Wii : At a Second Glance

[jeremysart]

Being the simple and casual classic gamer that I am, I was in no hurry to purchase any of the flashy new systems that were drug out a few years back.

Largely turned off by the enormous amount of people I know that were red ringed by Microsoft, and being screwed out of PS2 titles, yet allow you to play PS1 titles on the PS3, a strange move by Sony, IMO.. and then there was the Wii, which still could not even play a damn DVD, or offer a card slot to play DS games.. not to mention the strangest pair of controllers since the Intellivision.

 

But is the Wii really as bad as everyone chalks it up to be? Are all the big N fan-boys wrong?

Well, at a first glance, yes. Many people bought one right off the shelf, only to feel cheated by the small library of motion sensing games, as you walk into the store and browse through the selection just to see Dora the Explorer, some Nickelodeon games, a couple of games based off recent pg movies and a few gimmicks.

But then you take a second glance, and that is at its abilities, and the large ballpark it holds for developers.

 

With a handfull of fun games, Mercury Meltdown, Smash Bro's Brawl, Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart Wii, and Force Unleashed alone have made the Wii worth owning for me.. not to mention that Nintendo has taken the initiative to help uplift the classic gaming community by offering SEVERAL emulators for download via the Wii Store, such as the C64, Turbografx 16, and of course their own onslaught of systems (NES, SNES, N64).

 

And then there are the games that make my wife happy, like the Wii Fit. Sure its pretty lame, but it makes her happy and it sure gets plenty of use. In fact, there was a game on it where you controlled a marble(s) and had to move them around a platform or down holes via balance.. which had me thinking about a pretty cool Marble Madness remake

 

There are a couple of titles to look forward to as well, such as New Super Mario Bro's Wii, and the new Metroid.

 

Back to the subject of programming, there is a large scene for Homebrew on the Wii. There are constantly awesome and unique innovations being made by developers, making the systems future look brighter, check this out for example:

And being a system in the all online generation, downloading homebrew wii ware is fast and easy. I think this system is GREAT for emulation as well! There are plenty of great 3rd party controllers too that cater to us classic gamers ( http://shopper.cnet.com/game-accessories/nyko-wing-wireless-classic/4014-10110_9-33244320.html ).

 

Of all the new systems out, this is my opinion. Final Thought: Though the Wii lacks the graphical power of the Xbox360 and the great library of the PS3, it is innovative and useful, with an aim at being fun for everyone. I think it would get more use out of me than the Xbox, and certainly more than the PS3.

 

(Now, I have been thinking about getting a 360 just for Arcade I mean, Doom, Duke and Wolf 3D.. online.. massive multliplayer network? Hell yes!)

 

**EDIT** I just realized italics cannot be used in the title. If a mod could kindly remove that, as Use Full Editor wont work for me

[Gregory DG]

I like Wii. Shooters are better on the PC anyway. And I'll play Mario Kart, Boom Blox 2, Lego Star Wars, Lego Indy, Lego Batman, Force Unleashed, Williams Pinball, et al all day. Shoot, I'll play Wii Sports pretty regularly.

[StanJr]

Wii is wonderful. The games are all about game play and experience and developers have done some impressive things adapting the controllers. There is considerable versatility and a wide variety of games in the library.

 

Sure it misses a few titles that would be excellent to have on the system and the graphics are a bit less than what you might get on XBOX or PS3, but the trade off is the supremacy of the game play.

 

Long live Wii

[MagitekAngel]

I like Wii. My major complaint is one to do with availability and pricing. My assessment is thus: first party titles never come down in price (Twilight princess is STILL 60 dollars here!), and third party titles become extremely difficult to find in stores by the time they go down in price.

