Acclaimed indie puzzler Year Walk headed to Wii U
UPDATE: Release date detailed.
UPDATE 27/8/15 1.25pm: Year Walk will finish its trek to the Wii U eShop on 17th September, developer Simogo has confirmed.
See how the new Wii U edition of the game looks - and controls - in the trailer below:
ORIGINAL STORY 14/8/15 10.50am: Spooky PC and mobile puzzle game Year Walk is getting a new version rebuilt from the ground up for Wii U, which will launch later this summer.
The highly-acclaimed horror experience originally arrived in 2013 for iOS and Android devices, then a year later via Steam for PC and Mac.
Year Walk is the work of Swedish indie Simogo, although the studio has collaborated with Brit outfit Dakko Dakko (of Scram Kitty fame) for the Wii U edition.
You can now use the GamePad touchscreen to see (optional) hints, read the game's encyclopaedia, view the map and also to take notes.
But the biggest change comes in the game's new motion controls.
"Yes, we know, motion controls can be a bit scary, and frankly not very good if not done right, so we're going to explain a bit how it works," Simogo said in a new blog post.
"You use the left stick to walk (and it feels pretty good to do so with analogue controls!). But, to look around and find things to interact with, you'll point and move the GamePad with very relaxed and subtle motions.
"It's very reminiscent of using the Wii Remote to point at the TV, or mouse controls, but perhaps even more relaxed, as you don't have to point it towards the TV. You can rest the GamePad neatly in your lap. We're very proud of this and we think we've made some really cool innovations with the motion-based cursor controls.
"Unlike the PC-version, which used cursor controls to interact with puzzles and contraptions, we now use custom motion controls for almost every puzzle. For example, if you find something in the forest that you can spin or rotate, you'll physically rotate the GamePad, with really finely tuned controls. The GamePad rumbles and makes lovely sounds (make sure you have the volume all cranked up on it!), and it just feels amazingly tactile - like you're actually holding the objects in your hands."
Extra secrets have also been added to the game for the benefit of returning players.
"To be honest, we think that this is the definite and best version of the game," Simogo concluded.
And that's quite some thing to boast considering the praised lavished upon Year Walk at the time of its initial release:
"Elegant and artful, Year Walk is an unmissable piece of work - and one that is surprisingly hard to disentangle yourself from once it's done," Chris Donlan wrote in Eurogamer's Year Walk review.