How deep is the Wii's lineup of games?

The Game Room
1

In this thread, a discussion about the merits of the three consoles once again leads to people saying the Wii “doesn’t have a deep lineup of games” and that the games it does have “aren’t for real gamers.”

While no one ever bothers to define “deep lineup”, “hardcore games” or “real gamers”, the whole thing sounds like hogwash to me. I know, Justin_Bailey defending the Wii, like you haven’t heard this before.

But I contend the Wii does have a pretty deep lineup of games across a variety of genres. And while it may not have the same types of games (and in the same types of numbers) that the PS3 and Xbox 360 have, it has plenty of good titles. More than enough to keep “hardcore gamers” busy for a while.

So with that, a list…

Action
Bully: Scholarship Edition
Deadly Creatures
The Godfather: Blackhand Edition

Action RPG
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time

First Person Shooter
Call of Duty 3
Call of Duty: World at War
Elebits

Life Sim
Animal Crossing: City Folk
Cooking Mama: Cook Off
Cooking Mama: World Kitchen
Endless Ocean

Light Gun Shooter
Ghost Squad

Music
Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party
Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 2

Party Games
Deca Sports

Platformer
Crash of the Titans
De Blob

Puzzle
Boom Blox

Racing
Excite Truck

RPG
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

Shooter
Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy
Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII
Geometry Wars: Galaxies

I’ll fill in more later and would welcome suggestions from the board.

2

Games of Sufficient Quality for the Wii that I Wouldn’t Be Embarassed to Own Them:

Mario Galaxy (not as good as 64 but still good fun)
Smash Brawl (not as good as 'Cube but still good fun)
Mario Kart (not as good as 64 but still good fun)
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (not as good as GBA but still good fun)
Williams Pinball
Boom Blox
Rune Factory Frontier
House of the Dead: Overkill (everyone who has ever liked a light gun shooter should buy this game, and make sure you have two Wiimotes)

That’s the Wii-exclusive gotta-buy-if-you-remotely-like-the-genres list, eight games. Other honorable mentions, in stream of consciousness form:

I’d play Zelda and Metroid on the 'Cube because I prefer the older control scheme, but I could see you getting those for the Wii. MadWorld and No More Heroes aren’t really my thing but I could see where they’d be good for some people. Bully, RE:4, Animal Crossing, Okami are all good games that most of their target audiences probably played on their earlier platforms. World of Goo is good but I prefer the PC control scheme, though if you don’t computer game at all, you should DEFINITELY get it for the Wii. The Pro Evolution Soccer games are pretty good if you like soccer that plays kind of like an RTS. de Blob is kind of cool.

Having played both versions, if you own a DS, you’d be a complete idiot to get FF Crystal Chronicles on the Wii instead. And I think it’s a mathematical fact that EVERYONE owns a DS.

If you’re desperate and have neither PS2, PS3, nor 360, I could see you getting a Rock Band or Guitar Hero game on the Wii. But it’d be a pretty poor decision if one of the others was an option.

Much of the rest of the stuff on your list has as much in common with shovelware than with stuff that would appeal to “hardcore gamers”, as you say, and I think both the metacritic scores as well as the famous “general opinion” of such gamers would bear me out on that.

I probably missed a couple but I think that is pretty comprehensive for a Saturday night after watching hockey and drinking for a few hours. :slight_smile:
I do think the above is enough reason to own a Wii if you’re really into gaming, but I think it’s also a good case for why the Wii would be a second/third choice if you’re even somewhat into gaming and are looking to pick a system out.
(Seriously, Wii owners, go buy HotD: Overkill and shoot things!!!)

3

Don’t forget Tales of Symphonia II for action RPG. The story and characters are awful, but the gameplay is still a blast. I can easily grit my teeth through whiny brats/heroes if I’m having fun the other 95% of the time. I also think I’m the only one that liked having the monsters in my party.

4

Let me begin by stating that I believe this is, bar none, the worst console generation. Virtually all of the “mature” or “hardcore” titles that people speak of are either a shooter, an open-world game, or some combination of the two. And frankly, I’m sick of them. As such, the Wii is my favorite console of the subpar three.

