We’ve got Zelda and the game that came with the console and Wii Play. The girl is starting Zelda, but I’ll have to get into it. As someone that’s been critical of the Wii a few times, I’ll provide a running commentary behind what I think and feel with the games and the console itself. The entire time, I’ll be playing my 360 and playing games on that as well. I may play the same game on both consoles (I’d like to) but I’ll have to borrow them from friends to try it out.
In any case, we’ll see if anything changes.
The first day, I played a couple games. The girl and I played some tennis, bowling, and some golf. I’ve played these before, and I get the feeling that these games are simply vehicles for the extra controller and as a showcase to show some of the possibilities that the remote can do. The controller is nice and responsive. Zelda should be a good test.
The pointer is the best thing about the Wii. In Zelda, it makes the traditional items like the Boomerang, Grappling Hook, etc, a lot easier to use. It’s also pretty great for shooters (RE4 and Metroid Prime 3), point and click adventures (Zack and Wiki, Sam & Max coming), and the Pro Evo Wii controls look amazing.
Motion controls on the other hand aren’t seeing that much use outside party games. They only seem to work in very specific situations. Wii Sports still has the best motion controls in a game. Nothing has really come close. Quite often games use a shake of the remote in place of a button press, like swinging the sword in Zelda, which usually doesn’t add to the experience but doesn’t really detract from it either.
If you approach the Wii as you would any other console, there’s nothing really to be skeptical of. It has good games on it just like everything else. Not every game justifies the controller, but I don’t think every game has to. It won’t ever get games like Virtua Fighter which pretty much require 8 buttons, but in exchange it will get a few unique experiences, and plenty of traditional Nintendo games besides.
I’m kinda jazzed up about Mario Galaxy and Mario Kart. The girl is notoriously cheap, so I don’t know if she’ll be up to get another game outside of those. Metroid Prime intrigues me and I think that because it’s a first-person shooter, if it can bring the girl into it, that might be saying something.
Mario Galaxy and Metroid seriously rock - I’ve shelved Zelda and not had much desire to back to it recently (but appreciate I may be in a minority here).
I still have to make time to play the Wii. I’ve been busy with 10 hour workdays and playing on the 360. I may start a save game of Zelda tonight. Worst-case is that I start on Sunday.
Wii Sports and Wii Play are minigames, but they really shine when you want to play together for a little while. “Tanks” from Wii Play is still a favorite at my house.
Wario: Smooth Moves is really fun and uses the motion controls in fairly outlandish ways. Rent it, don’t buy, there’s not much replay value IMHO, but it is pretty fun and the graphic design is hilarious.
No More Heroes is an extremely bizarre game that will only appeal to a very specific type of player, but if *does * appeal to you, I can promise that it’s a great deal of fun.
Metroid 3 is a truly great immersive experience. I love the controls, they took a little getting used to but it naw may be my favorite way to play a shooter, even versus the mouse/keyboard. My mind has internalized the various buttons much better than I have with other conrol schemes. It’s also a pretty darn good game with fun boss fights and rich environments.
Well the problem is that NMH is kind of tough to describe without giving the plot away. At heart it’s a fighting/action game that completely and utterly fails to take itself seriously, and the whole thing is filled with references to and parodies of late 80s and early 90s geek culture.
The problem is that the game, characters, and story are somewhat bizarre, and in my experience people tend to have one of two reactions: they either instantly love it, or they fail to parse what makes it amusing rather than weird and annoying. To give you some perspective (story details that you learn within 30 seconds of starting the game follow), the game is about a 20-something anime geek and general failure at life named Travis Touchdown who wins a lightsaber on ebay and, in order to fund his video game and porn habit, becomes a professional assassin. His unique blend of Japanese swordsmanship (learned from hundreds of hours watching anime) and Mexican Wrestling moves quickly propels him out of the ranks of amateur killers, and he finds himself drawn into a tournament between the worlds’ top professional killers.
The bulk of the game follows his participation in said tournament, with frequent breaks between title matches to mow lawns, make coconut smoothies, collect poisonous scorpions, and buy various increasingly disturbing anime-themed clothes and weapons.
I recently finished Super Mario Galaxy and though it was extremely fun, although I agree it was too easy (particularly the final battle). Still, a VERY good game.
I’ve just started Metroid Prime 3, and so far I’m not loving it as much as I expected after reading various commentaries here and elsewhere, but I’m only through the very first level, so I can’t really judge it yet.
Can’t wait for Mario Kart and the first good tennis game (Wii Sports tennis is fun but way too limited - I want the full deal).
Anime anything doesn’t thrill me. I have Blue Dragon on the 360 and I love it, however. I hold my nose and play it because the game is just that damned good.