Wii impression thread

Got mine yesterday. First thing is, the cursor is responsive... almost like using a wireless pointer/mouse. I can see how the Wiimote will make web browsing on a console actually usable. I had some jittery cursor movements at first, until I adjusted the sensitivity.

Wiisports bundle is a brilliant idea. Played a couple of hours with family and still haven't opened Zelda TP yet. Wiisports is just a whole lot of fun with people. The games are simple, but I'm sure developers will be producing more complex sports games for the true hardcore later.

Even with the simple sports games, there are nuances. Like you can control the ball in tennis... with topspin, slice, and aim your shots through timing, just like the real thing. The wiimote is not just a gimmick, it's a great idea and is well executed. Nintendo has a winner on their hands.

Congrats ! Just as I expect it to be. Besides hopping between links, Wiimote will also make on-screen typing easier !

I saw the trailers on the official Wii site. Wiisports does look fun.
 
grumble grumble
Didn't people say the same sort of things about DS? I think you place too much faith on your opinions being representative of the masses at large. I don't like Big Brother (the TV show) and can't understand how anyone could - but that doesn't stop millions of people being interested in. I dare say that where you don't see any positives in Wii as you compare it in tech to XB360 and PS3, lots of other people will view it as a product in it's own right and be happy to buy into it.
 
Most people drawn to this board are probably looking for the best performance per price when buying electronics and computers. For the longest time, this is how the computer industry has survived. It is what made AMD profitable in the face of Intel. Apple has bucked this trend for a long time using the idea of value add, where they can put the components of the computers/MP3 players together in a manner to ask for a higher margin.

When your competitors are subsidizing much higher powered hardware it is difficult to compete on the spec front. By integrating an innovative new user interface (the Wiimote, iPod's click-wheel) you can add value to your product and not have to sell it at bargain prices to remain competitive.
 
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Could everyone please stop quoting / feeding the trolls. Thank you.

On an entirely unrelated matter, this thread has been quite a boon to my ignore list... ;)
 
I've been as lenient as possible regarding some posts in here. However, everyone posting as of now in here should think twice how he's in fact voicing his opinion. Controversial One-liners without fleshed-out arguments or trollish posts will be dealt with accordingly.
 
ok fine, we need to be PC and not hurt anyones feelings....

my impression of the Wii is that it is an expensive tweaked Gamecube with a not-so-revolutionary motion sensitive controller that will fade over time, there was not alot of R&D required to develop the Wii other than the remote IMO, they simply found a way to capitalize off of old tech, put it in a nice "I-Pod'ish" looking case and give it a new name

everyone wants to cite the DS.....personally, i dont know anyone that owns a DS, so i can only speak of my experiences

i just think Nintendo is making a last ditch effort to make some money off of what is mostly old tech that has already earned them royalties-a-plenty for years before they sell out or get out of the console business altogether

i dont think Nintendo has what it takes to stay afloat in the console wars and that is why they said they "arent trying to compete with M$ and Sony"

sure, alot of people like to play the really old "games of lore", but i know i dont, i have tried going back in time to play alot of the classics downloadable through XBL and have also tried hooking up my old PS1 to play some of the games i used to love, and every time i do, i remember why i bought a 360.....because it is so much better in many ways, it is painful to look at those old graphics and lousy gameplay

i can honestly say i enjoy a good hour of Gears of War or PGR3 on my 360 way more than i enjoy playing the same old remixed again....

when someone tries to market a console as Next Gen, i sit back and say, okay, what does your console have to offer?

i love new technologies, but i just cant find it in the Wii.....

can it support my HDTV resolutions? no

does it have impressive graphics AND gameplay? no

can it play my DVD's let alone HD-DVD's? no

can i stream media to it via PC? no (last time i checked it cant, might be wrong here)

will i be able to play all of the "next gen" titles on it and take advantage of the latest developers' creations as they are able to be played? no

i just dont see what the appeal is.....it's literally a Gamecube that has been tweaked to be a little faster, add a new controller, and gives you access to all of the old games that i personally could care less about.....

so the Wii isn't for me for sure, that's my opinion or "impression" of the Wii, take it or leave it, like it or not, it is what it is, being able to play Zelda one more time with last gen graphics and awkward gameplay is just not what i want to spend $250 on.....especially when i can get much more for my money in a 360 and enjoy all the benefits of actually owning a "next gen" console
 
Most people drawn to this board are probably looking for the best performance per price when buying electronics and computers.

