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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.
I'm SOLD. I want this console! I want this console! I want this console! Check out the video for Red Steel. Finally a console where playing an FPS isn't stupid! Please excuse me, I have to go clean myself off.
posted an epic collection of streaming E3 videos
And someone jealous decided to destroy it all by posting it to slashdot. Bye bye bandwidth!
--
Krazy Kat and Ignatz Mouse
Write boring code, not shiny code!
First it was Bluetooth headsets that made it tough to decide if the person coming up behind you was on the phone or a schizophrenic. Now I'll be wondering if the kids on the underground are gamers or epileptics.
I expect the Wii to be a huge success, but even if it isn't, at least Nintendo is introducing some change into the stalling industry. Combine with the Virtual Console for an easy delivery system for Indie developers, and you have an interesting setup that separates itself from other gaming systems.
To make Jack Thompson happy, someone should make a fighting game where you hold the wii-mote and physically smack the other person. "Ah ha, see, video games do cause real-world violence". That's what I call force feedback!
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
Nintendo have done well this round.
They put together something different, marketed it well, kept up interest, got developers interested, got public interested, created news news news...
There overall plan is very well thought out with lots of subtle nooks and crannies. I really hope it all works out and people buy these things in droves. This kind of think deserves results.
I'm buying three at or near launch. (one for me, me bro and me mam) And at least 6 to 8 games between the homes.
Pablo
I think having to flick the mouse around is more than enough physical exertion for the average FPS gamer. What makes you think they'll take to this?
Someone has to ask... Why?
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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.
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.
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
I can't wait for this system. Games are boring the hell out of me lately with the same thing churned out over and over again. If the E3 videos are any indication of how fun and new the Wii games are, it's going to be awesome. I'm looking forward to some sword fighting in Red Steel, Wii Sports for Tennis and Golf, the new Metriod and of course.. Smash Bros Brawl (even if it doesn't use the Wiimote like the other games, they did exactly what they needed to do to Smash Bros -- smooth out the gameplay, give it Internet capabilities and that's it.) This'll be the first system I'll buy on day 1 since my SNES.
Well, basically because a WiiMote wouldn't work on my PS2
Maybe the submitter also submitted this to nintendowiifanboy.com, but if not he just lifted the summary and made no reference to the source.
g e-of-every-wii-game-at-e3/
http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2006/06/20/foota
I was lucky enough to get to try it out on Metroid Prime in NY on a modified GC, and I can honestly say the control is great. All the FPS fans who were bagging on the Wii in favor of their favorite console Sony or MS will be in for a real surprise.
I will say however, at E3, that there were no real standout games or "must haves" from what I have seen and played so far. Excitetruck is fun, but nothing new, and Mario Galaxy controls like a dream but is a bit too gimmicky. Red Steel is an ABSOLUTE DUD. Don't buy into the hype, it is pure crap. Zelda is a mess to control, the aiming and controls seriously need tweaked and made to be a shitload more forgiving especially aiming the bow and arrow. Wii Sports and Hudson's flying game are the two main games so far that have me interested.
These are just my opinions and based on unfinished and beta games/hardware. So are everyone elses, take them for what they are and realize that I'm being as fair and honest as possible.
http://teasphere.wordpress.com - A little spot of tea
Who thinks this will wear off really quick? I like game immersion in a seemless fashion where i can think, plan and strategize and the standard controller fits that perfectly.. The action of waving my arms around or shaking hands or even swaying back and forth just appears to be as another style of button mashing to me.
I think its a got a "neat-o" factor but hardly something I see myself adopting for anything longer then a party game system when i just want to BS around and not actually get immsersed into what i'm trying to accomplish.
why have these two things never been combined? Seems like a no brainer.
Probably because there's never really been a mass marketed system released that came with a light gun (or equivalent) standard (and I don't mean just in 'deluxe' packages). Since the Wii now has a light gun equivalent packed in with it, you'll actually see more than a handful of games that use the feature.
This is one of the reasons I might actually be able to finally get the wife interested in console gaming - she likes playing light gun games in the arcade, and always nagged me to get one for the ps2. Lack of really good ps2 light gun games kept me from wasting money on it (no, I didn't care for the Time Crisis games).
I really wanted to buy the Wii, but now it seems, that with my significant other unable to enjoy much of the games, it's not an option.
Can you imagine the kind of movement you have to do for the Hot Coffee mod on this console?
