I'm actually a little unhappy with my Wii

[Unintentionally Blank]

And not because I got an xbox for xmas (which is in being fixed for a dead drive.) anyhoo.

I'm a mildly devoted gamer, had a first gen xbox, like FPS's, racing simulations, etc.

Got the usual family/friends gaming stuff for the Wii, and then set my attention to the 'highly rated' games for the Wii.

Twilight Princess: Got frustrated to the point I put it down for two weeks. Lost the muscle memory necessary to play further. Put it down.

Metroid Prime Corruption: Got rustrated after killing one boss (learning a muscle memory trick to do so), walking down a hallway to another boss (needing another muscle memory trick to kill), then walking down ANOTHER hallway, for ANOTHER boss, where I have to learn ANOTHER trick

Super Paper Mario: Actually got pretty far here, but last night, I was jonesing for the xbox, had some spare time, threw it back in...got 10 minutes into the game and came up against 7 columns you have to jump perfectly to proceed...move left, jump, right touch, left, jump, right touch, left, jump, fall to your death swear repeat.

Is it just me, or does the Wii seem to have a LOT of games that work best if you're 12 and have HOURS of time, persistance, and skillz?

[Lightnin']

Mostly, yes. Besides WiiSports, I haven't had much to keep me interesting in my Wii. Well, until Mario Galaxy, that is. I don't play it much- maybe thirty minutes every other night or so, but it's a great bite-sizable game. You should take a look at it.

[TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW]

I'm unhappy with the self-fulfilling prophecy of publishers not making games for the Wii because they "won't sell," even though it's outselling the other systems. There's no excuse for no "Rock Band" on the Wii, and it's absurd that a year and a half in, there are about five good first-party games. WHERE ARE THE GAMES PLEASE DON'T TURN THIS INTO A REPEAT OF THE GAMECUBE DISASTER

[Mosier]

And not because I got an xbox for xmas (which is in being fixed for a dead drive.) anyhoo.

I'm a mildly devoted gamer, had a first gen xbox, like FPS's, racing simulations, etc.

Got the usual family/friends gaming stuff for the Wii, and then set my attention to the 'highly rated' games for the Wii.

Twilight Princess: Got frustrated to the point I put it down for two weeks. Lost the muscle memory necessary to play further. Put it down.

Metroid Prime Corruption: Got rustrated after killing one boss (learning a muscle memory trick to do so), walking down a hallway to another boss (needing another muscle memory trick to kill), then walking down ANOTHER hallway, for ANOTHER boss, where I have to learn ANOTHER trick

Super Paper Mario: Actually got pretty far here, but last night, I was jonesing for the xbox, had some spare time, threw it back in...got 10 minutes into the game and came up against 7 columns you have to jump perfectly to proceed...move left, jump, right touch, left, jump, right touch, left, jump, fall to your death swear repeat.

Is it just me, or does the Wii seem to have a LOT of games that work best if you're 12 and have HOURS of time, persistance, and skillz?

I haven't played Metroid, but I agree with your opinion of Twilight Princess. I honestly tried to love that game, but it's 99% puzzles and 1% action. I just couldn't handle it after about 4 hours, and started looking up all the puzzle solutions on gamefaqs. That's when I realized I wasn't having any fun.

[Unintentionally Blank]

That's when I realized I wasn't having any fun.

I think that nails it. Any time you're looking at a game as a chore, the publisher has lost. When I'm not having fun, I'm usually being paid to do so.

What's odd is, I can't think of a single game on the xbox that I gave up on because it was too hard. I'm sure there were games like that, but I can't remember them.

[xnylder]

Super Paper Mario: Actually got pretty far here, but last night, I was jonesing for the xbox, had some spare time, threw it back in...got 10 minutes into the game and came up against 7 columns you have to jump perfectly to proceed...move left, jump, right touch, left, jump, right touch, left, jump, fall to your death swear repeat.

I agree with you about Twilight Princess, but I don't understand what's happening to you in this one. I'm terrible at platformers but I didn't run into this kind of trouble. Don't forget shifting into 3D. It makes plenty of impossible-looking puzzles much, much easier.

Keep going, this game is worth it!

[Unintentionally Blank]

Aww, I think the problem with SPM is my newfound lack of patience with the system. I'm up around level 75 or so getting to 'The Overthere', so I'm pretty far into the game.

It doesn't help that my Portal itch on the xbox isn't gettin' scratched while it's jet engine disk drive is being replaced. Grrrr.

[Sir Dirx]

Is it just me, or does the Wii seem to have a LOT of games that work best if you're 12 and have HOURS of time, persistance, and skillz?
Maybe I'm in the minority, but I remember when virtually all video games were this amazingly hard--and without convenient save features either--and I yearn for game makers to go back to those days. I'm honestly getting very tired of games that start you off by forcing you through tutorial-type scenarios so you know how to play the rest of the game, and hold your hand through sticky situations later on. Whatever happened to being dropped into the middle of the action, being given no backstory, figuring out what all the buttons did (because who read the manual?), and forging onward to your inevitable multiple deaths and game overs?

