Ubisoft’s upcoming Wii U platformer Rayman Legends was originally revealed to the world not through an official announcement from the company, but through a leaked trailer that made the rounds back in April. Though the heavily-promoted co-op play mechanic that makes use of the Game Pad’s touch screen was present in this initial trailer, another feature it showcased that hasn’t been mentioned since featured the use of the controller’s wireless NFC capabilities in a manner similar to the popular Skylanders franchise. Clips were shown of players putting real-life objects and figurines on the Game Pad and having such characters as the Raving Rabbids materialize in the game.
Michel Ancel, the game’s director and creator of the Rayman series, said in a recent interview that this feature was only in the prototype phase at the time that trailer was made, and that there’s a good chance it won’t show up in the final product. “We had prototypes of this and we believe that having real objects manipulating gameplay could be quite innovative,” Ancel said. “But again, this was a prototype and we won’t discuss it until it’s ready to demonstrate its full potential.”
Seeing how the feature hasn’t been discussed or promoted by Ubisoft since the original trailer leak, this isn’t that big of a surprise. Still, the idea did seem intriguing, and maybe we’ll see this potential fulfilled in future Wii U titles.
Rayman Legends is scheduled for release in early 2013. We’ll keep you updated.
