Let's hope they include padding...

Good news, everyone! Rugby League 3 is in development for Wii by games developer Sidhe, a company with years of rugby game experience under their belt. Here's what the press release had to say:

“We are extremely pleased to be publishing a new Rugby League title with such fresh features, content, and innovations across the board,” said David Robles, Business Development Manager for HES.

These fresh features include:

  • Motion controls to bring a more authentic Rugby League experience to your home
  • 80+ licensed teams from the NRL, Super League and Representative Levels, and introduces new competitions such as the Toyota Cup, UK Championship, UK Championship 1
  • Build a champion team in the Multi-year Franchise Mode including advanced player management, Dally M Player of the Year and Man of Steel, club records and optional manual rep selection

And features that return from previous entries:

  • 38 stadia from Australia, New Zealand, UK and France
  • Team level gameplay features including defensive line controls, attacking strategy selection, team confidence, and AI support play
  • Create and customise players, teams, and competitions
  • Broadcast style presentation with enhanced replay angles, match highlights, and in-game commentary from Channel Nine’s Andrew Voss

The first Rugby League game set the global record for pre-sales at a single store, beating Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, so this is a massive boost for Nintendo, and currently the only rugby title to have been announced for any format. No screenshots just yet, but we should see some pretty soon as the title gears up for its release in the UK, France, New Zealand and Australia before the end of this year.

[source sidheinteractive.com]