Shield Pose Demos How Wii U’s Controller Is A Window To Another World

Is this Rhythm Heaven for Wii U? That was the first thought in my mind after playing Shield Pose, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Shield Pose is a tech demo where you block plunger arrows shot from three pirate ships… but only one of them is on screen. The other pirate ships are to your left and right – in real world space. You need to physically turn left or right to see the two other ships. These only appear on the controller’s screen. Hold the controller up and you can see the moon, which also shoots arrows for some reason I can’t explain.

The neat thing about Shield Pose is you scan around with the Wii U pad and see an extension of game space on the controller’s screen. It was like a window into another world…. with skeleton pirates.

Once the game got underway, Shield Pose was all about rhythm. The demo played a tune and moving to the beat I raised the controller to shield yourself from sticky arrows. After catching the arrows, you literally shake them off the controller. Pirates on the left, right, and the moon above shoot arrows too so you have to move around while shaking the controller. (The Wii U controller is heavier than the Wii remote, but I wonder if there will be controller throwing accidents…)

While Shield Pose demoed how the Wii U controller can extend gamespace, it’s also an idea of what a game in a Wii U version of Rhythm Heaven could be like.