Wii Q&A Thread

[Riggswolfe]

I wonder what is causing the PS3 not to be selling out? Considering how few the numbers are I'd figure there are enough fanboys we should never, ever see a PS3 in stock.

[Roac]

I wonder what is causing the PS3 not to be selling out? Considering how few the numbers are I'd figure there are enough fanboys we should never, ever see a PS3 in stock.

Price.  My guess is that the ultra hardcore guys did wait in line on release day to drop their $600, and now own all three systems.  This amounts to very few people overall.  The serious gamer already had a 360, and was faced with the steep price of a PS3 and the desire to get a Wii, plus Christmas presents for people.  So they got the Wii for themselves, and decided to wait on a PS3 purchase.  No point in getting a PS3 right off because it costs so much for so little difference (as of yet) to the 360.  The more average gamer looked at the price of the 360, the price of the PS3, and the price of the Wii and went WTF?! and picked one of the other two up instead.  The compeditive edge that the PS2 held in its generation was a massive game library.  Strictly in terms of library, the 360 holds that bonus at the moment, and is likely to retain it throughout this generation. 

[Trippy]

It's also past Christmas so the best excuse for making a big bucks purchase for yourself has passed unless you were fortunate enough to be showered with gaming/electronics gift cards all from the same place over the holidays.

[Yegolev]

If you get a Wii, you can play Zelda on it.  If you get a PS3 you can play something that isn't Zelda.

I mostly play Bully and Metal Saga on my PS3.

[Kageru]

So you paid 600$ for a flawed PS2 emulator?

[Margalis]

The PS3 right now offers nothing but great graphics on mediocre games. Why would anyone want one?

I'm not even sure I can name a single PS3 game.

360 has some good games out and the Wii has good games and a whole new experience. PS3 has nothing at this point. Why would there be any demand for a fancy paperweight?

[stray]

Keep the hyperbole to politics. I don't like the launch list that much either, but Resistance is a good game. Gamepad aside, it's on par or better than most of the good FPS's out right now. It'd probably be a modest hit if it was a PC game (i.e. Prey, Fear, Call of Duty....but looks better than any of them). Multiplayer is good too.

The 360 has it smoked, of course (at least until Epic releases UT2K7), but I'd take it over the Wii's CoD3 (which the PS3 has too), Red Steel, or that bastardized version of FarCry.

Hell, I've had more fun with demos of MotorStorm and GTA Concept than any of this stupid Vanguard/WoW/LotRO/SWG shit most people here yap about all fucking day, week in week out, year in year out, etc, etc, etc... So don't say this shit about paperweights. There are far worse things to be playing -- and the majority of F13 is playing them.

The ports I have (NBA 2K7 and Project 8 ) are good fun...But they're ports. I'm sure that disqualifies them from discussion to someone here..Somehow.

[schild]

The Wii doesn't offer an entire new experience either. I'm still just playing a game. You know what? When Lair comes out? I'll turn off the tilt controls on the PS3 there also. The Wii does not come close to the controller, keyboard, and mouse. I'm sorry. And this is coming from the guy who spent $50 on Super Swing golf, bought that Wii Sports accessory pack, and hunted down component cables during the first few weeks just to get the best possible experience. And you know what? Didn't make a fucking difference. Yea, sure, it's objective. But I buy more and play through more games than just about anyone here. And it was not more fun or less fun. It was still just Golf. And right now, the Wii controller might as well be a shoehorn. Same with the motion stuff in the PS3 controller. It's all a crock of bullshit to sell more units. We'll see if those two controllers can turn around like the DS is, but not likely. No one wants to compete with Nintendo's first party titles and no one wants to spend $600 on a console.

[Margalis]

Why are you looking for a replacement for the keyboard and mouse?

I don't think it is possible to play Wii sports and claim it is an old experience. Standing up in your living room and swinging your controller around like a bat is old?

Obviously a whole bunch of people disagree with you.

The motion stuff on the PS3 is a retarded afterthought that will never amount to anything. You can't hold a gamepad in two hands and wave it around very much.

Resistance might be ok but can't people play GOW on 360 instead? Right now the PS3 is a purchase mostly for people who already own the other two systems, because it doesn't do anything the other systems don't do better while costing the most.

Highest price, lowest quality. Gee why isn't that selling well?

