Pretty Good Week for Gaming

[Xanthippe]

Are people here going to be multiplaying NWN2 together? 

[stray]

Single player NWN is where I get all of my negative opinions from, and how I'll judge this new game too. If it doesn't do anything for me, then I'll probably discard the rest of the game.

[Big Gulp]

No, you just made a piss poor attempt at an argument.

You fucking crackbaby...  The whole post was referring to the Wii's control scheme, and the eventual awkwardness of it.  Obviously you either didn't put 2 and 2 together in that sad little bean of yours, or you don't believe that holding a remote device, even in a relaxed way, while keeping it steadily aimed at screen while every now and then twitching it back and forth is eventually awkward, then actually give it a try.  We'll wait.

[stray]

I don't think it'll be awkward. Maybe strain inducing in some cases? I don't know.

I once won a contest where I had to sit in an "invisible chair" for a long period of time --- I doubt the Wii will be that bad at least. ;)


To tie this in to another thread, one of things I miss about the arcade is control schemes that encourage physical interactivity.

I also like controls that mimic actions and movements on screen (say, like Fight Night or Moto GP does). The Wii takes it a step further.

[Signe]

Are people here going to be multiplaying NWN2 together? 

I'll play.

[schild]

Just for the record, when people Making Launch Games for the Wii tell me "the fun" goes away after a few hours and it's tiring as hell, I tend to believe them. If the best version of Zelda weren't a Wii game, there's a fair chance I'd hold off on the system like I did the Cube (I only bought a cube once price had dropped like a rock and modding it was a walk in the park for zee japanese fun).

[Rasix]

I want to know why you're buying Lumines 2, damnit.

And I'll most likely fly through the NWN2 campaign solo.  They have proper parties this time!

[schild]

Because the official Lumines 2 song is really cool (read: catchy and tranquil)? I bought Lumines 1 for Nobuchika's Lights... The rest just happened to be awesome.

[Rasix]

Hoobastank.

[Yegolev]

I am sort of worried, like several others here, on how I'll be able to play with the Wiimote.  Could be tiring, could get boring, who knows?  I have thought about it and realized that I have problems with the controllers I currently have.  I don't just mean with games that have assed-up controls like Steambot Chronicles; I mean that after thirty minutes of playing anything, flexing my wrists sounds like someone is murdering Snap, Crackle and Pop.  Lifetime of controller-gripping, yo.

Xbox.  Triggers.  I learned of a new ailment one could acquire in addition to Nintendo Thumb: Xbox Finger.  Prolonged sessions of Ninja Gaiden caused my index finger to go numb.  So did Project Gotham.  I still played the shit out of those games.

Wavebird.  Metroid Prime.  Ouch!  Thank Jesus for pausing.

Keyboard.  Any game with hotkeys you have to over over... let's say GuildWars.  Playing too long?  Pain.  EDIT: I love my Belkin Nostromo N50.

SNES.  Super Metroid.  CRAMPS!  Super Mario World.  MY THUMB IS NUMB IN THAT SPOT... YOU KNOW, THAT SPOT.

NES.  Oh fucking NES controllers.  Huge jump over that damn Atari 5200 controller, though.

The point... ah, yes, I did have one.  I have decided that I'll play a great game even if the controller causes me physical pain.  Because it already does.  Holding the Logitech version of a PS2 for a three-hour session of... hell, Shin Megami Tensei since that's what I'm playing now, isn't totally comfortable, and besides I've grown acclimated to this positioning for, what almost twenty years?  I'll get used to it.  Potato, potato.

On a positive note, I'm hoping that being able to hold my hands apart will help the comfort levels somewhat.  I already hold the controller up when playing; you can't play with that shit in your lap.  Even better, if I lay down then my arm goes numb from the elbow down.

[schild]

Yeg, wavebird pain? Xbox trigger pain? Super Nintendo thumb, ok, but only from Street Fighter. And only the left thumb. You're just being a puss. :)

[stray]

Street Fighter used to give me those sharp, needle-like pains on the tips of my thumbs.

X-Box Ninja Gaiden could be kind of exhausting at times, I guess.

MMO hotkeying is the worst for me. That just fucks with all my tendons, from the top of my hand, underneath in the thumb area, all the way up to my forearm. Having my hands in that semi-floating overhand "claw" position for anything other than a short period of time is not good.

[schild]

MMO hotkeying bores me before it hurts me.

I would break mice before mice would break me with Diablo 2.

[ahoythematey]

Yeg, wavebird pain? Xbox trigger pain? Super Nintendo thumb, ok, but only from Street Fighter. And only the left thumb. You're just being a puss. :)

You play any of the WWF games on the SNES and tell me your thumbs will not be sore.

I would break mice before mice would break me with Diablo 2.

Same deal, but not from mass-clicking.  Usually the breaking would occur without warning in one quick swinging motion after some time with our "friends" across the pond.  Winduforce kekekela!!11

[schild]

Why would I play WWF games on the SNES?

[ahoythematey]

Multitap, man.  There was still group-fun to be had before four controller ports became the norm(mostly).  Super Bomberman was always at our side when our thumbs got sore, though.

[Yegolev]

Yeg, wavebird pain? Xbox trigger pain? Super Nintendo thumb, ok, but only from Street Fighter. And only the left thumb. You're just being a puss. :)

I'm not saying I'm not a pussy, or old, but numbness of thumbtips is part of gaming for me.  The Xbox finger numbness is new to me and particular to the design; I don't have such trouble with the PS2-style shoulder buttons.  Actually, after having an Xbox for so long, I find that I am compensating for it unconsciously when I can.  Adaptation.  I still block all the time in Ninja Gaiden, but I find I shift my finger around.

