IN-DEPTH: RABBIDS INTERACTIVE TV
RABBIDS’ TV INVASION
Ubisoft wants to unite the passive act of watching TV with the interactive world of games. And it’s using the Rabbids to do it. Will it work? Chris Dring asks producer Xavier Manzanares
W
hen you think of video games on the cutting edge of technology,
you’d probably come up with titles such as Call of Duty or GTA. You probably wouldn’t think of Ubisoft’s hit kids IP, Raving Rabbids. Ubisoft’s mad-cap mini-game series may not push the graphical limits of the latest hardware, but it’s always amongst the first to try the latest tech, whether that’s cameras, touch screens or motion controllers. And it was this thirst to experiment which resulted in the original Rayman Raving Rabbids on Nintendo Wii. “In the past Rabbids were very connected to Nintendo’s platforms because we thought – and still think – we are connected to the same philosophy,” said Rabbids producer Xavier Manzanares. “Nintendo was really open
with the Wii to get a lot of people playing, such as kids, and that is what we wanted to do with Rabbids at the time. “It is great to be connected to
the first party’s philosophy, but it is also important for the brand to be connected to the technology itself. I want all of the teams to take the tech – whether it is a console or a device like mobile or a new 3D camera – and try to bring gameplay around it, so people understand the technology better. “In the past it was really connected with Nintendo because it was bringing new experiences with new controller technology – and it’s still trying today. But now, with, 3D cameras, mobiles and future devices, there are new things to explore.” This idea of making use of the
latest tech is what has fuelled the thinking behind this year’s Rabbids
www.mcvuk.com
game. Or rather, sort-of game, because this November marks the launch of Rabbids Invasion – an interactive version of the Rabbids TV show.
TV TERRORS “We started working on the prototypes last year,” says Manzanares. “When we saw the first episodes of the TV series, we thought it was perfect template for us to try something new. “The first playtests we
did with kids, the pre-Alpha version, was very positive. They thought it was really fun, flicking between TV show to very active gameplay.” It sounds like a pretty simple
project for the team at Ubisoft. The content has already been created in the form of the TV show and all the developers have to do is bundle in a few mini-games – an area it has no shortage of expertise in. But it has been
anything but simple, says Manzanares. He says: “One of
our first versions had almost seven minutes of full-on gameplay. That was because we wanted to put in everything we could at all times during the show. But in fact it turned out to be one of the worst versions we did because when we tested it, the kids were burned out after only two minutes. “It is all about the rhythm, and we’re still polishing this part. This is
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Interactive TV shows are a new thing that will become something global in the near future Xavier Manzanares, Ubisoft
June 6th 2014
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