That's true, but with consoles being closed boxes designed mostly/only to play games, the (very subjective) notion of "value" does not always come from sheer performance or even from performance/price ratio. With a PC, going for the best performance for the price is a good idea, since the main difference between, say, an Intel CPU and an AMD CPU will be this metric. Both are CPUs for the same platform, and can run the same code (with generally one faster than the other).

But consoles are closed platforms, and as such the library of games plays a very important role in choice. Consider last gen : both the NGC and the XBox had a better performance/price ratio than the PS2. Now, if you had to recommend a last-gen console to someone not owning one, chances are that you would recommend the PS2, although it is the most expensive and the least powerful. For some people a GC or an XBox would be a better choice, but that's again a function of gaming library, not power.
 
ok fine, we need to be PC and not hurt anyones feelings....

my impression of the Wii is that it is an expensive tweaked Gamecube with a not-so-revolutionary motion sensitive controller that will fade over time, there was not alot of R&D required to develop the Wii other than the remote IMO, they simply found a way to capitalize off of old tech, put it in a nice "I-Pod'ish" looking case and give it a new name

everyone wants to cite the DS.....personally, i dont know anyone that owns a DS, so i can only speak of my experiences

i just think Nintendo is making a last ditch effort to make some money off of what is mostly old tech that has already earned them royalties-a-plenty for years before they sell out or get out of the console business altogether

i dont think Nintendo has what it takes to stay afloat in the console wars and that is why they said they "arent trying to compete with M$ and Sony"

sure, alot of people like to play the really old "games of lore", but i know i dont, i have tried going back in time to play alot of the classics downloadable through XBL and have also tried hooking up my old PS1 to play some of the games i used to love, and every time i do, i remember why i bought a 360.....because it is so much better in many ways, it is painful to look at those old graphics and lousy gameplay

i can honestly say i enjoy a good hour of Gears of War or PGR3 on my 360 way more than i enjoy playing the same old remixed again....

when someone tries to market a console as Next Gen, i sit back and say, okay, what does your console have to offer?

i love new technologies, but i just cant find it in the Wii.....

can it support my HDTV resolutions? no

does it have impressive graphics AND gameplay? no

can it play my DVD's let alone HD-DVD's? no

can i stream media to it via PC? no (last time i checked it cant, might be wrong here)

will i be able to play all of the "next gen" titles on it and take advantage of the latest developers' creations as they are able to be played? no

i just dont see what the appeal is.....it's literally a Gamecube that has been tweaked to be a little faster, add a new controller, and gives you access to all of the old games that i personally could care less about.....

so the Wii isn't for me for sure, that's my opinion or "impression" of the Wii, take it or leave it, like it or not, it is what it is, being able to play Zelda one more time with last gen graphics and awkward gameplay is just not what i want to spend $250 on.....especially when i can get much more for my money in a 360 and enjoy all the benefits of actually owning a "next gen" console

I'm sorry, but to you and many others, graphics IS the gameplay. Its all people like you care about, so personally, i could care less what you think. You couldnt make an objective argument about gameplay if you tried because all you care about is how good it looks and obviously the Wii is a miserable failure in that department, so what exactly are you trying to say that is shocking? Some of us view graphics as an empty shell, without great and innovative gameplay the games are garbage, you view it the exact opposite, if it looks good, its awesome, even if its the same re-re-re-recycled stuff. And guess what, Gears of War doesnt add an ounce of innovation to its genre! Fun, fine, but dont make a play like other games are sooo much more innovative and have this awesome new gameplay.

If Nintendo hadnt gone the route they had, if they had simply made a beefed up console like the other two, all you would have is the same games only looking better. If that makes them go from lousy games to great games to anybody then they're incredibly obtuse. Infact they're down right ignorant. If you're all about graphics, textures and poly counts, thats fine, i'm not going to say anything, but dont bother writing some review about how much you dislike a console when your key gripe, indeed your predicted cause of doom, was never anything the nintendo Wii had as a strength to begin with.
 