[schild]

The Wiimote is a decent attempt at making me feel like I'm in an arcade, but it's not a replacement. I want Light Gun games. You want me to pretend it's Tennis? I realize it's asking a lot, but give me something that actually replaces a tennis racket. Basically everything that it's trying to emulate is entirely too half-assed. Do it right or don't do it at all. Especially if it gets in the way of Possible Fun (like Zelda).

[stray]

The motion stuff on the PS3 is a retarded afterthought that will never amount to anything. You can't hold a gamepad in two hands and wave it around very much.

The argument that the Wii is halfassed is between you and Schild (I don't really believe that....At least as far as Wii sports is concerned), but I don't understand why you'd knock the PS3's sensing capabilities when it's using the same interface that enables teh Wiimote to do what it does. It's not UFO Robot Jesus technology. Hell, you can even program the Wiimote to function on a PS3 (there was some conference awhile back where a keynote speaker was doing just that for his presentation).

Outside of Nintendo exclusives, Wiimote type games would be simple to port as well. They're using dated PPC and ATI chips, and Bluetooth -- all of which would pose no problem on a PS3.

Whether they will is another story. Not one that matters much to me anyways. I'll be getting a Wii too.

Resistance might be ok but can't people play GOW on 360 instead? Right now the PS3 is a purchase mostly for people who already own the other two systems, because it doesn't do anything the other systems don't do better while costing the most.

Gaming wise, you're right. Though Resistance has a multiplayer and replay advantage imho. Not much of a gameplay advantage outside of a longer campaign mode. Possibly a better story (yeah not saying much), and it just seems harder (that could be subjective).

General entertainment wise, no. Even if you got the hddvd player or wireless addon for the 360, no. It's neither cheaper or better. Nor is it more convenient. You're getting more for your money than you would the XBox.

You can downplay that if you wish, of course.

[Velorath]

General entertainment wise, no. Even if you got the hddvd player or wireless addon for the 360, no. It's neither cheaper or better. Nor is it more convenient. You're getting more for your money than you would the XBox.

You can downplay that if you wish, of course.

General entertainment-wise I'm guessing that XBox Live has a huge advantage over the PS3 store right now in terms of movies and TV shows available for download which probably shouldn't be downplayed either.  Apparently HD movie downloads are pretty popular on the 360.

[stray]

I wouldn't downplay that. Sony will probably try it too.

I don't think either them or Sony has provided users a good basis to start with though (20 gigs or none. For "HD". 20 gigs or 60 as far as Sony goes).

I'd downplay their recent announcement of the IPTV Xbox though (i.e. an XBox with streaming HD cable like service). Now they're coming out and saying that disc media doesn't matter (yeah, maybe 15 or 20 years from now).

[Velorath]

I wouldn't downplay that. Sony will probably try it too.

I don't think either them or Sony has provided users a good basis to start with though (20 gigs or none. For "HD". 20 gigs or 60 as far as Sony goes).

The lack of storage space kind of sucks for the TV shows, but from what I've seen looking around, most of the movies on Live are "rentals".  You're not really going to keep them on your HD long enough for storage to be much of an issue.  It's not something I've really tried out yet though as my work (and by extension a large amount of my social life) involves watching a lot of movies at the theater so I'm not inclined at the moment to watch too many movies at home.

[stray]

Damn...Too bad there isn't video acceleration in PS3 Linux (I think?). Then I could claim the PS3 has full BitTorrent + Movie ownership capability ;).

[Velorath]

And once again I remember that this is supposed to be the Wii thread.  Someone just make a PS3 vs. Wii. vs. 360 thread and be done with it (I'd do it but I don't want to take the blame when it becomes a complete disaster).

[stray]

Yep...

Though to be honest, I don't really want a "Vs" thread per se. I'd just like to discuss what lies ahead for all of them. If anything.

It's more interesting than Vanguard at least.

[Velorath]

Yep...

Though to be honest, I don't really want a "Vs" thread per se. I'd just like to discuss what lies ahead for all of them. If anything.

It's more interesting than Vanguard at least.

It would turn into a vs. thread regardless, especially with schild's drive-by Wii hate.  Such is life.

[CmdrSlack]

The Wiimote is a decent attempt at making me feel like I'm in an arcade, but it's not a replacement. I want Light Gun games. You want me to pretend it's Tennis? I realize it's asking a lot, but give me something that actually replaces a tennis racket. Basically everything that it's trying to emulate is entirely too half-assed. Do it right or don't do it at all. Especially if it gets in the way of Possible Fun (like Zelda).

