So i got a Wii last night.

Post by **Iccy** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 1:10 am

Yes folks, my first gaming console since a the N64. Ever since EQ brought me to MMO's and quake2 pulled me into online clan based fps, i just havent had a reason to buy a console. I could play all i wanted on PC. Well fps died ( quake3 was perfection and no one has touched it yet ) and MMO hung in, but lately i realize MMO is a waste of life. Sorry, but it is. A fun waste of life, but a soul sucking waste none the less.

Enter the consoles. Stood in line last night and got a Wii at midnight, one of 38. I got Zelda, Avatar and Excite truck and downloaded golden axe. So far Wii sports is the best of all of them, well the one i played the most. I dont think i have more then 10-20 min on the rest yet, but because Wii Sports was so fun.

So far the Wii is great and a little flat all at once. The online stuff is great, playing youtube through my 42" hdtv is nice, i can do it through my PC/s-vid, but this is a nice and clean interface. I definetly see potential for this console, but it needs work from what i see. I cant believe i cant play Wii sports with other Mii's. Unless im missing something Nintendo made a goof on that. I hope they update it soon cause playing offline is so... 80's/90's.

The Virutal Console is awesome, old games for 5-10 bucks a pop. 10 is a little pricey, but for the most part they are less then that and there was a few i saw on that there really brought back memories, which will really extend the life of this thing for me.

The games are nice. Zelda seems fun enough, feels just like it did on the n64 but with a pointer now. So for its not very interesting, but im still in the village. I got pissed after that chic wanted me to get her cat and the stupid thing wouldnt go across the bridge no matter what i did so i could herd it to her. Ill try that more later, but im sure ill enjoy it. Excite truck makes nice use of the controls and as out of control as it feels at times, its not that hard after a few races and is pretty fun. Avatar feels like Zelda. So figure ill stick with zelda for now. Wii sports as i said is my fav so far, the graphics are horrendous, but the game play of the boxing and bowling and tennis and even golf are great. I like the tennis the most and even will bounce around like im playing for real and work up a sweat. I dig that cause im getting in shape and if im breaking a sweat while playing a game, thats good news for me.

After getting my Wii last night i logged in a total of 7+ hours without even noticing. I couldnt believe it, cause 7 hours in WoW or EQ or Q3.... you notice it, you feel it. Im hurting. But on the Wii i dont feel it cause much of the time in standing and moving. I like that. My pop came over too and i got him into the bowling and boxing right away and he is like close to 60. Infact we went up to walmart to see if they had any left cause he wanted one to bring home and play with his wife ( not my mom ), i thought that was pretty awesome.

So over all, a good purchase i think. Im sure itll keep me busy for a while and seems to be a great piece to share with people. One thing i noticed about WoW and the games we play, when people come over or i go over to their house, someone is sitting and watching which is boring as fuck all. But with the Wii, i we can both play and have fun at a level that isnt dealing a crushing defeat to someone. Its no fun for the other person if you can lay the smack down on the with ease. This seems to let anyone jump right in and have a shot at keeping up. Dont know if thats a bottle neck on skills yet or great design for the UI. So far the latter seems true.

One thing is for sure though, this console hasnt full done if for me. Im getting a x-box when the next version comes out. I love my racing games ive come to realize and i do love the pretty graphics. So together with a Wii and a X-Box i think ill be set for a few years.

Now all i need is a new DS Lite in black and im set

Post by **stocktroll** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 1:13 am

its just a gamecube in a new case with a lame motion wand...

Post by **Iccy** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 1:21 am

The sounds like rhetoric.

Care to elaborate?

Post by **AmIdYfReAk** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 1:28 am

i Enjoyed it, when i get my hometeater setup, i think i will be getting one as well

Post by **+JuggerNaut+** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 1:31 am

gonna be a blast when you get to see those graphics through a FP on an almost 100" screen huh!

Post by **AmIdYfReAk** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 1:36 am

You know it, and there is no allmost... its 120"

i just hope it wont boil down to me having to make my own VGA connector..

Post by **booker** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 1:42 am

funny, i got a Wii this Friday

Post by **+JuggerNaut+** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 1:46 am

AmIdYfReAk wrote:You know it, and there is no allmost... its 120"

i just hope it wont boil down to me having to make my own VGA connector..

lol, that's gonna look crap

Post by **tnf** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 1:52 am

It's something different. I'd like one to add to the gaming setup I have already.

Post by **Iccy** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 2:04 am

im on the wii right no. the opera interface is pretty slick. now we need this for the ds.

wtf nintendo. the wii and ds are solid platforms but they are under utilizing them.us

Post by **Iccy** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 2:09 am

weird cant submit edit 4 typos. i hear ff works on hear. i wonder if its better

Post by **puffalufagus** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 2:14 am

u need to get wariowares smooth moves...

so does anyone know if u can access the sdram in the wii from ur pc over the wireless?...

