Rayman Raving Rabbids announced [update 1]

Hey Ross,

You might want to include the whole screen here:

http://www.pro-g.co.uk/revolution/rayman_raving_rabbids/screenshot-2.html

It shows a kid (in rather disturbing attire) twisting the Wii controller to "drive" the spider.

Also, I don't see any confirmation on the site, but I gotta believe that this is a screen from a Wii build given the juxtaposition of the screen and the kid using the controller.

So can anyone tell if the goth kid is a boy or a girl? I can't.

ROFLZ, teh gheyness...

he must be french... :)

he must be french... :)

Haha, that is the gothest kid ever. Tim Burton's Michael Ancel's Rayman.

I just have to say I love his description of the game, like he can't help waht is going on inside. "We had this great idea but our game was attacked by rabbits! Please help!"

I honestly have neverp layed a Rayman game but Michael Ancel's silly French attitude makes me want to.

I really wanna rag on the goth kid, but I was a teenage metalhead, so I'll just file that one under "Pot and Kettle"

It's a goth girl, not boy.

Now where the heck did I put my Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch?!

Definitely looking out for this one! I dig silly French things, and you don't get much sillier than a limbless disco refugee driving a giant psider into a hoard of bunnies.

It's excellent news to hear that Michel Ancel is working on a new Rayman game. I've enjoyed this series in the past, as well as loving Beyond Good and Evil and King Kong. I hope that Rayman Raving Rabbids for the Nintendo Wii lives up to Mr. Ancel's past projects. Nice graphics too in the one screenshot; thanks for putting up your find.
Paul Gale
1up.com

Looking at this screenshot there seems to be a trend.

Low Poly Count + Awesome Lighting effects

in Wii screenshots.

Michael Ancel scares me. I've been playing Beyond Good and Evil for the first time over the past several days and the vibe I get is that the guy has an ego the size of a Star Destroyer.

I'd elaborate but it's be spacecrunching for a blog comment.

Please, say your piece. I for one would be interested in it.

Also, anyone think during the Nintendo conference they'll bring Miyamoto, Ancel, and Wil Wright on stage at the same time, as the video game knights?

Paul, no disrespect, but I would hardly call those "awesome" lighting effects. IMO, they're pretty much on par with the latest Gamecube games. This is just going by the screenshot, but they're a long way shy of what I've seen on the 360.

"Warm and tingly" is right! This game looks great! Controlling a spider with a gyroscopic remote control fills my head with a childhood sense of glee. I have a pet tarantula at home, and he doesn't let me ride him, so this will have to do. Seriously, this game really looks to have some serious potential!

I really like how the graphics on the Wii are unfolding so far - I wasn't expecting them to be so nice! The lighting seems to destroy the "more polys = more real" thing. I'm liking what I've seen of the Wii better than 360 visuals.

anyone reminded of the movie the wizard by looking at that screenshot???
and in a o-god-not-again-kind of way

Maybe there's some truth to this, because I can clearly see a grandpa in the bottom right of the goth-kid screen.

"See, Nintendo caters to everyone, the I-need-to-be-nonconformist-to-fit-in kids, the I'm-too-young-to-be-stoned-but-still-want-to-look-it kids, and I'll-hide-in-the-back grandparents!"

The game is sooooo exciting, it has that kid's hair standing up on end!

@Paul -

The game radiated very tight creative control from the project's upper tier employees, and the mix of somewhat whimsical characters with a rather dystopian premise and somewhat dark dialogue and premise (there was this one part where one of the Hillys civilians, if talked with, says something about how the Alpha Sections are 'raping the planet' for its resources, or something equally kinda harsh).

Also, something about Jade weirds me out. I can't quite pin down why, but somehow I get this creepy feeling that she's Ancel's---or whoever was responsible for commissioning her---projected ideal female. To support this claim, I note that Jade somehow doesn't seem nearly as distinct as the other characters---her personality seems kind of, well, flat. Or maybe I just say this because I haven't played that many games recently that shunt you into role-playing a character besides yourself (oddly enough, though, I didn't mind this factor when playing Resident Evil 4, though I did mind it when playing the Thief games). I still get a creepy vibe, though.

That's basically the gist of it. That and the sometimes irritating-though-cinematic camera angles in BG&E (such as when you're fighting the Reaper in the Factory and the camera spontaneously switches to a tracking overhead view when the Reaper leaps down from the highest perches---I thought it was a cutscene at first until I got hit by his landing and subsequently discovered that yes, I COULD move and NEEDED to move. I dislike jarring camera swaps like that done solely for cinematic flair.).

Basically, the whole schpiel wreaked of ego incarnate.

I like the visuals, but it just looks weird- the last two rayman games looked great- and they were funny without going overboard- I hope this lives up to the previous games. just I feel doubtful now.