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I'm sorry, but to you and many others, graphics IS the gameplay. Its all people like you care about, so personally, i could care less what you think. You couldnt make an objective argument about gameplay if you tried because all you care about is how good it looks and obviously the Wii is a miserable failure in that department, so what exactly are you trying to say that is shocking? Some of us view graphics as an empty shell, without great and innovative gameplay the games are garbage, you view it the exact opposite, if it looks good, its awesome, even if its the same re-re-re-recycled stuff. And guess what, Gears of War doesnt add an ounce of innovation to its genre! Fun, fine, but dont make a play like other games are sooo much more innovative and have this awesome new gameplay.

If Nintendo hadnt gone the route they had, if they had simply made a beefed up console like the other two, all you would have is the same games only looking better. If that makes them go from lousy games to great games to anybody then they're incredibly obtuse. Infact they're down right ignorant. If you're all about graphics, textures and poly counts, thats fine, i'm not going to say anything, but dont bother writing some review about how much you dislike a console when your key gripe, indeed your predicted cause of doom, was never anything the nintendo Wii had as a strength to begin with.

all i am saying is the market will move on and will evolve to the desires of the vast majority of public demand, even if Nintendo doesn't, there's nothing wrong with having better graphics and good gameplay sir
 
all i am saying is the market will move on and will evolve to the desires of the vast majority of public demand, even if Nintendo doesn't, there's nothing wrong with having better graphics and good gameplay sir

OK, I don't get how you can just look at the future and others here, includding me, can't. I differ with you, I think the Wii will be a great selling console and sony and microsoft will end up copying like they already have before.

I am probably wrong but so are you. Stop trying to talk like you have the final word on this.

And by the way, about nintendo going out of bussiness(your clain in the precious post, and quite ignorant one if you ask me), why will they since they are more profitable than the competition?
 
So, uh, who's got a Wii and can give their impressions? We all know the graphics aren't up to snuff, so now that we're past our months-old childish outrage, we can move on.
 
So, uh, who's got a Wii and can give their impressions? We all know the graphics aren't up to snuff, so now that we're past our months-old childish outrage, we can move on.

Here is my experience with the Wii, based on impressions of my firends and family.

Nobody care about the fact that it's not 360 or PS3 in tech. Nor do they think the remote is a mere gimmick. Howevere, let me put some incite into what they've said.

They found Wii Sports highly enjoyable, especially Tennis. And Boxing.

Some of the friends playing Zelda found that they would much rather prefer the GameCube controls than the Wii version. Although the Wii does have an interesting feature of letting couples play together with only one controller (one of them was holding the nunchuck while the other the remote).

All of them seem agree that the Wii features some pretty high quality cables, even for composite ones (picture quality is better than that of GameCube, for that matter)

Others have a "wait and see" stance, much like I am.

A cousin-in-law of mine got motion sick playing Red Steel.

Overall, it's a pretty amazingly popular system, but not without its quirks. And not the types you'd expect, either (the only graphical complaint I've heard was that Twilight Princess looked alot like Ocarina of time).

But never has anyone used the term "kiddy" in its presence. Small? Yes. Looks like my hard-drive? Yes. That can't be a console, it's too tiny? Yes. Kids? No.
 
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Again, since you failed to understand that price is the main differensiating factor here, then i "my" theory is valid aswell.

I did understand your point about the price. But if gfx were that important to people then why dont they save the money for a ps2 + 3 games and buy a x360?

When people buy cars, comfort, performance, looks, status, doesnt matter, otherwise people would save up for a Mercedes S-Class instead of buying a Toyota Corolla.

But for most people its impossible to save up 100.000 euro for a mercedes while for most people it is possible to save up 400bucks instead of spending 400bucks on ps2+3 games.

Its also not a matter of just saving up, is a matter of getting value for your money

Doesnt that just proves my ''theory'' again? apparantly people dont care about gfx that much and they rather have a cheap console and 3 games with crappy gfx. You say people will wait untill the price drops just as with ps2 so that also means people care more about money than they care about gfx. The way I see it apparantly brand, games and cost are more important to consumers than gfx. Because a 400euro xbox360 is better value for money than a 175euro ps2 in terms of hardware.
 
I did understand your point about the price. But if gfx were that important to people then why dont they save the money for a ps2 + 3 games and buy a x360?

Because to most casual people, $400 on a console is just to much. Why do you think the consoles sale more when they are priced cheaper?


