Nintendo Wii White Console

I remember when the Revolution, (the earlier name for the Wii) was first announced, everyone I knew was making fun of it. I even had my share of scoffing at it. Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony were all making new systems and most people were really looking forward to the Xbox 360 or the PS3. As gamers got more info about the Wii, it started looking a lot better and suddenly you had the people who were making fun of it changing their minds about getting a 360 or a PS3, and just spending all their money on the Wii.

So what makes the Wii different? Well in essence, it's kind of a big old gimmick that makes it different. When the DS and the PSP came out you obviously saw that the PSP had a much better stats, but the touch screen of the DS was something that made it interesting for all gamers, young and old. It kind of a cheesy gimmick, yes, but still, a very interesting cheesy gimmick. You no longer had to press buttons to play the games, and that was something that drove sales mad for the DS, and that is what is driving sales mad for the Wii as well.

Standard games, as you well know, have you pressing buttons, but the Wii has a totally new way of playing your games as the Wii remote or Wiimote has a motion sensor in it. Yes, the PS3 technically has a motion sensor in the controller, but the games generally just have you doing simple movements with them, in only a select few games. The controller is designed like a television remote, and when game developers for the DS made their games often without touch screen support, the design of the Wiimote is a bold step, it pretty much forces the developer to integrate some kind of motion for the games. This motion can be swinging the controller up and down, side to side, forward and back, you pretty much have unlimited possibilities for how the game wants you to do the different motions. At first having to swing around my controller to do a sword attack felt great, but after a while it started getting a little repetitive, and a lot of the games have some sketchy motion sensor control where you have to repeatedly do the motion before the game can pick it up. I think that in the future, most of the motion control glitches will be worked out, but right now, a few of the games just have horrible control.

The Wiimote looks a like a remote control. It has a D-pad on the top of the controller that is used to about the same amount as the Xbox and Xbox 360 D-pads are, generally to just switch weapons and navigate through the pause menu. On the bottom of it there are two buttons called the 1 and 2 buttons that have different functions depending on which game you play. Above the 1 and 2 button is an A button. On the back there is another button that is generally used for shooting things, basically the Z button of the Nintendo 64.

There are three different types of controls you are going to be playing with. The standard style where the controller sticks straight out. Generally when the controller sticks straight out your game will require the Nunchuck, which connects to the bottom of the Wiimote. The Nunchuk is on most games and usually serves as a way of moving your character. Although the Nunchuk does have some motion control, most games don't utilize it. There are two shoulder buttons on the Nunchuk, and most games don't use these buttons either. The other way to hold the controller is 'hotdog style' where you hold it horizontally and use the 1 and 2 buttons and the d-pad for movement. Metal Slug Anthology used this style to emulate a perfect version of the arcade experience. Tony Hawk Downhill Jam had this style and it worked alright to use these buttons as tricks, and I believe the new SSX game will probably use this way of playing too since it really is the only way they could make it.

So far having a system where you actually have to move your arm to attack, or point at the screen to shoot, have been really cool. It's something that hardcore gamers and non gamers alike will have fun with. The thing is, after a while, the games seem to just feel more gimmicky and gimmicky and you'll feel like some games were destined for this new style of playing, and some games feel like the motion control was just totally tacked on. It's a fun experience, but after playing for a long time, its novelty wears off, and you'll kind of want to go back to the standard controller.

