Wii impression thread

[patsu]

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

In a way, your description above is accurate. Regretably, you may be missing the real point of Wii if you just look at hardware and R&D cost.

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"

It is the reverse. Nintendo's pricing scheme and business model allow them to stay cashflow positive, independent of what MS and Sony do. What they are doing is to win with the minimal investment at the right place. If more and more people like Wii, we will have to conclude that this is a smart move, rather than a desparate one.

If a game console can spread fun better than anyone else, to a larger audience. It wins, even though you personally may not be part of this audience. Technology and company size may not be a direct factor to this phenomenon. The market can accommodate more than 1 vendor (so another console company can win too).

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....

The old library speaks to another segment of people (probably not you again ). Many early gamers have left the scene for various reasons. The library helps to remind these people about their good times (to bring them and their family back). From business perspective, they are also selling back catalog to maximize their profit (from old titles). It is not "wrong"... even if you have zero interest in these games.

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.....

That's correct. A Wii does not promise any of those things you want, so honestly it's the wrong product for you. However its success depend on someone else in the first place. Instead of a next-gen console... it is more like a new-gen (or "renewed"-gen) console for many of these people. Don't know whether it will work out yet, but Wii's getting some positive head start.

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

That bolded statement says it all. I'm keen to see more Wii impressions. I'm one of those who's waiting to buy a Wii for my son. However I want him to experience the real games first (e.g., live bowling, tennis, ...). Don't want to get him stucked with the concept that everything is easy like in a game.

 

[Corwin_B]

Finally saw a Wii in action at Toys'R Us (Paris), at a very sleek-looking demo booth. Suprisingly enough, Wii Sports (the game being demoed) didn't look bad at all : ground textures were nice and sharp, and the simplistic design of the Miis in the game actually felt right (it felt like a design decision, not a technical limitation). Everyone playing (I didn't get a turn, sadly) seemed to have a huge blast, and in the 10 minutes I watched the demo (I saw tennis, baseball and boxing) 3 people asked the demoer about preorders.

 

[Jaybird376]

Ok... Here are some of my own impressions...

My bro and I both got a Wii this morning, after waiting in line for an hour or two before store opening. There ended up being a fari amount of people showing up looking to grab a Wii. We each got one, so I sold mine to my little cousin who couldn't camp out with us.

As to my actual impressions, we've only got Wii Sports and Zelda so far. First, the graphics are decent and obviously nothing spectacular. But anyone that tries to claim they are N64-level or below graphics needs to have their eyes checked out and shouldn't be able to comment on graphics for any system ever on the boards.

The gameplay has been the shining point for the system so far. I came in expecting Wii Sports to be a tech demo style of bundle and for the most part it is. The games are fun and easy to get into.

Bowling: Pretty simple, it's bowling so how complex can it be? The game is fun and accurate. It's easy to impart spin to the ball to make more complex shots.

Tennis: Tennis isn't bad, but was arguably the least favorite between my brother and I. It was easy to play but the controls seemed loose to me. That may be a lack of familiarity and time playing on my part. It would need more testing.

Baseball: Pretty limited in play. Pitching was more fun than batting. It was good for a game or two but we moved on quickly.

Boxing: Quite possibly the most fun game we played. It's awsome flailing around punching and dodging against the computer or against another player. It's a little confusing in split screen, wish I had a bigger TV, but that's just a personal thing.

Golf: Easily the most polished game of the group. Swiniging the club and setting up shots was easy but provides enough complexity to allow skill to shine though.

Overall, the games were very fun and we played through them all a bunch of times. Our parents, who never play any video games, got into the sports games and had a blast playing each one. I was actually pretty surprised by that fact. They grasped the whole concept easily and had no trouble playing. It's almost looking like my dad would consider buing a system, when he'd never consider buying a 360 or PS3.

The two best parts of the Wii Sports games were playing with a group of family and friends, and the possibilities you can see while playing. First, It was fun having a more diverse contingent of players, really my opinion about that though. Second, the potential to refine any of the Wii sports game into a full-blown retail game is very encouraging.

It's easy to see how Golf could be phenomenal with an even tighter control scheme mapping to your swing. The same is possible for boxing, which would be phenomenal if you could map punches to hand actions. Tennis and baseball could take steps even further as well. They were the much more limited games from an action standpoint, so there's plenty to expand on.

We haven't played much of Zelda, so it's hard to give an impression of the game. The artwork is great and it looks pretty good. Definately good enough to get engaged in the game itself, which is the real gem. If I remember, I'll post more updates as we play more.

Overall, the system is pretty damn sweet. The remote is easy to control and get used to pointing on the screen accurately. Playing is a ton of fun and we're lookin to pick up more games. Not sure what yet. Finding extra controllers has been the biggest issue. We used the controller from the 2nd system to play two player. We'll have to try and get another one soon.

