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Wonderbook: Spells! And... things!


Badnik Mechanic

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Ok... I'll make the topic nobody asked for.

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Wonderbook *insert super hero cheer*

Wonderbook was announced at E3 2012 and it... wasn't very well recieved, it didn't help the fact that they did a live demonstration and the person doing it totally borked it up.

It was like watching someone on a reality TV show who thinks they're really really good, and they start their act and it's really really bad, and everyone but them knows it... when it comes to what the judges think... you can slowly see their soul being destroyed, you know one of three outcomes is likely.

1: They're going to cry and run off stage.

2: They're going to swear and storm off stage.

3: A combination of the above, only someone gets punched. (yes this has happened on the UK version of the x Factor.)

Then came Gamescom and they did another demo, again many people started to groan but, this time the demo wasn't that bad, it worked and there wern't any moments of 'game isn't working' like there was at the E3 show.

So far theres a handful of games announced for it.

Book of Spells

Walking with Dinosaur

Diggs Nightcrawler

And urm.. .. .. .. I think thats about it.

So yeah, it's not had the best promotion so far, the games announced aren't exactly that exciting (though Diggs Nightcrawler looks kinda fun in a strange way). Almost every part of me wants to hate this thing and slagg it off...

Yet... I can't help but feel... this might actually be a good thing. Theres something about it and I don't really know what it is, but something that makes me want to try it out. Maybe not buy all the games that come out for it, but I just want to try it out.

Then I watched this small review of it from the guys who run Wired

The most interesting bits are when the kids are playing with the book and... they seem to be enjoying it. I don't think they're acting or playing up for the camera, they really do seem to be having fun. From a technical standpoint, it looks like the technology works and when they turn the pages the augmented reality doesn't seem to have a delay on it and when the kids moved the Move remote, the stuff on the screen actually happened, unlike the dodgy E3 demo.

I think one of the main problems that theres been with the promotion of this game so far is that, for the official trailers, they have to show it with special effects, so for us older lot, it doesn't work because we're not seeing actual gameplay or how the game works. But when you look at the video of the game actually working, it does have some kind of appeal to it. Why it does I don't really know, and I'm probably likely to be one of the few people on here that does have some kind of interest in it given how negative the reaction usually is.

Whats quite interesting though is the price. Whilst you need an eyetoy and the move remote, (which there is a bundle for), the games all come with the Wonderbook itself (at least book of spells does), and the price is £39.99, the price of a typical new game. Looking at Wired's video, it's also quite a big thing.

So... I'm kinda interested in it, not sure if I want one yet or not. I can see and imagine a market (kids) who would probably love this, especially Harry Potter fans with the obvious tie in that book of spells is. So what about the rest of us, do we all still hate this? Or can we at least see it having some appeal? Even if it's not oneself that the appeal is for?

Oh and...

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It's a Toad Bunny, book of spells is saved!

Wired's Preview.

Oh and Wonderbook is due out November 16th.

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Sorry but no matter how you word it hogfather, this thing just looks like its bound to fail like 360's HDDVD drive or Wii's Vitality Sensor. I just can't see kids getting into this book soo much and after what I saw at E3 I wonder if this thing will even work correctly come launch.

Then again, kids buy Skylanders so there not the smartest generation, SONY can make easy money profitting off the stupid.

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Then again, kids buy Skylanders so there not the smartest generation, SONY can make easy money profitting off the stupid.

Oh please, I can say that if I was a kid, id be all over a concept such as Skylanders.

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I'm a man with an open mind when it comes to gaming trying new things, I approve of Kinect, Move, Wii, and even Wii U's gamepad. But I just cannot get behind wonderbook. It's just so f***ing stupid.

Now I know the argument is "it's not for you", and I know it is not. But I think I can still think it is incredibly stupid. First off, the amount of shit needed to play. Just buy the kids a damn pop-up book! It's cheaper and gets them away from the TV! Plus, I just think given the age that they're targeting, I'm not sure if a physical book that is integral to the game and move controllers are the right thing to stick in a kid's hands. Kids like to wreck shit, kids like to color in books and tear out pages. You gotta tell the kid "don't fuck this book up. It was $40 and replacing it will be a bitch. Also, don't break the move controllers. I need them for SOCOM 4." :P

I think the biggest mistake was using up precious game show time to demo this. I know I tuned out of the E3 show when this came on and kept going and going...

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