First person shooters
The first first person shooters are out, and many of them are flawed in one way or another. You use the Wiimote to aim at the screen and you use the Nunchuk's analog stick to move your guy around. It may sound a little difficult, and it does take some getting used to, but once you figure it out, its a very smooth experience. The biggest problem is aiming because if you aim off the screen, your guy will continue to point the gun right, and even when you point it back at the screen, many times the gun will still be going right and you will see your guy doing complete circles. So pretty much every level of every first person shooter will have you at one time wandering off the screen and then you have to aim back in the middle of the screen and shake your Wiimote all around until eventually it gets centered and you can aim properly. Red Steel is the buggiest of the first person shooters, but I still thought it was a blast to play. As Call of Duty 3 was really hard to aim in because of all the action going all around you and your cursor was really small, Red Steel had a decent sized cursor and auto aim, which really helps, and I think future first person shooters will have learned from the earlier game's mistakes. Sniping on the Wii so far has had you point the Wiimote in front of you and push it slowly in front of you to zoom, it works, but it takes a little getting used to. One thing that Red Steel had that was amazing was the sword fighting capability; the future of first person shooter melee combat looks really sweet on the Wii. Right now it seems that companies are still experimenting and haven't gotten the controls down yet, so melee combat is fairly linear even in Red Steel. You have a few attacks that go with the general direction of your swing, but it never begins to feel like a real extension of your arm; hopefully future developers will fix this.


Hack-n-Slash/Adventure games:

One word... Zelda. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is the killer APP for the system, and the controls are absolutely perfect in it. Using the Nunchuck for movement and the Wiimote for slicing and bow and arrow attacks was great. The slicing attacks didn't really feel like an extension of your arm though, but more of a button. If you sliced down, he'd do the same sword attack as if you were to slice up. Targeting changed your attacks but still, it just felt like a button, which was a little disappointing, but the game is still an amazing title. Avatar was alright but just wasn't that great of a game due to simplicity. All the hack-n-slash and adventure titles seem to have the same thing wrong with it. Motion sensing seems to be a button, a button that is pressed when you swing the controller. In the future, I would like to see the games have the character's arm be your arm, where any motion you do effects what type of attack he does.

Racing games

There are a few ways of playing driving games. You can either use the small steering wheel that comes with Monster 4X4 Circuit and GT Pro Series or you can play the controller hot dog (horizontal) style and tilt the controller left or right in a steering wheel motion. So far the companies are still learning, but I think they could have got this one right. They seem to have the car either turn way too far with the slightest motion to the left or right, or they have to car move too little when tilting the Wiimote to the left or right; both ways are extremely frustrating. Future Racing games will probably learn from some of the earlier racing titles control glitches to make great racing experiences.

Fighting games:

Yes fighting games are coming out, no I don't think they will work very well. My reason? Fighting games are generally run on advanced button combinations. So games like Tekken and Soul Caliber have virtually no chance of coming out on the Wii! However there are a few exceptions of games that will work. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 had a new way of playing fighters. You had a behind the back view of the character and different motions did different attacks where you flew into the air or did different punches. The thing is, the DBZ Budokai series is the most basic fighter on the market, therefore this is the only fighting game that would work on the Wii, and what was simple on the PS2, feels fairly complex on the Wii. Billy and Mandy worked out pretty well because it had an engine that was similar to Power Stone, which meant it had a very simple combat system. Mortal Kombat Armageddon is coming out soon, which is the second most basic fighter. It will work, but that's where the line ends, and there are likely to be few more fighters after that. Super Smash Bros is also coming out for the System, which looks great, and that is another game with a simple combat system that I think will work on the Wii. The lack of many buttons being right by each other prohibits fighting games from having really any good combos.


Fishing games
Fishing games could really work if they got it right. Rapala Tournament Fishing was the only fishing game that came out, but was ruined by the unresponsive controls. I think we'll see a few good fishing games in the next few years because the controller is perfect for it. You can use the Nunchuck for reeling your fish in and the Wiimote to cast!

Golfing games
I can't wait for Tiger Woods 07 to come out for the Wii. Imagine using the Wiimote as a golf club and having to swing it! It's going to be a blast!

Baseball games
Having one person pitching the ball by doing a throwing motion and the other person batting by doing the batting motion. I think that the Wii is going to have the best baseball games ever made!

Basketball games
I have a hard time seeing Basketball games. You can't really time your ball's release for a shot and setting up plays would be fairly challenging with use of only a few buttons. It might work, but I can't see many Basketball games coming.

