Art games on consoles tend to be unpopular creations,
Mario Paint about the only one to even approach retail success, but maybe all they needed was a proper input method. That's what
THQ is hoping, at least, announcing the uDraw GameTablet for the
Nintendo Wii. It's a chubby, pencil-like stylus tethered to a tablet that connects wirelessly to the console thanks to the Wiimote that slots right in. The tablet comes with a drawing game called
uDraw Studio, while THQ is also working on an artsy platformer called
Dood's Big Adventure and a digital version of
Pictionary, which could be this thing's killer app. (You can catch a glimpse of them all in action in the video after the break.) The tablet will cost $69.99 when it ships by the end of the year, while games will be a rather more affordable $29.99. THQ also promises more games to come through 2011, but we're guessing their release is somewhat contingent on just how many little Picassos find these in their stockings this holiday season.
posted August 17th 2010 7:29AM
Here's hoping someone hacks PC drivers. This thing would be a wonderfully cheap alternative to Wacom if it works well.
@MagnetMan Agreed, they should make it USB like the drum kits. Convincing people to buy the hardware is the key step.
@MagnetMan I really doubt that it will have pressure input.
If you want a cheat wacom, buy a Bamboo.
@SewerShark
That's true, I literally remembered this after I made the post! ;)
@MagnetMan Yeah, and besides, if you consider that you will need an wiimote to make it work, its not so cheap anymore.
@SewerShark
True enough. Still it would be nice to see more competition in this space. It seems that tablet could be common devices (and very useful). Alas, other than Wacom and a few unknown (and expensive) brands, there is not much else.
Perhaps it's a problem of demand.
On a slightly different note, I still think that a 'tablet' device (like an iPad) would work wonderfully with pen input, as there are some things that you simply can't do well with the finger. This was one of the cool features of the courier.
@MagnetMan I'm sure it will be no problem, at least for Mac. They already have DarwiinRemote which connects a Wii Remote to the Mac for use as a game controller and mouse through both IR and Bluetooth.
@Jon Rubenstein
Agreed. Harder things have been reverse engineered right? Indeed the WiiMote seems to have been 'hacked' for nearly every device, including modern mobile phones (Maemo, iOS, Android, etc), and I bet this is a logical extension of that.
@MagnetMan I can't agree with that until someone uncovers the specs (scan-lines, pressure sensitivity, etc).
@MagnetMan
"This thing would be a wonderfully cheap alternative to Wacom"
No it's not.
This thing costs $70 and you can get a real Wacom for only $30 more and it would be an infinitely better product than this toy.
@Hazdaz You claim its not a cheap alternative but then you say it's cheaper. Which means you're wrong
@Extinction He's right, because you also have to buy a Wii remote to get it to work, thus pushing the price over the cheapest Wacom.
Nothing beats a Super Nintendo mouse!
Would love to see a scribblenauts game for the wii... or maybe a clone of that game since this is THQ accessory. haha.
My kids would love this. Definitely going to keep an eye on it. Just the drawing game would be a hit, if it's anything along the lines of Mario Paint. In fact, one would hope that they'd have gotten in cahoots with Nintendo on this, but oh well.
But is it compatible with every game?
What this really needs is Crayon Physics, I could see it being a bit hit with the Wii market.
that cord looks way too short. maybe they could do RTS games now they have something mouse like. but you still need to have it register when hovering. i use a wacom as a pointing device and only some times i use it for its paint like features, the rest of the time i use it so my wrist doesn't fall off from using a mouse too long.
so the Wii will have now an stylus? I could think of a couple of games that will benefit from it...
WiiCom?
Looks fun, I just don't see myself buying one.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/08/22/
New Mario Paint Wii pleeeeease !!
now thats a wii cash cow I did not see coming