Is the WII really going to be what we expect?

[zerohero]

Is the WII really going to be what we expect?


I think its cool like anyone else that Nintendo is finally being the first guys to really tap into that user + game play interactivity. But from I’ve have seen mostly are gimmicks. Now for Nintendo’s defense, Games like Red Steel (Which reportedly is glitzy, slow moving, and not decently responsive to the users Wii remote commands), is a game that is doing exactly what I want to see. Zelda, and Metroid on the other hand, the Wii remote add on seems more the like gimmick than a new form of game play. Yes it’s cool to use the remote to shoot an arrow, or use the mic etc, and swinging the remote playing games like tennis, and maybe a voice recognition game (or a game that would use it) will be awesome.

But really now think for a moment, look at your TV. I use a 21 inch VGA monitor. That would get annoying, and old after a good while. For example, imagine playing Tennis on anything less than a 40 inch HD TV. It would SUCK period. There is no way me, and my friend could play together in a normal sized room (average bedroom), and effectively play the game the way it’s designed. 60 inch seems to be ideal here. The concepts I agree are awesome, but the demonstrations and video’s are very cinematic. Take for example the guy playing Metroid, you really wouldn’t jump out of your chair, nor would you want to wave your hand around for 5 hrs. “ But you can go back and use the regular controller”, yes I know, but then it just turns that element into a gimmick. Now games like “Dunk Hunt” would work in this setting, AS IT DID BACK IN 85.

Side Rant
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As far as gaming, and system wise, if Nintendo makes it core franchise games like Mario, and add some new flavor franchises to it, they will be doing 10x better than the N64, and GC combined IMO. New franchises is a must! Think back to the golden era of gaming IMO, the SNES vs. SEGA days. Nintendo had its Marios, and Zeldas, but new one’s such as Star Fox, and Donkey Kong Country sprang about. Nintendo needs to do that again.

* For my defense, I’m not bashing Nintendo, and I’ve very excited about the Wii, but I have to look at it seriously for a moment.

* For some reason I feel guilty for saying this, but what Nintendo is doing, which is awesome, reminds me of what Sega was doing or trying to do with the Dreamcast. That’s just my personal take though.

[ozyr]

Is the WII really going to be what we expect?

Depends on what you expect! Frankly, I'll wait and see what happens when it is released later this year, just like and other system. I'm not one of those that has to have it on the release date. I'll wait a few months or so, and make my decision based on what happends from the release date till then. Same goes for the PS3, and anything else that comes along.

[dbiersdorf]

Get a bigger TV.


Problem solved.

[exit]

Well I'm sure they took a lot of things into consideration, so maybe they have a way to work around all of this.

[Jackattack]

Without having any first hand experence with the wii it's hard for me to say one way or another... but I will say this.

I have forever doubted nintendo in every design/process they have made since the n64... and every single time I passed judgement before first hand experence I have been dead wrong. So I am doing my best to put my faith in them. I know mario is still going to be great! Zelda Fantastic! And SSB:B is going to be the best party game ever invented! If everything else sucks that 400 bucks with all the games should be pretty much worth it. Hey 400 bucks is worth an xbox 360 to most people and they don't even get to play any games on it for that price.

[PapaStu]

Alot of the same arguments arose before the DS came out. How will the stylus do anything, will it detract from gameplay, are the games going to be anything but touchfests? Well now that the system is out, its been pretty well shown that its not a detractor at all for any of the DS games I own (50+) or any of the other ones i've played.

I've got this feeling that the Wii-mote is going to experience the same kind of success.

[aaronpetrosky]

I myself plan on waiting a few months after it's out to see what my friends say and the overall review is. I don't feel like waiting in line for days straight to maybe get something that I don't like. Nintendo stole the show at E3 but maybe that was their defining moment and everything is downhill from here.

I have never bought a console on launch or anytime right after. I always wait to make sure I make the right decision. I still don't have a 360 yet and I don't plan on getting one right now.

I think the Wii will be a good system but not as great as some people are making it out to be.

