uDraw for Wii overview

Mike Bantick
Monday, 28 February 2011 20:26

Entertainment

Already it has sold a million units in the US, now the uDraw drawing tablet and associated software and games for the Nintendo Wii has made its way to Australia, the land that originated the idea.  The uDraw tablet is a surprisingly featured creation tool that combined with games such as Pictionary can mean lots of family rated fun.

Originally an idea coming from THQ in Melbourne, the uDraw drawing tablet for the Nintendo Wii has arrived in Australia.

The tablet sports a 4' X 6' drawing space along with a pressure sensitive stylus/pen and accompanying uDraw Studio software.  iTWire also had a chance to try out two specific uDraw games in Pictionary and the humorously titled Dood's Big Adventure.

The tablet itself provides a nook to house the Wii-mote controller, slipping into a position that provides easy access to the normal buttons on top of the controller, and the B trigger at the front.  Once any uDraw software is up and running, the on screen cursor is controlled by the stylus with a click of the pen providing the input.

I may have missed something, but it is a little odd that Ubisoft did not design with a non-opaque front to the part of the tablet housing the Wii-Mote, to allow the infra-red signal to escape.  This means, as easy as it is, you cannot fully lock in your Wii-Mote until passed the initial Wii loading screens.

I also found the wired stylus a little short on freedom length, perhaps a coiled wire allowing for further give in motion would have been a better solution. 

Finally on the design downers, the button on the stylus, with both down and up sensitive pressure points takes a bit to get used to, resulting in some early learning curve frustration.

CONTINUED on PAGE 2