[Lord Thag]

I'm neither a fanboy, nor a hater. I have owned a Wii since launch. In my personal opinion, it's WAY over hyped. Here's my opinion. Let's do the bad first:

 

1. The 'revolutionary' control scheme. Meh. It just doesn't work well for anything requiring much precision, (unless it's a FPS - and good ones are more scarce then hen's teeth). Many otherwise good games really suffer from the controls. They work fine for Wii sports, but not a whole lot else. I find the controls annoying most of the time, and unplayable at worst.

 

2. The Game Library. Ugh. Now, there are some great games for the Wii, but percentage wise, i have NEVER seen a console with so much garbage released for it. This thing has the worst game library I've ever seen. The trash to good ratio is seriously like 90% - 10%, and I'm being generous.

 

3. Graphics. Not so hot usually, and not because the system can't do nice graphics. This has become the console for companies to dump cheap, quick and dirty ports on, and it too often shows.

 

Now to the good:

 

1. The good games. While there are very few really outstanding titles for the system, there are some true gems. In many ways, it's a typical Nintendo system. There are some awesome Nintendo games, and a very few 3rd party gems.

 

2. Everyone owns one. It's cheap to develop for, and everyone has one, so *given time*, this system will end up like the PS2. In other words, lots of awesome 'niche' titles like RPGs, strategy games etc. It's already starting. Muramasa The Demon Blade, Phantom Brave, Okami etc. In time, there will be a flood of great indie/niche games that you will only be able to play here.

 

3. Backwards compatability. Play gamecube games!

 

4. Downloadable Retrogames. There are so many great games to download, i don't know where to start. It's a classic gamers dream console.

 

 

So, in short, the Wii is an over-hyped, system with iffy controls and a library full of shovelware that will, in time, become a repository of awesome indie games, and a classic gamers console. It ain't perfect, but in a couple of years, it will be the new PS2.

[StanJr]

I disagree with "overhyped." I see PS3/XBOX360 advertisements 8:1 over Wii advertisements in print and television. Wii does very little self promotion and usually gets bashed by the fanboys, so it gets a rep as the little system that could, rather than a legit console.

[atarian63]

Wii is by far my favorite of the generation of consoles, great simple gameplay,lots of fun,innovative controller. That's why it is the number 1 console!

[+swlovinist]

I'm neither a fanboy, nor a hater. I have owned a Wii since launch. In my personal opinion, it's WAY over hyped. Here's my opinion. Let's do the bad first:

 

1. The 'revolutionary' control scheme. Meh. It just doesn't work well for anything requiring much precision, (unless it's a FPS - and good ones are more scarce then hen's teeth). Many otherwise good games really suffer from the controls. They work fine for Wii sports, but not a whole lot else. I find the controls annoying most of the time, and unplayable at worst.

 

2. The Game Library. Ugh. Now, there are some great games for the Wii, but percentage wise, i have NEVER seen a console with so much garbage released for it. This thing has the worst game library I've ever seen. The trash to good ratio is seriously like 90% - 10%, and I'm being generous.

 

3. Graphics. Not so hot usually, and not because the system can't do nice graphics. This has become the console for companies to dump cheap, quick and dirty ports on, and it too often shows.

 

Now to the good:

 

1. The good games. While there are very few really outstanding titles for the system, there are some true gems. In many ways, it's a typical Nintendo system. There are some awesome Nintendo games, and a very few 3rd party gems.

 

2. Everyone owns one. It's cheap to develop for, and everyone has one, so *given time*, this system will end up like the PS2. In other words, lots of awesome 'niche' titles like RPGs, strategy games etc. It's already starting. Muramasa The Demon Blade, Phantom Brave, Okami etc. In time, there will be a flood of great indie/niche games that you will only be able to play here.

 

3. Backwards compatability. Play gamecube games!

 

4. Downloadable Retrogames. There are so many great games to download, i don't know where to start. It's a classic gamers dream console.

 

 

So, in short, the Wii is an over-hyped, system with iffy controls and a library full of shovelware that will, in time, become a repository of awesome indie games, and a classic gamers console. It ain't perfect, but in a couple of years, it will be the new PS2.

