Kamalot
04-23-2007, 01:46 PM
The good folks at IGN managed to score an interview with Harvey Elliott (http://wii.ign.com/articles/782/782343p1.html), the executive producer for the upcoming Wii title, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The open-sandbox style of play the game brings to Hogwarts is accented by unique motion controls for wand usage.
IGN: Are you satisfied with the new Wii controls? How are the Wii remote and nunchuk utilized?
Harvey Elliott: At some point in the development we just wondered whether Nintendo started their prototyping around the Wii controller by asking themselves "what would be perfect for a Harry Potter game?". I mean, seriously, it's a wand! So as the player waves the wand around, the game recognizes the gesture and casts the spell. It really feels like you're casting magic. If you want to set an object on fire, you simply flick the wand quickly from left to right, as if you were striking a match. If you want to levitate an object in the world using wingardium leviosa, just raise the wand and the nunchuk together and the object will lift, and then moving the wand around will move the object in the world. It's pretty much exactly how you would imagine it. And in combat it works the same way - if you want to knock your opponent down, just give them a shove, or to take their wand away, snatch backwards - it just feels great. Because the control is a wand in Harry's hand, we've even found that you don't need the sensor bar to cast magic, and instead only use it for optional fine-targeting, which just adds to your immersion in the game.Also available is a new screen shot from the Wii title (http://media.wii.ign.com/media/842/842199/img_4486432.html).
IGN: Are you satisfied with the new Wii controls? How are the Wii remote and nunchuk utilized?
Harvey Elliott: At some point in the development we just wondered whether Nintendo started their prototyping around the Wii controller by asking themselves "what would be perfect for a Harry Potter game?". I mean, seriously, it's a wand! So as the player waves the wand around, the game recognizes the gesture and casts the spell. It really feels like you're casting magic. If you want to set an object on fire, you simply flick the wand quickly from left to right, as if you were striking a match. If you want to levitate an object in the world using wingardium leviosa, just raise the wand and the nunchuk together and the object will lift, and then moving the wand around will move the object in the world. It's pretty much exactly how you would imagine it. And in combat it works the same way - if you want to knock your opponent down, just give them a shove, or to take their wand away, snatch backwards - it just feels great. Because the control is a wand in Harry's hand, we've even found that you don't need the sensor bar to cast magic, and instead only use it for optional fine-targeting, which just adds to your immersion in the game.Also available is a new screen shot from the Wii title (http://media.wii.ign.com/media/842/842199/img_4486432.html).