Site reviews Wii launch titles...

Cygnus · 10-16-2006, 10:53 PM

http://duggmirror.com/gaming_news/Ha...Launch_Titles/
The Games
To begin, let us all say hello to the "Jaggies" of previous consoles. That’s right, while Nintendo claims the Wii is at least twice as powerful as the Gamecube, I was finding it hard to see the upgrade. Zelda didn't look like an upgrade at all. Until I become used to the lower level graphics, I found myself distracted from gameplay. Maybe it is because, at this point, I am used to 720p resolution from my Xbox 360 and 1200p from my PC. Either way, the look was jarring and a bit of a let down from what I had heard. In fact, showing the Wii on high definition displays only seemed to enhance the jagged lines on Zelda's Link character rather then increase viewing quality.

Once I adapted to the lower grade graphics, I began to see where the Wii truly shines; gameplay. Each and every game offered a new way to hold and utilize the Wiimote to control the action on screen. After testing all the games, I was able to see how the Wiimote was both a blessing and a nuisance. For instance, games that were created with the express interest of exploiting the Wiimote to its’ limits seemed to work flawlessly. Games like Wario Ware: Smooth Moves, Wii Sports and Elebits all felt natural and easy to control. On the other hand, games that seemed better fit for a controller, felt forced and awkward. Ported games like Madden, Marvel Ultimate Alliance or even first party games like Zelda had the most awkward gameplay experiences. Since I have always played Zelda and Madden with a controller, the Wiimote almost seemed unnatural. I assume this will only be worse for other games that need to be ported to the Wii and its Wiimote structure. Think about it this way, if developers are already worried about making games run well on three systems, how will they respond to creating new controller structures just to fit the Wii? There is definitely a lot of room for error that could leave many games too frustrating to play. If Nintendo can turn out enough niche games to keep consumers happy, this may not be a problem. On the other hand, if you were already a 360 owner would you honestly buy the Wii version of Call of Duty 3 over the 360 counterpart? At this point, I would say better graphics and a control scheme I can understand would make much more sense.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

i_9787
The demo offered two options to choose from: I could run through a level called the “Dungeon” or try my hand at fishing. As much as I love fishing (enter sarcasm here) I decided to attempt the Dungeon. As I stated earlier, the jaggies threw me for a loop when the game initially loaded, but I quickly got over visuals and pushed on to the gameplay aspect. The level started with a small tutorial from your ever present helper fairy, Midna. She teaches you the basics of the Wiimote by having you practice sword techniques on an inanimate scarecrow. You swipe the Wiimote in a slashing motion to activate the swords normal attack, but could also utilize the Nunchuk to perform a whirling attack by tilting it to the left and then right. Your shield could be used to “bump” enemies off you by thrusting the Wiimote forward in a stabbing motion. All this seemed pretty intuitive and I was able to continue with the quest fairly quickly.

At each point in the level, My helper Midna I was given clues to my next action. Dispatching enemies at a distance took the use of the bow and arrow. Midna told me to aim using Z and fire at my targets. This was where the Wiimote became tricky. You must point the controller at the sensor bar and not the TV and I found myself struggling to locate my center. Taller people gaming with a low sensor bar will make things much harder because you must turn your wrists down in order to get a center spot on the monitor. Compound this by a slow and unresponsive camera, and you'll spend more time losing arrows and taking hits than actually killing baddies. I tried to picture myself in an eight hour session marathon of Zelda (which is totally common for me and the franchise) using only the Wiimote. I cringed at the thought. Games like this need intense hours of hands on button mashing and sore thumbs - not risk of carpal tunnel. In fact, when I asked the Nintendo representative if I was able to switch to a classic controller over the Wiimote he said, “No, then again we recommend a game session of no longer then two to three hours.” Two to three hours!?! Do they even know how people play Zelda? Then I asked, “Well what if I want to use a normal controller to play the game?” We actually responded by saying, “You can always just buy the Gamecube version and use the old controllers.” Sure, I’m going to buy two versions of the game just so I can have my choice of controllers. Thanks Nintendo.