 

I think that Lord Thag hit the hammer on the nail. I love the Wii, for what GOOD games it does offer. The problem is that you have sift though a wall of sheer crap. The PLUS side is that it is getting more and more niche titles that dont suck and are in the $20 to $30 range. I have about 20 titles for the system. Metroid Prime Trilogy is the latest, which by the way is a good compliation. I plan on getting the Data East Collection, hopefully it will have some good games on it.

[16-bit]

Wii is by far my favorite of the generation of consoles, great simple gameplay,lots of fun,innovative controller. That's why it is the number 1 console!

 

I'm surprised. Given previous posts, I would have mistaken you for a Sony fanyboy.

 

 

I do enjoy the Wii on occasion, but mine mostly gathers dust. It's not that it's a bad system, but when it comes down to choosing what to play I usually go with the 360. Same goes for buying new games too, I always end up choosing a new game for 360 over getting anything for Wii. Though, I will pick up the occasional must have title later on when the prices go down. I do keep the system hooked up for the occasional game here and there. It's also good for parties too. Easy to pick up and play group games go over well when you have company. Then again, that is one of the main focal points of Wii, people playing together, and it does that extremely well.

[Tr3vor]

i dont care about whatever anyone says, Metroid Prime Trilogy is better than Halo.

people say the controlls suck, but they're Super smooth. i havnt played Halo since i got it

 

i say the wii is awesome.

[RevEng]

If you take the Wii down the homebrew/usb-loader route, its a fantastic value.

 

I have ~20 full Wii games I've transferred onto a usb external drive. Using a usb loader I no longer have to take care of those oh-so-scratchable discs. Just select the game from a friendly menu and play.

 

Off the same drive (different partition) I watch movies with mplayer. If I desired, I could also play DVDs with mplayer - the Wii is capable of playing DVDs, its just missing the software/licensing to do so.

 

Tons of emulators have been ported to the Wii. If you don't have the real console, playing an emulator with your TV and console controls is the next best thing.

[Lord Helmet]

I like the Wii. I've had it since launch. It's a fun system, but the library is limited. For every 5 Xbox 360 games I own, I have 1 Wii game. That said, the Wii games that I do own are absolutely great. Super Mario Galaxy is one of my favorite games of all time. The new Motion Plus controller is great for games like Tiger Woods 10.

 

I also hacked mine to run homebrew, which made it a ton more enjoyable. It runs all kinds of emulators off of the memory stick.

 

Bottom line. It's a really fun system, but there's no way in hell that it would be the only console of the current generation that I'd own. It's a secondary console to my 360.

[Video]

I've alwasy been a fan of Nintendo. That being said, I just neever could bring myself to purchase the Wii. It's not availability, their common as dirt, and it's not the games, there's a dozen or so titles I really want (mor than I can say for the PS3, which I'm actually a LOT closer to buying) It's actually the controller. I can see Wii sports, but little else. And I did get a DS (to which, I am mostly disappointed at the "shoehorn" prctice of making games use unnecessairy extra features) And honestly, I don't see the Wii being any different. It does use the GC controller, so technically, it should be able to access that and use it, but how many games do?

 

It's to bad to, I'd like to get one, but I don't have the space (or patience) for using some shit I gotta swing around to use. Maybe if I lived in a bigger place where I didn't have to worry about hitting the guy next to me to play baseball or something, it would be a different story...but untill that day...

[RevEng]

I'll agree that a lot of game have unnecessary motion controls tacked on, especially earlier titles when they were a novelty.

 

There are a lot of Wii titles that do it right too, including those that just use the wiimote+nunchuck combo just like a gamecube controller. (Only more comfortable)

 

Not all the games have you swinging like an idiot, and the ones that do have motions that are often easier to learn than "press Z and analog-thumbstick+down to do foo."

 

But to each his own. I also own a 360; each console has its own strong points and unique game styles.