And the speaker in the wiimote could make some noises as well. Squishy wet noises of... um... hot coffee, yeah!
I will buy when nintendo combines this with the power pad. You acctually have to walk to move in an FPS or walk and jump in mario. Talk about a work out, maybe bring back the guns and combine all three for the ultimate FPS game or sensory over load I'm not sure which one.
I really have to give Nintendo a lot of credit for going out on a limb and trying something new. When you think about it, game controllers haven't changed much in the last 20 years. You have a controller with a joystick or direction pad and a couple of buttons. Making the joystick analog instead of directional is an evolutionary change, as is having more and more buttons. The rest is just ergonomics - making the controller comfortable and sleek rather than a thumb-killer. Folks have been able to dress up controllers to look really cool, but they are essentially unchanged from the days of Atari and the NES.
This, on the other hand, is like a whole 'nother branch on the evolutionary tree. I hope that it gains some real traction and gets game developers thinking in unconventional ways. The samples from E3 indicate that they have already begun to do so. And, if imitation is the best form of flattery, it appears that sony is paying attention, too.
Why go fast when you can go anywhere? O|||||||O
The mouse and keyboard is perfection but it would be cool if there was an alternative even for a more emmersive factor.
6 3&pid=928517
I posted this awhile back on digg on the topic:
What I'd like to hear is just exactly how the wii controller works with a fps.
We all know the venerable mouse/keyboard combo is the superior method for most, with consoles lacking in the precision using a dual analog method.
I'm trying to picture exactly how a fps would work with I assume would be the nunchuck mode.
So the addon part of the controller would replace the wasd, but how would the actual aiming work.
Because what's perfect with the mouse is, you can position it slowly for accurate aiming, or whip it around to do a quick 180'. Now the thing is when one does this quick movement of the mouse, you have to lift the mouse to recenter it, how would that work when translated to the wii?
In one scenario I can picture the motion sensing tracking where your aiming and the onscreen gun actually remains center like a traditional fps and just your view changes.
This works fine when facing one direction, but say you want to quickly turn around? Wouldn't one end up not facing the screen if they simulate a turning around motion? Because the problem is, how do you simulate the lifting of the mouse to recenter?
Or they could make it that the onscreen gun is 'free floating' and can aim at the edge of the screen, and you could use the analog stick to actually change orientation or by aiming at the far edge of the screen, your view rotates. But I could see that being a fixed speed, kind of like rotating in descent.
So even though this controller looks really cool, and might add some truely new styles of gameplay, I'm curious how the nunchuk fairs with a fps. I think it's obvious that it's going to be superior to console's dual analog history of controlling fps's, but can it match a mouse? Or maybe the added 'submersion' by just playing with the controller would make up for any shortcomings?
And someone directed me to this article:
http://www.gamespot.com/e3/e3story.html?sid=61502
A relevant bit:
"Before getting too much further into describing the demo level, we'll talk about how the control scheme is handled in Corruption. The game uses the remote-plus-nunchuk configuration, where you'll want to use the remote in your dominant hand, as that is what handles aiming. Simply point the remote at the screen to aim Samus' arm cannon. The cursor actually moves within the screen, instead of being fixed to the center of the screen as with most first-person shooters. This makes it possible to aim and fire at something you see without moving Samus, but the tradeoff is that your ability to turn quickly is compromised. To turn, you'll need to move the cursor all the way to the edge of the screen, at which point Samus will begin turning. There's definitely a learning curve involved with getting used to how the Wii controller works for aiming, but thankfully you can press on the Z trigger on the nunchuk to lock on to a target, which keeps the interface feeling somewhat consistent with previous Prime games. The lock-on only works if you have an enemy somewhat close to the center of the screen, so it's not exactly a crutch--and lock-on won't work on very fast-moving targets, plus enemies can often break out of target lock by dodging back and forth."
"We did have some trouble here and there when the sensors seemed to have trouble reacquiring the signal whenever we put our hands down--finding that invisible plane where the sensor wants your hands to be can be a little tricky or frustrating if you put your hands down for any reason."
That certainly doesn't sound like a revolutionary way to play a fps, esp if it has a need to give the player a button to lock on to enemies. Sounds like it getting around the same old limitations that console controllers have when playing a fps.
And I haven't seen the vids yet, I'll check them out now, but I don't think the wii will revolutionize the fps.