All the Wiimote issues aside, there is one thing that was certain, the game felt like Zelda. Everything from the atmosphere, enemies and the puzzles to solve put me right back into the classic Hyrule setting. Within minutes I was sucked in and ready to play for days. The demo used many different aspects of gameplay including iron boots, grappling hook, swordplay, bow & arrow and, of course, the boomerang. After solving some easy, yet ingenious puzzles, I battled my way into a dungeon full of baddies and the final fire boss which is seen in many Zelda screenshots. Again, the camera angles made it hard to maneuver around the boss and properly see where I was heading, but once I solved the puzzle to take him down it became much easier.

As for the fishing side of the demo, there really isn’t much to say. The Nintendo rep told me it was the single most important reason to get the Wii version, but I just couldn’t see it. After 20 minutes of rowing around blindly trying to catch one fish I finally gave up. In fact, I don’t think I saw one other person actually catch one. The Gamecube version does not have fishing but, in my opinion, you will be missing out on anything. In the end, Zelda is just what you want from the franchise in terms of content. While the Wii's remote may take some getting used to, it is still one of the main reasons to buy the console. The question will just be "what version of Zelda: Twilight Princes will you want?"

Wii Spots

Wii Sports was possibly the best game at the Wii party. The entire suite of games shows off just how perfect the Wiimote can be when programmed properly. Each sport was insanely easy to control and felt like each maneuver you performed had a different impact on the games response. Personally, I favored boxing and baseball. After a round of boxing with one of my colleagues, we didn’t want to play anything else. Using body movements, you were able to duck, move in, crouch down, move left, move right, jab and uppercut. If you saw your opponent throw a punch, you could easily back up from the sensor and let the fist blow on past you. Of course, you could also just fake the movements with your hands but that took the fun out of the experience. This same idea followed through every game in the Wii Sports package. Baseball allowed you to throw the ball faster the harder you moved your arm as well as tossing curve balls by holding down different buttons on the remote.

The only real down side for some hardcore sports gamers might be in its simplicity. These are not complex sports games that you'll find yourself playing for hours alone in your home; for the hardcore gamer this might be an issue. Instead, they're meant to be played with a group of friends in a party setting. They create a great physical/social aspect that online gaming has taken away in the past fifteen years. It brought me back to the days of 3AM Mario Cart tournaments in my dorm room.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance

Marvel Ultimate Alliance was the most disappointing display at the party. I’m sure this game would be perfect with a normal controller, but with the wiimote it was a disaster. You control one of four total Marvel characters at a time. The games camera is set over head in the arcade style hack n’ slashes most gamers love. You move through the game using the nunchuk and position the camera in the direction you want to go by tilting the nunchuk to the left or right. Then, with the other hand, you shake your wrists back and forth to perform different attacks depend on what character you control. The whole process felt like a random mess of meaningless movements and the end result isn’t spectacular enough to warrant all the exertion. It was more like a test to see if you can rub your tummy while patting yourself on the head at the same time. The movements mimic that of an actual arcade stick so much you'll be crying for one just to defeat the level in a timely manner. If that isn't enough, each character played almost completely alike. There were tiny differences between Spiderman, Wolverine and Captain America, but not enough to make any of it interesting and unique over a short span of time. After all, these are arcade style games and have always meant to be button mashers, not arm wigglers.

Excite Truck

This is a game the screams for online play! As it has been stated in other articles, to control the truck you hold the Wiimote with both hands like your tilting a seesaw. The axis is extremely sensitive but the controls are simple enough that it only takes a minute to get used to playing. You push A to give your truck gas and the D-Pad to use your boost. Along the tracks you will fine little items that, when picked up, will completely change the course for the drivers around you. If you touch an item, the ground below your truck may suddenly drop down and a mountainous jump forms ahead. This adds a great multiplayer aspect to the game which would be perfect for the online service. When I asked the rep if Excite Truck would come with online play he only responded with, “I don’t think so, but why not?” Um ok.