So are you saying that you want purpose-shaped controllers ala Guitar Hero?  Like a tennis racket-shaped controller, baseball bat shaped, etc.?  I do agree that the light gun needs to come back.  I kind of miss Duck Hunt.

[stray]

I'm getting flashbacks of Gyromite and Track and Field. 

I'm pretty sure that Sega is better at all of this though. Just drop by your local Dave and Busters and see. Not to mention it'd be better having a third party handle this stuff anyways.

[schild]

Yes, I want purpose shaped controllers. Or VERY HIGH quality parts to mimic the experience and attach to the current controller. Also, one of my biggest gripes with the system was tethering everything to the remote. That shit drives me nuts.

[Margalis]

My problem with the six-axis stuff is just the way the controller is shaped, you can't really wave it around and twist it very much.

You can use the wiimote with one hand, it feel very natural, you can pitch it and rotate it fairly easily. A game pad is designed for two hands. Gripping something with two hands gives you much less freedom (especially twisting) and using it with one hand is just weird.

Now of course you can say the reverse of the Wiimote, it feels odd with two hands as a standard gamepad.

[CmdrSlack]

Yes, I want purpose shaped controllers. Or VERY HIGH quality parts to mimic the experience and attach to the current controller. Also, one of my biggest gripes with the system was tethering everything to the remote. That shit drives me nuts.

See, that seems cool, and I wouldn't mind specialized controllers if they came with the game and didn't bump the price up too high.  But isn't the downside having to store a hojillion specialized controllers?

[schild]

I wouldn't notice 40 controller peripherals. Not anymore.

[stray]

My problem with the six-axis stuff is just the way the controller is shaped, you can't really wave it around and twist it very much.

You can use the wiimote with one hand, it feel very natural, you can pitch it and rotate it fairly easily. A game pad is designed for two hands. Gripping something with two hands gives you much less freedom (especially twisting) and using it with one hand is just weird.

Now of course you can say the reverse of the Wiimote, it feels odd with two hands as a standard gamepad.

I don't disagree with you. Also, it's main flaw is no real pointing capability. It's just motion.

At best, the Sixaxis a nice way to compliment standard gamepad controls (as it does in some games already). Not a good way to control an entire game..It really shouldn't be viewed that way.

As for a controller that mimics the Wiimote, I suppose that Sony could issue out a bluetooth motion device that also functions as a DVD/BD remote. Since people want a DVD remote anyways. That seems more clever than marketing something specfically as a game peripheral.

[Kageru]

I've seen a picture of the "gun" for the wii. It was hard to judge size, but it definitely embedded the wiimote within a gun shaped shell. Ideally a better trigger and rumble would make a nice accessory. Mind you, the wii is a platform not really that well suited to serious shooters.... although I must say the footage of the next metroid prime game looked quite decent.

Wii vs PS3 is ultimately fairly futile, they really aren't in direct competition. The X-box, PS3 and PC definitely are though.

[schild]

Xbox vs PC isnt a fight the PC can win. So sorry. Not enough worthwhile PC only developers.

[stray]

Though I'm not the biggest defender of PC's, MS still hasn't addressed one of the biggest draws of PC gaming: Mods. Whether that be creating or using. The Xbox might have coaxed PC developers, but it hasn't exactly transfered the full PC experience yet.

There's an interview where Tim Sweeney praises Sony's online model over Microsoft's because of this (that at least it isn't such a closed deal as XBL...PC's mods can and will able to trickle down to the PS3 without any roadblocks or Sony feeling they need to get in the way...Hell, Epic hasn't even announced a 360 version of UT yet, let alone mod ability).

[edit]

What's that phrase Microsoft uses?

"Premium Content" (cha ching!)

Yeah...Not cool.

[Kageru]

Yes, I've come to terms that the licensing situation basically damns the most powerful and flexible of the platforms to obscurity.

.... mind you, it would probably be a far more viable platform if microsoft wasn't also one of the dominant console owners. Not really much point in them competing with themselves.

[Riggswolfe]

Mods on the 360 would be nice. In fact, it's the only thing that made me consider Oblivion on the PC over the XBOX since most of my fun with Morrowind came with user-created mods. In the end playing it on my big screen hi-def TV won out. And Bethesda has released enough content themselves I'm mostly good. Also, unlike Morrowind I enjoy the box version of Oblivion just fine.