Something about this sentence caught my eye, but it took me a few moments to figure out what:
It says "poses" the question, not "begs." Perhaps the efforts of anal-retentive grammar fascists like me are finally paying off.
Oops-- I mean, "Perhaps the efforts of anal-retentive grammar fascists like me are finally things off of which is paid."
Arr! Read The Government Manual for New Pirates!
Then you are a huge sucker.
I'm sorry, its time to burn some karma. Repeat after me: The Wii has not shipped. You barely know anything about it aside from press releases and E3 demos.
Seriously, what happened to waiting until we actually can get our hands on these things before deciding which console to go with? I mean, I'm happy for you and all, with this remarkable rescient clarity for who has 'done well in the round that has yet to happen...' But I, for one, will actually wait to play each console.
I've tried one new console, X360, and I liked it. But I haven't bought anything yet because there are two more in the pipe. Right now I see each of these boxes as having a significant strike against it: The PS3 is going to (probably) cost too much; the X360 relies heavily on Live! for value and has no standard HD; and the Wii can't do HD.
Sorry for the rant, just sick of all these kneejerk reactionary posts. As far as I'm concerned, I don't take Nintendo's amazing eyepopping demos with any less salt than Sony's and Microsoft's amazing eyepopping demos. Give me the games, then we shall see.
If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
I imagine you couldn't play this game without taking frequent breaks (which might be good for RSI but aren't very good for immersion).
Depends on what definition of 'immersion' you're using.
The old idea about immersive gaming is kind of like being in a hot tub -- you ease yourself in, but once you're comfortable you can stay there for hours.
Nintendo's new idea of immersion is like a diving board -- you climb up, leap off, in an instant you're enveloped by the water, and then quickly you're at the side of the pool again, ready to take another dive.
The fact that guys in Iraq do it every day doesn't change the fact that our bodies weren't meant to. They go through a lot of training in order to hold an M16 in front of them all day --- your average gamer doesn't.
A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
Right now I see each of these boxes as having a significant strike against it: The PS3 is going to (probably) cost too much; the X360 relies heavily on Live! for value and has no standard HD; and the Wii can't do HD.
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... I think most people are also in the same boat, planning to upgrade to HDTV in a few years but not yet.
I personally will not buy the Wii until i've had a chance to play an in-store unit, but as long as it's pretty fun, I'll be getting one. At $250-$300 including Zelda, that's not an outlandish purchase.
You also have to take into account that the Wii dev kit is $2000, compared to the 360's $20 000 price tag. As such, poor media arts students like me can afford to use it as a practical application of their class work.
I expect light guns might actually be quite popular on the Wii. Since games can be released without worrying about the light guns there should be lots of games as you said. With so many games specialised light guns will be a popular option (but not oblgatory) for fans of such games.
the more they over-think the plumbing the easier it is to stop up the pipe
Hate to be going for that backhand shot, have the thing slip out of my fingers, and go right through my (hypothetical) $3000 TV.
They say the first thing to go is your penis. Well, it's either that or your brain. I forget which...
But that it makes a lot of non-FPS games really fun to play.
Not every stick you see on the ground is a gun. Some can become swords. Some can become walking sticks, or pitons to use as you climb Mount Everest without the use of your left leg. Some can become claws as you become a crab beneath the waves. Some can become fishing rods, as you wait patiently for the slippery silvery salmon to go by.
The attraction of the Wii is that many things become fun - not just one.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
I know slashdot is land of the bad analogy, but are you really trying to relate playing a video game to soldiers in Iraq?
I first need to say that I am a fan of Nintendo and to a large degree Sony. Now having said that, I can't see a controller "selling" a console. The only advantage the Wii has that the other console makers can't copy is "Mario and company" and possibly price. The HUGE disadvantage it has is its performance compared to a year old 360 and even more to the PS3.
I hope Nindendo does well, and there are a ton of fanboys out there that will buy whatever Nintendo puts out, but I honestly don't see this doing much better than their gamecube. Now I am not saying that the cube did bad, but I honestly don't think a controller will win Nintendo the next console war. What has and will help them possibly win it is the price of the PS3. However, that is a somewhat scary position to be in. All it takes is a serious price drop in the PS3 and a "similar" controller to take away two of Nintendos strongest advantages. That leaves them with "Mario" again, and to be honest that may be enough. I am curious about how many 3rd parties jump on board this time around, and what their development kits offer. Also, I am curious where the 360 will fit in to this mix. It appears that they will have Nintendo on the "low" end and Sony on the high end. I can't see the average consumer picking a 360, at its current price point over the Nintendo (because of Mario and friends), or a PS3 because of the backward compatibility and the hardware advantage. Now if Microsoft lowers the price of the 360 to the same level as the Wii then that will put some pressure on Nintendo, but again you have the "Mario" factor.