As for the Wavebird, I am specifically talking about holding the charge in Metroid; the shoulder buttons on the WB are my favorites.  I guess holding this applies to the SNES as well, but seems like there were plenty of opportunities for me to keep one of the buttons depressed most of the time... details fuzzy.  Otherwise it's just how I hold my hands close together; I don't really have good wrists.

[schild]

Dreamcast had the best shoulder buttons. Keke.

[Yegolev]

I meant to pick up a DC, but I was sick that week.

[StGabe]

Lumines Live.  Tonight.

[schild]

Lumines Live.  Tonight.

News. Frontpage.

[StGabe]

And is it not part of a good week in gaming?  And do I give a shit about the front page?

Rhetorical questions at 11.

[stray]

I made my excuse about DS titles earlier. ;)

Many apologies.

[edit]

Oops. Replace "DS" with "Handheld".

[Luxor]

Huge release this week for us euros, football manager 2007. Can I take southend to the Champions League Final inside 4 years again  .

[HaemishM]

Yeg, wavebird pain? Xbox trigger pain? Super Nintendo thumb, ok, but only from Street Fighter. And only the left thumb. You're just being a puss. :)

Get a bit older. You'll start to get the same kinds of things.

I can make it through about 3 games of FIFA 07 lately before my knuckles start to get the crackles. By the 4th game, my left thumb is numb.

I think the Wii controllers will likely take about a month or more of soreness to get a sweet spot. But shit, it'll almost be exercise.

[schild]

Get a bit older?

I'm sticking with pussy here. I've got the back of a 60 year old but the goddamn hands of a lumberjack.

[HaemishM]

So did I til I hit 34.

[Riggswolfe]

The only game to cause me pain has been Fight Night. I tend to rub my thumbs raw if I play alot of that game. It's because i get real intense and press real hard on the controllers, espically if I get knocked down. This still takes a good 4 hours or so to have an effect on me.

[Xanthippe]

How is Sid Meiers Railroads! more like Railroad Tycoon then Railroad Tycoon II or whatever it's up to now?

How was Civ IV more like Civ I than it was like Civ III or II? 

[stray]

I don't know what's that all about. Civ IV is as much about new improvements than it is about reverting back to old formulas. The interface is more streamlined, unit info is more readily available right on the game maps, the pace is faster, online play is worth doing now...

If it's anything like the original, it's in the "Keep it simple, stupid" approach.

..

I haven't played Railroads yet. It's on Direct2Drive now. I'm considering just getting it from there.

[NiX]

Did anyone else pick up Splinter Cell: DA? I can't put it down, they really made it harder and grittier. It's not as open ended as I'd like it to be, but I can't complain. The multiplayer is intense too. I just might make a thread just for multiplayer.

[Velorath]

You fucking crackbaby...  The whole post was referring to the Wii's control scheme, and the eventual awkwardness of it.  Obviously you either didn't put 2 and 2 together in that sad little bean of yours, or you don't believe that holding a remote device, even in a relaxed way, while keeping it steadily aimed at screen while every now and then twitching it back and forth is eventually awkward, then actually give it a try.  We'll wait.

I put 2 and 2 together, I just think it's a completely non-sensical argument.  Even assuming you have a controller the same general size and weight of the Wii controller, it's going to feel awkward because you're just sitting there flicking the remote.  If I pick up one of my PS2 controllers and just press buttons for 5 minutes it's going to feel awkward and tedious because I don't have a game to actually distract me from it.  As it is I'm generally the kind of person who moves around a lot when playing (leaning when I'm turning in a car game and that kind of thing).  From what I've seen of the Wii's controller being used, it doesn't require a hell of a lot more movement than I already make when playing a game.  Anyone who things they're going to wear themselves out with the thing either needs to exercise more or stop playing games for 6-7 hours at a time.  Hell, a lot of the people here should be more worried about carpal tunnel syndrome from too much time at the computer.

[schild]

Velorath, I've been told by people making Wii games that the wiimote is tiring.

Just sayin.'

[Azazel]

I don't think it'll be awkward. Maybe strain inducing in some cases? I don't know.

To tie this in to another thread, one of things I miss about the arcade is control schemes that encourage physical interactivity.

I also like controls that mimic actions and movements on screen (say, like Fight Night or Moto GP does). The Wii takes it a step further.

Well, the home tends to lack the "leaning" feature of motorcycle games, and the pedalling of the bike games, but I've seen as accessories:

Skate/Snowboard
Bongos (Donkey Konga)
Innumerable Steering Wheels
Dance mats
Guitar Hero Gee-tars
The EyeToy and it's many jumping-round, wave-yo'-hands-in-tha-air type games
That game "Buzz" has gameshow-type buzzers
Arcade Joysticks are of course available.
Light Guns and their games.
Singstar and it's clones/sequels/whatever can Karaoke your heart out on the Mic.


So there's plenty of ways to get interactive, arcade-style in the comfort of your own home. Most or at least many of those accessories come as pack-ins for the games that use them, for pretty much standard game retail, too.


The Wii-mote seems more like an extension of the Eye-toy's motion sensing, with more control and accuracy on one hand but lacking the ability to use a second hand or feet, on the other, erm, hand.

[Big Gulp]

From what I've seen of the Wii's controller being used, it doesn't require a hell of a lot more movement than I already make when playing a game. 

So in other words, you haven't even tried what I suggested.  Pick up whichever remote you like, the lightest one you've got, and do what I suggested.

Look, I'm a pretty big dude.  I can lift a hell of a lot and I'm in great shape, so this isn't a matter of strength or endurance, it's a matter of human physiology.  Try my little experiment for a full 5 minutes, and tell me it doesn't get really tiring and really annoying extremely quickly.  Until then, you're just talking out your ass.