With that said, there have been some truly fantastic games on Wii:

Mario Galaxy (arguably superior to Mario 64, though obviously not as revolutionary, though I’m not sure anything could be)
**Super Smash Bros Brawl ** (absoltuly superior to Melee, imo–refined, less buggy, more of everything)
Mario Kart Wii (Much better than the 64 one, though not as good as Double Dash on Cube. Still damn good fun with great online play).
Resident Evil 4 (Perhaps the best game ever made.)

In addition to those four, there are several others that, while not classics, I’ve had a damn good time playing:

Samba De Amigo (a maraca music game!!)
Mario Strikers Charged (crazy action meets soccer)
**Excite Trucks **(an underrated racing game)
**Boom Blox **(you throw balls at blocks–much better than it sounds)
House of the Dead: Overkill (fairly standard lightgun action mixed with a brilliant and hilarious grindhouse theme)

In addition, there are several upcoming games that look interesting:

ExciteBots (the spirirtual successor to ExciteTrucks–comes out Monday. I’ve played it and it’s awesome, super bizarre though)
Punchout (an updated version of the NES orginal–comes out next month. I’ve also played it and it’s really fun)
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (this is my most hyped Wii game currently. Built from the ground-up for Wii, the developers are doing some really cool innovations with this one. Early impressions are red hot.)
Wii Sports Resort (The sequel to Wii Sports–a game I adored.)
Let’s Tap (a crazy game where you place the Wiimote on a box and tap it. Weeee!)

And that’s merely what’s announced. We should be seeing several other big games announced in June, when E3 hits.

5

I liked Tales of Symphonia I, including the characters and story. What did they do to the characters and story in Part II that made that part so bad?

6

We officially can never play Mario Kart together - I think Double Dash might be the most disappointing game I have ever played, as hyped as I was for the sequel of one of my favorite party games ever. :slight_smile:

7

Games that I have played on the Wii that I have liked:
Super Mario Galaxy- Not bad. Fun. Good game. Comparable to Mario 64, but like **Justin Bailey **said before, not as revolutionary.

Mario Kart Wii- A huge improvement over Double Dash and a step down from Mario Kart 64. So much going for it, yet so very disappointing in so many ways.

Those Rabbids games- Fun party games. I play them with my girlfriend and what not.

I wouldn’t play Bully on the Wii when I already have a 360 and could play it there. Same with Call of Duty 3. There are games here for more “serious” games, but why play them here if you’ve got the game for another console/their sequels have already been released?

Punch Out better be amazing, and Tiger Woods '09 with the 1:1 controls hopefully will be the game that I’ve been waiting for since Links 386.

I’ve been way from role-playing games for a long time, though. I miss Final Fantasy 2 and 3 and Blue Dragon was a great game, albeit very annoying. Any suggestions for me?

8

Woah, woah, woah! This IS still the Straight Dope right?

I’ve grew up with Mario games, and NONE compare to Super Mario Galaxy. It’s not about being “revolutionary”, it’s about being the best of it’s kind.

Galaxy is going to get the same amount of casual play throughout my lifetime that the games I have played in my formative years have, such as Super Mario Bros. 3. I only played Mario 64 here and there. Mario Sunshine is the only game in the Mario main franchise that I never bothered finishing, I lost interest in the later levels. Sure Galaxy has a few flaws, (like a complicated overworld), but it’s just pure genius. it’s what’s in my Wii as I type this. It’s my favorate game, (2nd Resident Evil 4, 3rd Mario 3).

So… there! :cool:

edit; Oops, read Red Barchetta’s post wrong.

But I still stand by my claim that SMG is kickass.

9

That is not the point of this thread and you know it. A discussion of whether the Wii’s lineup covers a variety of genres (including the so-called “hardcore” ones) does not preclude those same games appearing on other systems.

10

There’s no market for Call of Duty 3 anymore. There’s no market for Bully anymore either. That would be like saying that for the 360, there are plenty of awesome titles, including Perfect Dark Zero. The only people that would buy that game would be grandparents, thinking they’re getting something nice for someone and not realizing they’ve bought a terribly outdated game.

Same applies for Call of Duty 3, and to a lesser extent, Bully.

11

The massive success of the Virtual Console on the Wii, the Xbox Live Arcade on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation Store on the PS3 proves there’s no such thing as an outdated game.