I love my wii, but I've also got a nice death grip on my ancient systems too. They don't make 'em like they used to.

[bubastis]

Lately, when chillaxing at night, I browse my Wii catlogue, and ask myself what brand of arm-flailing I wish to partake in, to wrap up what was, 9 times out of ten, a particularly ball-smushing day of grind and hell.... More often than not, I just say Meh, f'ck this, and watch a movie instead.

[Crocodiles And Boulevards]

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I remember when virtually all video games were this amazingly hard--and without convenient save features either--and I yearn for game makers to go back to those days. I'm honestly getting very tired of games that start you off by forcing you through tutorial-type scenarios so you know how to play the rest of the game, and hold your hand through sticky situations later on. Whatever happened to being dropped into the middle of the action, being given no backstory, figuring out what all the buttons did (because who read the manual?), and forging onward to your inevitable multiple deaths and game overs?

I love my wii, but I've also got a nice death grip on my ancient systems too. They don't make 'em like they used to.


Hear, hear!

Oh, and for the OP, do you like racing games at all? We've been having a blast at my apartment with Excite Truck ;)

[Key Lime Guy]

The Wii belongs to my wife, but I gotta say Carnival is pretty fun.

[madmonk28]

I think of the Wii has a Tiger Woods golf delivery system. I understand there are other games, but Wii sports and golf are enough for me and my wife.

[Unintentionally Blank]

Hear, hear!

Oh, and for the OP, do you like racing games at all? We've been having a blast at my apartment with Excite Truck ;)

I hope the mechanics are better than Cars (from Pixar)...I'm a little more partial to driving sims than arcade racing. My biggest gripe is that I can't bring the steeringwheel from the Xbox over to the '360...that was EXPENSIVE! (And helpful in driving.)

[FoieGrasIsEvil]

The Wii is a fun system but isn't for everyone. It obviously lacks the hardcore graphics gamer appeal of PS3 and Xbox...that said, it is still an enjoyable system. You just have to pick your battles right with it. Some games don't work as well as others.
I'll second Excite Truck as a ballsy fun game, Madden is fun to play as well, Raving Rabbids is cool, Mario Galaxy is awesome and I actually like the original Sports game still, for bowling.
I've heard good things about other games for the Wii, like MLB Baseball, but I can't afford to drop 50 bucks just whenever.

The Wii is what it is...fun, frustrating, innovate and graphically inferior to the other next-gen systems...and that's exactly why I like it.

[Gary Kumquat]

Is it just me, or does the Wii seem to have a LOT of games that work best if you're 12 and have HOURS of time, persistance, and skillz?

I am afraid that I am the antithesis of your image. I am not 12 (late 30's), have very limited playing time (I guess around 4 hours per week), and am really rather pish at video games (Halo online has proven that to me)

I loved Twilight princess, and metroid. I've not played paper mario, but am currently engrossed with Mario Galaxy. Prior to that, I very much enjoyed res evil 4 as a big improvement on the wii, having played it before on my ps2.

So I guess it's a ymmv issue.

[shy guy]

I found Super Paper Mario to be pretty easy. To the point where playing it was more about finding out what happened next rather than any kind of challenge. I believe there was one puzzle for which I had to consult a faq, because it wasn't really framed well. It's also a very short game - I think it took me something like fifteen hours to get through it, and I don't have much time to game either.

Anyway, what's weird is that the "problem" with the Wii is usually the exact opposite - that all it has are games that you pick up for ten minutes at a time.

The Wii has a really good library for a system that's barely a year old. You might want to try Super Mario Galaxy, NiGHTS, Zack & Wiki, Sonic & the Secret Rings, or Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles.

There's lots of variety out there; Super Mario Galaxy, NiGHTS, Sonic, and RE: UC, in particular, are games that can easily be played in short bursts.

[Mahna Mahna]

There are several games for the Wii which can be played in small chunks of time and don't require massive amounts of repetitive learning or mind-boggling puzzles. You might want to check out Wario Ware or Rayman - they're fantastic party games too, since the short games let you pass the controller around a group.

And while I've yet to play it, it's my understanding that Super Mario Galaxy is built with tons of mini-levels, which makes it easier to play when you can't spare hours and hours at a time.

I should add that I'm totally not a gamer and I'd rather play a game with frustrating puzzles than a standard shooter any day of the week because my hand-eye coordination is craptacular at best, hence my preference for the Wii (I actually quite enjoyed playing Zelda).