Post by **booker** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 2:21 am

puffalufagus wrote:so does anyone know if u can access the sdram in the wii from ur pc over the wireless?...

nope

Post by **Iccy** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 2:24 am

serious?

the box was pink, i thought it might be ultra kiddy. was thinking tony hawk next actually .

Post by **R00k** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 4:33 am

WarioWare is a little too simplistic for my tastes.

You will have to play Zelda for a couple hours before it gets fun -- and from that point out it only gets better. Zelda:TP has some of the coolest weapons/items of any of the series, and gameplay with the remote combo only makes them that much more fun.

The game you need to get is Rayman - Raving Rabbids. It's funny and fun, and one of the games in it is a lot like Guitar Hero, except you play by beating the remote and nunchuck like drumsticks.

Post by **MKJ** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 9:13 am

stocktroll wrote:its just a gamecube in a new case with a lame motion wand...

actually, i was thinking about this the other day.
sure, we all agree that new games dont have to be pushing the envelope every single time, but in case of the wii, couldnt there just be a wiimote peripheral for the Cube and youd be doing the same thing?
That is, why would one, technically, need a whole new console for what it does?

Post by **Eraser** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 9:18 am

MKJ wrote:
stocktroll wrote:its just a gamecube in a new case with a lame motion wand...
actually, i was thinking about this the other day.
sure, we all agree that new games dont have to be pushing the envelope every single time, but in case of the wii, couldnt there just be a wiimote peripheral for the Cube and youd be doing the same thing?
That is, why would one, technically, need a whole new console for what it does?

There's quite a bit of new technology in the Wii itself as well.

Bluetooth for the controllers
WiFi for Internet and DS connectivity
WiiConnect24. Okay, okay, a stand-by mode, but still a significant Internet feature.
Virtual Console
Far more storage capacity on the discs
It features Mii's
Support for SD cards to be loaded into it
And last, but not least, it actually does have a significantly more powerful GPU than the GameCube.

Sure, it might be possible to create a Wiimote peripheral for the Gamecube, but the Wii offers far more than just that. Also, it's clear why Nintendo creates a whole new console. The GameCube is tarnished with a certain image. Starting over with a clean sheet is a far better way to introduce their new approach to gaming than to refurbish the old.

Post by **MKJ** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 9:26 am

well, what if i dont have the ability to connect my wii to the intardnet.
bluetooth is all fun n games but didnt the wavebird do the same. sure its not bluetooth but it works so who cares what tech is used.
virtual console, much like XBLA, is again something the Cube could be doing as well. Maybe not through the net, but let's still take into consideration that I can't connect my wii for whatever reason. Im sure that, much like XBLA does, they will be selling a collection disc somewhere in the future.

DS connectivity will prolly be as useful as the GBA/Cube connectivity. read: its never used

Post by **MKJ** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 9:26 am

fuck you and your edits :@

Post by **Eraser** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 9:35 am

Heh

As for the tech, it's pretty hard to put all that internet connectivity stuff right there into the GameCube. And yeah, if you can't connect to the Internet then those Internet features are useless, but that's not the point. If I didn't have a TV the XBox360 would be just as useless to me eh

On a more serious note. The same can be said about HD gaming when one doesn't have a HD TV (such as me).

Post by **MKJ** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 9:37 am

true. however, HD output isnt the only USP for the 360, and without an intardnedconnection, the 360 is just as usuable (cept for online mp, obviously). everything thats downloadable on Live is also available through either magazinedemodiscs, retail collections or even through xbox.com (so you can burn a disc at a friends house)

Post by **MKJ** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 9:38 am

im not really trying to downplay the Wii btw. im just expressing my own concerns regarding the thing, since I have a cube and only use it once in a blue moon for either Resident Evil or Rogue Leader. I have more games and none of them interest me.

Post by **Chupacabra** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 10:24 am

That's cool if youre into the Wii and enjoy it. If youre having fun with it, hey, more power to you. But for me, I just can't stand the Wii. I find a lot of issues with the system.

One thing that I bugs me to no end is that the controls seem incredibly sloppy. Granted I haven't played every Wii game, but to use the game thats really turning heads, Wii Sports, as an example--there are huge problems with the lack of 1:1 control schemes.

You would expect that what you do with the controller translates to what's going on screen. That is after all, the basic premise of the controller to begin with. I'm not anal, I understand that its not going to be perfect. And I also understand why Nintendo allows you to do certain flicks instead of a huge swing in games like Tennis.