[Niku-Sama]

any one preorder one yet?

yea dumb question i know

[geneshifter]

any one preorder one yet?

yea dumb question i know

Well, at my EB games I'm on the list to get on the waiting list. :roll:

[XYXZYZ]

I doubt I will get into the 3D gyro-controller game thing. This system promises to be a home for all kinds of games, a friendly platform for new 2D games; we know SNK has stated the Wii is their home in this generation. Those are the games I'm waiting for, the ones that use the traditional gamepad. I have a lot of hope for this system.

http://www.gamequarter.be/newsfiles/Image/2006/Mei/E3%202006/Wii%20controller%202.JPG
The controller's looking so nice... an SNES pad. Somebody damn well better make an arcade joystick for this thing!

So I doubt I'll get a Wii until they show me good stuff on the 2D/classic angle.

Oh, and I'm not interested in the ability to download and play NES/SNES games. I already have the cartridges...

[Nature Boy]

Is that controller pic real? I haven't been following and I'd hate it if I was being duped, but I'm happy to see a regular controller will go along with the Wii. It makes me about a thousand times more likely to buy one.

[XYXZYZ]

Is that controller pic real? I haven't been following and I'd hate it if I was being duped, but I'm happy to see a regular controller will go along with the Wii. It makes me about a thousand times more likely to buy one.

Uhhh... damn, I never thought of that. I was just looking for Wii images and saw it on some Belgian site. I don't really keep up with industry news so I assumed it was real...

UPDATE- Yeah, I think it's real.
http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2006/06/22/weird-slots-on-wii-gamepad/

[heyricochet]

Yeah, I'm unsure about the wiimote too just cause I know how space issues in front of the tv can be a concern. Plus, lots of controllers like that just feel loose due to how much flex there is in the area. Its like a steering wheel as opposed to an analog stick, since the analog stick is so small and tight you can easily get more accurate control then a steering wheel. The DS is different because it can easily be very accurate.

[Bronty-2]

I kind of expect it to follow the ds model - ie. not that many awesome games in the first year as the developers will have been too rushed to really do a great job on taking advantage of the new controls. A lot of games where the touch feature is 'tacked on'. But... give it a year and more innovative stuff should start to come out that really takes advantage of the possibilities. I think the wii will end up doing very well if it can sustain developer support for the first couple of years... and given their success with the ds and their momentum heading into wii, I don't see it being a problem.

[Sylentwulf]

Get a bigger TV.


Problem solved.

But don't get a bigger TV WITH HDTV support, because the majority of gamers don't have HD yet and don't care about it.

[Nature Boy]

I kind of expect it to follow the ds model.

I agree totally. It seems like Nintendo has finally figured out it can't compete well if it tries to do the same thing Sony & MS are doing, so it's leaving that portion of the market to them and is going after it's own thing by trying to appeal not just to kids but to non-gamers as well (like Nintendogs or Brain Age with the DS, I expect to see similar feeling games with the Wii).

Of course you'll still see the traditional games on Wii (including their own franchises), but they won't be the reason people *buy* a Wii.

[klausien]

Nintendo has some of the best R&D out there. Even the VB was an interesting idea that just could have used some more time in the oven. Even if this failure doomed him, the spirit of Gumpei Yokoi lives on at the company in a big way.

The Wii is going to be great because Nintendo simply would not release something like this if it didn't work. The early games are not all we should judge the nunchuck by. On IGN there is a nice segment containing some good quotes from Miyamoto that clarify some things. The underlying philosophy is very refreshing. Worth a read.

http://wii.ign.com/articles/720/720121p1.html

Nintendo is basically being run by Satoru Iwata, a consummate R&D guy, and Miyamoto, one of, if not THE greatest game designers of all time. I drool thinking about what they have in store for us. I can't wait.

[Emuaust]

As much as posters here may not agree with me, here in Australia
at least I cannot see MS and espicially Nintendo being as successful
as they would like, the main reasons for this is that Retailers,
(I work for a big Distribution company and am a Nintendo Rep along with other Companys)
will refuse to support them in shape or fashion, one of the
biggest retail chains here wont stock nintendo at all due to the
fact they offer the worst warranty and customer service out of
any electronic company, that and the fact retailers do not
have any real problems sending defective consoles/hardware
back for replacement with Sony products, yes it hard to belive isnt it!.

The Wii is going to be a great console no doubt about that at
all but if the retailers wont push it they are up shit creek,

I could go on all day about recent dodgy business practices
regarding MS and Nintendo but it would sound to much like a
I love Sony rant so I wont go there.

