E3 2006 News | Rayman Raving Rabbids Confirmed For Wii

Previously, a trademark was discovered for the next iteration of the Rayman series, and today Ubisoft have come out and announced that the fourth instalment will be called Rayman Raving Rabbids. The game will be coming to current generation and next generation consoles, including Wii, and will debut around Christmas this year.

Rayman Raving Rabbids is being developed by Ubisoft's Montpellier, France studio, headed by Rayman creator Michel Ancel. It promises to be the "funniest and zaniest adventure ever" for the limbless one and follows the story of Rayman as he combats an invasion of out-of-control bunnies, using all new moves and the help of magical creatures.

"It's a real pleasure for me to be back working on an all-new Rayman," said Michel Ancel. "After wrapping up Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie, the team here in Montpellier sat down to talk about having some fun with Rayman and his universe. We are running into a bit of a problem, though, because our game has been invaded by thousands of raving mad and vicious bunnies, who have apparently been preparing this assault since the very first Rayman game. We are now sending an SOS to all motivated gamers to help us get rid of them as fast as possible!"

There won't be just one type of rabbit to fight though, and Rayman must come up with methods to best them all. He must also learn to tame, control and ride creatures such as sharks, eagles, rhinos, spiders and angelfish, and can take on their abilities to help fight the enemies. In addition to this, Rayman can also change his appearance to foil the plots of the bunnies, including changing into punk, rock or hip-hop styled clothing.

Ubisoft released a screenshot to accompany the press release, which shows how the Wii controller will be used. It was emphasised with a caption reading "control your spider and other creatures by rotating the controller". Click the thumbnail below to see the full image:

Also, here's a stupidly huge version of the same image should you feel so inclined: here.

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Ubisoft have also announced the following titles to be shown at E3, though they have not specified which platforms, or indeed even if some are coming to Nintendo platforms: