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Wii Businesses Nintendo

Two Weeks with the Wii 458

Posted by Zonk from the different-than-anything-you've-known-before dept.
In the 80s, kids of my generation cut their teeth on Super Mario Bros.. They went through high school with Mario Kart, and bonded with college friends playing Super Smash Bros. By 1999, though, the N64 had long since proven that Nintendo's dominance in American videogaming was over. The GameCube that followed was largely a disappointment. Nintendo failed to interest third party developers, and frustrated fans with long-delayed chapters of the Mario, Zelda, and Metroid franchises. Coming into this no-longer-next generation of consoles, Nintendo announced they were aiming for a Revolution, and then confused everyone by renaming it Wii. Their actions left a lot of people wondering if the company still had what it took to compete with committed powerhouses like Microsoft and Sony. The launch lineup is kind of tepid, and the controls really do take some getting used to. We've already established that they're not aiming to compete in the graphics race. So what is the console really like? Why is it selling so quickly? What does it have to offer? I've had two weeks to find out. Read on, so that you can get a feel for the system you'll definitely be playing (if not owning) at some point in the future.
My somewhat bold claim is not based in any sort of fanboi favoritism. It's a simple reality of Nintendo's console; the Wii begs to be played by lots of people. Unlike the solitary games that are popular on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Nintendo's scrappy fighter is at its fullest potential when you've got four people armed with Wiimotes. Four players on a Wii title is like nothing you have ever experienced in gaming before. For some people the Wii's demand that you be physically proximate to your fellow gamer will be a mark against it. For many people, though, I think the need to get together in one space will cut through the confusion and misunderstanding this hobby has always suffered from.

The reason for this is that it is easy: It just works. The first time you hand a Wiimote to someone and they point it at the screen, they know what to do. There's a little hand, representing where you're pointing, and each Wiimote has a different colored hand. Navigating menus is actually ... fun, in an odd sort of way. Moving over UI elements with the little hand representing your controller causes a very slight rumble. The controller shakes just enough to give the entire experience a tactile element that, again, I've never seen in gaming before. It's the little things like this that really makes the Wii experience. Turning the Wiimote upside down inverts the hand. They didn't have to do it that way, but they did. Navigating menus is, mildly, fun. One of the first games my cousins played after they'd picked up the controllers was the "duel with their icon-hands" challenge. Odd, yes, but entirely understandable. The Wiimote, and the completely natural movements you make when using the device, require no explanation. When Nintendo went to the AARP event earlier this year, they knew what they were doing; this is the console your grandmother can use as easily as you can.

UI

Graphically, the system's UI is a clean mixture of greys and whites. The Channel selection screen is the first thing you see on booting the system, and stands out well against the system's default imagery. From left to right on the top row, you're going to find the games channel, the Mii channel, the photo channel, and Wii Store channel. Though I'm not sure why the somewhat anemic photo functionality gets to rank so highly, they've organized your primary Wii elements together on one screen. On the bottom of the screen there's an unobtrusive options button, and a button to take you to your Wii's address book functionality. As you purchase things from the Virtual console (the primary online capability of the console right now) they'll fill in additional windows on the console's launch page. This is also where the news and weather features are accessible, with promises of more services further on in the Wii's lifetime.

To start addressing the channels in order, the games channel is where you'll access your currently-loaded disc. The system has a little splash screen there on your Wii frontpage illustrating what you have loaded. Just to reiterate something you've probably already heard, GameCube titles are 100% backwards compatible with the system. The Wavebird controllers are too, and nicely slot into the ports for them on the top of the console. If you're planning on playing a lot of Virtual Console titles, I recommend that you make sure to hang onto your Wavebird; they'll play almost every game the download service can offer up, and your Cube games to boot.

Mii

The Mii channel may just be the hidden gem for this system. If Nintendo plays things right, the Mii may become as much a part of your online identity as Microsoft's gamertag. Miis, to explain, are little virtual people. Using a canned set of features (hair, eyes, mouths), you can combine facial elements to great a little 'you'. Or a mini-Lincoln. Or Jesus. If you've always wanted to school the King of Kings in tennis, the Wii is the system for you. As innocuous a feature as this sounds, it's impossible not to find yourself wrapped up in possibilities once you sit down to play with it. At the very least, you're going to have to make you. And your S.O. And your family, and all of your friends, and your favorite movie star ... it's just too bad they don't have ears and you can't make pets.

Once you've made your Mii-version of former child star Gary Coleman, you can actually compete with him or against him in Wii Sports. At the moment, the games on the pack-in disc (and those on the upcoming Wii Play disc) are the only places you can make use of your strange little people. Even with that limited scope, Nintendo is already showing their intent to make the most of this feature. Your capabilities in Wii Tennis, for example, are tracked via intuitive charts. Someday down the line, when more titles take your Mii into account, you'll hopefully be able to import more interesting stats (frags and such) into your Mii's pockets. You can already take your Mii with you; up to 8 Miis can be loaded onto a single Wiimote for easy toting to another person's house. You can send them away, too; after you exchange friend codes with someone, you can trade Miis. They'll go wandering, too, if you let them. Heading off into the great Wii beyond, they'll wander across the Mii Parades of consoles across the nation, just begging to be included in that owner's personal Mii Plaza. Reggie Fils Aime has already hinted at the eventual addition of more facial features, and it is little wonder why. With the ease of making a little 'you' so tantalizing, it's easy to see why Nintendo is taking this 'uber-cutesy' feature very seriously.

Photos

The system's photo feature/mp3 player is something of a forgettable tack-on. Photos and music can be uploaded to the system, or played directly from, SD memory cards. They slot right into the front, and featured photos are very lovingly displayed by the UI. Music can be played behind the photos; it's essentially the only way to just listen to music on the system. Uploaded tunes can be played during select Wii titles (like ExciteTruck), which is very nice, but otherwise the media capabilities of the Wii are fairly forgettable. Given Nintendo's drum-beating about the Wii being 'focused on games', I'm kind of surprised they even bothered. Just the same, the utility of these features can't be denied, and they certainly don't get in the way.

Virtual Console

The Virtual Console, then, is the final default offering you'll find on loading the system. Nintendo's answer to Microsoft's Xbox Live and Sony's E-Distribution model, it currently only offers downloadable retro titles. The Wii Shop will eventually be where you pick up additional services as well, but for now games are all this service has to offer. While the launch list for the U.S. market has some much appreciated classics included, overall the titles are downright disappointing compared to other regions. I'm not complaining about what we have gotten, to be sure. Bonk, the original Sonic, the SNES version of Sim City, and the original Legend of Zelda are all titles still well worth your time in 2006. It's hard not to look at the Virtual Console list from Japan and other sectors, though, and not be a little jealous. Castlevania IV and A Link to the Past? Why don't we deserve Link to the Past? Recent events has also hinted that Nintendo has no plans to offer games via the Virtual Console if they were not originally released in that market. If that turns out to be true, terrific JP-only NES and SNES games will never reach our virtual shores. A serious oversight on the company's part.

The Virtual Console itself has proven to be less enjoyable for me to use than other parts of the Wii interface. Out of the box, the only way you'll be connecting with the Internet is via a WiFi connection. Even with a solid WiFi setup, it's inevitable that your connection will flake out. The console seems intent on blaming 'firewalls' for its woes, but some days I know everything is working fine; the problem lies with a cranky Wii. Once you're online you may run into difficulties there as well. The interest level in the Virtual Console must be higher than Nintendo expected, because I've found the service absolutely hammered and essentially unusable several times since the system launched. All that said, this is exactly what you'd expect from Nintendo: a solid retro-delivery system, straight from your childhood. I spent many, many, many hours playing the SNES version of Sim City. I gave myself an allowance of three games from the launch lineup. Along with that early Will Wright title, I snagged the original Zelda (my wife had never played it) and Sonic, as we were Sega-less in my formative years. All three play as smoothly as silk. No hiccups, no quirky controls, just unadulterated blasts from the past. Of course, my three titles will soon have friends. Even with Nintendo's odd reluctance to give us the good stuff, they'll be releasing a least one new title every Monday for the foreseeable future. Emulator fans may scoff, but it's hard to look down your nose at a legal way to enjoy retro classics in relatively high definition. The Wii even does game suspension, so you don't have to play games straight through. Despite some petty annoyances, they've got a great channel here for future content (including the much vaunted indie gaming scene), and it only looks to be getting better in the future. At the end of the day, even if it can be annoying to use, at least the Wii Shop music is soothing.

So, that's what the machine itself is like. The Wii's control scheme is what has people sitting up and taking notice though, and it's hard to judge that on menus alone. As a study in comparisons, I offer you the Good, the Bad, and the Awesome: Wii Sports, Red Steel, and Rayman Raving Rabbids.

Wii Sports

In the U.S., our consoles were $40 more expensive than in Japan. This was the reason - the Wii Sports pack-in. I've been lamenting the loss of the pack-in for years now, though, so I begrudge them nothing. It would be one thing if Wii Sports was a waste, a Luigi's Mansion for the next-gen era, but thankfully this mini-game game holds its own and encourages your aging relatives to make fools of themselves. Wii Sports consists of five simple games which ... kind of ... resemble actual sports. There's tennis, golf, bowling, boxing, and baseball. Controls for each of the five pastimes are the definition of simplicity. Each only requires a very simple motion with the Wiimote, mimicking actual movements you'd make while participating in the sport. Tennis is probably the one that's been seen the most at press events, and all it requires is a quick flick of the wrist to get the ball moving to the other end of the court. It's also one of the most enjoyable of the offerings, and supports up to four players for some hi-larious doubles action. Bowling is likewise enjoyable in multiplayer mode, and requires only that you know how to make the bowling motion with your arm in order to strike. Golf and baseball are less enjoyable, as built-in sensitivities to the mini-games lend themselves to confusion and mistrust of your capabilities. In reality, it's not you, it's the game. Golf is particularly bad, as even the slightest swing will have the game registering 'too much force' on the ball. The final game, boxing, is much the same. Using the Wiimote and the nunchuck, you can deliver one-two punches to your opponent's Mii ... if you can get your flailing arms to work right. I've personally found boxing to be highly enjoyable, despite its lack of precision. Two people really into the game results in an air-slapping girly-fight scene like something out of "Revenge of the Nerds". Nintendo made an excellent choice including this as a pack-in, and Wii Sports will continue to be the social game console owners reach for until the likes of Wario Ware or Mario Party make it to store shelves. (Just make sure to use the wrist strap.)

Red Steel

On the opposite end of the hardcore scale, we have Red Steel. Along with Call of Duty 3, this is one of the more 'adult' offerings accompanying the Wii at launch. It concerns the battles of a gentleman who has come to a fancy restaurant to have dinner with his girlfriend's father. As sometimes happens, the Yakuza assault the building and an epic fight ensues. While the title does an admirable job of convincing the player that FPS controls are completely enjoyable on the Wii, the title fails to deliver in almost any other way. The reason has nothing to do with the Wii; Red Steel is just not a very good game. Unlike Yakuza , which manages to weave a tale of Japanese crime with a straight face and get away with it, here the attempts at gritty criminality come off as hokey and poorly thought-out. The hero is utterly forgettable, and the noble quest to protect friends and family from the vicious crime syndicate is one John Woo flick short of a film festival. The only thing it gets (mostly) right is the control scheme, which is just as you'd imagine it. The Wiimote directs your point of view, while the stick on the nunchuck moves you forward. This is the schema that were' going to (hopefully) see a lot of over the Wii's lifespan. It's the way we'll be playing Metroid down the line, and can also be seen one door over in Call of Duty 3. Red Steel chooses to make the protagonist's arm flex and bend in inhuman ways as you turn, fouling up the game's one solid feature. His long, seemingly jointless arm is very disconcerting, and only serves to remove you from the action. Embarrassingly, the control scheme breaks down during sword fights. Those gooshy, confusing fight sequences are not quite as disconnected from reality as Wii Boxing, but it's fairly close. Even when poor reactions began leaking out of the enthusiast press, I maintained a guarded enthusiasm for this title. Guns and swords for the win, right? In the end, though, there's just not enough 'there' there. As much as it makes me want to play Metroid Prime, it makes me want to shut off the console more. You need not suffer from the launch-day enthusiasm that carried this into my cart; you can definitely give this one a pass.

Rayman Raving Rabbids

From the inane to the insane, we move on to Rayman Raving Rabbids. I've never really liked Rayman in his previous platform title outings; he's always been something of a forgettable character. Here, though, Ubisoft has offered up a crack-addled assortment of mini-games, and hung them very loosely around Rayman's neck. He's the central character of the game only insomuch as the little guy on screen has his name. Otherwise, you'll be concerning yourself more with the Rabbids: evil, stupid, ugly, bunnies from hell. The outline of the game is fairly simple. Ray competes in various events, spread out over a period of about thirteen days. Every day, there are four events to participate in. Completing three events unlocks a 'boss' event, which when cleared allows Ray to move on to the next day. Completing all four events during each day unlocks (on alternating days) new outfits for Ray to wear, and new music for you to listen to. Multiplayer play focuses on several people competing in individual events, with an option to string some of them together to make fairly anemic storylines for your adventures.

The beauty of this game, though, is that it's a.) absolutely crack-addled b.) hilarious and c.) completely addicting. Just a few of my favorite examples from the game include:
  • "Bunnies Don't Like Bats" - Direct Rayman as he mounts a giant bat, collecting piggies and dropping them into a pigpen before the time runs out. "Bunnies Don't Like Bats 2" adds the complexity of fending off a Bunny raiding party while you collect the piggies.
  • "Bunnies Don't Know What to do with Cows" - Whirl the Wiimote over your head, as Ray does the same with a chain attached to a cow's collar. Hit a button on the Wiimote to send the cow flying while it's facing away from you. You get more points the further the cow flies; the cow flies further by whipping that Wiimote as fast as you can above your head.
  • "Bunnies Don't Use Toothpaste" - Grab horrible grimacing worms with the Wiimote as they emerge from the rotten teeth of a Bunny, and flick them away. They come slowly at first, but emerge faster and faster as you play. Allowing a worm to emerge and then disappear ruins a tooth. Allowing two worms to reenter a single tooth sends the worm borrowing up into the Bunny's soft palate and ends the game. Hilariously, the mini-game is backed by an homage to the the theme from "Brazil".
  • "Bunnies Can Only Fly Downward" - This wonderful bunny-filled version of the parachuting level from PilotWings has you directing Ray down through smoke rings with your Wiimote. You speed up by pushing on the nunchuck's stick, but you lose control that way too. Your aim is to get to the ground before a set time has passed. (Hint to Nintendo: PilotWings for the Virtual Console. Get on it.)
  • "Bunnies Are Addicted to Carrot Juice" - While pumping the nunchuck with your left hand up and down, aim the Wiimote at the oncoming diver-Bunnies to fill their dive masks with carrot juice. Filling them up causes them to fall over. You lose if the ever-increasing wave of bunnies reaches your bar.
Beyond these, there are rhythm games, races, and a slew of FPS-style bunny shoot-em-ups. This last genre is usually the 'boss' event for any given day, and actually gives me even more hope for First Person Shooter titles on the Wii than Red Steel does. The controls are tight and responsive, and a ridiculous amount of fun. Zelda may be the reason that everyone bought a Wii, but Rayman should be the game you break out at Christmas parties this year. It's gloriously unhinged to play with four players, and is guaranteed to be better while drunk. Most enjoyably, there are several games that can be played by two players, one holding the Wiimote and the other the nunchuck. It's a wonderfully cheaty form of co-op play, and I highly recommend it as an excuse to get your wife, boyfriend, or girlfriend interested in the Wii's unique control scheme. The only problem here is the game's brevity; beatable in just a day or two, Rayman really only has legs as a party game. For a party game, though, and one made up so defiantly of mini-games, its well worth at least a look. Ubi has a winner with this ... this grotesque mockery of Bunniedom. I hope there's room in Ubisoft's budget down the line for a sequel. My suggestion for a mini-game: "Bunnies Avoid Corporate Takeovers."

Final Thoughts

The reality of the situation is that multiplayer Wii games make you look like an idiot. As strange as it sounds, this is just one mark of a system that has succeeded. For so many people, gaming is either a solitary pastime or one done socially via the cold detachment of a Ventrilo link. I, like many other folks, had the opportunity to introduce the Wii to my family during Thanksgiving, and it was anything but detached. It resulted in several hours of good-natured competition among my cousins, and allowed me the pleasure of watching four individuals north of 40 volley and serve via Wiimote. With the exception of my mother, I believe it may well have been the first time these people had ever played a videogame. It's not Half-Life, sure, but it isn't exactly Tetris either.

Even with a fairly humble collection of launch titles, Nintendo has managed to get gamers and non-gamers alike to drink the kool-aid. The system delivers exactly what the company promised when the 'Revolution' was announced in 2004. It's a system that offers the best of both worlds. Non-gamers have a completely intuitive control scheme that will now allow them to play with their game-loving friends. Hardcore gamers already have more innovative titles to play than they know what to do with. So what if some of them, like Red Steel come up a little short. For every Red Steel, there's a Trauma Center, a Rayman, or a Twilight Princess (whose review grew too large to fit here, and will be addressed tomorrow). Offering the best of new technology and plenty of unearthable retro memories, the Wii is a console that demands attention. I've yet to encounter anyone with a mild opinion of the little white box; you are either going to love this thing, or hate it.

Either way, Nintendo has finally broken free of its 'me too' position, held since the days of the N64. Even if the Wii stays the third-place console, it's no longer possible to think of the company as an also-ran. Sony and Microsoft are in for a hard fight this time around. The only side guaranteed not to lose is our side; whatever happens in this war, it's the gamers who win.
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Two Weeks with the Wii More

Two Weeks with the Wii

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  • The rest of the launch lineup can go to hell... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by meringuoid ( 568297 ) on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @03:06PM (#17134448)
    The launch lineup is kind of tepid

    But it contains Twilight Princess. Sold.

    (29 hours to go...)

    • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @03:10PM (#17134532)
      Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • Re:The rest of the launch lineup can go to hell... (Score:4, Insightful)

        by meringuoid ( 568297 ) on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @03:14PM (#17134590)
        On which topic, I'm still undecided on what the third game I'll buy should be.

        Zelda, obviously. And Wii Play, because of Duck Hunt, and the extra wiimote. But the third? I was thinking Super Monkey Ball, but I'm getting more and more tempted by Rayman, chiefly because of the cow-flinging, and the well-known fact that bunnies aren't just cute like everybody supposes...

        So, guys? Monkey Ball or Rayman? It's now 7.15 on Wednesday evening and I buy just after midnight on Friday morning. Which one shall it be?

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by WillAffleckUW ( 858324 )
          I vote for Rayman, having played a whole bunch.

          And the tossing cows isn't half as much fun as the dancing, plus the carrot juice bar and excessive use of plungers ...

          Graveyards will never be the same ...

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by Cocoronixx ( 551128 ) *
          Owning both Super Monkey Ball and Rayman, I'll say that Super Monkey Ball's handling of the Wiimote is slightly squirrely, as compared to Wii Sports & Rayman. Rayman has 70 mini games, as opposed to SMB's 50. The only downside is that you need to unlock the levels in single player mode with Rayman (which was kind of a let-down for me, because I had bought it on the way to a friends house to drink & play,) but the game is so addictive that I had 'beaten' single player in 3 days. If you have the mon

          • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

            by Xibby ( 232218 )
            Anything with the word Monkey in the title cannot be abbreviated. Cause the word monkey is just fun. Or something. In a pinch, you can occasionally get away with SMonkeyB.

        • Super Monkey Ball AND Rayman RR AND Trauma Center.

          From the various reviews, and from my playing of Trauma Center DS, SMB and Trauma Center are awesome single-player games, but TC has no multiplayer to speak of and SMB's multiplayer seems sorely lacking (especially compared to previous iterations of the serie).

          Rayman, on the other hand, looks so-so from a single player point of view, but completely awesome for multiplayer.

        • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

          by Anonymous Coward
          We bought 2 games on release day for our Wii: Excite Truck and Super Monkey Ball.

          We got excite truck because my wife had played it for a few minutes when the Nintendo rep first set up the Kiosk in the store she used to run and said it was fun. We debated about what 2nd game to get, and decided on super monkey ball because I'd heard good things about previous versions (my last console purchase being a dreamcast I picked up when the first closeout price drop happened).

          Maybe I'm just not really into monkeybal

        • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

          by scd ( 541350 )
          bunnies aren't just cute like everybody supposes...

          They got those hoppy legs and twitchy little noses...

        • Re:The rest of the launch lineup can go to hell... (Score:5, Informative)

          by HoserHead ( 599 ) on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @04:54PM (#17136266)

          I absolutely loved Super Monkey Ball 1 for the Gamecube, and so Super Monkey Ball Wii was one of the two games (along with Zelda) I picked up when I first got my Wii. I wanted a decent single-player game along with the joy of multiplayer that Super Monkey Ball had been for my friends and me in the past.

          In short, Super Monkey Ball Wii is not even close to as good as Rayman. (More on Rayman later). The reason I know this is that I tried to enjoy it for about a week before trying it with friends, and discovering that it was basically not fun anymore. Even Monkey Target, which was the best of the best back on the 'Cube, isn't any fun on the Wii. It seems like they never thought of the game as an experience, but instead just threw together a bunch of tech demos and put the same interface on each of them. There's no quick way to retry a minigame. There are no settings on minigames. (That means there's also no stage selection on Monkey Target - it's a one-stage wonder.) You have to enter your name using a bizzare wheel of letters instead of the Wii keyboard used in the interface. In short, it's very disappointing in many ways. I even found the single-player game disappointingly difficult to control, and at the same time way too easy (due probably in part to the jumping ability they added). I am planning on trading in Super Monkey Ball to get Trauma Centre this weekend.

          Rayman, on the other hand, is so utterly off-the-wall, incredibly funny - and fun, at the same time - that I can without hesitation recommend it to everyone, especially over Super Monkey Ball. I picked it up just before playing Super Monkey Ball in a gathering of friends, and we went to it - and stayed with it - for as long as we could before we had to leave. The controls are great and the minigames are fun, funny and highly varied, so it never gets boring. The only downside is that you have to unlock all the minigames in single-player mode before playing it multiplayer. This is really only a downside if, like me, you play it for the first time in a gathering of friends. Unlock everything, put your saved game on an SD card, and you'll be able to bring your game everywhere with you.

          I think I can sum up my feelings on the situation like this: When I started playing Rayman on my own, I said to my fiance "I really like this game." I had to push myself to even play Super Monkey Ball. Don't make the same mistake I did.

      • Re:The rest of the launch lineup can go to hell... (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Lumpy ( 12016 ) on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @03:35PM (#17134982) Homepage
        You have to be on crack to think that the PS3 or the 360 had better launch titles.

        Or to think the GameCube was a failure. Everyone I know that has a PS2 or Xbox ALSO has a gamecube. Why? it's cheap and the games were cheap.. Super Mario Karts GC is better than the crap sony had, as well as other GC titles for group play.. And that is missing big time on the other platforms. Group games multiplayer is way more fun than some single player game or online only multiplayer.

        • The GameCube was a failure compared to both previous nintendo consoles and the PS2, it nearly completely bombed in Japan, did horribly in Europe, the only place where it sold some were the USA, and even then it only sold 21 millions worldwide. Just so you know, the PS2's clocking at 110 millions now, the N64 sold more than 30 millions and the SNES/SuperFamicom ended it's life after having sold 49 million consoles.

          • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

            by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
            Comment removed based on user account deletion

          • Re:The rest of the launch lineup can go to hell... (Score:5, Informative)

            by MadJo ( 674225 ) on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @04:42PM (#17136090) Homepage Journal

            It may have bombed in Europe because of the incompetence of Nintendo Europe.

            News has surfaced [mozlapunk.net] that the Wii Virtual Console in Europe will run in 50Hz, (most PAL TVs support 60Hz), which means that games will have borders around them, and the games will be a bit slower. And the chances of seeing previously Japanese-only or American-only games on the VC in Europe are very slim.

            Nintendo Europe apparently hasn't learned from their past mistakes

          • Define "failure" (Score:3, Insightful)

            by aztektum ( 170569 )
            The Gamecube sold 4 million units in Japan compared to maybe 450-500k Xbox 1's (couldn't find a number beyond mid-05 of 450k. They stop production around that time of the year so close enough). What's more Nintendo actually made money on each console sold. Sounds like a success story to me. Not quite so successful compared to the PS2 perhaps, but, as someone else has pointed out too, how many of 110 million PS2's are from users having to buy a multiples because of hardware failure?

          • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

            by Garse Janacek ( 554329 )

            The GameCube was a failure compared to both previous nintendo consoles and the PS2

            Fair enough. But many people who call the Gamecube a failure also call the Xbox a success, despite practically identical totals (and the fact that the Gamecube actually, you know, made money).

            Of course, I'm also a little skeptical about calling Gamecube a "failure" based on market share -- do we consider MacOS X a failure now? Nintendo hasn't been the dominant player for some time, but it's continued to be a strong and pr

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Garse Janacek ( 554329 )

          Everyone I know that has a PS2 or Xbox ALSO has a gamecube.

          Well, that can't be too common of a phenomenon just on pure numbers -- PS2 sales were obscene.

