steel. As one of the first titles revealed for the Wii, the prospect of swishing a virtual sword around when it was first unveiled back in 2006 got everyone excited for real-action swordplay.

Unfortunately the title never really lived up to its full potential; a lack of precision with the Wiimote quoted as one of the core reasons the game was a slight letdown.

Red Steel 2, however, scheduled for a release on the Wii next month, appears to have tightened up on these wayward controls, promising to be a big improvement on the original. A game PS3 fans might really enjoy with Sony’s own new waggle device.

Speaking to VideoGamesDaily, the game’s Creative Director, Jason Vandenberghe, seems to think Sony’s Arc/Wand/Whatever would be a good fit for the game, but doesn’t think Microsoft’s competing technology, Natal, suits the franchise.

“I think it could work fantastically with the Sony wand, [however] with this kind of game you need a thumbstick, that’s the only real constraint. For walking around at least, I haven’t seen a solution.

“Microsoft may come forward and show me something I haven’t seen before, which makes me understand how you can play a first-person action game like this that requires this intense finesse and accuracy in your motion, and not have a controller in your hand of some kind.

“But I think we need to have a thumbstick. I think this is probably a more natural fit for the Sony side of things right now, but I don’t think Microsoft is showing all of its cards right now either.”

With “analyst” Michael Pachter believing Natal will outsell Arc 5-1, such reassuring comments from Ubisoft must surely be seen as positive news by Sony.