Boxing
Come on EA, do something for the fans and make a Fight Night game for the Wii! Doing punching combos with both the Nunchuk and the Wiimote would be a blast!

Extreme sports
Extreme sports titles run into the same problems that fighting games do, the lack of buttons near each other. You have the 1 and 2 buttons for tricks and thats it! Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam had too simple of a trick system as you could just mash buttons repeatedly and your guy would do a ton of tricks and would land them every time. There wasn't even a manual system for the game and some of the buttons did different things, such as the 2 button doing a flip trick or a grind, depending where you were in the air. The trick system just contradicted the regular Tony Hawk's trick system in almost every way possible. SSX is coming out for the Wii and I think it's going to be fun, I just hope the majority of the game doesn't rely much on tricks but on racing.

Graphics
This is the main reason Nintendo added the motion sensor. They knew that they couldn't compete with the big boys at Microsoft and Sony in the graphics area. The graphics look like good looking Gamecube titles. The textures look really smooth, but don't really have a realistic look to them, and then end up looking like the cartoony Gamecube titles we are used to seeing, with better graphics. However, the system does support 480P high definition which may not look impressive next to the PS3's 1080P, but it does help a lot if you have a TV that supports it. So far the best looking game is definitely Zelda, but even then, since it was originally being made for the Gamecube, it just looks like a good looking Gamecube game. Some of the games just look pretty bad, like Splinter Cell and Far Cry, but right now, I think we should just wait to see what the future shows us as I think the graphics will be greatly improved over time.

If a game comes out for the PS3, 360 and Wii, which one is the best?

Well so far the only game that has come out on all three systems has been Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Although a few, such as Happy Feet and Avatar have come out on the 360 but not the PS3. What do I think about these games? Well, really, I think that if it has come out on more than one system the game is going to have tacked on motion sensored controls. This was my feelings on all three of the aforementioned games. Marvel Ultimate Alliance and Avatar just seemed useless with the controls, having to swing the controller to hit the enemy didn't seem necessary, considering the way you swung didn't matter. I'd rather just press a button! Happy Feet had very poor motion sensoring. My belief is that if they made the game for all systems, the just quickly configured the controls to be compatible with the Wii. I loved Marvel Ultimate Alliance on the PS3, and I really disliked it on the Wii, it just seemed so tacked on. So if you look at the lineup and say "Hmm, I better get a Wii, many of the games are coming out on all three systems," well you have have to take into consideration that the Wii version is going to have worse graphics and very likely more tacked on and flawed controls. Generally I've found that the 360 and PS3 versions have been more fun.


Bang for your buck
The Wii is the cheapest system out there, but it does have its flaws. The Wii is $250 and offers only one pack which includes a Wiimote, Nunchuk, the console, a stand, hookups and power, motion sensor, and if you got it early enough, a pretty simple game called Wii Sports. A game that features Boxing, Bowling, Baseball, and Tennis. A few of the games work, but they are too simple and boring to play more than a few times. It does show that the Wii is going to have games that are made for people that are nongamers though. The regular pack for the 360 costs $300, the premium costs $400, (which really is the one most people need to get because you don't have any memory with the regular pack). The PS3 costs $500 for the standard twenty gb pack and $600 for the $60 gb pack. So at the price the Wii offers itself for, it seems like a bargain, and it is! However don't expect to have the graphics of a PS3 or 360.

Future add-ons
I can see the future of the Wii having some significant add-ons. The 360 so far has had the HD-DVD player and so far the PS3 really hasn't had anything to add to the system. I can see the future of the Wii including cool controllers. So far they have added a steering wheel remote you can play driving games with. I think they could make a remote that's in the shape of a sword; heck maybe we'll even have a weightlifting game where weights clasp around the Wiimote. There are a lot of possibilities, and I think that Nintendo can shell out some good ideas.

