Wii-mote In Action

Jack Lancer writes "Gameworld Network (which is either a network of gameworlds or a gameworld of networks) has posted an epic collection of streaming E3 videos which clearly depicts each and every playable Wii game and how exactly one has to swing, wave, shake, point, wiggle and/or jostle the Wiimote in order to play." And once again this poses the question — is this the future of gaming UI? Sure seems like a great idea for a FPS.

Comments

still hard to really tell

[EggyToast]

The Wii thing really seems like a "try it to get it" sort of thing. The concepts are easy enough to explain, sure, but I don't think I'll really understand just exactly how to move the controller.

Does that mean I'm getting old? Now that I think about it, it sounds like my dad, who rocked the joystick back when we had an Atari XE, didn't really get newer controllers until he was actually playing a game (and usually got confused by the multiple things to control).

But yeah, wiggling and shaking demonstrates how it works, but given the fine control w/ the "Wii-mote," I still think it'll be until people have it in their hand that they really get it. Didn't people at E3 say that people started out gesticulating wildly, and then calmed down when it "clicked"? Luckily it seems like a very easy thing to pick up.

What about the traditional non-gamer crowd?

[Dark Paladin]

I've been seeing the DS/DS Lite make inroads with people I work with - especially when they see me playing "Brain Age" or "Big Brain Academy" - I had my DS Lite passed around the office for about an hour as people tried out the test from the latter game. At least one or two people - in their 40's, never played games before, but now are seriously thinking about picking up a DS for their kids and maybe the Brain Age for themselves.

So I wonder if Nintendo's "Blue Ocean" approach will work with the Wii. Iwata, as I understand it, has mentioned that he'd like for people to play the Wii every day - much like my wife and I play the DS (she digs the Brain Games and "Magnetica" - this from a women that for the last 12 years wouldn't touch a computer game unless it had the words "Tetris" or "Solitaire" on it).

Which is all they need - my wife plays Brain Age a little bit every day. I'm wondering if Nintendo can't leverage the Wii sports games with "Work out every day for 30 minutes - helps get you in shape!" Tie in some workouts, perhaps like the Brain Age games put in the competitive aspects (which has helped each of us play the DS every day to try and one-up each other - so far, I'm at a B+ in Academy.

Obviously we'll have to wait and see, but the other day a coworker asked me "Hey, that Nintendo thing coming out - that's the competor for the Xbox, isn't it?" I'm not sure which was more telling: that he knew that there was a Nintendo thing coming out - or that he thought that was the Xbox competitor, not the new Playstation.

Well, just another 4-5 months to go.

Re:What about the traditional non-gamer crowd?

[steveo777]

I've been trying to keep people educated about the new generation of systems vs. the old. Sometimes it's funny, other times I want to call it pathetic. I was exitedly talking about Red Steel and Warhawk. Both look amazing, but I can only afford one. One guy said to me, "That new Nintendo is supposed to be almost as powerful as the first XBox, it's going to be a piece of junk." I asked if he had a minute or two for a quick demo. We were in a coffee shop and I had my laptop.

I typically keep preview movies on my HDD for way too long. I loaded up something I had used to show the graphical difference between Spiderman 2 as it was made by the same dev house for all three "last-gen" systems. A friend of mine had spliced them together to run simultaneously. The scenes weren't the same, but the effect was there.

This guy isn't a gamer. He's played a lot of Halo, though. I achieved the desired effect, he was unable to distinguish between the XBox and GC versions, but pointed at the PS2 version saying that it was the worst looking. I didn't tell him why there were three screens. But clarified that the other two were the non-PS2 and showed him the XBox was a bit better as there was an increased draw distance. The guy was taken aback. He still isn't a gamer, but someone's gotta clear this stuff up!

Summary lifted?

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe the submitter also submitted this to nintendowiifanboy.com, but if not he just lifted the summary and made no reference to the source.

http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2006/06/20/footag e-of-every-wii-game-at-e3/

Re:Am I the only one

[BenjyD]

I'm not sure why using a standard controller would be more immersive, it's an extremely abstract control device.

Personally, if Nintendo can pull off with the Wii what they have with the DS, then they are going to make a fortune. The DS has plenty of weird and 'different' games (Trauma Center, Kirby etc) as well as plenty of traditional games (Mario 64, advance wars, tony hawks) and non-gamer games (Brain training, Animal crossing).

Re:Total Revolution - flame on

[klausboop]

If that's the ONLY strike against the Wii, then why is he a sucker to want to buy it? Perhaps he simply doesn't care about HD. I know that I, personally, will likely not have an HDTV for the next several years...

Similarly, my family isn't planning on getting a Wii or any other home console during this round because each of us now has a Nintendo DS (the wife and I bought one when the Lite came out). We moved from playing multiplayer Mariokart on the TV where we each had our own section of the screen to playing multiplayer Mariokart where we all have our own handheld console.

I understand we're not getting the near photorealistic graphics that a modern console or good PC could deliver, nor the game depth that a disk- (vs. cartridge-) based game sometimes delivers. However, the DS delivers everything that our family DOES want out of a console, and is portable to boot. Once the web browser is released it'll have even more portable utility.

Re:Total Revolution - flame on

[lordmatthias215]

Dude, if you would read the next line of Pablo's post, you would realize that he's saying Nintendo has done well in the areas of development and marketing both to developers and to consumers. While I agree that this doesn't neccesarily mean that the Wii will be a good system, I myself plan to get a Wii on launch day, a few extra controllers, and some games. I've played every major (and some minor) game consoles since the NES, and I've always prefered Nintendo. I got the CameCube the Christmas it came out, and although my dad got a PS2 and Xbox for free shortly thereafter, I've been most satisfied with the Gamecube. So I'm willing to take the risk that Wii won't be that good, because the risk is slim. I see no reason to pay $600 (plus games & accessories) to play upgraded versions of the PS2 games that were more of the same even in the previous generation. Worse yet, $400 (plus yadda yadda) so I can play the crummy game that PDZ is (tried it at a friend's, hated it), or to get the opportunity to download zuma, which I can find online. And if it turns out that the Wii's new control scheme isn't as fun as I had hoped, there's still a good number of old games I missed out on availble on VC.

Realistic swordfights, technical solutions

[WillAffleckUW]

Thats not what I'm most concerned about...my big concern is how can you have realistic sword fights when there is nothing to forcibly stop the controller from moving past a certain point if your character makes contact in the game.

I especially see this as a problem for multiplayer swordfighting (think a multiplayer Star Wars game) where two people might be waving their swords, but if they cross blades, the controller keeps moving past the contact point, thus screwing up the positioning of the players hands with the remote.

Not really. It's fairly simple. Remember the Wii controller also has a speaker. What you do is have an audio "clang" when your sword hits another, or a "buzz" when your light saber touches another one.

Also, in the game mechanics, once your sword comes in contact with another, you just stop the forward motion of the displayed sword, and use any further forward motion as "push" motion against the opponent sword, used to simulate strength.

Now, it might take a bit of getting used to, especially if you had a true swords and sorcery game, where someone might be wearing heavy armor - in that a blow straight against someone with plate mail won't penetrate, but will glance off, but it's a fairly simple programming exercise to translate any motion after armor hit or after sword hit into the appropriate vector. The main thing is to use both audio feedback - both Wii controller and speakers - and force feedback (vibration on controllers if applicable) to indicate what's really happening. Most players will quickly adapt.

On the other hand, if you stick to fighting gelatinous blobs, your sword will literally chop straight through them. And a light saber - unless it meets a force field or another light saber (also force field) - will also keep going through the body it chops into. But there should be some audio and other feedback to represent the energy drain.