If you will only have the newest and best graphical systems, you'll obviously be diappointed. The graphics won't get to 360 levels, but to me that's not a huge deal. The control scheme isn't a gimic in my mind, and has tremendous potential. I'd highly recommend the system to anyone who is looking for a fun gaming experience. I just hope that the 3rd party companies will take the time to do it justice. I'm confident Nintendo will.

Hope this helps someone with their decision... and I'd be glad to answer any questions that I can.

 

[thatdude90210]

The two best parts of the Wii Sports games were playing with a group of family and friends, and the possibilities you can see while playing. First, It was fun having a more diverse contingent of players, really my opinion about that though. Second, the potential to refine any of the Wii sports game into a full-blown retail game is very encouraging.

Or port some of the current sports games to the Wii. Off the top of my head, I think Fight night round3 (switched to first person view), Rockstar's Table tennis, or even one of the Hockey games would be amazingly fun on the Wii.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

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?

So again price is more important than gfx.

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?

Isnt that what I said? money is more important than gfx?

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.

So pricing is more important 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

Thats what ive been saying since the beginning. Costs are more important than gfx. If gfx are really that important to customers (as stated by some) than the price wouldnt matter. But people apparantly dont care so much about gfx that they are willing to spend a fairly large amount of money on it.

So now we both agree that costs (along with games etc) come before gfx?

 

[Rodéric]

This thread is about posting your impressions on the Wii after having played it, so please stay on topic.

 

[Cheezdoodles]

Thats what ive been saying since the beginning. Costs are more important than gfx. If gfx are really that important to customers (as stated by some) than the price wouldnt matter. But people apparantly dont care so much about gfx that they are willing to spend a fairly large amount of money on it.

So now we both agree that costs (along with games etc) come before gfx?

No no no dont try to turn this around, and hiding your flawed theory.

YOU said and i quote:

still wonder actually how many people care about gfx in the end. I mean, if gfx were so important than why is the ps2 the best selling console?

You didnt factor in the price or anything, you just said that people dont care about gfx and used the PS2 as an example. I stated that you havent even factored in cost in your theories. And you just rambled on about how GFX isnt important. You didnt mention COST once, you just went along babbling about how if people would care about gfx they would have saved up for a more expensive console bal bla bla bla. And i gave you example of why that doesnt happend in real life.

Dont try to turn around your arguments with the 2 latest posts of yours, just because your inital theory is flawed.

Your inital theory was that since the PS2 is outselling the X360, people dont care about graphics.

And thats without factoring stuff like cost, games etc etc etc.

 

[thomase]

I just checked out a Wii demo kiosk at my local Gamestop. One thing that kind of baffled me was that although the kiosk is set up with a nice little Samsung HDTV, it is clearly in 480i instead of 480p mode. I wasn't able to change to 480p in the settings, which suggests that the kiosk only has composite cables. Furthermore, since the connectors and cables were fully enclosed by the kiosk structure, its more likely that it came this way that it is that the employees simply set it up wrong.

Standing next to a PS3 demo, I have to say that the display looked noticably worse. There was a lot of stair stepping and other deinterlacing artifacts. I have the feeling that for such a small display (probably 26" or evel less), the difference between 480i and 480p would be much more noticable than the difference between 480p and 720p.

Why would nintendo ship out kiosks like this?

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Your inital theory was that since the PS2 is outselling the X360, people dont care about graphics.

Yes that is my theory. With wich I mean (and I said if I remember right) that people apparantly rather have games + low price than next gen gfx for a higher price.

Anyway ontopic: I have to wait untill december 8th because Europe gets treated like a aftermarket, again. And even worse is that in Holland we wont be getting demopods because we got our ''nice hard working friendly morrocan friends'' destroying demopods. You cant walk into a shop without seeing a DS molested with keys. You imagine what they could do with wiimotes... Shops would need a 24/7 guard standing at the Wii demopod.

 

[Cheezdoodles]

Yes that is my theory. With wich I mean (and I said if I remember right) that people apparantly rather have games + low price than next gen gfx for a higher price.

Actually, you refused to factor in price. You said that if people wanted next gen gfx they would have saved up for it. Which goes against just about every economic theory in the world

 

[StefanS]

Guys, this is the last warning. Either take it to another thread or to pm. You're completely off-topic.

 

[crazygambit]

Well to try and get back on topic I wanna know people's impressions of the remote. Remember a while back that picture of the destroyed TV? I was sure it was a hoax, but after seeing this I have my doubts. Notice the speed of the serve. Do you guys play like that? Is sweaty hands a big problem like in the video?

After seeing that it is my impression that the wrist band is very weak. Are you guys worried about the safety of your equipment? (or the remote itself, afterall they do cost money). I'd like to know what precautions you've taken so I can suggest the same to a friend that's looking into getting one.

