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...  And all I can say is, "WOW!"

I am so impressed.  And before you cry, "FANBOY!"  I have to inform you that you are correct.  But wrong company.  I'm / Was a PS2/Sony fanboy.

Well, we opened up the Wii on Christmas eve and waited to play it the next day.  Pulled it out and set it up, with was rather easy.  First thing we did was the Mii Channel and made our selfs up.  There was me, my wife and our three girls.  That was rather fun, to be honest.

We then cracked open Wii Sports.  I think when we switched to another game, it was about 2 hours later.  The girls really liked the games and wanted more, but mommie wanted to give Rayman a try.

So, we pulled out Rayman and laughed and played our hearts out.  We really like Rayman and all of the mini-games.  We kept on playing and trying to see what the next game would be.

We have Zelda, but we never got to it.  We kept on going back and forth between Sports and Rayman.  So, here I am at work waiting for it to get over so I can get home and give Zelda a try.

Over all, I can see one of two things happening:

1) - Wii is a huge success.  Not by flashy graphics, but by innovation and fun.  I see the Wii having great oppertuinties and as long as the game makers keep coming up with game for the Wii, and not remakes from other systems, the sky is the limit.

2) - Wii goes the way of the Gamecube.  Ninentdo does not take advantage of third party game makers and the only good games, will be from N.  Some hits here and there, but nothing great.

The rest is up to N and where they want to go with the Wii.

People, give it a try and you will be surprised.  Trust me, I was.

I played it two days after it came out, wasn't generally impressed much.

The wiimote's just a powerglove that works :p

It looks cool. I haven't seen a must have game yet (for any of the next-gen systems actually). I want one, but I'll need to see an exclusive game that I really want to play before I take the plunge.

Ow. I'm trying to type. Ow.

Well, I have found out one thing, I'm rather out of shape. Flinging those Wiimotes around after awhile, you find out that your arms are burning. Wait a minute! I'm getting an arm work out. Yeah!

Ow.

You want to talk about deranged. One of the minigames in Rayman is you point the Wiimote at the rabbit's head. Then with the numchuk, you pound the rabbit's head with a hammer. The goal is to see how high you can make the knot on his head go. lol You gotta love deranged games.

My roomate picked up a Wii and I have been having fun with the system, especially the golf and bowling games on Wii sports. Especially the golf; it's brilliant. . .I just wish there were more than 9 holes available.

Compared to the Wii sports golf the Tecmo golf game sucks, so anyone who wants a full golf game like the one on Wii sports should avoid that Tecmo golf game like the plague.


But my initial feelings about the Wii turned out to be dead on. Once I didn't have a friend over to play Wii sports or Rayman against, I found that I didn't really want to play the games anymore. Playing against the computer or 'practicing' just seemed pretty pointless and lame.

When I switched to Zelda, I was very surprised at how much I liked the game. The graphics look pretty much like a PS2 game and going back to playing 480p games on a HDTV is a downer too. I also feel generally 'over' RPGs, so I was indeed shocked just how much the game drew me in.

The Wii controls were functional, but I quickly found myself wishing I had a basic controller. Besides the fishing mini-game, the aiming of the Wii-mote for shooting stuff is hard to aim and swinging the Wii-mote around to attack stuff is just a pointless excercise in excess hand movement.


So in the end as I thought, the Wii is a fantastic party system when you have friends over but I would never want to play 'regular' video games by myself on it. I much prefer the 360 for that.


One last note of praise for the Wii: I absolutely LOVE the Mii creation. It's almost more fun than the games to make up the virtual avatar of yourself. I'm just bummed that every multiplayer game doesn't at least allow you to use your Mii in the multiplayer game (like Rayman).

This is for the Rayman players out there:

Hate. Dispise the Closing the Out House doors game!

Posted By brotherskeeper74 on 01/02/2007 9:16 PM
This is for the Rayman players out there:

Hate. Dispise the Closing the Out House doors game!

Okay so I'm not the only one?  That game is just frustrating.

Yakface, or anyone else -

In terms of the Wii only being fun for "party" games, do you think that the problem is with the system, or just the games that are out now?  Do you think the Wii will be more fun to play solo when more games are released?

The reason I ask is because the Wii is possibly the only system I would consider buying any time in the foreseeable future.

I think it looks like a lot of fun, but I haven't actually played one yet.

Hordini:

There are still a lot of unknowns about the future of the Wii that really will depend on what type of system it ultimately becomes. Will it have enough 3rd party support or will it only feature the Nintendo staples as the Gamecube and N64 both did?

Will cross-platform games be made for the 360/PS3 and the Wii with regularity? If so, how will the lack of graphical power and unique control scheme be used? Will the controls be essentially an afterthought in cross-platform games, or will they be fully utilized to make the game unique for the Wii?