          I agree about your basic point, though: I've never understood why the PS2 and XBox "won" the last generation and the Gamecube "lost" when, compared to the PS2's incredible sales record (well over 100 million) the XBox and Gamecube were practically tied (21 and 24 million, IIRC). Especially since Nintendo made lots of money from those 21 million console

        • Re:The rest of the launch lineup can go to hell... (Score:5, Funny)

          by ssyladin ( 458003 ) on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @04:38PM (#17136042)
          Hell, nothing beats some of the Smash Brother Melee games we had in my dorm. Once we even rented out the campus movie theater (big lecture hall) and had a 32-person tournament. Nothing beats 50-75 folks chanting "Jiggily-PUFF" when the little pink ball gets a baseball bat :D

  • Conversion (Score:3, Interesting)

    by emor8t ( 1033068 ) on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @03:07PM (#17134470)
    After having a 360, and being impressed with it. I looked at the Wii, and went "annnnddddd......?" I wasn't impressed. but after reading reviews and seeing it in action, I'm considering it. Assuming I can get my hands on it.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by sg3000 ( 87992 ) *
      > I looked at the Wii, and went "annnnddddd......?" I wasn't impressed. but after reading reviews and seeing it in action, I'm considering it.

      I've got two Playstation 2s (to play network games within my house), but the Playstation 3 is waaay too expensive. I couldn't figure out what the deal with the Wii was. However, after the review, the Wii actually looks like a pretty good choice. I'm glad to see that Nintendo went in a different direction than Sony and Microsoft.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by krunoce ( 906444 )
      I own a 360 too, and I just got a Wii Monday. I didn't buy any games yet. I've only played Wii Sports, and I am very impressed with the Wii. Once I started playing the boxing game I knew it was revolutionary. Using the controller is a completely new gaming experience.

      I am very glad that I bought it. I'm just displeased that every friggin store around here doesn't have a) Zelda or b) Wii controllers. I can't wait to fight my wife in the boxing game!

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by grappler ( 14976 )
        I got the power glove back when that came out for the original 8 bit NES, and was very disappointed by it. It sounds like they've finally, 15 years later, gotten it right with the Wii.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Firehed ( 942385 )
      I too was a bit skeptical early on, though somewhat less so than you (more of a post-reading-review uncertainty). But I got one anyways after the demo in EBGames won me over, and it was absolutely one of the best console-related purchases I've made.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Overly Critical Guy ( 663429 )
      After having a 360, and being impressed with it. I looked at the Wii, and went "annnnddddd......?"

      I said the same thing when I saw the 360. Especially when I found out you had to pay for online play, which is crap. Nintendo WFC is free.

  • I Know Exactly What You Mean (Score:5, Funny)

    by eldavojohn ( 898314 ) * <eldavojohn&gmail,com> on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @03:07PM (#17134472) Journal
    In the 80s, kids of my generation cut their teeth on Super Mario Bros..
    Well give me a break, those plastic cartridges [nintendocity.com] were rock hard but oh so tasty. Plus I herd from someone that if you bit them they would work ... but if that didn't work, just take them out and bite them again. Rinse, wash, repeat like a squirrel with nuts.

    They went through high school with Mario Kart...
    Listen, my parents didn't have a lot of money so I'd appreciate it if you just let it go that my first car [iastate.edu] failed the safety inspection.

    ... and bonded with college friends playing Super Smash Bros.
    Now there we differ. On the contrary, I bonded in college with my friends, the super smashed brothers. Leinenkugel's [leinie.com] for the win! It was all very similar though--a punch here, a puch there, a flaming Luigi & a princess was an instant party.

    By 1999, though, the N64 had long since proven that Nintendo's dominance in American videogaming was over.
    Yeah, it sure is going to hurt to have this removed [micromania.fr].

  • My Parents (Score:5, Interesting)

    by bflong ( 107195 ) on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @03:09PM (#17134516)
    My nephew bought a Wii. I got to play with it for a night soon after. This past weekend he brought it up to my parents house, since I thought they would enjoy playing the bowling game, since they used to bowl a lot when they were younger. I was right, they stayed up until after 11pm playing it. My parents are in their mid-sixties, and they are going to buy one as soon as they become more readily available. Nintendo took this thing in an entirely new direction, and it is going to work for them.

    • Re:My Parents (Score:5, Interesting)

      by aphxtwn ( 702841 ) on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @03:33PM (#17134948)
      Ditto. When I got my Wii, my parents tried it out. It was the first time anyone in the older generation in my family was having fun and excited about playing a video game. In the race to produce mind-blowing graphics, the most important part of the game was neglected - the game. Games should first be a good game with aesthetics coming second. I think Nintendo really got their priorities straight by returning to basics and pushing game play and a intuitive control system. It would seem the DS was the first step towards their revolution, and I personally think we're witnessing a Nintendo renaissance.

    • Re:My Parents (Score:4, Funny)

      by dorianh49 ( 988940 ) on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @05:11PM (#17136576)
      I cannot wait to hear the geriatric crowd start saying things like, "Your nintendo-fu is wiik, mofo! Now get off my lawn."

    • Re:My Parents (Score:4, Interesting)

      by IsoRashi ( 556454 ) on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @06:09PM (#17137590)
      I took my Wii to my sister's for Thanksgiving and it was a smash hit with my family. My sister plays the occasional video game, but it's usually stuff like The Sims or even sometimes WoW. My parents haven't played video games, on the other hand, since the Atari 2600. We had a ton of fun playing bowling and tennis and, later in the evening, my dad stood there playing golf for a good hour. My sister has already gone out and gotten one (an xmas gift to herself) and I know my dad wants one too. And my mom wouldn't mind, and she's a bit leery of technology--she literally does not know how to use a PC at all, they intimidate her. When my mom, who doesn't understand how to even use a mouse, is playing the Wii and enjoying herself, then Nintendo has done something right.

    • Where's the TV? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by R3d M3rcury ( 871886 )
      Speaking of parents and video games, this one struck me the other day when discussing "The Battle For The Living Room."

      In environments where the kids play video games and the adults don't, how often is the video game system in the living room?

      I know three families in this situation. In 2 of them, the video game is not hooked to the TV in the living room--it is hooked to either another TV in the corner of the living room or is hooked to a TV in the kid's room. Only in one family is the video-game console h

  • What about... (Score:5, Funny)

    by TubeSteak ( 669689 ) on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @03:15PM (#17134608) Journal
    Excite Truck [gamespot.com]? You know, the game that every store I've seen is demoing on their Wii.

