Wii Q&A Thread

[Roac]

I've no idea the quality of the Chinese stuffs.  The premise is that you plug the USB thing into your PC, which is a wireless antena; your Wii/DS can pick it up and connect.  Your PC serves as a software router to go through your LAN, then to your internet connect.  If you have XP and a wireless in your PC, you could try to skip the purchase.  Supposedly XP can serve as a software router, but I've never set it up.

[CmdrSlack]

If I already have a wireless router in the house, I'm golden, correct?

[Strazos]

Yes.

[Roac]

If I already have a wireless router in the house, I'm golden, correct?

So long as it is B or G, yes.  You may need to fiddle with it to get the Wii to work.  For example, if you lock down wireless access by MAC address, you'll need to enable the Wii's address.  Shouldn't be anything drastic involved though - mine got on easily.

[HaemishM]

Goddamn Best Buy. I get a bunch of gift cards for Christmas and the one game I want to spend them on for the Wii is sold out (Madden). Fuckers. They didn't even have Wii Game Points cards.

I finally got around to playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance enough to make a competent blog post about it. You know how you PC users felt when Deus Ex 2 was made for the console and essentially ported to the PC? Yeah, it's like that.

[Merusk]

So the parents took the kids for the afternoon/ evening to let the wife and I have a good time on New Years.  While dropping them off, my dad mentioned he'd seen the Wii when my nephew's father brought it over, and now wanted one.  (The man's 63, and never video-gamed in his life.)    So I was given a mission - try and find one.

Motherfucker I visited every electronics store, gamestore, Target, etc from my houst to my Sister's on the other side of Cinci.  Not a single fucking Wii out there.  They said they couldn't keep the DS Lite in stock either, which surprised me.  Several were all too happy to point at the PS3's and 360s in stock in cases I wanted to settle.  The Best Buys alone had almost 60 PS3's between the two I visited. 

This both amuses and frustrates the hell out of me.

[stray]

60 PS3's? Shit. I need to check around my own town then. I assumed I wouldn't see anything like that for months.

In other news, my PS2 crapped out on me. It's almost necessary that I get a new console now.

[Merusk]

Almost 60, yes.  I specifically counted the number on the palette at the BB near me. There were 27 on it.  The BB near my sister had a similar-sized palette a similar height stack of boxes. So ok.. 54, not 60.   :-D

[Torinak]

There were several large piles of PS3s at the Seattle (Renton) Fry's (all one of the bundles), so if there are Fry's in your area, you may want to check there.  They also had a mountain of PS2s and XBox360s, which were getting more attention than the PS3s.

[Big Gulp]

60 PS3's? Shit. I need to check around my own town then. I assumed I wouldn't see anything like that for months.

In other news, my PS2 crapped out on me. It's almost necessary that I get a new console now.

So why get a PS3 right now?  Down the road it might have something, but for right now it's bupkiss.  There's just zero reason to own one at the moment.  The Wii brings a new controller, the 360 is the very best online rig, and well, the PS3 is big and black isn't it?

If you don't want a 360 I'd buy a cheapass PS2 for the shortrun.  The PS3 is a waste as it currently stands.

[stray]

Yes, you speak the truth. I'll admit it.

PS3 titles suck, and probably will for at least another 6 months.

I just have a natural inclination to reject Microsoft. Took me a long time to get an XBox too (and have since given it away).

The Wii rocks, but I'm afraid of change.

[Margalis]

I still don't have a Wii and it is driving me fucking crazy. Here I am with a pretty long vacation from work and no Wii.

Damn I should have budged in front of those kids when I had the chance!

[schild]

SHODULD HAVE GOTTEN A 3670.

[stray]

To hell with the 360 (for now...).

I cringe at the thought of Microsoft being in command of the console industry. No good thing could come from it. I won't support them until I'm guaranteed they'll be no better than second place -- and even then, I'll buy a used 360, like I did the first Xbox.

Right now, it isn't so clear where they stand.