Elebits

Here is another game built strictly to show off the Wiimote. The player is set in first person view and utilizes a huge gravity gun laser to move stuff around the room similar to that of Half-Life 2's Gravity Gun. The object of the game is to uncover little creatures called Elebits which help charge your gun's voltage. The more voltage you have, the heavier the objects can be that you move with your gun. As you progress through the game, you move to other areas of the house to uncover more Elebits. Your goal is to see how far you can travel and how much voltage you can acquire. The game is built on simplicity and creates an arcade-like addiction that had us all trying to beat the high score. Once again, this game plays better with a social aspect where friends can go against each other to see who can get further and gain more voltage.

WarioWare: Smooth Moves

To put it simply, WarioWare: Smooth Moves is a blast. Much like Wii Sports, WarioWare is a collection of strange mini-games you try to defeat in the fastest amount a time. The game uses the Wiimote in almost every configuration possible while making you jump around the room like a madman. Before each round, you get a popup message explain how to use the Wiimote for the given level and then it begins. The faster you complete the task the better your score. The entire concept is silly and fun. After all, who doesn’t want to virtual hula hoop in their living room?

Madden NFL 07

Madden is the only games to freeze at the Wii party. For me, this kind of sets the tone for my experience. As I said early on in the article, ports just don’t seem to have a place on the Wii - Madden is no exception. While it was fun to throw passes using the Wiimote, it didn’t really help the mechanics of the game. The idea was more of a gimmick and contained few unique new features. Selecting your receiver and passing was easy enough but I found the tackles and interceptions hard to pull off. I asked about online play the rep told me he didn’t think it would have any. Now, I’m not sure this is true, but Madden without online play is like football without the pigskin. In the end, I think you will want to play Madden in its full resolution glory, if you are a "Wii60" owner anyway.

Tony Hawk: Downhill Jam

The controller set up is the same way as Excite Truck, but Tony Hawk: Downhill Jam lacks the charm of the first party title. While control was easy enough, the games graphics and art seemed repetitively bland and beige in almost every level of play. The game has an almost SSX Tricky-like style which won back some points for me, but I felt like I wanted more from this title. The good news is the reps said there are more then 100 levels to go though in the game so I may be proven wrong once I have more time with the game.

Trauma Center: Second Opinion

Trauma Center: Second Opinion is basically a remake of the, already, classic Trauma Center for the DS. Because of that, there isn’t much new to tell you about the game. In case you don’t own a DS and this game, it is played by using the Wiimote as if it were your scalpel. You spend your time performing different surgeries which become progressively harder. While this may seem boring to you, we found ourselves spending a large amount of time going over the same levels more than once. If you have played the original Trauma Center, you know that it can be addicting, and adding the wiimote to the situation only makes it better. I predict that many of us will be called home suddenly from work because we are “on call” and have a surgery to perform.

Jimmy Smith · 10-17-2006, 10:20 AM

In other words the Wii is a current gen console with a new controller. And now we find out that controller is a drawback in some cases. It amazes me that anyone is so dense as to actually pay $250 for one of these.

anythingwt · 10-17-2006, 10:59 AM

i'm sold.

jwebb1970 · 06-04-2008, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimmy Smith

In other words the Wii is a current gen console with a new controller. And now we find out that controller is a drawback in some cases. It amazes me that anyone is so dense as to actually pay $250 for one of these.

A year & a half later....are you still surprised, Jimmy?

THere are lots of DENSE folks out there.......nearly 2-1 over the other consoles combined. We must all be idiots, right?

alik · 06-04-2008, 07:39 PM

Necro ftw...

I wonder if the original reviewer was using component or composite cables: Switching made a noticeable difference on my new 50" plasma. I've only tried Zelda and Okami since I got the new cables yesterday, but both games are much sharper visually and the controls even seem to respond better. It's still no Xbox or PS3, but the Wii has its virtues; and the component cables make the graphics passable on a large display.

**kamspy** · 06-04-2008, 08:06 PM

I had component cables with mine. While Galaxy and Prime 3 looked respectable on the HDTV, Zelda on the other hand didn't exhibit a single texture or a straight line.

But it was fun as hell

Can you imagine if the Nintendo team made a Zelda game with the PS3 or 360 specs.....BLISS!!!