That being said, I just don't seen enough 1:1 controlling. In baseball for example, I tried to pitch side-armed. What happened? The on-screen pitcher pitched a normal pitch. Its not like the game couldn't have animated that motion. I wasn't trying anything totally crazy. I wasn't attempting to pitch the ball by acting like the Wii remote is a broom or anything. I did a legitimate pitch, and you have to wonder, why isn't it translated on screen?

This lack of flexibility is pretty disappointing.

Golf is another nuisance. I know some pretty good golfers. When they swung the Wii Remote like a golf club, exactly as they should, it translated horribly on screen and the shot went wild. Again, I understand that the game caters to old people, grannies, etc. who don't play golf. I understand why they allow flicks or slight movements, but seriously, why penalize someone for doing the right motion?

I felt the same way about tennis. I've played real tennis for a long time. It wasn't terribly frustrating that I couldn't put much spin on my shots. So the game isn't deep enough to incorporate that mechanic into the game. That's cool with me. But what was frustrating was that from time to time, when I didn't mean to put any spin on the ball, the ball would have spin. It was erratic, and very annoying. I know how to hit the ball very well in real life, why am I being penalized by doing what I'm suppose to be doing? Its horribly sloppy.

Moving onto another game, I also spent quite some time playing Madden for the Wii. Here too I was quite disappointed. While I would not say that I'm a good quarterback or even a decent one, I know how to throw a football. But of course, doing a real throwing motion, or even something close to it in the game hinders you. Instead, to throw the ball, you hold the controller straight up and just do a little flick. Its not fun. Its not a very immersive experience.

I don't get the system. You sacrifice all these possible button schemes to create an "immersive and interactive" experience, but all you get is an incredibly undetailed, sloppy scheme.

One of the most obnoxious parts of playing Zelda: Twilight Princess on the Wii deals with how sloppy the controls are. Here too, the sword swinging is not 1:1 with on screen action. There a numerous flying bats in the game and if you swing vertically to attack them, Link just swings how he normally swings--which is a horizontal motion. I can't remember the exact details, but what happens if you swing three times (in any direction)? Your dude does a preset combo where the character swings horizontally twice, and then vertically once. And finally the bat is dead. This design resulted in a lot of hearts lost. In fact, fighting near the beginning feels a bit more challenging than before. Is it because hey man, swinging a sword in real life is tough? No. Its more challenging because the game doesn't properly capture or translate your motions. Atleast as it is with other systems, what I press and what I want is what I get.

Another huge problem I have with the controller is the lack of precision. I enjoy games like Ikaruga and Quake and Street Fighter and Starcraft. These are games where refinement and timing matter a whole hell of a lot. The controller simply put is just not precise enough for these types of games. You won't ever get a real hardcore shooter like Ikaruga on the system. I also sense a fair bit of lag from the controller. Response times didn't feel fast enough IMO.

For FPS games, I'm certain that most everyone here, being a disciple of Quake does not appreciate auto-aim. For some console FPS games, sure a little is understandable, but the Wii controller is going to need a whole hell of a lot. Either that or forget about hardcore sniping. Even in the system menu options, your cursor just flutters about. The lack of refinement is alarming. I really do wonder if its a significant problem. The demo builds of Red Steel had you inputting a certain motion, letting you complete it only to then begin the motion on screen. I dont even want to play the production version of that given the horrible reviews.

I just think overall the controls are sloppy as hell. From what I've been reading a lot of 3rd party developers aren't doing it very well either. From impressions I've read, the new Sonic game has shitty controls. And given that I didn't like the controls for some of the biggest games (Wii Sports (spotlight game), Madden and Zelda) I'm not sure how much of an improvement we'll see.

Anyway, thats what I think. Again, if you like the system and are having fun with it, that's cool. It's just incredibly overblown and overhyped IMO. Perhaps I'm not the target audience and its something for the whole family or something. But if you're looking for any sort of realistic playing experience with a solid, precise, fundamental design, don't look here IMO.

Also, fortunately atleast one other person agrees with me. This is what a writer for Popular Science had to say: http://www.slate.com/id/2154157

edit: oops, sorry thats a big long.

Post by **Iccy** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 10:25 am

wwi with no inet seems just as usable as a xbox with no inet or hdtv. besides how can you not get a wii online ? its wifi is built in and supports wpa. i mean if you can afford a cheap wifi router and broadband , can you afford a xbox or a wii to begin with ?

Post by **MKJ** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 10:30 am

maybe broadband isnt available in my area. maybe i dont have a wifi modem. maybe theres a lot of interference in my house. there are dozens of reasons why one wouldnt have a broadband connection. moreso in technology-deprived families the whole wii is geared to.