Thursday, May 11, 2006
Wii!
After all the secrets and hype, after all the hoops they made us jump through, I finally got to play the Wii last night. To answer the question I posed in my post from yesterday, Nintendo is able to get away with some questionable treatment of the media because they make the best games around. The Wii truly is a revolution in gaming. It is just about everything Nintendo has been promising. Aside from conservative, hardcore gamers who are so accustomed to current games they could not possibly move on to something different (think how reluctant computer first person shooter players are to try Halo), I cannot think of a single demographic that will not embrace this system. And, no, Michael J. Fox is not a demographic I am willing to recognize.
I started my write-up just talking about the various games I got to play yesterday and how controls actually work, but it just felt so boring compared to the actual experience. This is unlike anything else out there. Revolution may have been a bad name for the system, but this truly is a revolution in gaming. I cannot imagine a scenario in which Sony, MS and whoever else decides to enter the video game competition, do not rip-off this idea. It does not work as well for every genre, and no game there was flawless, but the potential for the Wii is unfathomable.
Take Wii Sports, for instance, Have you ever had one of those game naysayers make fun of a sports title? "Why don't you just go outside and play football?" they may sarcastically ask. Well, this will certain change that image. I played Nick in a match and, other than being indoors and having stray tennis balls automatically returned to us, it actually feels like real tennis. We even moved our legs around even though the motion sensing controller was clearly in our arms. The graphics may be N64 quality, but the immersiveness was so strong that it didn't even feel like we were playing a game. The controller jerks back when you make contact, you can feel less pressure when hitting a backhand, and any time you miss the ball it is clearly your fault. You'll hit even inaccurately if you swing too early or late (like real tennis!). Video sports are no longer for the lazy; they are just for people with acrophobia.
Wario Ware was probably the most entertaining game there, though. Anyone who has played one of the previous entries in the series is probably giddy thinking about what the Wii will offer. It's even better than I thought. You have to hold the Wiimote to your hips to do the hula, you have to put the controller on your head to do squats, and you have to pump your arms to win a race. It feels so natural and it is so ridiculously fun. Either this or Wii: Sports has to be packed in with the system.
Other than that, the games were kind of what you'd expect except with all new controls. Mario can spin if you shake the Wiimote, you can parry sword attack in Red Steel by shaking the nunchuck, speed up your airplane by pushing the controller towards the screen and even whip a horse if you're feeling nasty. Everything was incredibly easy to pick up and play with and, most importantly, quite fun as well. Elebits, for instance, is just an elaborate game of hide and seek. Think bashful Pikmin mixed with Half Life 2. You go through a house with a gravity gun and interact with every object you see. Grab onto the fridge and move it from the wall: there's some Elebits hiding there! Pick up the fridge and shake it around and watch even more spill out. It seems kind of like a tech demo (I'm not sure how you turn hide and go seek into a full game) but it was incredibly cute and fun as well. Good job Konami.
In summation, I will definitely be buying a Wii come launch. I want to show my mom this thing, someone who only plays PC games because consoles scare her. I want to show it to my sister, who thinks games are for kids. I want Bethany to be able to play me in tennis in the comfort of our homes. I want everyone to get their hands on it for five minutes. Playing truly is believing.
One more quick note - I love the Wii but my game of the show, at least thus far, has to go to a different source completely. Electronic Arts showed a closed-door demo of their new franchise Army of Two and I was blown away. It's not a slow-paced, snooze fest like other army games either. It's a strategic, though action oriented shooter with a partner. You can play with a buddy or have the computer controller your merciless teammate. The AI is the best I've seen so far. He'll complain, get pissed if you make a mistake, or even yell at you if you "accidentally" hurt him. It looks absolutely fantastic and I cannot wait to get my hands on it. I'm glad I stopped boycotting EA. With this, Spore and Madden Wii coming out I will have to start buying some EA games. I didn't even mention Project Grey or Superman. Keep it up EA. For the love of God, keep it up.
I started my write-up just talking about the various games I got to play yesterday and how controls actually work, but it just felt so boring compared to the actual experience. This is unlike anything else out there. Revolution may have been a bad name for the system, but this truly is a revolution in gaming. I cannot imagine a scenario in which Sony, MS and whoever else decides to enter the video game competition, do not rip-off this idea. It does not work as well for every genre, and no game there was flawless, but the potential for the Wii is unfathomable.
Take Wii Sports, for instance, Have you ever had one of those game naysayers make fun of a sports title? "Why don't you just go outside and play football?" they may sarcastically ask. Well, this will certain change that image. I played Nick in a match and, other than being indoors and having stray tennis balls automatically returned to us, it actually feels like real tennis. We even moved our legs around even though the motion sensing controller was clearly in our arms. The graphics may be N64 quality, but the immersiveness was so strong that it didn't even feel like we were playing a game. The controller jerks back when you make contact, you can feel less pressure when hitting a backhand, and any time you miss the ball it is clearly your fault. You'll hit even inaccurately if you swing too early or late (like real tennis!). Video sports are no longer for the lazy; they are just for people with acrophobia.
Wario Ware was probably the most entertaining game there, though. Anyone who has played one of the previous entries in the series is probably giddy thinking about what the Wii will offer. It's even better than I thought. You have to hold the Wiimote to your hips to do the hula, you have to put the controller on your head to do squats, and you have to pump your arms to win a race. It feels so natural and it is so ridiculously fun. Either this or Wii: Sports has to be packed in with the system.
Other than that, the games were kind of what you'd expect except with all new controls. Mario can spin if you shake the Wiimote, you can parry sword attack in Red Steel by shaking the nunchuck, speed up your airplane by pushing the controller towards the screen and even whip a horse if you're feeling nasty. Everything was incredibly easy to pick up and play with and, most importantly, quite fun as well. Elebits, for instance, is just an elaborate game of hide and seek. Think bashful Pikmin mixed with Half Life 2. You go through a house with a gravity gun and interact with every object you see. Grab onto the fridge and move it from the wall: there's some Elebits hiding there! Pick up the fridge and shake it around and watch even more spill out. It seems kind of like a tech demo (I'm not sure how you turn hide and go seek into a full game) but it was incredibly cute and fun as well. Good job Konami.
In summation, I will definitely be buying a Wii come launch. I want to show my mom this thing, someone who only plays PC games because consoles scare her. I want to show it to my sister, who thinks games are for kids. I want Bethany to be able to play me in tennis in the comfort of our homes. I want everyone to get their hands on it for five minutes. Playing truly is believing.
One more quick note - I love the Wii but my game of the show, at least thus far, has to go to a different source completely. Electronic Arts showed a closed-door demo of their new franchise Army of Two and I was blown away. It's not a slow-paced, snooze fest like other army games either. It's a strategic, though action oriented shooter with a partner. You can play with a buddy or have the computer controller your merciless teammate. The AI is the best I've seen so far. He'll complain, get pissed if you make a mistake, or even yell at you if you "accidentally" hurt him. It looks absolutely fantastic and I cannot wait to get my hands on it. I'm glad I stopped boycotting EA. With this, Spore and Madden Wii coming out I will have to start buying some EA games. I didn't even mention Project Grey or Superman. Keep it up EA. For the love of God, keep it up.
// posted by Tom @ 1:06 PM 
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