[Lord Helmet]

I'll agree that a lot of game have unnecessary motion controls tacked on, especially earlier titles when they were a novelty.

 

There are a lot of Wii titles that do it right too, including those that just use the wiimote+nunchuck combo just like a gamecube controller. (Only more comfortable)

 

Not all the games have you swinging like an idiot, and the ones that do have motions that are often easier to learn than "press Z and analog-thumbstick+down to do foo."

 

 

The controls have only gotten better. I hate the ones with a tacked on feel, but the ones like SMG that don't feel that way are GREAT. Half of the point of the Wii is the non-traditional controls. I find it funny when people say something like "flailing my arms around like an idiot"...really? and idiot? Sounds like a personal problem if you feel like an idiot playing the Wii

[RevEng]

I find it funny when people say something like "flailing my arms around like an idiot"...really? and idiot? Sounds like a personal problem if you feel like an idiot playing the Wii

Mea culpa, though my tongue was firmly planted in my cheek. I enjoy the motion control games too.

[cimerians]

I like it, its hackable.

 

[jeremysart]

Cool, more feedback than I expected

If anyone has not yet played Mercury Meltdown Revolution on the Wii yet, I'd recommend renting it and playing, its super fun and addicting. Its got that classic gaming feel, simple yet challenging. It also has a great musical score.

[crombie]

I was extremely excited at Christmas two years ago when I finally got my Wii, but I have to admit that I have not found much compelling content on the system. The only two games I played through were Force Unleashed and Mad World. The Wii was my wife's compromise when compared to buying an XBox360. At first we had a bunch of fun going to a friends place (or having them over), and playing Wii Play or Wii Sports but after awhile that shine kind of wore off. I will probably try it again after Christmas, but my games backlog on the computer is huge and at this time more interesting than anything I have (or could buy) for the Wii.

[DaytonaUSA]

I bought my Wii at launch.. camped out for the thing in below freezing temperatures, and absolutely loved it in it's 1st and partway through 2nd year.

 

However, it's about this time that the good games from Nintendo kinda came to a slow trickle, and more emphasis on the Wii started to become more catered to the non gamer. Specifically titles like Wii Fit, Wii Music, ect... Not saying they're bad games, but well.. they aren't really games, and that's not why I bought a gaming console. That and 3rd party games that sold were ones that had no appeal to me. Since they sold, games that I thought entertaining became few and far between. Again, trust me.. I know all the good games for the system, and I've owned most of them (over 40), but I wanted new content to play and the Wii dropped the ball on that one.

 

The VC is a mixed bag. Sometimes you can find old and rare games for nothing, but most of the time common games are WAY more expensive than they should be.

 

It's sad because I was a BIG promoter of the Wii and fought against a lot of people who didn't have faith in the system, as I saw the potential in it's future. But the system changed it's course and me along with it. I just grew farther and farther apart from the thing, and I soon realized I was back to playing my Saturn every week instead of my Wii.

 

Games on the HD systems started catching my eye, and I started seeing games that seemed liked HD sequels of early games on the Wii (like Motorsport vs Excite Truck which was my favorite Wii game), or games I wish I could play that were either canceled or should have been made for the Wii. I ended up getting a 360, but it really wasn't for me. The Wifi adapter never worked up to workable speeds (went through 4 of them), and the hardware just felt junky. After owning an HDTV for a little less than a year, I decided I wanted to dive into Blu-Ray and the PS3's hardware seemed a lot nicer. I ended up biting the bullet and getting a Japanese white 40gb that I upgraded to a 500gb, and I've never been happier. Simply put the games are more up my ally (like the 360 as well, but withou Halo.. yay!), but the hardware is what I've come to expect from being a life time fan of Nintendo... solid, working, and well built. For a Sony system, I'm VERY pleased in it's build quality. The wifi works every time in such a great speed that sometimes I forget I'm online. The upgradeable hdd was up my alley (not the propriety ones of the 360), and the subtle motion control I liked in Wii games that didn't over use it, was present.

