Rayman Legends Wii U Trailer

Well, that was quick. What started out just days ago as a rumor about a possible Rayman: Origins sequel is now cold, hard fact. Ubisoft has confirmed that Rayman Legends is for real, and that development is being handled by Michel Ancel and Ubisoft Montpellier.

Full details have yet to be announced, but a leaked "internal video" reveals that the game is coming to Nintendo's Wii U with a load of exclusive content. You won't want to miss this one!

The Rayman Legends Wii U video was discovered and posted by French gaming website Gamekult, and it both confirms rumored features of the game and showcases many more. As suggested by the Rayman: Origins sequel survey discovered early this week, Legends will, indeed, be set in a number of "legendary" locations -- in fact, the images that appeared alongside news of the survey appear to come directly from the leaked trailer.

The new game will continue to support up to four players in its campaign, but also adds new online competitive modes and what the developers are referring to as "Social Gaming," which looks very much like the Challenge Play events in Kinect Sports: Season 2 -- put up a score and challenge a rival to beat it. Topping it all off is the same gorgeous art and fluid animation that players will remember from Rayman: Origins.

There is more to discuss -- especially about the Wii U features -- but not until you've seen the Rayman Legends Wii U trailer for yourself.

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Now, did that look like a leaked "internal video" to you? In the wake of the trailer's posting, Ubisoft issued a statement claiming exactly that, while going ahead and confirming the game's existance

"An internal video showing images of Rayman Origins' sequel has leaked over the Internet. This video was intended as a purely internal demonstrative video, and in NO way represents the final game, the final console or their features."

"This video was destined for internal production teams who often create game prototypes with work in progress development kits. Ubisoft confirms the development of Rayman Legends handled by Michel Ancel and his team in Montpellier."

Whether or not the trailer represents anything "final" about either the game or the Wii U, it's full of information worth pouring over. For starters, how about that multiplayer footage? There continues to be conjecture about how many tablet controllers Wii U will ultimately support, but the trailer clearly shows a single tablet and three Wii Remotes. Using the tablet controller's touchscreen to move in-game objects for other players is a clever way to integrate the technology, and should offer younger (or less experienced) gamers an easy way to get in on the action. However, don't make too much out of the cord coming from the tablet controller in the trailer. According to Polygon, all Wii U dev kit tablets are wired, and the wireless version won't be available to developers until June.

Rayman Legends Four Player Co-Op

Finally, there is the Skylanders-like Near Field Communication demonstration at the end of the trailer -- if it isn't a "final" feature of Rayman Legends Wii U, it needs to be. Allowing players to bring power-ups and new characters (Ezio!) into the game via NFC just looks awesome, though it does raise some questions about how that content will be made available (as stand-alone figures? in bundle packs?) and how much it will cost. For that matter, would Ubisoft go to the trouble of producing a line of Rayman Legends figures exclusively for the Wii U game, or might there be a way to incorporate that content into other versions of the game, as well? What do you think?

We said it before (and we're not alone in the opinion), but Rayman: Origins really is one of the best games in recent memory (read our review). Almost any sequel have been a welcome proposition, but from the looks of the trailer, Rayman Legends ups the ante considerably -- and we can't wait to find out more!

Ranters, what do you think of your first look at Rayman Legends? After seeing all the exclusive features, do you want to play the game on Wii U? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Rayman Legends is currently in development for Wii U. Additional platform announcements will likely be made at a later date.

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Source: CVG, Gamekult [via VG 24/7], Polygon