10-16-2006, 10:53 PM	#1
Cygnus The Bringer of Balance Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 6,766	Site reviews Wii launch titles... http://duggmirror.com/gaming_news/Ha...Launch_Titles/ The Games To begin, let us all say hello to the "Jaggies" of previous consoles. That’s right, while Nintendo claims the Wii is at least twice as powerful as the Gamecube, I was finding it hard to see the upgrade. Zelda didn't look like an upgrade at all. Until I become used to the lower level graphics, I found myself distracted from gameplay. Maybe it is because, at this point, I am used to 720p resolution from my Xbox 360 and 1200p from my PC. Either way, the look was jarring and a bit of a let down from what I had heard. In fact, showing the Wii on high definition displays only seemed to enhance the jagged lines on Zelda's Link character rather then increase viewing quality. Once I adapted to the lower grade graphics, I began to see where the Wii truly shines; gameplay. Each and every game offered a new way to hold and utilize the Wiimote to control the action on screen. After testing all the games, I was able to see how the Wiimote was both a blessing and a nuisance. For instance, games that were created with the express interest of exploiting the Wiimote to its’ limits seemed to work flawlessly. Games like Wario Ware: Smooth Moves, Wii Sports and Elebits all felt natural and easy to control. On the other hand, games that seemed better fit for a controller, felt forced and awkward. Ported games like Madden, Marvel Ultimate Alliance or even first party games like Zelda had the most awkward gameplay experiences. Since I have always played Zelda and Madden with a controller, the Wiimote almost seemed unnatural. I assume this will only be worse for other games that need to be ported to the Wii and its Wiimote structure. Think about it this way, if developers are already worried about making games run well on three systems, how will they respond to creating new controller structures just to fit the Wii? There is definitely a lot of room for error that could leave many games too frustrating to play. If Nintendo can turn out enough niche games to keep consumers happy, this may not be a problem. On the other hand, if you were already a 360 owner would you honestly buy the Wii version of Call of Duty 3 over the 360 counterpart? At this point, I would say better graphics and a control scheme I can understand would make much more sense. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess i_9787 The demo offered two options to choose from: I could run through a level called the “Dungeon” or try my hand at fishing. As much as I love fishing (enter sarcasm here) I decided to attempt the Dungeon. As I stated earlier, the jaggies threw me for a loop when the game initially loaded, but I quickly got over visuals and pushed on to the gameplay aspect. The level started with a small tutorial from your ever present helper fairy, Midna. She teaches you the basics of the Wiimote by having you practice sword techniques on an inanimate scarecrow. You swipe the Wiimote in a slashing motion to activate the swords normal attack, but could also utilize the Nunchuk to perform a whirling attack by tilting it to the left and then right. Your shield could be used to “bump” enemies off you by thrusting the Wiimote forward in a stabbing motion. All this seemed pretty intuitive and I was able to continue with the quest fairly quickly. At each point in the level, My helper Midna I was given clues to my next action. Dispatching enemies at a distance took the use of the bow and arrow. Midna told me to aim using Z and fire at my targets. This was where the Wiimote became tricky. You must point the controller at the sensor bar and not the TV and I found myself struggling to locate my center. Taller people gaming with a low sensor bar will make things much harder because you must turn your wrists down in order to get a center spot on the monitor. Compound this by a slow and unresponsive camera, and you'll spend more time losing arrows and taking hits than actually killing baddies. I tried to picture myself in an eight hour session marathon of Zelda (which is totally common for me and the franchise) using only the Wiimote. I cringed at the thought. Games like this need intense hours of hands on button mashing and sore thumbs - not risk of carpal tunnel. In fact, when I asked the Nintendo representative if I was able to switch to a classic controller over the Wiimote he said, “No, then again we recommend a game session of no longer then two to three hours.” Two to three hours!?! Do they even know how people play Zelda? Then I asked, “Well what if I want to use a normal controller to play the game?” We actually responded by saying, “You can always just buy the Gamecube version and use the old controllers.” Sure, I’m going to buy two versions of the game just so I can have my choice of controllers. Thanks Nintendo. All the Wiimote issues aside, there is one thing that was certain, the game felt like