Retailers got burned with GCN and will be a little reluctant
in Pal territories to stock too much of nintendo products,
regardless of the hype.


PS. An interesting point though, my co worker had lunch with
the head of THQ australia the other day and while I cant say
a lot about what was discussed I can say that they where blown
away with the Wii and that it was a far sight more impressive then
what they where initially expecting.


Going to be a very interesting 12 months in gaming thats for sure.

[Anthony1]

For example, imagine playing Tennis on anything less than a 40 inch HD TV. It would SUCK period. There is no way me, and my friend could play together in a normal sized room (average bedroom), and effectively play the game the way it’s designed. 60 inch seems to be ideal here.



You know what another problem is? Alot of people have to sit on their sofa in their living room, and that is where they sit and play games. But with alot of Wii games, it appears that the best way to play is standing up. Standing up, and not having things right in front of you, or behind you, or to the side of you. Look at e3. All the pics I've seen are people standing up, and playing Wii games, but having lots of open space to play the game. Problem is, in most people's homes, this is going to be rather difficult. Many people have their sofa backed up against a wall, so they would have to stand in front of their sofa, and to really have some room to do the motions, they need to be quite a bit in front of their sofa, and that would put them way, way too close to the TV, usually.

For example, in my living room, I have a nice, pretty big, 51 inch Sony widescreen HDTV from several years back. I sit a good distance away from it, but my sofa backs up to the wall. So I can't go behind the sofa, I can't move the sofa, so I would have to stand in front of the Sofa, and for it to work right, especially with the Tennis game, I would have to stand quite a bit in front of the sofa to have a decent amount of room to operate. This is going to leave me way to freaking close to my TV. And this is if I'm playing by myself. If I have somebody standing next to me, that's just less space to operate in.

Then you have to factor in, the fact that TV's are on the ground at a height so that somebody sitting down is at the right height for the screen. When you stand up, you're not going to be at the right height, unless you somehow raise your TV up. Well, with my 51 inch Sony, there isn't anyway that I can raise that thing, so playing standing up, isn't exactly ideal.


Now, the good news is, that the Wii will be absolutely PERFECT for my garage theater with the Projector. In that room, I can stand very far back from the 113 inch screen, and have all the room in the world to play Tennis or whatever. Plus, other players that I'm playing with will have tons of room too!! But the big question for me, is.... Are those sensors that you have to put on each side of the TV going to be long enough for somebody with a 8 1/2 foot wide screen? How do those sensor things connect to the Wii console? In my projector room, I have all my electronics hooked up at the back of the room where the projector is, and the audio equipment. Trying to hook it up towards the front of the room is going to be a major pain in the ass.


Does anybody know any specifics at all about hooking up those sensor things that are supposed to go on each side of the TV? That is going to be very interesting, but if I can figure out a way to hook up the sensors correctly, then games like Tennis and such, are going to be a total blast to play on my 113 inch screen, considering I'm going to have tons of room to use my backhand, forehand, topspin, etc, etc. I'm actually kinda excited about the Wii now, when I think of how it's going to be when viewed on that big ass screen. I think the Wii could be a dream come true for all projector owners, when you consider the variables :-P

[JJNova]

You know what another problem is? Alot of people have to sit on their sofa in their living room, and that is where they sit and play games. But with alot of Wii games, it appears that the best way to play is standing up. Standing up, and not having things right in front of you, or behind you, or to the side of you. Look at e3. All the pics I've seen are people standing up, and playing Wii games

Fuck. THis E3 sucked so badly it made me cry as a gamer. Everyone was standing up while playing the XBox 360, and I didn't see a single person sitting down while playing demos for the PS3 or Wii. AHHH! I can't stand up to play ALL of my systems!

[PapaStu]

As long as you've got a few feet between the TV and your couch/recliner/whatever you'll be fine. Your talking like you need to have an endzone between yourself and the TV or something.

And do you really think that the sensors are going to be hard to hook up and setup? The big thing about their new system is this controller and you think they'd make it a bitch to use? Come on now.

[GarrettCRW]

People are complaining that they might have to, gasp, stand up and do something while playing video games?

There's got to be a fat/lazy videogame player joke in there somewhere. :/