    And the first time I got my hands on a Wii-mote, I held it backwards & was confused as shiat as to why left was right & right was left.
    • the game that every store I've seen is demoing on their Wii.
      You've actually seen playable demos at stores? Which? I've been to a gamestop, a Best Buy, and Walmart - and none of them have actual demos. It's "here's what it looks like", along with a video. Neither is useful.
      • The EB Games & Gamestops I've been to have demo units.

        Here's a pic [commongate.com]
        (the Wii demo stand is on the right)

        I've killed 2~3 hrs playing Excite Truck over the course of several days (I was waiting on female family members who were shopping).

        Also, I'd kinda like to try playing the game using the 'classic' controller instead of the Wii-mote. Are some of the other games like tennis & bowling playable without the wii-mote?

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by MS-06FZ ( 832329 )
        At the game stores I went to, you had to specifically ask to try the machines, and give them your driver's license as a hostage to make sure you didn't run-offt with the wii wand.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Tadrith ( 557354 )
      I agree... I was completely surprised by Excite Truck. I'm not a racing game sort of person. I wasn't really expecting much.

      Now I'm screaming at my TV because I need my last two S-ranks in Super Excite. It's great fun for a racer, and not stuff about "reality", which usually turns me off in racing games. The controls are exceedingly easier to use than those steering wheel add-ons you can buy. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to play.

      I even bought the little plastic steering wheel that Ubisoft pu
  • I agree, have a Wii, two nunchuks, one wiimote, three GameCube controllers (see the top slots), but how in the heck do you get four Wiimotes?

    One of the good things about Wii Sports is it lets more than one person share the same controller - and quite frankly, I've been dropping by game stores for weeks and still can't get a second wiimote.

    But I agree that Rayman's Raving Rabbids is the best game - and yes, we've played many many hours of Zelda.

    And, yes, it IS that fun - all ages too. My 15 yo son loves it,

  • At least you got a Wii... (Score:2, Informative)

    by jZnat ( 793348 ) *
    It's still impossible to get a Wii at MSRP (i.e. you have to buy from eBay scalpers), and I don't see this getting any better before Christmas...

    • How to get a Wii... (Score:4, Informative)

      by nweaver ( 113078 ) on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @03:34PM (#17134978) Homepage
      Stores keep getting in shipments and selling them out the same day, usually 20-40 at a time about once a week.

      Pick your favorite retailer, and just call them once a day when they open.

      This worked for a friend, and I'm trying it now.

      EG, for Black Friday after thanksgiving, the local Tarje (thats Target for those not from SoCal) got some 30-40 Wiis (and 3 PS3s that got placed in a corner and nobody cared about).

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by EastCoastSurfer ( 310758 )
      Stores seem to get them in pretty regularly. You just have to check daily. Funny thing is that I went to Bestbuy the other day looking for a wii and they had 6 ps3s. Who would've thought...
    • I disagree. The stores (at least in Chicago) seem to be getting decent shipments at least once a week. I picked mine up the week after launch and hate to wait outside a few hours at Best Buy (where they were releasing 30 the Sunday after Thanksgiving) and my brother-in-law had no problem over the weekend at a Target which received 60 units the same day the Circuit City next door received 40.

      Extra Wiimotes is where we've been having trouble. Its also a little annoying that the Wiimote and Nunchuck are sol

  • The 360 is console done right, Wii is console ... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by kinglink ( 195330 ) on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @03:19PM (#17134694)
    Done better. PS3 is failure of marketing.

    The 360 is a really solid, machine, I'm completely impressed by the options they have launched with.

    On the other hand though the Wii is a console that is innovative and unique. The big missing point is achievements (yes they are important) but the Wii controller and everything else earned it the center stage in my apartment.

    The PS3 on the other hand is so dead to me after all the hype, the failed launch, the lackluster system and so on. I'll pick one up when some amazing rpgs are out but even Metal Gear Solid 4 is not enough. Especially with it's price point.

    For the Wii though Avoid red steel, but check out Excite trucks, Zelda (duh), and trauma center (if you don't have it for the DS). And Elebits is sounding to be the Second half of the One two launch combo.

    I'm hopeful for the Wii, with talented developers (not EA) we can have some amazing games on an amazing system. Konami is already releasing Elebits and with more attention some really radical games can come out. But that's still not enough for me to discount my 360, which is fun, has better graphics and has achievements (again they are important, don't ask me why). It appeals to me in every way the Wii doesn't and that's fine as well.

    Personally I think it really is a wonderous time to be a gamer. If you have yet to try the system I highly advise you to give it a shot, because it'll revive that kid who shook the controller to make mario jump "Farther".
    • The PS3 on the other hand is so dead to me after all the hype, the failed launch, the lackluster system and so on.

      I played with it for exactly 4 minutes because that's how long it took for it to load one of the games (some dirt track truck racing thing IIRC). I didn't actually even bother to play it because it was just too much of a time waste.

      I'm very disappointed in the machine from the one console company that always impressed me.

      Then again, I don't need a PS3 to play Katamari and Gran Turismo 1.
    • "But that's still not enough for me to discount my 360, which is fun, has better graphics and has achievements (again they are important, don't ask me why)."

      what on earth are achievements? you mention this term a few times in your post and i have no idea what you're talking about.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by Thag ( 8436 )
        Dude, he said "Don't ask me why!" :)

        Seriously, though, Achievements are a feature of XBox Live that allows you to compete for high scores and other feats in a game. They are tracked online, and you can see how you're keeping up with the Joneses.

        Jon Acheson
  • Wii Sports is fun, for little while. Probably a great "party game".

    Zelda never interested me, but it seems like it's well-done.

    Basically every other game currently available is just not worth mentioning. There are some *decent* games, but nothing particularly exciting (again, assuming you aren't a big Zelda fan). It's the standard "launch games are kinda lame" syndrome. Personally, I'm holding out for the WarioWare game. That will rock.

    Still, the Wiimote works very well, and is fun to use. Nintendo might ha

  • Wiimote (Score:2, Insightful)

    by DarrylKegger ( 766904 )
    I'd like to know realistically how long the batteries in those remotes last. Prob too soon to get any good data on that I suppose.
    • Just use rechargeable and it won't matter all that much.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Tadrith ( 557354 )
      I played my Wii quite a bit until I finished Zelda, and I'm still playing Excite Truck pretty frequently.

      These aren't officially tested or anything, but just a general idea. I changed my batteries after about 40 hours of Zelda (according to the game timer), and about 5 hours of Excite Truck, and a few other things here and there.