Zelda. Everything from the atmosphere, enemies and the puzzles to solve put me right back into the classic Hyrule setting. Within minutes I was sucked in and ready to play for days. The demo used many different aspects of gameplay including iron boots, grappling hook, swordplay, bow & arrow and, of course, the boomerang. After solving some easy, yet ingenious puzzles, I battled my way into a dungeon full of baddies and the final fire boss which is seen in many Zelda screenshots. Again, the camera angles made it hard to maneuver around the boss and properly see where I was heading, but once I solved the puzzle to take him down it became much easier. As for the fishing side of the demo, there really isn’t much to say. The Nintendo rep told me it was the single most important reason to get the Wii version, but I just couldn’t see it. After 20 minutes of rowing around blindly trying to catch one fish I finally gave up. In fact, I don’t think I saw one other person actually catch one. The Gamecube version does not have fishing but, in my opinion, you will be missing out on anything. In the end, Zelda is just what you want from the franchise in terms of content. While the Wii's remote may take some getting used to, it is still one of the main reasons to buy the console. The question will just be "what version of Zelda: Twilight Princes will you want?" Wii Spots Wii Sports was possibly the best game at the Wii party. The entire suite of games shows off just how perfect the Wiimote can be when programmed properly. Each sport was insanely easy to control and felt like each maneuver you performed had a different impact on the games response. Personally, I favored boxing and baseball. After a round of boxing with one of my colleagues, we didn’t want to play anything else. Using body movements, you were able to duck, move in, crouch down, move left, move right, jab and uppercut. If you saw your opponent throw a punch, you could easily back up from the sensor and let the fist blow on past you. Of course, you could also just fake the movements with your hands but that took the fun out of the experience. This same idea followed through every game in the Wii Sports package. Baseball allowed you to throw the ball faster the harder you moved your arm as well as tossing curve balls by holding down different buttons on the remote. The only real down side for some hardcore sports gamers might be in its simplicity. These are not complex sports games that you'll find yourself playing for hours alone in your home; for the hardcore gamer this might be an issue. Instead, they're meant to be played with a group of friends in a party setting. They create a great physical/social aspect that online gaming has taken away in the past fifteen years. It brought me back to the days of 3AM Mario Cart tournaments in my dorm room. Marvel Ultimate Alliance Marvel Ultimate Alliance was the most disappointing display at the party. I’m sure this game would be perfect with a normal controller, but with the wiimote it was a disaster. You control one of four total Marvel characters at a time. The games camera is set over head in the arcade style hack n’ slashes most gamers love. You move through the game using the nunchuk and position the camera in the direction you want to go by tilting the nunchuk to the left or right. Then, with the other hand, you shake your wrists back and forth to perform different attacks depend on what character you control. The whole process felt like a random mess of meaningless movements and the end result isn’t spectacular enough to warrant all the exertion. It was more like a test to see if you can rub your tummy while patting yourself on the head at the same time. The movements mimic that of an actual arcade stick so much you'll be crying for one just to defeat the level in a timely manner. If that isn't enough, each character played almost completely alike. There were tiny differences between Spiderman, Wolverine and Captain America, but not enough to make any of it interesting and unique over a short span of time. After all, these are arcade style games and have always meant to be button mashers, not arm wigglers. Excite Truck This is a game the screams for online play! As it has been stated in other articles, to control the truck you hold the Wiimote with both hands like your tilting a seesaw. The axis is extremely sensitive but the controls are simple enough that it only takes a minute to get used to playing. You push A to give your truck gas and the D-Pad to use your boost. Along the tracks you will fine little items that, when picked up, will completely change the course for the drivers around you. If you touch an item, the ground below your truck may suddenly drop down and a mountainous jump forms ahead. This adds a great multiplayer aspect to the game which would be perfect for the online service. When I asked the rep if Excite Truck would come with online play he only responded with, “I don’t think so, but why not?” Um ok. Elebits Here is another game built strictly