So my long winded point is that I don't see a controller putting Nintendo to #1 in the console wars. If the controller is the coolest thing since sliced bread, it will be copied by everyone within a year. So at the end of the day it comes down to the games and hardware. Will Nintendo have the games? Will the 360 just have rehashed PC games?
The more I learn about science, the more my faith in God increases.
Could they pair the Wiimote and upper body movements with a DDR type pad for lower body movements? You could get quite a workout - oh wait.... Gamers don't too much of that, except for bicep curls. 'Curling' that beverage to their mouth. You know, 16oz curls, 32 oz curls, 0.5 or 1 liter curls...
Procrastination; I'll think of a sig tomorrow.
Otherwise, I think this is a great idea and would love to swordfight some dude in a game.
Practicing Kendo in my free time, that was really the first thought I had when I heard about the Wii controller.
If there is such a game, and the controller is anything near usable, hell, I'll probably mount the controller onto my Shinai for playing!
See my blog for my free opinions.
The Wii controller seems to still use the same method of control that every other console FPS uses: You move the crosshair to the edge of the screen and WAIT for it to pan over. This is exactly what the analog stick provides, the Wii just put a new face on it.
I am very disappointed that the crosshair does not stay centered. It looks like the Wii is still not the solution for "twitch" gameplay.
I'll still get a Wii, but this is a huge disappointment to me.
Keep in mind that at least some of the ravers are probably astroturfers and maybe sock puppets also.
You can buy fraudulent "stealth marketing" at places like this.
---
Marketing talk is not just cheap, it has negative value. Free speech can be compromised just as much by too much noise as too little signal.
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.
Some of you already have those cute little shirts on that say disco sucks, right? That's not all that sucks.-Frank Zappa
Now there is an *excellent* point. After all, the standard Nintendo creed is, Its Not About The Graphics, Its The Gameplay... right?
If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
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.
Your technical details about lightguns are a little bit out of date.
The type you described, which has a single-direction lens and a light level or color sensor, that's pretty much the oldest type. It's what was used for the NES, and also for older systems - I had a portable Pong rig that included a lightgun game that worked that way. These types required the screen to flash (or else just have all targets be really high-contrast) in order for the lightgun to get a reading. You can see this effect in games like Duck Hunt.
Then you have the raster scan method. I believe this is what's used on most current console lightguns. Basically it finds out when precisely the TV's raster crosses the point the gun is aimed at, and compares that to the video signal output by the game console to figure out where the gun is pointed. The downside of this method is that it won't work on certain types of TVs, it's mainly a CRT thing. Plus you need to get the video sync signal from the console - on PS2 light guns they do this with an external connector on the lightgun cord, I believe, while on the X-Box a video timing signal is actually included on the controller port. I believe for the sensor to work the video at the target point on-screen does have to be reasonably bright (that is, not black) but I could be wrong about that.
Then you have IR emitter/sensor lightguns. These are used in current and relatively recent arcade lightgun games like House of the Dead series and so on. Basically they use a combination of emitters and sensors to figure out where the gun is pointed. The gun reports the relative intensity of the signal it receives from each emitter (it can discern which is which through timing) and that gives the machine a good idea where the gun is pointed. Some types also use tilt sensors in the gun itself to get better information. The strength of this system is that it's completely independent of the video monitor. So long as it's properly calibrated you can use it with any video display technology at all. There's a home version of this type of lightgun sold at Lik-Sang, and the technology of the Wii pointer is very similar to this type of lightgun. That is why the Wii remote is so commonly compared to lightguns. When people make that comparison, they're talking about this type of lightgun. The fact that most lightgun games don't care about the fact that the lightgun is capable of a fairly accurate 3-D position and orientation report is pretty much incidental.
See also, Wikipedia's Entry on Lightguns
(Also, "it's" is "it is". "its" is a posessive pronoun.)