      So, I'd say they'd last about 50 hours, depending on what you're playing. You could probably save some battery power by turning off the Wiimote speaker. I like the speaker, personal

    • Re:Wiimote (Score:4, Informative)

      by Doctor Crumb ( 737936 ) on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @03:51PM (#17135234) Homepage
      I haven't replaced/recharged mine yet, after an hour or two a day for the past 2 weeks or so. From what I've heard, it takes a marathon all-day session to drain them.

      Also, they're just AAs, which are cheap and plentiful.

  • If you are on the fence, read on (Score:3, Interesting)

    by the computer guy nex ( 916959 ) on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @03:25PM (#17134806)
    Xbox 360 core ($300) + Wii ($250) = the average of the two PS3 options.

    You would be a fool to pick the PS3 over the first 2.

    360 has the same graphics, a much better game library, and ton better online capability than the PS3. The Wii is that console that changes the way you play games.

    Gears of War and Twilight Princess are 2 of the top 5 games I've played since the NES came out. You won't regret the purchase of either console.
    • I'll probably get a Wii, followed by a PS3 after its first price drop, and hopefully a few firmware upgrades. I'll pass on the XBox thankyouverymuch. The only game for it that's piqued my interest *at all* is Gears of War, and even then I don't feel like there's much there that I can't get out of my PC. I can't stand playing FPSs without a mouse anyways, though the Wiimote presents a tempting alternative.

  • Third place ?? Who's in second then? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @03:29PM (#17134898)
    "Even if the Wii stays the third-place console, it's no longer possible to think of the company as an also-ran."

    Has the Wii sold fewer consoles than the PS3?

  • Thoughts from this Wii owner (Score:5, Informative)

    by killmenow ( 184444 ) on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @03:54PM (#17135290)
    I reserved and got a Wii on day 1. It is the first console I've ever bought at launch. I am thoroughly happy with it. Here are my thoughts:
    1. Wii Sports is a blast. I like bowling. My daughter likes boxing. My six year old son likes baseball. My teenage son likes all of them...except golf. None of us are very good at golf.
    2. Elebits, imho, will be a major seller and I am looking forward to it.
    3. There is no fear of losing the remote and busting your TV. I still don't know how the people reporting this problem are making it happen. The only way I can imagine it is if, in your excitement, you just LET GO. Wear your wrist strap and don't flail your arms about like you're trying to throw your shoulder out of socket and you'll be fine.
    4. Red Steel is fun. I know it's getting bad reviews but it's enjoyable just to play. I only have one real complaint with it: there are several parts where you are supposed to fight a guy with your sword. But why? If I am walking around with an Uzi in my hand, and round a corner where there's a man standing there brandishing a sword...why in the world would I put my Uzi away and get out a sword to fight the guy close combat like that? Why can't I just shoot him with the Uzi? That makes a whole lot more sense to me. But, no! You HAVE to fight the guy with the sword. And that's just lame.
    5. Virtual Console sucks right now. There are no games worth buying, imho. And, at $5-$10 a pop, I am not seeing the value. Maybe after some better titles are available, it'll be worth it. Right now it's a waste.
    6. Where is Opera? Where is the Forecast channel? The News channel? Bring on the extra online features NOW NOW NOW!!! I'm sick of waiting already and I've only had the Wii two weeks.
    7. Wireless connection troubles...the only way I can get my Wii to connect consistently is to turn off WEP and WPA/WPA2. I have to make my WAP open (and I've tried two different access points/routers) for it to work consistently and reliably...again, that seems just wrong to me.
    8. It's only been a few weeks. I am hopeful and optimistic that Nintendo will work this stuff out and this time next year, the Wii will just kick all kinds of ass.

    • Re:Thoughts from this Wii owner (Score:5, Funny)

      by filtur ( 724994 ) on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @04:04PM (#17135472) Homepage
      "I only have one real complaint with it: there are several parts where you are supposed to fight a guy with your sword. But why? If I am walking around with an Uzi in my hand, and round a corner where there's a man standing there brandishing a sword...why in the world would I put my Uzi away and get out a sword to fight the guy close combat like that? Why can't I just shoot him with the Uzi? That makes a whole lot more sense to me. But, no! You HAVE to fight the guy with the sword. And that's just lame."

      Have you no honor!? :P

    • Re:Thoughts from this Wii owner (Score:5, Funny)

      by skam240 ( 789197 ) on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @04:13PM (#17135628)
      "Why can't I just shoot him with the Uzi?"

      because he'd just block the bullets with his sword, duh.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by freeweed ( 309734 )
      There is no fear of losing the remote and busting your TV. I still don't know how the people reporting this problem are making it happen.

      One word: alcohol.

  • Back to basics (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    It really seems like Nintendo managed to latch on to what the other console manufacturers have long lost sight of: Fun. The Wii may not have the most current up-to-date blow-your-mind specs, but the games are simply fun. I lost interest in gaming around the time of the PS1, when graphics and storylines became more important than the actual gaming experience, but the Wii has something going for it that might make me whip out the credit card in the future: it LOOKS like a lot of fun to play. I really can't sa
  • I'm suprised people are still blah blahing about how the 360 and the PS3's price are accceptable when the Wii is clearly demolishing both of them.

    Sure for some people the 360 isn't too much but it's at that point where people really have to think about it before they'll get it.

    The Wii on the other hand is almost cheap enough to be an impulse buy. If the 360 can pull off some real japanese RPG's to get some actual sales in japan it might not bust. The PS3 though is doomed though if their exclusve titles do

  • Check out the Dragonball Z game for the Wii (Score:4, Interesting)

    by stastuffis ( 632932 ) on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @04:05PM (#17135496)

    I hear a lot of talk about Zelda and Wii Sports. That's cool as they're both fun.

    But, I rented Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2, and I was thoroughly impressed. The game takes a little while to get used to, but once you get the hang of it, it can get pretty damn crazy. Using the nunchuck and Wiimote, you'll perform a variety of moves that you would normally use a standard controller (WHICH IS AN OPTION). However, the remote adds a bit of depth that just plain excites you.

    For example, the way special moves are peformed, it makes it that much more exciting. Not only can you shoot a fireball as if you are really doing it, but you know it's coming when you see your opponent making peculiar moves. Trust me. It's a great joy to execute a combo and end it by actually making the motion for the possible final attack. Plus, other than the remote depth, the game itself is deep with a great assortment of characters from all Dragonball Sagas.. The graphics are crisp and run fluidly like any worthy fighter should.

    If you're a Dragonball fan, it's a must buy. For everyone else, it's worth a shot no matter what.

  • Golf and Boxing (Score:5, Informative)

    by tansey ( 238786 ) on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @04:06PM (#17135510) Journal
    Golf is particularly bad, as even the slightest swing will have the game registering 'too much force' on the ball.

