LucasArts unhappy with Wii MotionPlus launch

Could Wii MotionPlus have made Clone Wars into a 'proper' lightsaber sim?
Could Wii MotionPlus have made Clone Wars into a 'proper' lightsaber sim?

Unsurprisingly, nobody outside of Nintendo's inner coterie of trusted execs was made aware of the company's E3 announcements – specifically Wii MotionPlus and WiiSpeak community microphone – yet it still seems to have created waves of annoyance with certain of Nintendo's third party publishing partners.

Specifically, it's rumoured that LucasArts were particularly unimpressed at not being able to incorporate MotionPlus into the forthcoming version of the Clone Wars game for the Wii.

"The promise of a Wii Lightsaber game has hung in the air since the Wii hit the shelves. We think this is the game that delivers on that promise," said Ken Fox, from Krome Studios, the game's developer, earlier this year.

Not a lightsaber sim

However, fans were also disappointed to hear, from the same IGN interview that LucasArts "tried to make the lightsaber control as intuitive and fun as possible," and that the game was, "not a Lightsaber simulator, but when you swing your Wii remote left to right; your character does the same…[using] the thumbstick on the nunchuck to move your character and swing the Wii remote to swing your Lightsaber".

So according to the games industry rumour mill over at NeoGAF, LucasArts not being made aware of Wii MotionPlus (and therefore not being able to make a 'proper' lightsaber simulator), has caused ructions between the developers and Nintendo.

Whether or not this is all hot air, we're not yet sure. TechRadar has contacted LucasArts UK office to day for further comment and information on the matter.

Adam Hartley