Living Up to Hype: Nintendo Wii First Impressions
Posted on
Monday, November 20, 2006
by Gary A. Ballard
There's that feeling you get when you've looked forward to something for months on months only to be disappointed, when the expectations for something's greatness have reached such heights that reality could not possibly match them, that feeling of despair and disgust that MMOG players know all too well. Console launches are situations almost guaranteed to produce such feelings of unmet hype. So it was with this trepidation that I approached my purchase of Nintendo's Wii on Sunday. I'm happy to say that I experienced no such feelings of regret with my Wii.
The Wii is all about hope for the future in my mind. While I love my X-Box and my PC, the games on them have reached a bit of a cul-de-sac in design. The control schemes for both console and computer video games have been set in barely malleable stone for years now, ever since the success of the Playstation 2's Dual-Shock controllers. Consoles in particular suffer from control scheme issues; after all, there's only so many buttons that can be comfortably manipulated on a 6-inch piece of plastic and analog sticks are hardly precise. Certain genres such as shooters suffered from, in my opinion, unworkable controls unless one was raised on analog stick aiming. Computers suffered from similar problems, in that a keyboard is not well-suited as a gaming device. It's workable, but most games end up using a fraction of the keys and games with mouse controls can use even less as the player will be using only one hand on the keyboard. The Wii's motion-sensitive controls are a completely fresh approach to playing games, tailor made for aiming like a gun, navigating menus like a mouse and generally upping the immersion angle of games. But that applies only if the motion controls work and work well.
They do.
The first thing that struck me about the Wii is how tiny the system is. Standing vertically, it's about as thick as 2-3 DVD cases and about as deep as a hardcover book. It's can fit just about anywhere you need it to. The sensor bar is tiny, able to be stowed almost invisibly wherever it needs to go. The controllers are similarly smaller than I expected, but not so small that they are uncomfortable. I have large hands, but the controllers feel just about right for me as well as for my wife's smaller hands. They just fit. The only complaint about the controller is the nunchuk's trigger placement makes it uncomfortable to put a finger on each trigger (it has two) but I'm not sure I'll ever need to. They are close enough together to depress both with one finger or switch between them. Even more surprising is how sturdy the controllers feel, despite their petiteness. They don't feel like cheap pieces of plastic, but solidly constructed tools. Short of tossing them against the wall, I believe they will last through heavy usage. The only large part of the system is its power supply, about the size of a small brick.
The motion control works almost flawlessly. Though it doesn't have a huge cone of detection, it is still quite passable. My best results came from standing or sitting directly in front of the television, and the system worked within about a 45-degree arc in front of the system, with the manual claiming optimal performance from 3-8 feet. The cursor was precise. The largest hurdle to the control scheme is training yourself to be more precise with movements. I found that often I'd be squeezing the buttons too hard, causing the cursor to jump a bit, until I got used to it. I'll have to test this with more applications such as shooters to see how much of a problem it will be, but I don't anticipate it hurting the game experience.
The system comes with Wii Sports, which has Mii-flavored party-game style versions of Tennis, Baseball, Bowling, Golf and Boxing. While no one will mistake these games for full-fledged simulations of their respective sports, they will find them to be very fun diversions, especially when played in groups. They can also be a damn good workout, and it appears Nintendo anticipated this. The game contains a "Fitness Mode" which puts you through your paces on all five games, making for a fine aerobic workout. While it might not replace the gym, it's certainly more exercise than the average game session with any other type of controller. Wii Sports also serves as an excellent tutorial on using the motion controls. My personal favorite of the five turned out to be the boxing, which is eerily reminiscent of the old NES classic Punchout. It's the only one to use both the Wiimote and the Wiichuk, and is probably the most active game of the five. You'll find yourself punching away like a madman, having to reign in your movements a bit to keep from tossing wild punches everywhere.
The only other game I have so far is the Zelda game, which I'll be reporting on in a first impressions article as time permits. I've got at least 2 other Wii games on the way from Gameznflix, my net DVD/Games rental place, Call of Duty 3 and Red Steel. I'll be reporting first impressions on those as well. I can say my initial reaction to Zelda is that all the hype if justified for both the game and the system.
Forget the hi-def shiny million-billion pixel shader photorealistic selling point of the other two consoles. Forget waiting in line for a $600 system you're more likely to get shot over than actually find in stock. If you must wait in line, go wait in the Wii line. Chances are, you'll get one before Christmas, and more importantly, you'll find the carefree giggly fun of the original Atari 2600 (or the NES for you young whippersnappers out there). The motion control lives up to the hype. Now the developers need to capitalize and blitz the hell out of the market with quality games.