 

I think the only reason why most classic gamers like the Wii is for it's VC, but honestly, if you're a collector anyway, you should have the classic games you want so buying this console has little to offer, at least for me.

 

As someone who loves Sega Saturn games (arcade), early Wii games are great, but if you want new games to play, I'd recommend a PS3 this generation.

Edited September 18, 2009 by DaytonaUSA

[JamesD]

My problem with the Wii isn't that it sucks.

My problem with it is that it's just a revamped GameCube... what the GameCube should have been in the first place.

The gaming world has moved on now.

 

I'm house/dog sitting for a week for some friends and they have a Wii. I have a 360.

I brought the 360 and hooked it to their TV and hooked it to their WiFi network.

So far, with the 360 I've watch at least a dozen Netflix on demand movies, all last season's 'The Guild' episodes, played a DVD, played a Finger Eleven Concert I downloaded for free from XBOX live, ripped a new Parimore CD to the HD to listen to through their stereo (while the CD is back in my car), talked to a friend on XBOX Live, played 1 vs 100, hooked it to their HTPC over the network as a Media Center Extender to watch their ripped DVDs/play ripped CDs/watch TV recordings... and that is just what I did outside of gaming.

If I had brought more games I would be playing with some friends over XBOX live but for now I'm playing the rest of the way through a couple Tomb Raider games and Assasins Creed which have all sat unfinished for a few months because I was busy or just wanted to play something else for a while.

 

As for the Wii... I really don't notice a significant difference between the Wii and the GameCube. But then I'm not comparing them side by side.

The games that are most fun on the Wii are the ones you get a group together to play but I'm here by myself.

They have Rock Band but that's on the 360 as well. Their Wii Fit sits in the corner and I haven't seen them use it yet.

I tried playing Mario Galaxy with the Wiimote and I just think a regular joystick is just as good or better for this type of game.

For sword fights and stuff like that then it's pretty cool but it's just a controller and I'm sure you'll see add on motion control for the other systems. (ever see someone play Ravin Rabbits using the 360 camera? too funny)

My friends have an SDTV so HD graphics aren't as big a deal but I showed them a couple games and the image quality is definitely much better on the 360.

 

To be honest, there are a lot of things I like about the Wii and if the price drops to $100 I'll probably buy one. But it will be just another console that gets used once in a while, where my 360 gets used all the time. I'll probably also buy a PS3 slimline as well some day.

 

Keep in mind there are things about the 360 I don't like. Reliability... haven't had a RROD yet but I'm sure I'll get one sooner or later since I don't have one of the new chipsets in mine. XBOX live Gold is pricey and you have to pay to play online or to access Netflix. Hard drive upgrades are way to expensive.

Prices of downloadable games are a bit high. Why would I pay more for a download than I can buy the disk for locally?

They should have included HD-DVD or BluRay. Some of the Text is difficult to read on my friend's TV so SDTV support might bother some people, but I'd rather have that than big square pixels on my HDTV. I already get that with the PS2.

[JamesD]

And I forgot one of the best things about XBOX live... downloading game demos. Nothing like trying before you buy.

[Rev. Rob]

How does this thread belong in this forum?

[Tr3vor]

And I forgot one of the best things about XBOX live... downloading game demos. Nothing like trying before you buy.

you know thats wat play n trade is for, instead of playing those stupid, not-very-informational demos, try the real thing. i hate it when some makers make an awesome demo and then the game turns out to be crap.

[Lord Helmet]

And I forgot one of the best things about XBOX live... downloading game demos. Nothing like trying before you buy.

you know thats wat play n trade is for, instead of playing those stupid, not-very-informational demos, try the real thing. i hate it when some makers make an awesome demo and then the game turns out to be crap.

 

I've actually found most of the demos to be pretty much a good indicator of what the entire game is like. I'd much rather DL a demo from my couch than drive to the local game rental store any day.