    I admit golf probably has the least pick-up-and-play controls, but it is really true in real life also. The controls reflect the ease of their real life sports. Bowling's controls are easiest because bowling is an easy sport. Tennis is easy to start but hard to master. Golf, however, is very hard to start up in real life...I don't know many people who can pick up and start swinging for 100+ yards without major accuracy problems.

    So yes, golf has sensitive controls but if you put in the time you can develop precision with them.

    The final game, boxing, is much the same. Using the Wiimote and the nunchuck, you can deliver one-two punches to your opponent's Mii ... if you can get your flailing arms to work right. I've personally found boxing to be highly enjoyable, despite its lack of precision.

    Now this is just plain not true. I've put in probably 40 hours to Wii Boxing, it makes a great workout game. The punches aren't easy to throw accurately, that's true. There are some tricks to the game...like developing rhythm, knowing when you're leaning in the right direction to be able to throw a certain punch, etc. Those are all things that are true to real boxing.

    Again, boxing is a sport that it's easy to pick up the gloves and "flail" your arms around, but if you want to be good at it you have to practice and start thinking about your moves. However, the controls in boxing do seem to be the least precise of all the games (though as I said, they aren't bad), and I'd like to see a full fledged boxing game that has a little more time put into it.

    • Re:Golf and Boxing (Score:4, Interesting)

      by SetupWeasel ( 54062 ) on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @04:35PM (#17136000) Homepage
      Golf: Putting is amazingly hard. The game does not register slight movements consistently, so the easiest putts in real life take the utmost care and effort.

      Bowling: Wii sports is the greatest bowling game ever, but bowling on the Wii is much easier than real life. Bowling is not easy in real life. My brother has a ~130 average in real life and can bowl over 200 consistently in Wii sports. I have over a 200 average in real life and I can't break 190, because my skills just don't translate as well.

  • GAAAAH!! (Score:5, Funny)

    by diegocgteleline.es ( 653730 ) on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @04:11PM (#17135602)
    A full review inside slashdot and with images! Quick, delete those bits of evil innovation! What have all you done with my good old non-w3c compliant slashdot?

  • Say what you want about N64 (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Nom du Keyboard ( 633989 ) on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @04:29PM (#17135890)
    Say what you want about N64, but Super Mario 64 and both Zelda's still have home at my house. In fact, was practicing new ways to kill dungeon bosses in Majora's Mask just last night. The wide-open aspects of these 3D games were the biggest jump forward since the beautiful scenes of the original Myst, and I've yet to see anything newer with the same Wow! factor over previous games.

    Maybe I can get a used Game Cube for cheap now and play Windwalker, before moving to Twilight Princess.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Fallingcow ( 213461 )
      The N64 also had Goldeneye and Perfect Dark, which were hands-down the only console shooters worth playing, at least until Halo came out (and, in my opinion, they're still the only ones worth playing on a console, though I've not tried the new Metroid games)

      I don't know how it was a failure. Certainly, it had all of the best games for multiplayer action. The only use my friends and I ever found for the Playstation was the Bushido Blade series, and on the PS2 there were one or two OK fighting games... bey

  • Fun (Score:3, Insightful)

    by gorbachev ( 512743 ) on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @05:06PM (#17136498) Homepage
    "Navigating menus is actually ... fun, in an odd sort of way."

    This is the same thing I said in my own mini-review on the online gaming community I belong to. The Mii Channel in particular is amazing.

    I've played video games for a long time, more than 25 years, and the Nintendo Wii is just the most fun platform I've ever played with. I've had some great gaming moments on other platforms in the past, but not one as fun as playing Wii Sports with a friend or two. There really is nothing that compares. The controllers just work. I'm particularly fond of how the Wii Sports Bowling uses the controller.

    It's a great machine and it's a BIG mistake to think the graphical advantage the XBox 360 and PS3 have over the Wii has anything to do with how much you actually enjoy playing with the console system. I own an XBox 360 (recently deceased thanks to three red lights) and will most likely get the PS3 as well once they're more readily available, but the Wii has already impressed me.

  • Score 1 for the "Older" crowd (Score:5, Interesting)

    by RyoShin ( 610051 ) <tukaro AT gmail DOT com> on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @05:11PM (#17136564) Homepage Journal
    Like many others on Slashdot, I bought my system on release day. I find it to be a blast, but the most surprising thing is that my parents found it to be a blast, too.

    I took mine home for Thanksgiving because my little brother had been quite interested in it for a while. I was unable to procure a second Nunchuck (still can't), but I did have two Wiimotes so we could have some multiplayer fun on Wii Sports. Both the brother, one of my sisters, and my other brother loved the system. I decided to call my mom down to at least look at it, just to see what her reaction was.

    Now, before I go on, it helps to speak of my parents a bit: They are both very, very conservative, and don't appreciate video games. Even as the main gamer in the house, I was lucky to get any sort of video game as a gift. My parents never had any interest in playing any of my games, even the simpler multi-player ones.

    So imagine my surprise when I had my mom play Doubles Tennis with me- and she adored it. Not even one match was over and she said (ad-libbing) "This is so much fun! And it's better than your other systems, because I'm not just sitting around." In fact, she liked it so much that she called my dad (who was at his office next door) to come over and play it- and he did, despite being even more disproving of video games than my mom. In fact, they played three rounds of golf, and then two sets of doubles Tennis. And even he commented on the fun.

    The final topping of this delicious cake? The next day, while I was out shopping, my mom called to ask where she might buy a Wii. For the family.

    So we have a 12 year old boy, a 15 year old girl (who, by the way, is not a gamer in the least), a 17 year old teenager, a mother and father over the age of 40, and me. Not a single unhappy person in the bunch.

    More now than ever, I think Nintendo is going to take this round.

  • One question (Score:4, Interesting)

    by unapersson ( 38207 ) on Thursday December 07, 2006 @06:56AM (#17143826) Homepage
    How well do people think the targetting of non-gamers will work out long term? I can see it causing a short term buzz and interest but wonder how many will stay as single game households, treating the console more like an appliance. Its success will likely depend on whether these people turn into regular purchasers of games, which is how you'd probably define current gamers, or if it is seen as a furby style craze that they'll lose interest in after a while. If few people buy anything other than launch titles then you may not find a big Wii games section in shops.

    I've seen it with my parents. They may become interested in one game for a short period of time, and play it a lot, but it will be one game and not necessarily lead them into being interested in any other game.

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