Red Steel

Nintendo's hawking the Wii's appeal to the inexperienced masses, but that doesn't mean you'll have to say "sayonara" to M-rated games.

Forty-eight inches of razor-sharp steel flashes viciously a mere hair's width from your face, and for a millisecond, time stands still. Fortunately, you keep it together just enough to instinctively raise the wakizashi [short sword] in your left hand. The brief, nasty-sounding whisper of a metallic scrape let's you know you correctly countered the feint almost before you feel the vibration of your foe's katana glancing your defense.

But he's made a mistake! Making a quick sidestep, you find the opening in his stance. Suddenly a tattoo-emblazoned shoulder becomes a target, and you quickly bring your hand downward for a diagonal slice. He's cut! Then in one fluid move you flick your wrist upwards to reverse the motion of your sword, aiming low and across his midsection. Your enemy drops to his knees and stops ... defeated.

Now the moment of truth. You extend your arm forward, the point of your blade aimed at his head. The Yakuza soldier remains down but raises his weapon in surrender. Life or death...his fate--and the Wii controller--is in your hands.

Red Steel Kills

Ubisoft is embracing the Wii with plans to bring an M-rated, modern day Japanese yakuza adventure to the system's launch party this fall. Much has been reported about Red Steel, but like all Wii games you can't really know what it's like until you try it. According to creative director Nicolas Eypert at Ubisoft's Paris studio where Red Steel is being developed, "The best thing is that you don't feel constrained by the controller anymore. Your hands feel free. After a while you totally forget that you're holding a controller and you can play in a much more relaxed way than you can with a standard controller."

The Wii's nunchuk and remote set up puts Japanese katana and wakizashi at your command along with a deadly arsenal of handguns, machine guns, and shotguns. You'll also use sniper weapons and toss grenades, and don't worry, Ubisoft is holding back a few surprises, too.

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