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Ubisoft cracks open Cranium Kabookii

Publisher's board game-inspired party puzzler arrives on the Nintendo Wii in December.

26 Comments

After catching on to the fact that a lucrative market exists outside the typical 18- to 34-year-old male hardcore gamer demographic, many publishers and developers have been expanding their portfolios to include casual gamers. One of those publishers is France-based Ubisoft, which announced its intentions to devote more resources to casual game development in May.

It's...it's...it's...an elephant!
It's...it's...it's...an elephant!

Today, Ubisoft revealed that its latest game aimed at the casual sect would be Cranium Kabookii, available exclusively on the Nintendo Wii this December. Modeled after the award-winning board game, Cranium Kabookii offers a party game experience where players use the Wii Remote to compete in a variety of minigames, puzzles, and other assorted interactive challenges. The game also features special Kabookii decoder glasses that allow for a single player to view hidden messages or answers on the screen.

Of course, those familiar with the board game know that Cranium features a hodgepodge of ridiculous cultural references and obscure facts that have limited relevance. Therefore, Ubisoft noted that Cranium Kabookii will be tailor-made to accommodate the various regions it will be available in, including distinct editions for Canada, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Cranium Kabookii for the Nintendo Wii has not yet been rated or priced.

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SetsuOkun

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the fact is that they wwill rot our games by trying to please casuals with em. they won't want to release one for us one for them but will try to make droll 2ppl with one game and that simply doesn't work. and i'm tired about all those minigames on wii. i play alone and that's why i like gaming. i don't want to have to like in the reality make w/ the mood of anyone else but me it's enough work already. so what's with those party games?

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-Squirrel-

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I love Cranium. Wouldn't mind mixing it with my love of video games. If I can get the chicks I play Cranium with to promise that they'll try a Wii version, then I'll pick it up. But this better cost no more then $30.

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playstation_wii

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Another minigame compilation?!?!?!?! When will the madness end?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!

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gmrndlze

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cool

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Lord_Artix

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I dunno. If it's cheap I might pick it up, otherwise I'll stick to my board game version.

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kappachan

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I love Cranium and seeing one of my favorite board games coming to the Wii just excites me. I can't wait! I hope it lives up to the name.

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jason_derbby

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You know this was made by the same people who TMNT DS and PSP? I wouldn't expect much.

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Paul_TheGreat

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Yay, another party game.

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Doolum

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sounds interesting

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ketsuatama

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I wanna play the Japanese version!

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deactivated-57fce817a4cf5

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This sounds like a lot of fun. As long as they release these sort of games at a budget price, then I will be happy to buy them.

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MalachiLiu

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The original board game is sooo much FUN but Im doubtful about this being a game. Seems like another mario party but with some added twists.

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Pete5506

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Its for them little kids.................

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drogaz

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I normally object to Ubisoft overflowing the Wii with casual games and ports but this one actually sounds kind of fun. The idea of using special glasses to find a secret code on screen sounds very interesting. Hope Ubisoft starts developing stuff for us hardcore Wii gamers though. EDIT:To GamerAddict Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, and SSBB are all Wii exclusive hardcore games . In fact Twilight Princess is actually not Wii exclusive, it's also on the GC remember?

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felshs

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cranium?????

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NightRain

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Cranium the board game is totally FUN. But this game... I dunno. I could try it...

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Shinedown220

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Who cares?

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allmybase

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Funnily enough, when I first glanced at the headline, I didn't see that it was a game based on Cranium. All I saw was the Kabookii and thought for a second there that this was a Wii game that revolved around kabuki theater.

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A5H19

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@Gamer-Addict It's time you build a nice gaming PC, or purchase a PS3, or 360...

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Gamer-Addict

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Im getting sick and tired of all this causal gaming crap for the Wii. Us hardcore gamers need some games too! The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is probably the only Wii exclusive game (RE4 has exclusive controls so i guess that counts too) thats for the hardcore gamer. I wanna see some games on the Wii that makes me feel like I spent my money on this system well spent. If Nintendo doesn't get some better games out there I might sell my Wii. It's not that the Wii has all completely terrible games I just think most of them need some more content to them as well.

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RaiKageRyu

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Never seen the board game either.

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xcollector

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"...distinct editions for Canada...United Kingdom, and the United States." Wow! I don't know if any game before has ever got a distinct edition for every English speaking country it was released in. But where's the French Canadian Edition EH? (Joking)

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dragonball3900

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The board games are pretty fun, I might get it if the price is low($20-$30). But it is coming out in the rush of games, so it might be overshadowed by some of the big names.

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wiz4ha

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I love the boardgame. The Wii should be a good combo for this. Cyntori, I like your idea for DLC... maybe Ubisoft won't rush it and include this with WiFi

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cyntori

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I love all the Cranium board games. This should be just as if not more fun. Maybe by then Nintendo will allow DLC to update the questions and references or add to them.

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comthitnuong

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Even though I didn't enjoy the actual board game, playing it on the Wii might be a fun experience.

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