I know you love the latest and the greatest, while ignoring anything more than a few weeks old (except for Halo 3 of course), but that doesn’t mean the rest of us think that way.

In fact, the whole point of this thread was to show that the Wii has plenty of games across a lot of different genres. Whether they’re “outdated” or not doesn’t matter, they’re still playable on the Wii.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go play OutRun Online Arcade, an XBLA port of a game first released in 2004.

12

If you’re bringing the Virtual Console into it, it only proves that nostalgia is a very strong force; moreso for Nintendo than any other video game maker because of their amazing history.

If you go with Call of Duty 3, then no. People wouldn’t want to play it anymore because it’s no good, old, and/or outdated. A lot of people that dig those games say that the second one is the best out of the World War 2 types.

In any case, to each their own. We disagree with each other again, which is no surprise.

13

Random question - why is the adjective in this case ‘deep’? Who picked this as a word applying to game lineup selection.

Seems to me like the priority in this case would be a ‘wide’ or a ‘broad’ lineup - something that has a little of everything. Of course, a lineup that was too wide and still small might also be ‘thin’ - as in spread thin, only one example of each type.

‘deep’ could be the opposite of thin, I suppose, with lots of choices in every represented category, but still it seems a bit awkward and not that intuitive. A lineup probably can’t be deep everywhere - you just want it to be deep in your favorite area.

turns ramble mode off.

14

I love it. It’s, without a doubt, the most original Mario Kart since the original. It’s the only one to truly try some new things, and I thought the additions were brilliant. Co-Op play made that game, offering an experience unlike any other racer ever. My friends and I were so damn hooked, we even LANed the damn thing together.

I might also add that I won 2nd place 3 years in a row in a massive Double Dash tournament–it’s the deepest Mario Kart yet, and that’s why I love it.

15

Totally agreed. I’m not sure why everyone’s qualifying it with “not as revultionary as its predecessor,” as that’s a phrase that could be applied to just about every game released post Mario 64. Halo 3? Not as revolutionary as Mario 64. Same goes for GTA4.

What Mario Galaxy did, in addition to being quite innovative, was offer an absolutley stellar (heh) gameplay experience.

16

Did you read the OP or the linked thread therein? I’ll quote just one example from that thread: “honeslty I wouldn’t even consider a Wii unless you’re a pretty light gamer as there really aren’t that many good games for the system. My wii more or less collects dust in the corner and makes my x360 feel better about itself.” (bolding mine) This is not an isolated quote - many people seem to espouse it. I think the OP is trying to demonstrate that it is a fallacy.

17

It can’t be demonstrated as a fallacy if the respondents are saying that it’s fact. However, it could all be some odd confirmation bias.

18

“The Wii doesn’t have any ‘hardcore’ games” is obviously a fallacy. Ignoring the facts doesn’t make any of the Wii’s “hardcore” games disappear from store shelves (neither does whining about how old they are). It is also wrong to shift the definition of “hardcore” such that it excludes some of the Wii’s best games.

I have seen some tortured logic that somehow portrays Metroid Prime 3 as a casual game because it’s published by Nintendo and features cute easter egg hidden messages from Nintendo developers.

19

I feel I should at least say what I didn’t like about it: I felt the steering was a little bit loose, the track design was relatively lacking, they screwed up the ever-awesome Battle Mode, and it pushed even farther in the rubber-banding luck-oriented direction that’s always been present in the series.

Even now when I play the various older tracks included on the Wii version, I am always least impressed by the ones from Double Dash. I won’t disagree that it’s the most original of the series (or the one that’s most “not like the others”), but I would tend to say that it was more in the direction of “varied too far from the winning formula”.

/end threadjack

20

I will concede the tracks aren’t the best in the series (though it has some great ones–DK Mountain was brilliant). But the battle mode is no worse than the ones in Mario Kart DS or Wii (the Wii one’s is the worst of the bunch, by far). In fact, I would argue the last good battle mode was in MK64.

And I can see your point regarding the controls, though I don’t know I would define them as “loose”–different, for sure, but certainly no looser than the squirly karts in 64 (I certainly don’t miss ‘spinning out’ if I press left or right too fast).

But different strokes for different folks.