Consider me inspired by Schild's crazy ideas about boycotting.

[schild]

Neither Sony nor Nintendo is any better. Nintendo seal of approval my balls.

[stray]

Bah.

I think I'll just get my DS back and go crazy with game purchases for now. Or a PSP. Maybe buy a shitload of Dreamcast games too.

The state of consoles is not for me at the moment.

[Strazos]

Why not? The DS has tons of great games on it, the 360 has some Extremely good (if not great) games AND the great Live service, and the Wii is looking good (to me anyway).

[stray]

I have nothing against the Wii really. It's just that I only want one new console at the moment -- I'm going to buy a new computer as it is. And the Wii is the last thing I'd want for a "general purpose" gaming machine. It may be cool and all, but it's still a gimmick (with substandard hardware at that). It's an ideal second console for me, not a primary one. I'll get it later.

[schild]

Dude. PSP.

Best System of the Year.

Due to Sony's blunders and the hacking community's pile of awesome.

[Strazos]

Heh, had a guy trade in a PSP yesterday. He forgot to take out the memory. Someone (not me) got a free 1GB stick.

It mostly had a bunch of rap tracks, and pictures. Some were of Vida Guerra. Others were of women who made me want to vomit - think of pound cakes implanted in the ass.

Yeah. I didn't need to see that 5 minutes after I walk into the store.

[stray]

Dude. PSP.

Best System of the Year.

Due to Sony's blunders and the hacking community's pile of awesome.

You need to a do a PSP Revisted article, like you did with the DS.

[Azazel]

Well, thanks to the video library around the corner, I've rented CoD3, Red Steel, Monkey Ball and Zelda.

Have only had a play around with RS and CoD3, and all I can say is that I'm glad I rented them to try 'em out. Aside from "Holy low-res graphics Batman!", the Wii's FPS control scheme doesn't do anything for me at all.

I played about 5 minutes of CoD and just found the graphic quality combined with awkward controls to be horrible, and I played through the first level of RS and found the exact same thing. I didn't even get up to the point of waving my Wiimote around to swing a sword. Better than CoD3, but still, just fucking horrible.

I'll stick to the PC for my shooters. I never liked the dual-analog control method for console shooters, and honestly I find the waving around to be even worse. I'm sure some of you will think I'm not giving these games a chance, and you're right. I'm not. There's too much good software out there that doesn't hurt my arms and require me to squint in the hopes of seeing the low-res guy I'm shooting at for me to bother with this.

Of course, some people will really get into it, and you know, more power to you. That's cool, just like the millions of people who loved Halo/2 (and presumably, Gears of War) with their dual-analog controller schemes. But like that, the Wii's method is just not one that floats my bag of rocks.

Impressions of Monkey Ball and Zelda later. I suspect though, that Bowling will remain the star attraction for this particular box for some time..

[Margalis]

Wii Sports Tennis is awesome. Easily my favorite Wii game right now. (From what I've played) My friend and I are both pretty good, have some really competitive games. We also like to do Golf with the trick that turns off all the meters and maps.

Really Wii Sports is the game of the year, easily. It is just pure fun.

[Strazos]

My friends and I all play every golf game with a "No Practice Swings" rule. It actually, somehow, makes the games much more enjoyable and challenging. Managed to get a gold medal on the target practice.

Next, I guess I'll suggest the no map thing. That could be funny. How does it work?

[stray]

Can't seem to find a PSP anywhere. Strange. Didn't think it was that much in demand.


Also, the more I think about it, I think the PS3 pricing is fair as hell. I might just pony up for the $599 system tomorrow. I get hdmi, a blu-ray for dirt cheap, and wifi without paying extra. The 360 with wifi and hd-dvd will cost $699 -- and that's without a 60GB hard drive, and probably just inferior power in general.

Ricky Bobby and Fight Night can hold me off for awhile. MotorStorm and Virtua Fighter will be out in no time.

