Topic: My thoughts on Wii

[GoldenPhoenix]

I know this will probaly get buried in the boards (for good reason too!), but I wanted to comment a bit on Wii. To begin I thought Nintendo had a solid presentation, they had alot of enthusiasm and the focus was definately on how the games controlled instead of what they look like. With that said, I'll admit I was a bit let down by the graphics, but I have a feeling that they could improve when they are finally released. If for some reason they don't, it won't bother me. This is because games like Mario Galaxy looks like a unique twist on the Mario series, and I can't wait to get my hands on it. Red Steel also looked unique and above all else, fun, so that is another anticipated game for myself.

Now to shift my focus a bit, I want to explain why exactly I am excited for Wii and not so excited for the other consoles (even though I may end up getting them down the road). My reason is that both PS3 and Xbox 360 are becoming cheap alternatives to a PC (though PS3 is stretching the cheap part). You can  get mind blowing graphics and sound from a PC, in fact many games for X360 and probaly PS3 will also be on PC. That is not really that exciting for me, especially when I own a fairly powerful PC.

Gaming consoles used to be different experiences than PC gaming, but now that line has been wiped away for the most part. Will I get a PS3 or repurchase a Xbox 360 (I did own one)? Possibly, since I do like some of the exclusives, but really it will be the same old experience just with more eye candy. Even Sony's laughable and "revolutionary 6 degrees of motion" PS3 does not impress me much from a control side. They really should be embarassed over such a blatant, yet poorly implemented ripoff of the Wiimote.

With the Nintendo Wii, I will get a gaming experience that cannot yet be replicated by PC or the other consoles. That is something to get excited for! Something like this doesn't happen everyday, but is in fact a rare ocassion. Sure you can have updated graphics and sound, but the immersion level has remained the same (excluding the basic graphical facelift).

I may be wrong, but most gamers want to have more immersive control over their games, not just the japanese gamer. That is the potential Wii has, gaming could be forever changed, and I see no reason to be anything less than excited and hopefully this becomes more realized as people get to play Wii on the showfloor tomorrow and the following days.

P.S. Is it just me or does it seem like Nintendo always has more excitement over what they are presenting over the others?  

[denjet78]

I think I pretty much agree with you except on being let down by the graphics. I didn't come into this with any interest in graphics so nothing Nintendo showed could have possibly let me down in that regard.

I just want good games, please? Just something that's fun to play again.

The Wii remote is going to be fun. I could see that the instant it was explained to me. I just hope that enough people will give it a chance and realize that too.

Judging by the number of gamers who are still complaining about having to "move around", that may just be a pipe dream though.


P.S. Of course Nintendo is excited when they present something new. They are the heart and soul of gaming. That's all they are. To Sony and MS, gaming is a tool. To Nintendo, it's everything.

[The Omen]

I think I was let down with the direction of the wii sports graphics.  I understand simplistic styling, but that was kind of ridiculous.  It doesn't have to be Top Spin, granted, but I would like more than Atari 2600 graphics at this stage.  Yes, I know, it's not about the graphics, but it's a pet peeve of mine.  I would have gladly taken Mario sports graphics from the N64 era over these.  I guess that's really my only disappointment.  I thought Red Steel looked real nice in high res.  So did Mario.  Just bump that wii sports package up to the 90's guys, please?

I have almost zero concerns about the Wii itself.  Most of my concerns are with Nintendo marketing, and Sony stealing that damn controller...even though anyone with a brain would know they did nothing of the sort...ugh!

[Ceric]

I think the Nintendo conference started at the Nintendo HQ as a solid conference.  Lets Imagine that the Conference was a fresh Lemon Meringue pie.  Once Nintendo saw Sony's conference they realized the pie portion was unneeded and just served the Meringue.  It can look like the full pie but once you bite in your just left with sweets.

I'm going to try to wait till tomorrow before looking for more information now.

[mantidor]

I have to agree about the graphics, Im in no way expecting toy story of course, but something twice as powerful as the GC can do so much better, its like they arent even trying!

[jasonditz]

the development kits were basically gamecubes with wired Wiimotes. Isn't it possible some of these games literally are Gamecube games at this point?

[Michael8983]

The sports pack didn't have "bad graphics" just intentionally simple/cartoonish graphics. There's a difference.

[EasyCure]

agreeing with michael.

it seems like alot of the complaints about the graphics beeing "bad" or saying they "SHOULD be better" are directed towards the tennis game.

what you're forgetting is the tennis game isn't made for you. if it was it would be a dedicated tennis game, sim or mario tennis, and be polished to its finest. Keep in mind that this tennis game, as well as the golf and a few other quirky looking sports games are going to be on one disc as a package. It's stripped down becuase this is a type of variety package they want to aim towards the non-gamers. What other tennis game do you think the person from the TIME article was playing? remember his review of it? he siad it was probably the funnest one to play. why? because it was aimed to him. He was a nongamer, and zelda wouldnt appeal to him, nor would warioware (and i say this becuase its filled with lightning fast mini games that it would take nongamers awhile to figure out).

The tennis game was fun to him because a realistic looking tennis sim would be intimidating. They would play him the demo and show him how to use the controllers and because it looked so real he would assume you would have to already be a master of tennis to play. That clearly wasnt the case. The cartoonish, non-threatening graphics, made it so he would get into the game thinking "oh this looks easy, i just have to swing when the ball comes at me..." and thats all he would think. From there he could then realize the precision of the control would alow for backhand, forhand, lobs, topsins, etc. Which ultimately he did. Notice that nowhere in the article did Itawa or anyone go into specific detail about how he should control the game. Maybe it was left out or maybe not. Its my impression that they could of simply said "try this...how do you control it? like you're playing tennis" and the ball was served and the man from the TIME article simply swung and connected.

