Rayman Raving Rabbids--Bunnies Can't Read Q&As

What could befit the launch of Nintendo's quirky Wii more than the equally quirky Rayman Raving Rabbids? Ubisoft's bizarre platformer-cum-minigame-collection will hit shelves alongside the Wii later this month. Raving Rabbids represents a marked and bizarre departure from the already crazy action that has marked this dreamlike action series for years now. The Wii affords a plethora of unique new control options for game designers, and it looks as if Rayman creator Michel Ancel and his team have put all of them to good use in the numerous minigames found in Raving Rabbids.

We've scored a new trailer that shows off five of these minigames, which you can find linked above. We also asked Ubisoft senior coordinator Loic Gounon for some more information about the inspiration and design of these games.

Bunnies Can't Fly

Inspiration: Throwing eggs at people's houses.
Description: Launch the superbunny as far as possible.
Controls: Move the Wii Remote and Nunchuk down one after the other to make the wagon go faster and faster. Once you launch the bunny, you can explode the dynamite charges that are stuck to him and give him a little extra boost before he hits the floor!

Bunnies Are Addicted to Carrot Juice

Inspiration: The beach bars of Montpellier in the south of France.
Description: Hold the amphibious bunnies back as long as you can by squirting carrot juice in their faces.
Controls: Shake the Nunchuk up and down to pump carrot juice. Aim at the masks of the attacking bunnies with the Wii Remote.

Bunnies Aren't Afraid of the Dark

Inspiration: Doom.
Description: Save the baby, Globox, at the end of the level and destroy the evil Rabbids that are in your way!
Controls:Aim with the Wii Remote; fire with the B button. A quick flick of the Nunchuk reloads.
Special Feature: The grappling hand: Press the Z button to catch a bunny with your hand; press the Z button again to throw it.

Bunnies Like to Stuff Themselves

Inspiration: Fine French cuisine!
Description: Get the bunnies as fat as possible to earn points.
Controls: Draw directly over the line of the green model (corresponding to the shape of the dish the bunny has ordered) by aiming with the Wii Remote and holding the A button.

Bunnies Don't Know What to Do With Cows

Inspiration: Cow tipping.
Description: Throw Daisy the moo moo as far as possible.
Controls: Swing the Wii Remote as if you were turning a lasso. Press a button on the Wii Remote to throw the cow.

Continue to the next page for a QA with Gounon on Raving Rabbids' game design.

GameSpot: How challenging was it to come up with the various games and their control schemes?

Loic Gounon: We have made more than 70 different games for Rayman Raving Rabbids, so obviously it was not always easy to come up with new games that were fun and that worked well for the player. But I can guarantee you that even the games that didn't get past prototyping were hysterical and really...insane!

When we were prototyping, we treated the Wii controllers as though they were extensions of Rayman's hands. Therefore, the players' movements would feel very natural and intuitive. This aspect was key in getting the player to feel comfortable with the new controls. And that way, we could add more movements as the player progressed through the various trials.

GS: Are you using the speaker in the controller?

LG: Yes, we are. But I don't want to spoil the surprise just yet. I can give you a clue however...it has to do with pigs that squeal.

GS: How integral are the games to the story?

LG: In terms of storytelling, Raving Rabbids has taken a completely new approach to Ray's traditional universe and settings. We wanted something that had all the absurdity of Monty Python along with parodies of movies and TV, such as Scary Movie.

The major challenge in the beginning of developing Raving Rabbids was to explore and really get the most out of the possibilities that the new Wii controller gave us in terms of gameplay. We had prototyped several ideas and concepts that were definitely fun but were often very different from a story point of view. In order to create synergy between these elements, we put together the storyline as it is now, including the kidnapping of Rayman by the crazed Rabbids, ultimately making him a gladiator at their mercy.

This kidnapping led us to the series of trials in order to reunite these challenges in a consistent setting, with his main objective being his escape and gaining in popularity, which takes the player through their adventure. In order to escape, you have to beat the boss at the end of each day's trial to win a plunger, which will be needed to help you flee the prison...

GS: Do you feel as if developing on the Wii forced you to think differently about game development? Do you think you would have wound up with the same types of games if it hadn't been for the controller?

LG: From the moment we started prototyping concepts, we knew that we would have to start developing games in a totally different way. It was one of the main reasons why we explored many different gameplays in order to really give the player a chance to use the various controller functionalities that the Wii controller presented. We were also in a fortunate position artistically and in terms of storytelling as we wanted to deal with the universe and the story in a crazy style and have lots of fun with weird scenarios and games.

GS: How has working with the hardware been? Was there anything that surprised you in terms of processing power or features?

LG: Working with the hardware was great; the controls gave us a whole new dimension to work with, which was very cool. From the beginning, we were focused on gameplay, controls and the stylized universe that we visually wanted to produce. We obviously had more memory, FX, sound, and better rendering quality, which is always nice. But our main goal was really to make people laugh and have fun. This is exactly the experience that we believe Rayman Raving Rabbids will offer!

GS: Thanks for your time.