Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time Plays Wii U At Its Own Game

With Wii U just a matter of days away, it’s at once reassuring and unsurprising to see Sony taking the bull by the horns and showing that it can pull off all the same tricks as the new Nintendo console.

The chief gimmick of Nintendo’s new hardware is the interaction between the controller/tablet hybrid GamePad but as many have pointed out, this isn’t exactly anything new – the connectivity Sony has between PlayStation 3 and PS Vita already affords it exactly the same potential for creative gameplay.

The first game to really push this on PlayStation will be Sly Cooper: Thieves In Time, Sanzuru Games’ forthcoming sneaky cartoon adventure. Already announced as part of the CrossBuy program (meaning PS3 buyers get a free Vita copy) and with cross-platform save support allowing you to continue the adventure on the move, we now know it’ll have Wii U-rivalling AR features as well.

By pointing your Vita at the screen during gameplay, it can be used as an X-ray scanner – secrets and collectibles hidden away in the game world are highlighted and then flagged up on the big screen to help you grab the lot. You can even snag them by taking pictures of them, if you’re really struggling to get to them. It’s not necessary to play or complete the game, yet it’s a novel and tactile addition that should really give the game a unique sense of adventure.

Thieves In Time is due out in March but before then, we’ll likely see a slew of other games take on the Wii U’s USP with inventive new functions. What games would you most like to see get this kind of multi-platform AR support? Let us know below and we’ll make it happen. Only we can’t. We don’t have that kind of power, sadly. We’d still like to hear your thoughts, though…