Right now, all of the good games on the Wii (besides Zelda) are essentially really simple games that highlight the control scheme of the Wii. But a game like Excite truck exposes the problem with this concept. After you've played it several dozen times the control scheme no longer adds anything to the experience and now you're left with a pretty thread-bare video game by current standards.

While Zelda is admittedly a great game, I really don't feel the Wii's controls have anything to do with that; for me personally playing it with the gamecube controller would actually be preferable for the long kind of gaming sessions that RPGs demand.


So I would say that if you do a lot of party gaming with your friends, you don't care about graphical quality and HD gaming, you like simple engaging games and you love the Nintendo stable of games, then the Wii would be perfect for you.

However, if you think that down the road you'll be cursing the fact that the Wii version of Rainbow Six either sucks compared to the PS3/360 versions (or isn't even coming out for the Wii), then you should really consider making the Wii your *second* system after the 360/PS3.


That's how I see it personally.

Yakface:

Funny thing about the "Outhouse" game, if you read most of the online reviews, they all hate that game. I guess that is what happens when a game is "broken".

If you look at my original post, in a round about way, I posted what Yak said about the Wii. The system's future is in N's hands.

For me, I don't care if it's HD or low depth. Breath taking graphics or 8 bit NES graphics. If the game is good, fun and well put together, it has my attention. The graphics for me are just Eye Candy. What is the point if the game is breath-taking and so realistic if the gameplay sucks?

But, all of what I just posted is IMHO. ;~)

Posted By brotherskeeper74 on 01/03/2007 9:33 PM


For me, I don't care if it's HD or low depth. Breath taking graphics or 8 bit NES graphics. If the game is good, fun and well put together, it has my attention. The graphics for me are just Eye Candy. What is the point if the game is breath-taking and so realistic if the gameplay sucks?

While I agree with that overall sentiment, that attitude always assumes that the games on the Wii are going to have better gameplay than those on another system and that you essentially have to sacrifice good graphics for good gameplay.

Unfortunately, neither of those points are really true. I'll give you two really good examples (to illustrate why both points are flawed):

 

1) Gears of War. Gears of War has fantastic gameplay and fantastic HD graphics. Do the beautiful HD graphics add to the game? Absolutely no doubt about it. Obviously the game is still great if you play it on a Standard def TV, but you will tend to be more immersed with the game if you can see it as it was designed to be played.

Would adding a motion sensitive control to Gears of War add anything to the game? It is unlikely. Adding a Wii type of control to the majority of current video games would have little effect on how enjoyable the game is (in some cases it may make it less enjoyable if it is actually harder to control).

So while most types of video games currently made cannot really benefit from a motion sensitive controller, they can benefit from improved graphics. While gameplay is still the most important factor, great graphics do help. Unfortunately, the Wii will never be able to match the 360 or the PS3's graphical might.

 

2) The new Legend of Zelda on the Wii. As I've said several times already, this is a great game for all the normal reasons that Zelda games have been great in the past. However the Wii controls add very little to the gameplay and more importantly (IMO) actually make the game less fun to play as your arms tire of holding up the Wii-mote during the 70 hours required to finish the game.

Also, the graphics on Zelda are quite poor compared to the current gen games on other systems. While the Wii's controls don't add to the game, great graphics in HD certainly would improve the game. The game already has a beauty to it that could only be shown off more if the developers had more computing power to play with.

 

So in the case of Gears of War you have a game on another system that has great gameplay with a traditional controller that wouldn't be improved by a motion sensitive controller but would suffer if it's graphics were worsened.

On the opposite side you have Zelda on the Wii that essentially gains nothing from the Wii controls but suffers because the graphical power of the Wii isn't great.

 

So while the Wii may have great games, I believe players will generally only be enjoying those games specifically designed to utilize the Wii controls. With good traditional games (like Zelda), you'll be playing the game in spite of the fact that it is on the Wii.

 

 

Well said, Yak.

About Zelda, it was originally made for the Gamecube. But, then the idea for the Wii came about, so they intiagrated the Wii controller for the Zelda game. That is another game was was brought to the Wii AFTER it was planned to be played with a regular controller.

I completely disagree with you here, and find myself wondering what your posture is like, while playing.

The nunchuk/wiimote combo allows me to sprawl back on the couch. My movement hand (left) can rest in whatever natural position I want, without affecting my ability to move. My right hand can be similarly situated; there are relatively few activities that require aiming (I z-target for most combat ranged stuff). Swinging is just a twitch of a hand; the controller only requires acceleration, not displacement.

So I do find that the controls impact my enjoyment of the game. Plus, after all, it's Zelda.