* Sorry for talking PS3, but you guys can afford one derail in your two Wii threads. ;)

[Rasix]

Dude. PSP.

Best System of the Year.

Due to Sony's blunders and the hacking community's pile of awesome.

You need to a do a PSP Revisted article, like you did with the DS.

Heh, let me do it for him:

Ohh wait, no games to list.. just the entire PS1 library.

I am swimming in awesome.  Went from disappointment of the year to pulling off a minor miracle. WEEEEE.

[stray]

Lumines, Katamari, Ace Combat, Daxter, Tekken, and *gasp* the Sims could all keep me entertained. Especially on a handheld.

UMD pisses me off though.

[Rasix]

Lumines, Katamari, Ace Combat, Daxter, Tekken, and *gasp* the Sims could all keep me entertained. Especially on a handheld.

UMD pisses me off though.

There are good games, no doubt.  You could add Field Commander, Virtua Tennis, and any of the GTA releases were pretty decent.  FIFA games and the X-Men Legends 2 games were rather fun also but not exclusives.  I'm pretty sure the DS had better exclusives.

[Strazos]

probably just inferior power in general. [360 to PS3]

At least right now, that's debatable, and it really depends on the game.

Also, have fun with that cheap BD player when you wear it out in less than 2 years, just like every other first-gen Sony product. What, you don't actually think they'd put top-of-the-line BD parts in there when they're already losing money, do ya?

[Velorath]

Also, the more I think about it, I think the PS3 pricing is fair as hell. I might just pony up for the $599 system tomorrow. I get hdmi, a blu-ray for dirt cheap, and wifi without paying extra. The 360 with wifi and hd-dvd will cost $699 -- and that's without a 60GB hard drive, and probably just inferior power in general.

Ricky Bobby and Fight Night can hold me off for awhile. MotorStorm and Virtua Fighter will be out in no time.

* Sorry for talking PS3, but you guys can afford one derail in your two Wii threads. ;)

I think the 360 is the better deal personally (of course mine came with a $100 gift card as part of a deal at TRU).  Now I'm not a huge MS fan myself, nor did I ever buy the old Xbox, but I just think the 360 has the better game lineup.  Mind you I'm just sick of FF and MGS, and didn't care for any of the Devil May Cry games after the first one.  Obviously there are people who will be excited about those games.  Aside from the possiblities of sequels to Shadow of the Colossus and God of War, there are no exclusives on the PS3 the interest me much (though I'm curious to see how Lair and Heavenly Sword Turn out).

For the 360, I really am loving Dead Rising (though the small fucking text alone makes me want to go out and buy an HDTV just to avoid eye strain) and Gears of War and there's a ton of other shit coming out this year I'm interested in.

[stray]

Obviously there are people who will be excited about those games.

I personally don't care about FF and MGS either, but generally speaking, the type of exclusives Sony or Nintendo tap into excite me more than the kind that MS taps into. They have their hand on the console market in a way that MS doesn't. All of Microsoft's exclusives (outside Team Ninja and Blue Dragon) revolve around typical gun based action gameplay of some sort. Gears, Chromehounds, Lost Planet, Mass Effect, Bioshock, and Halo 3 are or will be fun enough, but at a glance, it's like they're all the same damn game. Different genres or not. Same theme at least. I expect more variety and unique themes from Sony.

MS seems pretty intent on replicating a sort of PC online gaming experience too -- It's like their niche or something. And I have no use for it. It doesn't impress in the way it impresses Johnny Xboxgamer. I already have a PC. I'm not interested in FPS's on a console whenever I don't have to be.

Besides shooters, they'll probably lay hold of the MMO market. Nothing I'm excited about either.

Other than that, they'll have the same generic titles everyone else will have (the Maddens, Tony Hawks, and Need for Speeds of the gaming world).

I'll probably buy a used 360 when Ninja Gaiden 2 comes out.

[Margalis]

The no maps thing in Wii golf is done by holding 2 (I think) when you select that game.

