E3 2008: Summer Athletics Impressions

At E3 2008, we saw Summer Athletics: The Ultimate Challenge, and we have to say it features a diverse selection of minigames. How diverse? Well, there are 26 of them spread across seven disciplines, including things like running, jumping, and running and jumping. Not to mention archery. That's right, it's track and field, and so far, it's off on the right foot.

The first event we saw was the long jump. The demonstrator shook the Wii Remote and Nunchuk up and down to get the runner to run, and then pulled up at just the right moment to jump. Then, as the athlete flew through the air, the demonstrator circled the remote for extra distance and good posture.

Then we saw him do the hurdles. He pumped the controls to run again, and then hit a button at just the right time to make it over the hurdles. Unfortunately, he got off to a bad start by forgetting to "jump" the gun; he didn't pull up on the controls and gave his competitors several seconds' worth of a head start. But through his expertise, he caught up to the pack and nearly stole the race with his skills. Clearly, this will be a wonderfully accessible game for players of all types but still challenging even for the hardcore among you.

Finally, we saw the hammer toss, where the demonstrator rotated the remote to swing the hammer. Then, when he'd built up enough momentum, he went into a swing animation, where he had to hit a button at just the right time. When he did this, he flung the hammer far into the field.

This was some pretty impressive stuff, and it represented only three of 26 games available in Summer Athletics, not to mention a robust career mode complete with attribute points and character development. We'll know a lot more about this game soon, because it ships in less than two weeks!