Wii-View Part Two: The Wii-Mote
This is part two of my four part review of the new Nintendo Wii ("We"). It's the first video game console I've owned since my mom bought my brother and I a Nintendo 64 in 1996. Gameboys have served as a bridge, but this is my official return to the Nintendo console galaxy. These are my thoughts.
After posting the picture of the Wii remote (Wii-mote) below, I realized that this could probably use its own review, considering its ingenuity. The remote looks like a small television remote, save for the trigger on the back. It rumbles lightly when necssary as well as has a small speaker on it that emotes when called upon.
On the bottom of the remote, there is a port which allows other peripherals to be plugged in. The remote is pictured above with the nunchuck attachment. Nintendo has announced a light-gun attachment, as well as a Classic Controller which closely resembles the old SNES controller for playing classic games on the Virtual Console.
The key aspect of the remote is its motion sensing ability. The sensor bar above or below the television picks up on the wii-mote's movements, sensing a baseball swing in Wii sports, a sword slash in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, or the delicate movements of a scalpel in Trauma Center Under the Knife: Second Opinion. The Wii is clearly not trying to keep up with the PS3 or Xbox360 in the graphics department, so they tried to innovate in a different direction. This feature is what elevates what is basically a souped up Gamecube into a next-generation gaming system. The two questions that will determine whether the Wii is a winner: Does it work? Is it fun?
Does it work?
It does work, but with some caveats. First, it takes some experimenting with the sensitivity on the sensor bar to get the Wii-mote to work with your playing space. The ideal playing space is for you to hold the Wii-mote between 3'-8' from the television. The closer you are to the TV, the less sensitive the bar should be set to. Imagine holding a laser pointer in your hand and pointing it at the wall. It doesn't take a very big swing for the red dot to fly from one side of a room to another. If the Wii-mote is too sensitive, you'll see this kind of action reflected on the screen. Once you figure out which settings work properly for your space, the Wii-mote responds actively and accurately. It's amazing how it can accurate reflect the slightest movement, such as tilting the remote from side to side. This can take some getting used to, if you're accustomed to scratching your nose mid-game with the controller in hand. Doing so now can have sudden repurcussions for your game, especially if your character is teetering in a precarious position.
Is it fun?
The answer again is yes, with "buts." It's fun to use, but it certainly has a learning curve. Even video game button-mashing veterans will have to learn a new way to play, which is kind of refreshing. Two people can pick up a wii-mote and be on a level playing field in a game of Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz. This was a little frustrating at first. Having played video games on conventional controllers for years, complicated button-sequences are nothing new to me. Trying to figure out how to scoop a fish with a virtual fish net in my hand: that's going to take some getting used to.
The final answer to whether it's fun is going to be left up to the game developers. The motion-sensing capabilities of the wii-mote opens up the gameplay ideas for game developers to re-write the way we've known to interact with games. I've played some mini-games that have flopped with the remote, such as Boxing on wii-sports or some of the mini-games on Monkey Ball. On the other hand, when playing a game like Zelda where the right hand's swipes control the sword while the left hand controls the shield, you quickly forget how you ever could have substituted this virtual fantasy with button-pushing as a poor substitute.
My verdict would be so far so good, with reserved enthusiasm about what lies ahead.
After posting the picture of the Wii remote (Wii-mote) below, I realized that this could probably use its own review, considering its ingenuity. The remote looks like a small television remote, save for the trigger on the back. It rumbles lightly when necssary as well as has a small speaker on it that emotes when called upon.
On the bottom of the remote, there is a port which allows other peripherals to be plugged in. The remote is pictured above with the nunchuck attachment. Nintendo has announced a light-gun attachment, as well as a Classic Controller which closely resembles the old SNES controller for playing classic games on the Virtual Console.
The key aspect of the remote is its motion sensing ability. The sensor bar above or below the television picks up on the wii-mote's movements, sensing a baseball swing in Wii sports, a sword slash in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, or the delicate movements of a scalpel in Trauma Center Under the Knife: Second Opinion. The Wii is clearly not trying to keep up with the PS3 or Xbox360 in the graphics department, so they tried to innovate in a different direction. This feature is what elevates what is basically a souped up Gamecube into a next-generation gaming system. The two questions that will determine whether the Wii is a winner: Does it work? Is it fun?
Does it work?
It does work, but with some caveats. First, it takes some experimenting with the sensitivity on the sensor bar to get the Wii-mote to work with your playing space. The ideal playing space is for you to hold the Wii-mote between 3'-8' from the television. The closer you are to the TV, the less sensitive the bar should be set to. Imagine holding a laser pointer in your hand and pointing it at the wall. It doesn't take a very big swing for the red dot to fly from one side of a room to another. If the Wii-mote is too sensitive, you'll see this kind of action reflected on the screen. Once you figure out which settings work properly for your space, the Wii-mote responds actively and accurately. It's amazing how it can accurate reflect the slightest movement, such as tilting the remote from side to side. This can take some getting used to, if you're accustomed to scratching your nose mid-game with the controller in hand. Doing so now can have sudden repurcussions for your game, especially if your character is teetering in a precarious position.
Is it fun?
The answer again is yes, with "buts." It's fun to use, but it certainly has a learning curve. Even video game button-mashing veterans will have to learn a new way to play, which is kind of refreshing. Two people can pick up a wii-mote and be on a level playing field in a game of Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz. This was a little frustrating at first. Having played video games on conventional controllers for years, complicated button-sequences are nothing new to me. Trying to figure out how to scoop a fish with a virtual fish net in my hand: that's going to take some getting used to.
The final answer to whether it's fun is going to be left up to the game developers. The motion-sensing capabilities of the wii-mote opens up the gameplay ideas for game developers to re-write the way we've known to interact with games. I've played some mini-games that have flopped with the remote, such as Boxing on wii-sports or some of the mini-games on Monkey Ball. On the other hand, when playing a game like Zelda where the right hand's swipes control the sword while the left hand controls the shield, you quickly forget how you ever could have substituted this virtual fantasy with button-pushing as a poor substitute.
My verdict would be so far so good, with reserved enthusiasm about what lies ahead.
Labels: nerdy, reviews, video games, wii
This entry was posted by VJ, on
Thursday, December 07, 2006.
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