 

[gokickrocks]

Well to try and get back on topic I wanna know people's impressions of the remote. Remember a while back that picture of the destroyed TV? I was sure it was a hoax, but after seeing this I have my doubts. Notice the speed of the serve. Do you guys play like that? Is sweaty hands a big problem like in the video?

After seeing that it is my impression that the wrist band is very weak. Are you guys worried about the safety of your equipment? (or the remote itself, afterall they do cost money). I'd like to know what precautions you've taken so I can suggest the same to a friend that's looking into getting one.

I can see how the wiimote can fly out of someone's hands. It actually happened to a friend of mine (hit the ceiling instead of tv...wiimote doesnt have much as a scratch on it).

If you take the games seriously as if it were the real life competitive sports (referring to the mimicking of real life movements in sports when playing wii sports) then theres a chance of it happening. However, if you are the type that just flicks the wrist instead of throwing their arms out, then very little chance of it happening.

I am more of the latter. I dont even bother putting on the wrist band. The only time i feel the need to actually get up is when im playing golf. For tennis you dont even need to use much strength into the serve to get the power serve, its more timing than anything else (in fact the whole game is about timing rather than how hard you swing).

 

[thatdude90210]

Yeah, that string that connects the strap to the wiimote worries me. I was looking at my brother's camera's strap and it looked sturdier. I might look into replacing mine with camera straps.

 

[Powderkeg]

Well to try and get back on topic I wanna know people's impressions of the remote. Remember a while back that picture of the destroyed TV? I was sure it was a hoax, but after seeing this I have my doubts. Notice the speed of the serve. Do you guys play like that? Is sweaty hands a big problem like in the video?

After seeing that it is my impression that the wrist band is very weak. Are you guys worried about the safety of your equipment? (or the remote itself, afterall they do cost money). I'd like to know what precautions you've taken so I can suggest the same to a friend that's looking into getting one.

After having played a Wii for several hours over the past weekend, I personally wouldn't be worried about it, but if I was putting the controller in the hands of children I would most definitely be worried.

Like that video shows, it's only an issue if you go crazy with your arm actions and do some wild throw and have the controller come out of your hand. Most adults shouldn't have this problem, but you know how kids can be when they get excited.

 

[crazygambit]

Like that video shows, it's only an issue if you go crazy with your arm actions and do some wild throw and have the controller come out of your hand. Most adults shouldn't have this problem, but you know how kids can be when they get excited.

But isn't that like the whole purpose of the Wii? The motion that guy made is pretty much exactly the same as the one I do when I'm playing real tennis. And that's exactly how I'd play the Wii. At least in the beginning until the novelty wore off I guess. In fact I disagree with you there. I don't think children will be that much of a problem since they don't have the strenght to throw the remote like the guy on the video. And the remote itself seems pretty sturdy. What worries me is other young adults taking this games a little too seriously.

 

[Powderkeg]

But isn't that like the whole purpose of the Wii?

That's a matter of interpretation. I thought the whole purpose of the Wii was to make controls easier, but the Wiimote + Nunchaku + classic controller + Gamecube controller says otherwise IMO. To me, that is far more complex than a single gamepad.

I don't think children will be that much of a problem since they don't have the strenght to throw the remote like the guy on the video.

I think you drastically underestimate what children are capable of. What speed do you think a Little League pitcher can throw a ball at? Ever seen a 12 year old throw a 60MPH fast ball? I have.

 

[crazygambit]

I think you drastically underestimate what children are capable of. What speed do you think a Little League pitcher can throw a ball at? Ever seen a 12 year old throw a 60MPH fast ball? I have.

Ok, but I'm thinking the wrist strap was made to at least resist the force of 12 year olds, otherwise it's a totally broken design and Nintendo should be shot. I mean, not resisting the crazy serve of that guy I can sort of understand, but not being able to resist normal use by kids would be retarded.

 

[Blade]

The wrist strap is probably the weakest component out of the box. Mine never stays tight, I'm constantly tightening it.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I don't think children will be that much of a problem since they don't have the strenght to throw the remote like the guy on the video.

Physics 101. It's not strength that's the issue, but speed. The force exerted on the wriststrap is a function of speed (acceleration) and Wiimote mass. The mass is constant for whoever uses it. The speed is how fast your arm can swing with the resistence of the Wiimote mass. As the Wiimote is light, the potential difference between kids' ability to swing the Wiimote and adults is small. Thus if it breaks with an adult moving the Wiimote through an arc of 60cm radius with a high angular velocity, it'll break if children can manage the same. Certainly I'd expect some kids to hold the wrist-strap and swing the Wiimote around and around, which will exert a high force that the strap should be able to resist.

Back on topic :

Has anyone tried any GC games? Any differences there, particularly do they run at the same rate or do they run a little smoother?