Thoughts on Rayman Legends Wii-U leak.

A leaked  internal Ubisoft development video showing off early gameplay for the yet-unannounced new Rayman game, Rayman Legends, being played on a Wii-U dev kit, appeared on the internet today.

The trailer shows off Legends’ side-scrolling gameplay, featuring 2- and 4-player co-op, tablet controls, and lush graphics — even exceeding the high standards set by last year’s Rayman Origins. It’s unclear just how powerful the system will be, but it certainly looks capable.

The controller in the video is wired, which Ubisoft says is due to only having access to wired dev kits at this time, but I hope maybe we’ll see some sort of charging wire for the tablet as well.

At the end of the video, we see players using small figurines, placing them on the tablet controller’s screen, causing changes to the game. A rabid is placed on the screen, and suddenly Raymna is shown beating up hordes of the little, demented rabbits. They also tease the possibility of an Ezio figure being used. In a statement released after the video leaked, Ubi said this feature is not final — nor is the game — so things may be much different at launch.

However, Ubisoft did confirm that Rayman Legends is in development, headed by Rayman-series mastermind Michel Ancel.

I’m very excited for a new Rayman game, especially if it’s building off of Rayman: Origins — one of the best games of 2011, and my favorite 2D-platformer is years.

As far as the displayed Wii-U footage and prospective feature, I’m curious and cautiously intruiged. I love Nintendo, I grew up on the stuff, and I love Rayman, so I came away awfully excited by this leaked footage. But with word that we won’t hear about a release date or price point at E3 regarding this year’s Wii-U launch, I still feel twinges of apprehension about the new system. Knowing Nintendo will be showing a new Super Mario Bros. and Pikmin helps, but I really hope Nintendo hit it out of the park this year — they need it.

The internet is divided between praise and pessimism for the Wii-U, but seeing Rayman Legends has helped ease some of my concerns, at least for now. E3 is just around the corner, so I’m sure we’ll see plenty more announcements and rumors leading up to Nintendo’s press conference.

New Super Mario game at E3, and my thoughts on Nintendo’s future.

Continuing his trend of dropping rumor-laden comments, Shigeru Miyamoto has said Nintendo will be showing off their next big entry in the Super Mario Bros. series during the company’s press conference at this year’s E3 convention.

This news comes after reports that Nintendo has secured an internet domain for supermaioworld4.com, and rumors that the Wii-U’s true hardware specs and launch price will be unveiled at the convention as well — some speculating it to be as low as $300 USD.

I find this to be very promising. After years of core-gamers being seemingly ignored by the big N, I feel that Nintendo are taking steps to once again cater true gaming experiences. Super Mario on the Wii-U is a sure sell for many gamers of all ages, and with the word being they plan to price the console competitively, Nintendo have a chance to once again be relevant in hardcore gaming.

Of course, I may be a little biased here. I have enjoyed Nintendo ever since I was a kid, growing up with SNES and N64, and playing some of the best games of last generation on the Gamecube. Like many Nintendo fans, the Wii was a disappointment for me. And while I enjoyed the DS, the 3DS still hasn’t quite got the library for me to grab one. That being said, I still find the 3D handheld to be very intriguing, and a step in the right direction.

Is this in our near-future?

There are some strong and legitimate criticisms on the upcoming Wii-U, specifically those regarding the system’s hardware, but until we see the games in action in front of us, we won’t know just how powerful the new console is (or isn’t). However, I’m am quite optimistic about the Wii-U and Nintendo’s future at this point. Despite the console having a rather dumb name, games like Pikmin 3 and this new Super Mario give me hope. And with reports Retro Studios have been working on a new project (Metroid? Zelda?), I’m sure we’re in for some big announcements this year. I may currently be a die-hard PC gamer, but I love Nintendo enough that I’d be willing to pick up a new console if they do it right.

Here’s hoping Super Mario Wii-U and the rest of their E3 show does the trick.