Posted By yakface on 01/03/2007 11:37 PM

2) The new Legend of Zelda on the Wii. As I've said several times already, this is a great game for all the normal reasons that Zelda games have been great in the past. However the Wii controls add very little to the gameplay and more importantly (IMO) actually make the game less fun to play as your arms tire of holding up the Wii-mote during the 70 hours required to finish the game.

Very true.

I didn't get a Wii, and I don't plan to any time soon. But, I did get Zelda for the Cube and it is most excellent. I don't feel like I'm missing anything at all by not having the Wii version or the wacky controller.

Zelda fishing requires bait, not exaggerated arm movements.

Posted By Janthkin on 01/07/2007 5:29 PM

I completely disagree with you here, and find myself wondering what your posture is like, while playing.

The nunchuk/wiimote combo allows me to sprawl back on the couch. My movement hand (left) can rest in whatever natural position I want, without affecting my ability to move. My right hand can be similarly situated; there are relatively few activities that require aiming (I z-target for most combat ranged stuff). Swinging is just a twitch of a hand; the controller only requires acceleration, not displacement.

So I do find that the controls impact my enjoyment of the game. Plus, after all, it's Zelda.

What, am I not supposed to be facing away from the TV bent over holding the Wii-mote between my legs?!? 

Seriously, I haven't spent all that much time with the game (about 5 hours I think), so I certainly haven't mastered the 'Z' targeting, so I was finding myself still trying to aim at stuff when I was shooting (and getting tired of it rather quickly).

Also, just holding the nunchuck doesn't feel natural to me. After decades of game playing I guess I just prefer a controller sitting comfortably in my lap.

And while I know I don't have to wave my arms totally around to strike, my point was that shaking the Wii-mote to strike doesn't actually add anything to the game (IMO), and it is just a different (more annoying IMO) way to do the same thing as pressing a button.

 

There was an interview with the guy who makes DOA about the Wii where he basically said some stuff that I really agree with. If the Wii controller is just making you do extra work to accomplish the same on-screen activity that could be more easily done wtih a simple button-press then by implementing these motion-sensitive controls you've actually made the game more difficult and ultimately more unenjoyable than before.

Now, obviously there are games where the motion is crucial to the gameplay. In fact, the fun in the golf game (for me) is the actual swinging motion you have to make, so the controls are actually what make the game fun.

But in most cases, the actual GAME is (and should be) the fun part of the experience. The most intuitive and easiest control scheme to play this fun game should be the one that is always used, not just implementing a motion-control scheme into the game because it can be done. It is that kind of thinking that, I believe, will be the ultimate downfall of the Wii and its unique design.

For 95% of games the GAME is the fun part, not the controls, and that is why the Wii will struggle once the shiny 'it' factor wears off from the console.

 

 

Z-target + trigger = slingshot mastery. It pleases me.



Reduction in the number of active/must-use buttons is nice for me. My right thumb has 2 time-sensitive actions ("A" and down on the d-pad), and my right index finger has one. Left thumb movement seems very intuitive, and left index finger is used for z-targeting. So my hands don't have to shift around on the controlle, which I appreciate.



Granted, immediately and completely. Same issue cropped up with first-generation DS games; most developers, faced with the new input mechanism, did nothing useful with it.

There are, however, games (and game genres) that lend themselves immediately to the Wii's control scheme (still waiting on my lightsaber...), and for the rest, all the buttons are still there.

do you guys know how to use a wii? you don't Swing it round wildly. you just sit down and move it slowly round and wherever it needs to go, 2 things if you swing it like mad:1 it may fly out of your hand and brake you tv and the wii (wow good lot of price that) or 2 you get bad and i mean BAD strain on you hand and loads of pain and it won't go for like 2 WEEK so do it calmly don't do it Wildly.

Well yakface, what it factor exactly.  Sure its named a benchmark on motion sensing and virtual reality electronics...  But what it factor.  Its dominating becuase it hits every audience.  Old people, young people, middle aged people, Drunks who sit on their ass's watching tv all day(its remote style of controller makes it perfectly adapted for that group), and all types of gamers.  Casual, Hardcore, you name it.  At least half of the people who are ps3/360/comp gamers plan on getting a wii as a casual gaming console.  It is the perfect casual gaming machine, that can use the internet and dl games as well.  With free online.  Free. 

That and the games are very fun... Have you played Super Paper Mario?   Wii sports is pretty fun as it is, and thats free. 

As for a must have game....  If Metriod prime 3 wasnt it, Brawl should be.  super smash bros action... online.  Get pwned by japanese in your own home! 

That and its the only console that a pc cant play better then the console itself...  And the wiimote doesnt work with the pc well, unlike the ps3 or 360 controllers.  Thats why wii is my 3rd gaming love, after computer and GW games that is.

-HotSoup