Virtual Console
The Wii has a superior online game downloading system than the PS3 and even the 360. Instead of forking out new, mostly bad, games they gave us fans what we want... the classics. The games cost a fair price at about how much it would cost to buy these games on eBay. The NES games cost 500 Wii Points, SNES games cost 800, and N64 games cost 1000. A Wii point costs about a penny so a NES game costs $5, a SNES game costs $8 and an N64 game costs $10. Here is a list of the games that they have put out so far:

Gradius, Moto Roader, Street Fighter 2: The World Warrior, Super Castlevania 4, Wario's Woods, Urban Champion, Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, Baseball, Super Mario Bros. Donkey Kong Jr. Super Star Soldier, Gunstar Heroes, Alien Crush, Columns, Ice Hockey, Bonk's Adventure, Bomberman '93, Solomon's Key, Soccer, Pinball, SimCity, Golden Axe, Pinball, Sonic the Hedgehog, F-zero, Super Mario 64, Altered Beast, and Mario Bros.

This is a great list, especially for the system having just been released. It has some of the greats like Super Mario Bros, Mario 64, Gunstar Heroes, and Sonic the Hedgehog. Most of them are great games but there are the few that are pretty bad such as Moto Roader, Urban Champion, Soccer and Pinball.

You can either play the Virtual Console games with a Gamecube, the Wii Classic Controller, and most of them let you use the Wiimote as well.

Memory cards
The Wii comes bundled with 512 MB of built in memory, which will take you a while to fill, but after you fill it you can just use standard SD cards as memory cards.

Backwards compatibility
Not only can you play SNES, N64, and NES titles on your system, but you can play Gamecube titles! Just stick the Gamecube disc into the Wii and it plays it! There are slots on the top of it for four Gamecube controllers and two memory cards. The games play flawlessly!

Mii
When you start up your system you are going to make a Mii. A Mii is just a little cartoony looking character that you dress up and can send to your friends. Some games transfer your Mii into their gameplay, like Wii Sports, so you can play as your Mii.

Online
The system has wi-fi, but you aren't generally going to be connecting to the internet except to buy games and get messages in the Wii's own form of email. Yes, the Wii has a version of email where you can type messages to another console. Hopefully this system doesn't get messed up by people sending advertisements. Typing is a breeze! A keyboard pops up and you just point to which letter you want to type and press A. It's slower than typing an email, but its faster than typing a message on a PSP, PS3 or 360. On my cable internet I found the online to run very slowly. It would take me an upwards of twenty to thirty seconds to connect and then whenever I clicked on something online it would take about ten seconds to load. I'm sure they'll speed up the internet soon, especially when they are going to be having online play sometime in the future.

Definitely get:
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Metal Slug Anthology
Super Mario 64 (virtual console)
Warioware Smooth Moves

Maybe get
Trauma Center
The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy
Cars

Stay Away from:
The Ant Bully
Rampage
Urban Champion (Virtual Console)
Happy Feet
Spongebob Squarepants: Creature from the Krusty Krab

Future games that look great
Sonic and the Secret Rings
SSX Blur
Tiger Woods 07
Mario Party 8
Prince of Persia
Medal of Honor Airborne
Super Mario Galaxy
Metroid Prime 3
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Resident Evil Wii
Ping Pong
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles 2: The Crystal Bearers

Should you get the system?
It hasn't reached its full potential yet, which may take a while, but already this system has some great titles and it has a strong lineup. The system is fun for adults and children, gamers and nongamers. It's cheaper than the competitors and I'd say its just as fun! It has a Gamecube built in and a great lineup of Virtual Console titles. Its a fun little system that's going to be fun for a long time, but I must say that some of its novelty does start to wear thin after playing it for a long time, but I'm sure new ideas will come to the table and so will some great games. It's got as much potential as any of the other consoles, if not more, and it is definitely an amazing little machine definitely worth purchasing!