[Arbok]

Quote
Originally posted by: jasonditz
the development kits were basically gamecubes with wired Wiimotes. Isn't it possible some of these games literally are Gamecube games at this point?

Even Nintendo's offerings?

[mantidor]

"The tennis game was fun to him because a realistic looking tennis sim would be intimidating"

I absolutely disagree, no one is going to be scared by pretty graphics. They can leave cartoonish looks if they want, but all I see is a terrible lack of effort in the presentation of the game, even Pangya golf looked better, and thats cartoonish, do you think that game will scare people because is more detailed? thats just absurd.

Maybe this is a budget game, I mean it has to.

[ShyGuy]

I think in a year or so the Wii graphics are going to look really nice. If you look at many of the first couple of generations on the PS2 and the CUBE, many games were lacking visually compared to the games of today. Heck, many 360 first gen games are about par with the Xbox.

[EasyCure]

agreed the golf game did look better even though it was cartoony. what i was trying to say is that a nongamer would be turned of by a hyper-realistic tennis sim. i agree they could add more detail to the tennis game, it looked like lego figures IMO, but i can see why they didnt go all out in the graphics dept. also remember, there is still devolepment time. the tennis game might of been something new in the works and only shown off because it was a great 4player game to have the AOL contest winner play with the nintendo execs.

golf, if i remember correctly, we have known about alot longer, so it could just be further in development.
i stand by my opinion though. a hyper-realistic tennis sim, or any sports sim really, has the potential to intimidate a nongamer. my aunt won't go anywhere near my cousins madden games but does enjoy playing a round of mario golf. if the game was something like Tiger Woods golf she probably wouldnt ever think of playing it.

[Ceric]

There are more then a few Hardcore gamers who want go anywhere near Madden because the time to learn to fun ratio is skewed for them

[RickPowers]

Question for you guys about the graphics.  Would you be as disappointed in the graphics if it turned out that the simple presentation was easier to download?

[JoeSmashBro]

Stupid cryptic questions.

[Athrun Zala]

Quote
Originally posted by: RickPowers
Question for you guys about the graphics.  Would you be as disappointed in the graphics if it turned out that the simple presentation was easier to download?

interesting question.......i'm on a slow connection, so if it makes the game smaller, go for it ^^

[Ian Sane]

"Question for you guys about the graphics. Would you be as disappointed in the graphics if it turned out that the simple presentation was easier to download?"

I'd rather stop by a store on my way home from work and have good graphics then to be able to download a game but have crappy graphics.  I've never had a problem with driving to stores.

[willie1234]

I will answer that with a no, and add that I will be happy if it means a steady stream of entertaining smaller games that are cost effective to produce as opposed to 12+ month waits for the big AAA titles.

[JoeSmashBro]

Yeah, if games like WiiSports are going to come OFTEN, on-line, for CHEAP, then the graphics are irrelevant. Iwata did say it needed to be new "every day"... Obviously, there's a lot of different stuff that will make it new every day, but a LOT of quick games like this could be part of it.

[willie1234]

I do wonder about the 512 mb card though...with nintendo's dl service, hopefully you can re-download a game if you delete it to make room for something else.

[Requiem]

You guys are missing a very essential point.

The reason they went with the graphics, and more importantly, the disconnected member's of the characters body was because it would look weird other wise.

When you have realistic graphics and a remote that is hyper-sensitive, it's going to look like the guys a puppet. That diminishes immersion, the sole reason for realistic graphics.

So Nintendo said.....If it's going to look weird anyways, why don't we make it loo weird AND stylish. And that's what they did. You can't argue that the graphics aren't at least VERY CLEAN. They are beautiful in terms of how perfect they pull it off. Sure it's basic, but then again....does it really have to be complex?

[vudu]

Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
I'd rather stop by a store on my way home from work and have good graphics then to be able to download a game but have crappy graphics.  I've never had a problem with driving to stores.

Here's another way of phrasing the question:  Would you rather be able to download the game for ~$10, or purchase it in a store for $30-$40 bucks?

[ShyGuy]

Does Rick Power know something?

[The Omen]

Quote
So Nintendo said.....If it's going to look weird anyways, why don't we make it loo weird AND stylish. And that's what they did. You can't argue that the graphics aren't at least VERY CLEAN. They are beautiful in terms of how perfect they pull it off. Sure it's basic, but then again....does it really have to be complex?

I think a lot of people are misinterpreting what I'm saying.  Yes, I understand it's not about graphics.  In fact, I have no complaints about any of the other games shown.  Tennis does not look stylish in the least.  Honestly, if they used even N64 graphics, what would be the harm?  Nobody is going to be scared of Mario and Luigi running around, right?
\
Now, Rick is hinting that these will be downloadable games, which is fine.  But how about telling us that in the conference?  I mean, good lord, they can't even toot their own horn effectively.  

[trip1eX]

eh the tennis game is what it is.  It's a fun little collection of simple sports games.  It's a sports party game to show off the controller.  It wouldn't take 'em long to put a few more details in there either.  You wonder why companies like Sony and MS don't show alot of gameplay footage?  This is why.  'cause the kids all whine and complain at works in progress.

The beauty of Wii and Nintendo is the variety.  You got stuff like Red Steel.  And Metroid Prime.  To an adventure game like Zelda to the joyful fantastical worlds of Super Mario to fun party games like Wii Sports and WarioWAre.  Variety!!!!

Look at the PS3 and 360 trailers.  All rubble-strewn, bloodied, bullet ridden, war zones of games.  90% of them are like that and are dark and badass 15 yr old material.  Hey I don't mind a game like that now and then.  But every game?  

Also I tell you Rockstar Table tennis has totally realistic graphics and I'm more interested in Wii Sports.  Wii Sports just looks more fun.