It's Nintendo! And they're winning me back!

The Game Room
61

Just to add, the Wii Remote and Nunchuk is the best way to play Mario Kart in my opinion, (and many others). Just because the sceme doen’t REALLY use motion all that much, (asside from jolting it in mid air to do a trick – motion not as emphasized as the Wii Weel) doesn’t mean it’s I would rather a classic controller or Game Cube controller. It really works well for that game. As a standard controller, the Wii Remote, (and Nunchuk for extra buttons) isn’t so bad, and sometimes even more comfortable. The Wii Remote can be used with one hand, and I like that I have some reach with the Nunchuk. If they could have made them wireless, that would have been awesome, but it still CAN be a neat way to play. A pointer is nice as well.

Classic controls work better for some games, sure.

62

As far as motion controls in general, I don’t think we’ve seen it utilized to it’s full potential. Or that the Wii Remote is the perfect way to reach that potential. I think that’s why it’s hard for 3rd Parties to know what to do with the Wii. It’s the first attempt and it was on a system with dated architecture. I think there may be a time where some people who don’t like the idea of motion control now may be eating their words. I’m impressed by the demo I saw with the Sony stick. Natal was impressive, but I don’t know how precise it will be… and I want a few bottoms to press. That’s not to say motion controls will succeed for these systems, but there are some great games that use it, and those games are big robust enough to justify the concept.

63

I stand corrected. I hadn’t realized you needed 32 people to have a worthwhile game of this stuff. No wonder I don’t play it.

Oh come on. Do you really mean to tell me that there are no casual groups who play this stuff? In fact, my google search says you are wrong. And that’s probably not even the smartest way to try to find such a group (I’d start on the official forums, personally). There are several that can easily be located by 10 seconds of effort. Just because you don’t like my phrasing doesn’t mean I’m wrong. If you can’t find one of these groups, you probably don’t care that much about it.

Where do I confess to not knowing how PC gaming works? Sorry mate, but as hard as you try to mock me, you’ll always be wrong when you try to equate FPS games with the whole of PC gaming. I play RTS games (Online), 4X games (Haven’t really taken this online, but could), one MMO (Online by definition), and a random assortment of other stuff (varies). I don’t play FPS games because they haven’t interested me in about 8 years. But that doesn’t mean that somehow I am ignorant of “PC online gaming” as if it were some single unified phenomenon.

Seriously. What gives with the FPS elitism? FPS<> All of PC (Online) Gaming.

64

Man, if only there were a way to use a tool that we use every day to connect to others across your city -nay, across the globe!- to find like-minded people in which to play video games.

No, that’s much too difficult. There’s no way you could use this…“Internet” to find people, get to know them, and play video games with them. Everyone knows the “Internet” is for lolcats, porn, and lolcat porn.

65

Also, upon re-reading, is there somewhere I actually -said- anything that might have suggested my stance is representable as ““Consoles are awesome and are way better than PCs!”” rather than as “I’m tired of being talked down to by PC gaming elitists just because I buy a console to play games that aren’t even available on the PC”?

If so, my apologies, 'cause that wasn’t my intent.

66

Okay people. PC/PS3/360 players get their Mass Effect, Halo, Heavy Rain, Left 4 Dead, Medal of Honor, Tom Clancy, etc.

Can you ‘hardcore’ gamers leave us one safe house for Zelda, Mario, WarioWare, Mario Kart, Mario Party and ‘not-shooting-things-in-dark-environments-while-a-12-year-old-curses-at-you’ stuff?

Really, LOUNE, if the lack of Metroid online multiplayer with clans and shit bothers you, pick one of the 10000 other shooters on the other consoles. Playing Mario Kart online with people I’ll never see again and not having to listen to them? Awesome.

67

I think the point is that I would like the option to hear them, and talk to them, (not with the Wii Speak). Even if I didn’t care, Why wouldn’t people be open to an option like that?

68

Sweet. I get to play online and I don’t have to deal with screamers, singers, racists, or douches. I get the best of both worlds. Now, I’d like for developers to be able to do the same on the Wii. I’m sure that there are some games that can be fun if they’re online.

69

Ran out of edit time:

It’s ignorance and shitty developing that keeps these non-problems in their cycle of regurgitation. Most games, hell, all of the ones I’ve played online have a function to mute people that are in the game. There’s even a function in the console itself (360) to mute anyone that’s not on your Friends List. You can run into some fun people to play with online. I’ve bumped into many, just from random playing. Again, I don’t play with randoms anymore because I belong to certain gaming forums that don’t let anyone under 25 register on the website. I just play with members from that site. There are plenty of people that are (more) mature that play video games a lot these days. I can scare up a party in pretty much any video game that’s worth playing online.

Hell, I don’t even buy games for the single player mode. There was a lot of hubbub over that level in Call of Duty 5, but I wouldn’t know because I’ve never played the single-player version. Doing the multiplayer right, with people you know, increases a lot of value and longevity into the game itself. Hell, all of my close friends don’t live anywhere near me anymore. If we’re going to play and bullshit online, it’s got to be over Xbox Live. It’s sure as hell not going to be over the Wii (1, their crappy Friends Code system for the console and each individual game and 2, no voice chat). At least if the Wii had voice chat enabled, we (my girlfriend and I) might tinker with it more often, so we can play with people she works with.

My main objection with the Wii, in general, is that it, and its games, are pretty fun and good ideas, but they’re halfway there. Sweet. Baseball. I can hit, but I can’t field? I can’t even move the fielders? It’s only 4 innings? Where are their legs? This isn’t a game. This is an alpha release for a game. Zelda? Wow, these graphics look like shit. These controls feel tacked on. It just took me 5 hours’ worth of time to figure out how to fish? Mario Kart has always been fun and a pain in the ass. We can finally play it online? Sweet! There’s no voice chat, the powerups need refining, the rubber band AI is REALLY bad. What disappointments.