There is no wind indicator, no power meter and no overhap map in the corner. No club names either. (Although it's easy enough to tell what you are using) You have to judge the wind by looking at the screen for wispy trails and judge distance by eye. Pretty difficult to make Iron shots sometimes without going way under or over.

[HaemishM]

I personally don't care about FF and MGS either, but generally speaking, the type of exclusives Sony or Nintendo tap into excite me more than the kind that MS taps into. They have their hand on the console market in a way that MS doesn't. All of Microsoft's exclusives (outside Team Ninja and Blue Dragon) revolve around typical gun based action gameplay of some sort. Gears, Chromehounds, Lost Planet, Mass Effect, Bioshock, and Halo 3 are or will be fun enough, but at a glance, it's like they're all the same damn game. Different genres or not. Same theme at least.

Irony, thy name is Stray.

What do you think the PS3 is going to give you besides a cheap Blu-Ray player? Final Fantasy and MSG, the games you mentioned earlier, are the exact definition of what you accuse Microsoft of here. The PSX exclusives are iterations on the same previous themes, only they aren't necessarily shooters. If you don't like the shooters (which I can see you don't) that's one thing, but to say that Microsoft is being repetitive with exclusives as if Sony isn't, well that's just flat wrong.

I should have a review of Madden for the Wii up in the next day or two. Short version: I like it, better than other versions.

[Velorath]

I personally don't care about FF and MGS either, but generally speaking, the type of exclusives Sony or Nintendo tap into excite me more than the kind that MS taps into. They have their hand on the console market in a way that MS doesn't. All of Microsoft's exclusives (outside Team Ninja and Blue Dragon) revolve around typical gun based action gameplay of some sort. Gears, Chromehounds, Lost Planet, Mass Effect, Bioshock, and Halo 3 are or will be fun enough, but at a glance, it's like they're all the same damn game. Different genres or not. Same theme at least. I expect more variety and unique themes from Sony.

Sure they all have the same theme if you consider "the character you play uses guns" as a theme.  Mass Effect is an RPG.  It's going to play completely different from Gears of War regardless of the fact that you shoot guns in both.  That's like saying that DMC and MGS both revolve against gun based action gameplay (and yes, apparently Kojima has said that you will be able to get through MGS4 without much use of stealth if you choose).

[stray]

What do you think the PS3 is going to give you besides a cheap Blu-Ray player? Final Fantasy and MSG, the games you mentioned earlier, are the exact definition of what you accuse Microsoft of here. The PSX exclusives are iterations on the same previous themes, only they aren't necessarily shooters. If you don't like the shooters (which I can see you don't) that's one thing, but to say that Microsoft is being repetitive with exclusives as if Sony isn't, well that's just flat wrong.

I should have a review of Madden for the Wii up in the next day or two. Short version: I like it, better than other versions.

Never said I didn't like shooters. I'd go so far as to say that I like them and play them more than most people at this site. My only point is that those aren't the kind of titles that'll win me over to the 360. I already have the best shooter platform on earth -- it'll curtail whatever shooter fix I need for the time being. I can wait a bit for the few gems that the 360 has. Shooters, online capability, and general American sci-fi sensibilities are not what I look for in a console.

If I had a PS3, it's not likely I'll jump up and buy Killzone either.

I fucking hate Space Marines.

For a console, I look for things I just can't get anywhere else -- Unique Japanese titles like Katamari, Ico/Collosus, or Okami; horror titles like Silent Hill; platformers in general; action adventure ala GoW or Devil May Cry; both wacky and robust sim racers like ATV Offroad Fury/Motorstorm and Gran Turismo; Japanese sports, fighting, and party games.

As for Mass Effect being an RPG, I know. I'm just mentioning it because it still seems to be targeting the same American sci-fi shooter market that Microsoft is good at. And just speaking on gameplay terms, I'm skeptical anyhow. I thought Jade Empire was boring. I'm not the Bioware fan that I used to be.