Since Sony announced the Wonderbook back in June last year, nothing much has happened for the expensive little gadget. We had J.K. Rowling's Book of Spells… and that was about it. But Sony would like to remind us that more games are on the way, and while little more has been heard from the likes of Walking with Dinosaurs and Disney, it looks like Diggs Nightcrawler will be coming soon.
In a trailer released yesterday, we get a more thorough look at what the game will actually be like to play. “Kid, am I glad to see you,” says the earthworm detective – Diggs (get it?) – who is the protagonist for the game, making it clear both that he'll address the player directly and that the game is for kids.
As for features specific to the Wonderbook, players will have to do things like turn the book around to rotate the 3D scene they can see on the screen, tilt one side to move the light from a streetlamp, rub the pages… I'm not really sure why. The style of the game is clearly inspired by film noir, but since it's a kids' game that's lightened with slapstick humour.
Even if this isn't your kind of thing (or your kids' kind of thing), it's nice to see something new like this. The Wonderbook is clever when it works, and if the developers have managed to make it work for this one Diggs Nightcrawler should be a pretty interesting experience. It's due for the Wonderbook on PlayStation 3 in May this year.