to show off the Wiimote. The player is set in first person view and utilizes a huge gravity gun laser to move stuff around the room similar to that of Half-Life 2's Gravity Gun. The object of the game is to uncover little creatures called Elebits which help charge your gun's voltage. The more voltage you have, the heavier the objects can be that you move with your gun. As you progress through the game, you move to other areas of the house to uncover more Elebits. Your goal is to see how far you can travel and how much voltage you can acquire. The game is built on simplicity and creates an arcade-like addiction that had us all trying to beat the high score. Once again, this game plays better with a social aspect where friends can go against each other to see who can get further and gain more voltage. WarioWare: Smooth Moves To put it simply, WarioWare: Smooth Moves is a blast. Much like Wii Sports, WarioWare is a collection of strange mini-games you try to defeat in the fastest amount a time. The game uses the Wiimote in almost every configuration possible while making you jump around the room like a madman. Before each round, you get a popup message explain how to use the Wiimote for the given level and then it begins. The faster you complete the task the better your score. The entire concept is silly and fun. After all, who doesn’t want to virtual hula hoop in their living room? Madden NFL 07 Madden is the only games to freeze at the Wii party. For me, this kind of sets the tone for my experience. As I said early on in the article, ports just don’t seem to have a place on the Wii - Madden is no exception. While it was fun to throw passes using the Wiimote, it didn’t really help the mechanics of the game. The idea was more of a gimmick and contained few unique new features. Selecting your receiver and passing was easy enough but I found the tackles and interceptions hard to pull off. I asked about online play the rep told me he didn’t think it would have any. Now, I’m not sure this is true, but Madden without online play is like football without the pigskin. In the end, I think you will want to play Madden in its full resolution glory, if you are a "Wii60" owner anyway. Tony Hawk: Downhill Jam The controller set up is the same way as Excite Truck, but Tony Hawk: Downhill Jam lacks the charm of the first party title. While control was easy enough, the games graphics and art seemed repetitively bland and beige in almost every level of play. The game has an almost SSX Tricky-like style which won back some points for me, but I felt like I wanted more from this title. The good news is the reps said there are more then 100 levels to go though in the game so I may be proven wrong once I have more time with the game. Trauma Center: Second Opinion Trauma Center: Second Opinion is basically a remake of the, already, classic Trauma Center for the DS. Because of that, there isn’t much new to tell you about the game. In case you don’t own a DS and this game, it is played by using the Wiimote as if it were your scalpel. You spend your time performing different surgeries which become progressively harder. While this may seem boring to you, we found ourselves spending a large amount of time going over the same levels more than once. If you have played the original Trauma Center, you know that it can be addicting, and adding the wiimote to the situation only makes it better. I predict that many of us will be called home suddenly from work because we are “on call” and have a surgery to perform. __________________ Toshiba 57H81 Kenwood VR-616 Comcast DCT6412 III XBox 360 GamerTag Sec0nd2N0n3

10-17-2006, 10:20 AM	#2
Jimmy Smith 50>30 Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 2,998	In other words the Wii is a current gen console with a new controller. And now we find out that controller is a drawback in some cases. It amazes me that anyone is so dense as to actually pay $250 for one of these.

10-17-2006, 10:59 AM	#3
anythingwt free as a bird Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Scottsdale, AZ Posts: 4,405	i'm sold.

06-04-2008, 07:39 PM	#5
alik High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 31	Necro ftw... I wonder if the original reviewer was using component or composite cables: Switching made a noticeable difference on my new 50" plasma. I've only tried Zelda and Okami since I got the new cables yesterday, but both games are much sharper visually and the controls even seem to respond better. It's still no Xbox or PS3, but the Wii has its virtues; and the component cables make the graphics passable on a large display.

06-04-2008, 08:06 PM	#6
kamspy Esteban Moderatoro Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Cincinnati,OH Good Posts: 12 Posts: 12,874	I had component cables with mine. While Galaxy and Prime 3 looked respectable on the HDTV, Zelda on the other hand didn't exhibit a single texture or a straight line. But it was fun as hell Can you imagine if the Nintendo team made a Zelda game with the PS3 or 360 specs.....BLISS!!!