H&G: LucasArts' Ward Talks Wii Lightsaber Game

Author: by Brandon Sheffield, Jolene Spry

As part of the final Hollywood & Games Summit panel in Los Angeles, LucasArts' Jim Ward has been discussing the oft-raised question of a lightsaber game for Nintendo's Wii, saying that the company has internal prototypes running using the Wiimote. In response to a question from session moderator N'Gai Croal of Newsweek asking: "What would it take to make a lightsaber game for the Wii?", Ward, who is President of LucasArts and a Senior VP at Lucasfilm, commented: "We’re all over that, and internally we have already played a lightsaber game on the Wii. It’s a lot of fun, and we’ll get there." He added that the whole concept of a title using a lightsaber of Nintendo Wii was "...in place! There’ll be some stuff out this Fall - it’s going to be a lot of fun." It's unclear whether Ward could have been referring to the TT Games-developed Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, which will debut later this year on multiple formats including the Wii, or whether the company is planning further, as yet unannounced Wii-specific Star Wars games. (The product page for The Complete Saga notes of the Wii SKU: "Motion-sensitive inputs give you exciting new ways to control your Lego Star Wars characters.") The publisher is likely to reveal more information on its upcoming titles at the E3 Media Summit in Los Angeles early next month - Gamasutra will have the full write-up from the Jim Ward (LucasArts) and Neil Young (Electronic Arts) panel at Hollywood and Games in the near future.