On another note, I bought Zelda for Gamecube yesterday and all my urges to get a Wii died. I can now safely wait several months if I need to. Amazing how that one game was the big thing I wanted a Wii for.

So, does anyone know any good games coming in say, the next 6 months that will make the Wii attractive to purchase? The only two launch games that looked interesting were Zelda and the Emergency room game. Where's Mario and Metroid?

Edit: I've also been noticing that while the 360 consoles are in stock it's a bitch to find alot of the better games. Rainbow Six Vegas seems to be a myth at this point as far as I can tell. Hell, I can't even find that cheesy new Star Trek game. (which I'm considering getting just so I can play a game with Captain Kirk in it. I mean come on!)

[Roac]

Raving Rabbids is fantastic.  Terribly addictive, and a really good party game.  Actually, it's mostly a party game as the single player is very short (beatable in 10 hours or so), although you can go to the multiplayer and play as just one player.  That lets you rack up points to unlock stuff, although it's nothing to get wound up for.  Some people are loving the Madden game (I don't have it - don't play football games) and Monkey Ball (rented, didn't care for the control scheme, but others rate it highly). 

There are a handful of mediocre titles out now:  Red Steel, Far Cry, GT Pro.  For some reason the aiming control for the shooer part of Rabbids feels more natural and easier to use than either Red Steel or Far Cry (and I don't mean because it's on rails), but from what I've heard CoD3 does it well too.  I have that and the Clancey game, but haven't gotten to them yet.

Big titles comming in '07 are Mario, Paper Mario, Metroid, and Final Fantasy.  Harry Potter could be neat, as I think people are going to go nuts over using the Wiimote as a wand.  Sadness looks very interesting, and DragonQuest is comming.  Fire Emblem, WarioWare (party game), and Smash Bros, depending on what you like.  Not sure how many of those are Q1-2 of '07, but all are TBA in '07.

[Yegolev]

So you paid 600$ for a flawed PS2 emulator?

Yeah, pretty much.

[Yegolev]

I can see the fun in having lots of specialty controllers but it would not be very practical, so we get the Generic Action Device rather than a baseball bat or golf club or shotgun.  I guess I will find out if I'm OK with that compromise once I can get a Wii.

The thing that I expect will irritate the shit out of me with the Wii is basically the same thing as what irritates the shit out of me about the DS, and this is also one of schild's gripes on Zelda: the shoehorning of Wiimoteness into every game.  On the DS, there are many games that just don't need the stylus but force it in there because of some Nintendo mandate (I assume).  Dawn of Sorrow, for example, is disqualified from challenging Symphony of the Night simply because it forces me to use the stylus in a boss fight.  No, it's not much and only a little inconvenient but on principle I disagree with shoehorning in some stylus just because it's fucking there.

Children of Mana doesn't require the stylus (maybe I'm not far enough into it, but so far so good), but I expect this sort of shit on the Wii for approximately as long as it was between the release of the DS and Children of Mana.  Games that make good use of the stylus are fine (menu-driven games or Brain Age, I guess), and even traditional games that make judicious use of it are fine (Contact does OK despite some heavy use), just don't make me play a 2D Castlevania with a stylus and expect me to ask for seconds.

[Sky]

Xbox vs PC isnt a fight the PC can win. So sorry. Not enough worthwhile PC only developers.

Heh. Good one. Why is this posted in a Wii Q&A thread?

Mods on the 360 would be nice. In fact, it's the only thing that made me consider Oblivion on the PC over the XBOX since most of my fun with Morrowind came with user-created mods. In the end playing it on my big screen hi-def TV won out. And Bethesda has released enough content themselves I'm mostly good. Also, unlike Morrowind I enjoy the box version of Oblivion just fine.

Again, not the thread for this...but why wouldn't you be able to play the pc version of Oblivion on your big screen hdtv? I did just fine.

[HaemishM]

I've seen a picture of the "gun" for the wii. It was hard to judge size, but it definitely embedded the wiimote within a gun shaped shell. Ideally a better trigger and rumble would make a nice accessory. Mind you, the wii is a platform not really that well suited to serious shooters

I disagree with what you said. The Wii is better for shooters than any of the other consoles out there, because the Wiimote is a better device for actually aiming a gun. Just because some people get pissy about COD and Red Steel not having HD graphics does not mean they aren't good games, because they are very good games.