The Wii is all about hope for the future in my mind. While I love my X-Box and my PC, the games on them have reached a bit of a cul-de-sac in design. The control schemes for both console and computer video games have been set in barely malleable stone for years now, ever since the success of the Playstation 2's Dual-Shock controllers. Consoles in particular suffer from control scheme issues; after all, there's only so many buttons that can be comfortably manipulated on a 6-inch piece of plastic and analog sticks are hardly precise. Certain genres such as shooters suffered from, in my opinion, unworkable controls unless one was raised on analog stick aiming. Computers suffered from similar problems, in that a keyboard is not well-suited as a gaming device. It's workable, but most games end up using a fraction of the keys and games with mouse controls can use even less as the player will be using only one hand on the keyboard. The Wii's motion-sensitive controls are a completely fresh approach to playing games, tailor made for aiming like a gun, navigating menus like a mouse and generally upping the immersion angle of games. But that applies only if the motion controls work and work well.
They do.
The first thing that struck me about the Wii is how tiny the system is. Standing vertically, it's about as thick as 2-3 DVD cases and about as deep as a hardcover book. It's can fit just about anywhere you need it to. The sensor bar is tiny, able to be stowed almost invisibly wherever it needs to go. The controllers are similarly smaller than I expected, but not so small that they are uncomfortable. I have large hands, but the controllers feel just about right for me as well as for my wife's smaller hands. They just fit. The only complaint about the controller is the nunchuk's trigger placement makes it uncomfortable to put a finger on each trigger (it has two) but I'm not sure I'll ever need to. They are close enough together to depress both with one finger or switch between them. Even more surprising is how sturdy the controllers feel, despite their petiteness. They don't feel like cheap pieces of plastic, but solidly constructed tools. Short of tossing them against the wall, I believe they will last through heavy usage. The only large part of the system is its power supply, about the size of a small brick.
The motion control works almost flawlessly. Though it doesn't have a huge cone of detection, it is still quite passable. My best results came from standing or sitting directly in front of the television, and the system worked within about a 45-degree arc in front of the system, with the manual claiming optimal performance from 3-8 feet. The cursor was precise. The largest hurdle to the control scheme is training yourself to be more precise with movements. I found that often I'd be squeezing the buttons too hard, causing the cursor to jump a bit, until I got used to it. I'll have to test this with more applications such as shooters to see how much of a problem it will be, but I don't anticipate it hurting the game experience.
The system comes with Wii Sports, which has Mii-flavored party-game style versions of Tennis, Baseball, Bowling, Golf and Boxing. While no one will mistake these games for full-fledged simulations of their respective sports, they will find them to be very fun diversions, especially when played in groups. They can also be a damn good workout, and it appears Nintendo anticipated this. The game contains a "Fitness Mode" which puts you through your paces on all five games, making for a fine aerobic workout. While it might not replace the gym, it's certainly more exercise than the average game session with any other type of controller. Wii Sports also serves as an excellent tutorial on using the motion controls. My personal favorite of the five turned out to be the boxing, which is eerily reminiscent of the old NES classic Punchout. It's the only one to use both the Wiimote and the Wiichuk, and is probably the most active game of the five. You'll find yourself punching away like a madman, having to reign in your movements a bit to keep from tossing wild punches everywhere.
The only other game I have so far is the Zelda game, which I'll be reporting on in a first impressions article as time permits. I've got at least 2 other Wii games on the way from Gameznflix, my net DVD/Games rental place, Call of Duty 3 and Red Steel. I'll be reporting first impressions on those as well. I can say my initial reaction to Zelda is that all the hype if justified for both the game and the system.
Forget the hi-def shiny million-billion pixel shader photorealistic selling point of the other two consoles. Forget waiting in line for a $600 system you're more likely to get shot over than actually find in stock. If you must wait in line, go wait in the Wii line. Chances are, you'll get one before Christmas, and more importantly, you'll find the carefree giggly fun of the original Atari 2600 (or the NES for you young whippersnappers out there). The motion control lives up to the hype. Now the developers need to capitalize and blitz the hell out of the market with quality games.
Labels: Video Games, Wii, Zelda
posted by Gary A. Ballard @ 9:04 AM
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