[duality72]

For Twilight Princess, well, I liked the puzzling, and you didn't really say what you're specific beef with the game was, but, hey, not every game is for everyone.

For Metroid, I just wanted to recommend scanning the bosses/creatures and reading the logbook entries, not just the summary. Should give you all the info you need to take them on. And I really don't remember anywhere in the game with three bosses in a row (arguably, two at most); you're probably just hitting some tougher creatures.

Oddly enough, I just got an Xbox 360 and am having the same reaction in the opposite direction, albeit only one game so far- Bioshock. The first Big Daddy was ridiculously hard and I occasionally die out of seemingly nowhere when I forget to be a first aid junkie (which isn't necessary 95% of the time). Fortunately the respawns are pretty forgiving.

[Least Original User Name Ever]

Yeah, too forgiving (for BioShock). The game would be a little harder if it didn't respawn you every fifty feet.

[Jayn_Newell]

And while I've yet to play it, it's my understanding that Super Mario Galaxy is built with tons of mini-levels, which makes it easier to play when you can't spare hours and hours at a time.
Yes, it's pretty good for both short spurts and marathons. And there's just something insanely fun about jumping from planet to planet like an insane grasshopper.

[neutron star]

I hope the mechanics are better than Cars (from Pixar)...I'm a little more partial to driving sims than arcade racing. My biggest gripe is that I can't bring the steeringwheel from the Xbox over to the '360...that was EXPENSIVE! (And helpful in driving.)

Thank you for this post. It reminded me that racing wheels do exist and that I always kind of wanted one, so I ran out this morning and bought this sucker (http://gear.ign.com/articles/747/747438p1.html) for my 360. :cool:

[Cat Fight]

And while I've yet to play it, it's my understanding that Super Mario Galaxy is built with tons of mini-levels, which makes it easier to play when you can't spare hours and hours at a time.


It's really got a perfect balance of easy and difficult planets/levels. Sometime you finish a level first try in under five minutes, sometimes you get stuck on a boss and end up playing for hours.

I've heard from quite a few people who've grown bored with their Wiis (mostly male gamers with other consoles). If Wiis are still hard to find in your area, do what they did- re-sell the thing and make a tidy profit!

[GargoyleWB]

I agree with the OP's hatred of muscle-memory boss battles. Zelda and RE:4 were particularly annoying in this. It all ends up basically being Simon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_%28game%29) with a graphical interface.

Metroid was an improvement, the bosses felt far less gimicky, but still the first thing I do now when I reach a boss stage is look up the technique or cheat on the web...otherwise I know I have a few dozen die-reload-die-reload-die cycles ahead of me.

[fuffle]

Isn't Star Wars Unleashed supposed to be coming out pretty soon for the Wii? That seems like a slam dunk. I would buy a Wii just for that.

[Ximenean]

Almost all video games become repetitive after a while. It's because nobody has yet worked out how to do AI, in general. Without intelligence, the non-player characters in games are bound to be predictable. In the end you can always find some mechanical sequence of moves that fools the computer-controlled players.

The only games that last are the ones that get close to AI in some narrow field. Computerised versions of board games for example. The PC version of the railroad game 1830 remains one of the best video games I have ever played. It was made about 15 years ago and has low-res VGA graphics. But the AI is incredible, and that's what keeps me playing it.

[pulykamell]

I found Super Paper Mario to be pretty easy. To the point where playing it was more about finding out what happened next rather than any kind of challenge.

Same here. I'm not terribly good at platformers (I have yet to win Super Mario 1), and SPM was so easy it became boring. Super Mario Galaxy is significantly more challenging and much more fun on this account.

Personally, I feel games have gotten much too easy. Part of the fun, for me at any rate, of boss levels was dying the first five or ten times or so as I figure out what the technique is to defeat the boss. If I win on the first or second try, well, what's the point? There should be some challenge to this. I don't want a game to be nothing but an interactive movie.

[shy guy]

Personally, I feel games have gotten much too easy.
Agreed, although the games I follow tend to have that old-school difficulty. Contra 4 and any game that Treasure makes come to mind.

I love a difficult, fair game.

[Yumblie]

There's a fine line between a fun challenge and frustratingly difficult. Even though I grew up in the NES days, I'm not fond of the sort of challenge that requires you to play it over and over in order to learn how to pass it. The perfect level of challenge for me is to just barely make it through my first try with the pure power of adrenaline and on-the-fly skills. If I have to do it over and over, it just becomes a chore. Beating a challenging boss always feels like a great accomplishment, but it's kinda dampened if it was only beaten because you memorized the pattern from playing it so many times and not from pure skill.

[jsgoddess]

If Wiis are still hard to find in your area, do what they did- re-sell the thing and make a tidy profit!

Yep. Fortunately for those who want to sell (and unfortunately for those (like me!) who want a Wii, they are still way above MSRP on places like Ebay.