SSX Blur - News, Interview and Screens!

[QueenB]

Originally posted by IGN

We chat with lead designer Eric Chartrand about the new controls. Exclusive new screens included.

Late last year, Electronic Arts released the first gameplay trailer for its Wii-based snowboarding game, SSX Blur. The trailer, while short, showcased stylized graphics and a very smooth, clean snow-filled racing world. But as good as the title looked, Wii owners have ever since wondered how it would play and, specifically, how it might be different control-wise from other SSX titles. IGN Wii recently chatted with EA Montreal's Eric Chartrand, lead designer for SSX Blur. Here's what he had to say about the new control scheme.

IGN Wii: Does SSX Blur use both the Wii remote and nunchuk attachment?

Eric Chartrand: Our goals for SSX Blur were exactly that -- to max out the hardware and really utilize the controls that we felt translated so well to snowboarding. That is the basis of our On-the-Ground and In-the-Air control scheme, with the nunchuk used for the former and the Wii remote for the latter. The main use for the nunchuk is to enable your rider to carve down the mountain by pitching the nunchuk left and right to emulate turning. The Wii Remote is used for everything in the air, which includes moving side-to-side for spins and up and down for flips.

IGN Wii: Can you explain what both the nunchuk and remote do?

Eric: The Nunchuk is used for all on snow controls, hence the term "On-the-ground." Carving is now so much fun and intuitive. You simply tilt the nunchuk right and left to turn your character down the mountain, and the joystick is used for finer control adjustment if you really want to dig into a turn. You also use the nunchuk to jump by doing a quick up motion. In terms of buttons, the Z is for boost and the C is for a quick pivot on skis or a tail press on a board.

The other functionality of the nunchuk is for grabs while in the air. You can perform a variety of grabs by pressing the Z button and tilting the nunchuk left/right/up/down.

The Wii remote is used for tricks while in the air or on rails - this is the "In-the-Air" portion of our control scheme. It's really basic actually. To make your character spin, you swing the remote left/right and for flips you swing it up/down. In terms of buttons, the A and B buttons are used to finish your tricks and to "auto-land," which rights your character from mid-trick to the proper stance to hit the snow.

You use both the nunchuk and the Wii remote together when you fill up your groove meter and are set to perform an Uber Trick. For these, there are a series of shapes that you can draw with both controllers to unleash a bigger move. Think of your nunchuk and remote as paintbrushes, painting shapes in 3-D space. These tricks are really rewarding when you hit them as we have made them a little tougher to master.

IGN Wii: Does Blur use the Wii remote's internal speaker or built-in rumble functionality?

Eric: Yes. The internal speaker is used for non repetitive sounds like snowball throwing and the rumble functionality is used when you bail.

IGN Wii: Do you think this new control setup feels more intuitive than a traditional controller?

Eric: This is a totally different experience for SSX and for the Wii overall. But, I have to say that it is way more fun! We are really proud of how we have maxed out the potential of the controller and have really hit our target of bringing the soul of the SSX franchise to the Wii.
You get a better feel for the control of the character when you are turning and carving, which is so much more natural. Introducing the physical experience is just not possible on traditional consoles and it translates so well to the franchise. We really blow this out with our Uber Tricks. Not only is it physical, but it is more fun and even a bit artistic. The level of satisfaction is so much higher than pressing buttons.

IGN Wii: Is there anything that you can do in Blur with the Wii remote and nunchuk that can't be done with a traditional controller?

Eric: The Wii hardware finally gives us the feeling of actually bombing down a mountain in a way that I have never experienced before. There is no better way to play a snowboarding game than with the motion sensor controllers and this is the first thing you will feel when you pick up SSX Blur. You can now feel your movement, where before it was purely visual. So I guess the answer is - everything you could do on a traditional controller is now completely enhanced on the Wii and then some. Hard to compare them as they really are apples and oranges. SSX Blur puts the Wii controls at the forefront and I can't imagine playing it any other way.

IGN Wii: Are you using the Wii remote pointer functionality for pixel-perfect menu navigation or for any other control features?

Eric: We used the pointer of the remote as pointing device to select and navigate and the rumble feature is used to let you know if you hit a button.

Now for the Screenshots:

Looks and sounds like one awesome game to me

Also see complimentary story: [Only registered users can see links. ]


Also - IGN have video clips of controls and in game : [Only registered users can see links. ]