I was at an aunt's house earlier this week just to visit and she exclaims during dinner, "Let's play Wii!" Now I really happen to like this aunt (my wife's side of the family) so I kept my mouth shut and marched my ass downstairs where I was subjected to such atrocities as "Wii Resort," "Wii Fit," "Mario Kart Wii" and even....gulp...."Mario Party 8."
I'll start with some things that aren't so bad or are just general observations since this is literally only my 2nd time with a Wii that lasted over a half hour.
1. Wii Fit works the same way that "Brainage" works for the DS. "You haven't stopped by in over a month. Would you like to take some tests to see where you still fall?"
2. Nintendo's music style NEVER changes. I found myself tapping my foot at the menu screens of all 3 games as I felt I was reliving any number of Zelda or Mario games. Very chipper, upbeat and dare I say...generic?
3. Still no effing HD...nuff said.
4. Mario Kart was still fun...sort of.
Bad stuff...
1. Still no effing HD?! When will Nintendo realize that the world doesn't revolve around them and further realize that many people don't mind looking at things in hi res?
2. The Wii Fit and Resort are just as terrible as you would guess. I mean it's a good party game, but that's it. I was playing a hula hoop game and thinking to myself this would be more fun drunk and I want to sit down now. What an exhausting way to "relax."
3. Mario Kart is still kinda fun but is mega nerfed! In old school Mario Kart, which I'm pretty awesome at thank you very much, you live and die by your skids and building up a charge by moving the joystick/D pad back and forth. Doesn't even exist in this game. Also, objects in the road that can hurt you like bananas now have a bulbous glow about them to make them easier to see.
4. Nintendo Wii is a toy and that's it. Sure it has a few good game, but not enough to ever warrant a serious purchase by this blogger.
That's really about it. I was thinking to myself as I was playing the Wii, "I'm sure glad the guys aren't here to see this."
Here's a breakdown of Amazon's top vidoe game sales. The only non Wii thing to make the top 10 was MW2.
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What your aunt didn't have Samba de Amigo!?! I am the owner of a Wii and I tend to agree. It is great when people come over and it is something everyone can play but beyond that I haven't found a game that sucks me in. I'm somewhat afraid to invest in a story driven game for fear the contols won't cut it. I like the mindlessness of Mario Kart and we've had some old school style fun with the new Mario Wii.
ReplyDeleteAs far as things on the good and bad side... good that it is wireless and some of the NES and SNES games are fun on the virtual console.
The bad things are that the online is totally worthless. Telling what friends are online is a pain and the idea of a gamertag is non-existent. You have to give your buddy a 16 digit number and they have to give you theirs then some games have their own codes on top of it. Who has the time.
The Wii is great in concept with the motion controls but the lack of HD leave it behind. I find it interesting there is a Wii version of the first Modern Warfare out curious how that worked for people several years too late.
Nintendo did really drop the ball on the lack of HD. I know the goal was to bring in more consumers, and maybe worldwide, the HD phenomenon isn't as encompassing as it is here, but man does it really hurt it's already weakening credibility.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be too rough on those classic franchises. They may seem pretty worn out, but as your foot tapping would suggest the appeal is still alive and well. Besides, I don't know how often Marty O'Donnel's Halo theme has sent chills down my spine, and we're only on the 4th (or 5th) one of those already.
It's a totally clean point about Mario Kart too. The games have gotten progressively less competitive since the first one on the SNES. Items specifically have changed, and gone from being earned by rarity and character preferences from being based solely on current ranking boosts/discredits.
I didn't think Sports Resort was all that bad. Reboxed gameplay from the previous title that shipped with the console, but I'll give the Wii Motion Plus credit when it works the way it should. As lame as they are, activities like the frisbee toss wouldn't be as accurate without it. It makes me sad to think what a serious game designer could have done with the control set-up if the system hadn't been pillaged and raped by the casual game market.
I bought Guitar Hero: World Tour for my girlfriend and her kids on the Wii and we've been putting a LOT of hours into it since Christmas. Fun times. Her kids love the Wii and the original Nintendo market may not be it's market these days but the Wii still holds a place in the gaming world. No HD is pretty dumb though...
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