But for most people its impossible to save up 100.000 euro for a mercedes while for most people it is possible to save up 400bucks instead of spending 400bucks on ps2+3 games.

But you would still need to buy games for that system, thus your math there is wrong. Not only that, but your theory is still disproven by my mercedes analogy. The people who buy PS2 NOW at the current price, probably hasnt had the founding to buy a console earlier,or could justify the spending, a $400 console is out of the question for that userbase.

If you went outside and asked 10,000 people what console they want, i can promise you that the PS2 wouldnt win. Just like if i go ask 10,000 people what car they rather be driving, "everybody" would choose the mercedes.

Here in norway, with the highest average wages in the world, most people could save up for a Mercedes S-Class if they wanted to, but they cannot justify spending such a high amount on just a car, they have other priorities. The toyota corolla still outsells it by 1000:1. Why? Because its cheaper. Not because its better.

Another example: I spend lots of money on high-end clothes, much more than the average person, because i love clothes. I can spend $2000 on a cool jacket, because to me, its worth it. Most people wouldnt buy a jacket for 2k but they could easly save up for it. Do you think thats because people prefer cheap clothing? Or is it because they cannot justify the spending?



Doesnt that just proves my ''theory'' again? apparantly people dont care about gfx that much and they rather have a cheap console and 3 games with crappy gfx. You say people will wait untill the price drops just as with ps2 so that also means people care more about money than they care about gfx. The way I see it apparantly brand, games and cost are more important to consumers than gfx. Because a 400euro xbox360 is better value for money than a 175euro ps2 in terms of hardware.

No you obviously dont understand. to some people $400 is just to much to pay for a video console, it doesnt matter if people could save it up or not. They cannot justify the spending. Its not a matter if they want it or not.


Ofcourse the brand and gaming selection is a factor but the main factor will allways be price.


The way I see it apparantly brand, games and cost are more important to consumers than gfx.

Read again what you just said. Cost is more important to consumers than gfx. What have i been trying to tell you for the last 10 posts? THAT PRICE IS THE MAIN FACTOR, if they want graphics or not comes second to that, not only that but price has a direct tie in with the level of performance your getting. If you buy a $500 GPU your gonna get much more out of it than a $50 budget card

Il take it further tho since your not willing to accept that your theory has alot of flaws in it.

The Playstation 1 outsould the PS2 the first 1,5 years of the PS2s lifetime.

Was it because people dont care about graphics? Or because the PS1 was so cheap that the ones who couldnt justify spending the money earlier finally picket it up? Obviously the game selection would be much better on a PS1. Then why arent we still playing on that PS1? Obviously, if gaming selection, brand, and cost are more important to consumers than gfx, the video gaming business would NEVER EVOLVE.
 
Nintendo just can't win...it's either "LOLZ CELDA WE WANT OOT 2" or "WTF THIS IS LIKE OOT WE WANT CHANGE."

Well, judging from the average score of Zelda: TP on Gamerankings.com, I would say Nintendo is doing pretty good. It's only beating Gears and is ranked 4th place of all time behind 3 fantastic games.

I've noticed that this forum is a little biased towards 360 and PS3 but thats to be expected, since it is a technology website. But it seems Nintendo is selling more Zelda's Than systems exist, so I wouldn't worry about it.
 
But you would still need to buy games for that system, thus your math there is wrong. Not only that, but your theory is still disproven by my mercedes analogy. The people who buy PS2 NOW at the current price, probably hasnt had the founding to buy a console earlier,or could justify the spending, a $400 console is out of the question for that userbase.

Lets think that you give to a family person the change to get (only one of them) a Van or a top Lamborghini (coupe) they all would chosse the first because it is what would be usefull and make a fun day with the family all those things.

The question with consoles is that they are dependent of the games and how much fun they are, old consoles die mostly because companys want them to die and start lowering the bets (games, marketing...) to bet in the new ones.

all i am saying is the market will move on and will evolve to the desires of the vast majority of public demand, even if Nintendo doesn't, there's nothing wrong with having better graphics and good gameplay sir

Yes it will envolve but in which direction:?: ;)
 
If there's one conclusion I can draw so far it is that Nintendo has by far the worst/least viral marketers and skimps the most on money-hatting and otherwise being nice to the press. This can in no fuckin' way be the natural progression of things.
 
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