There are two games that I’d recommend for the Wii right now. Rayman’s Raving Rabbids and Super Mario Galaxy. Everything else I’ve played has some fatal flaw in single-player or multiplayer that makes it a chore.

And, like I’ve said before, I’m a huge Nintendo fan. I had the NES, SNES and N64 and played them obsessively. Nintendo lost me along the way. They’re not suffering for it, but I’m just disappointed that there’s very little there for me. I’d like to be able to use the system more and play games on it, but there’s been an amazing glut of AAA titles out for the 360, why would I even take a stab at a Wii title that could very likely end up unfulfilling?

70

I never said I did. But I do feel that the mere fact you have to go looking for groups to join (casual or otherwise) to ensure any sort of playability still says there’s a fundamental flaw with the nature of PC online gaming.

Seriously. What gives with the FPS elitism? FPS<> All of PC (Online) Gaming.
[/QUOTE]

It’s not “FPS elitism”, it’s just that FPSes are the major online PC games, besides WoW and to a much lesser extent, RTSes. (And yes, I realise that WoW is bigger than FPSes). That’s a simple fact. If we were talking about PC RPGs you’d expect to hear things like Oblivion and Fallout and Baldur’s Gate being mentioned a lot too. But we aren’t, so they aren’t. That wouldn’t make them the be-all and end-all of the topic, just the most pertinent examples.

FTR, I actually prefer stategy or RPGs over FPSes.

71

Perhaps it’s just a feeling, but looking at first party releases on Gamecube and N64, there was just less shovelware. I’m tired of constant re-releases. I don’t want Pikmin 1 and 2 with wii controls. I don’t want Metroid Prime 1 and 2 with wii controls. I don’t want the exact same version of a gamecube game just slightly updated. Give me something new, not even a new IP just a new game. A new Eternal Darkness (which I know is rumored) a new Star Fox, a new something to keep me interested. New Super Mario was amusing but nothing new, it was the pinnacle of lazy. They take a game like Animal Crossing and release what is basically the same as the gamecube version but with a couple added items. Nothing new.

Of every wii game that’s been released I’ve been repeatedly let down by it’s mediocrity with the only exceptions being Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros.

It’s just amazing looking at my collection of x360 games versus wii games. I could pick out just the games I would replay from each console, divide the x360 games by 10, and still have a larger pile than on the wii. I loved my gamecube, but felt it was a bit inferior to my ps2. I still played it pretty often, though. My wii sits there collecting dust for literally years at a time

72

To get back on the topic of Nintendo IPs, Nintendo does own the Fire Emblem franchise, which has gotten more popular in the US recently. I haven’t played the Wii release, though. It’s a turn-based strategy/RPG series.

73

I do like Fire Emblem, though personally don’t find it as fun as Front Mission (speaking of which, the newest FM goes from SRPG to third person action game. Huge disappointment) or the original Final Fantasy Tactics. Still, it’s a fun series, though I’ve not played the Wii version

74

Nintendo, in Australia and NZ, has never really been a “Ultra-hardcore” gaming platform. In Ye Olden Dayes of Gaming, Sega was the major player with their Master Systems and Mega Drives, and it certainly came as a bit of a shock in NZ when they dropped the ball so embarrassingly with the Mega CD and the Saturn. By that stage, the Playstation had appeared and it was all red rover for Sega AND Nintendo for the most part.

The N64 had a couple of popular titles on it (GoldenEye, Donkey Kong 64, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in particular), but I was involved in gaming culture and (tangentially) in the industry pretty heavily in the 90’s, and not one single person I knew owned a NES or SNES. No-one.

Obviously the Donkey Kong, Mario, and Zelda series are well known here, but the short version is that the Wii is absolutely the logical move for Nintendo and it’s been a roaring success here because it’s an “approachable” console without the stigma of things like “people’s boyfriends sitting on the couch playing Halo on their XBox360 all day”.

It’s a very shrewd marketing campaign by Nintendo and I do hope it ends up in university marketing courses in the future.

75

This is true. I don’t think you’ll find ANYONE being accused of sitting on the couch playing ANY Wii game all day. They sure succeeded there.

76

I know, it’s great. The boyfriend is sitting on the couch playing with the Wii, the girlfriend comes in and says “that looks fun.” She joins in the fun, they both get all sweaty and turned on, drop the wiimote and have the hottest sex they’ve ever had.

Bless Nintendo’s heart, they create happiness.

77

This is true. It happens exactly like that. It does for me anyway.

78

Or just play it on the PC in it’s even More fully featured and even more glorious visual form. Just pointing out a bit of irony here on your part Cubsfan.

79

Not true. I did, for a few days, with Galaxy. When you try to part from it after trying to complete a difficult task, you JUST CAN’T let it go. You keep saying; “Damn it, I’ve gotten so close… I know I can do it.”

There are engaging games on the system, not as many.

80

Curiousity check. How would -you- do it? Have an IQ test before you can log on? How do you keep the racist homophobe 12 year olds out of any sort of public space? Do you have moderators? Chaperones? Would you go the Wii route and demand that you get a magic code from anyone you want to play with?

I submit that, again, even -including- the issues with FPS “must have 32 players to enjoy” games, it’s far better to have an online option than not. You can always NOT go online, but if there’s no online code, those of us with actual friends that aren’t a short drive away are out of luck.

Online>Not online. Period. Whether that’s a huge selling point will obviously vary from person to person. But just because you don’t like the morons playing MW2 on XBLA doesn’t mean there’s something fundamentally wrong.