---GEC
I'm but the humble pupil, seeking to snatch the scratchbuilt pebble from the master's fully articulated hand
That actually reminds me of an interview http://wii.ign.com/articles/713/713627p1.html on IGN where Nintendo's leaders basically state that the DS will prove to be a bigger competitor to the Wii than the 360 or PS3, simply because both are similarly innovative and many families can't or won't buy more than one system, portable or no. Personally though, my family has (thankfully) always recognized the distinction between portable and tv-bound systems when allowing systems into the house. I play the DS when I'm out and about, and my home console instead of watching a movie at home during evening family time. The family gets into watching me play almost as much they get into watching a movie.
Using mice can cause Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Now, which one is more dangerous?
----- You know you have ego issues when you register a domain in your name.
The person who has toned arm and leg muscles has the Wii.
The one with the weight problem has the PS3.
I guess the one with the xBox360 is a Borg. Or at least dresses like one.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
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.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
I can just see Balmer in his office playing with his Wii (don't laugh just yet - but that does sound appropriate), and having to set the sensitivity so that when he does his chair throwing motions, the virtual chair doesn't end up on the moon. Maybe there needs to be three levels of sensitivity.
It could also be that after years of screaming for something different, something that doesn't just make the graphics nicer, one of the manufactorers is listening. If Sony or MS were taking this route you'd hear the same comments. I'm not syaing that 'turfers don't exist on the dot, just that I know I'm going to be getting one, too.
If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
What I don't see with the wiimote is a way to replace the c-stick. Having experienced camera freedom in Mario Sunshine and Wind Waker, I can't imagine going back to the limitations of the N64 iterations (basic centering and zoom in/zoom/out in Mario64 and behind the player centering in Zelda:OOT & Majora's Mask). Motion sensing of the wiimote has mostly been implemented to get a pointer (as far as I can tell) in the next generation iterations of both Mario and Zelda. I sure hope Nintendo hasn't decided that the N64 camera systems will be acceptable. Perhpas there will be an a way to use the wiimote for the camera as an alternate mode, like if a button is held...
so you're here advertising for onpoint aren't you?
"I can't see a controller 'selling' a console."
Funny, I'm planning to buy a Wii primarily for the controller -- because it will be the only game controller on the market that my non-gaming family and friends can grok easily.
The choices are as follows:
1. Buy an XBox or a PS2/PS3, and have it played by myself and my son.
2. Buy a Wii, and have it played by myself, my son, my wife, my parents, my in-laws, friends, visitors...
Call me crazy, but I think making gaming more accessible to everyone is a good thing -- and having a family that games together is doubleplusgood for this geek. If it takes a radical new controller to do the job, then so be it.
--R.J.
Electric-Escape.net
I'm nearly as sold on the Wii as the original poster. I spent over four hours playing games on it at E3 and enjoyed the heck out of the experience. Overall, I was more impressed with the 360 and PS3, but the Wii was fun, and it will be cheap. More importantly, it will be a system my daughter will love and that we will be able to play together. The chance of the PS3 or 360 having a good lineup of games a four-year old can enjoy seems very slim. I haven't decided yet between the 360 and PS3 (lots will depend on if I get a free system for reviews), but the Wii is a definite buy. Now, as far as the games so far...Excite Truck is awesome, Red Steel was great in the FPS portions and not-so-great in the swordplay, Tony Hawk sucked, Mario was okay, Metroid was good, but didn't benefit much from the wii-mote controls, I loved the horse racing game (name's escaping me at the moment), the sports titles were a blast (especially tennis), Madden was blah (and I sucked at it). I guess Excite Truck was the biggest surprise. The controller worked great for that one.
In case anyone else has had the same issues. At least some of the downloaded zips confuse the crap out of Windows and WinRAR they simply wont be able to extract them. Explorer will get confused over what the directory structure is doing. WinRAR wont even show you the directory the mov is in. (This may be because my winRAR isnt fully up to date.)
The current winACE will open the file fine though.
As to why im not so sure. For metroid the directory that causes the problems is \\227.mov (explorer reads it as WINDOWS) I can only assume this is because the thing was made on a Unix system and that folder will work on Unix will not work on Windows.
Needless to say there wasnt really any reason to have any folder structure zipped up, let alone a folder that can cause issues. Still its free so cant complain. (Well I can, and have... but you should probably ignore that.)
You should probably try to play a few more DS games. I'd suggest starting with Kirby Canvas Curse and Trauma Center, two games with gameplay that could not be implemented without the DS' touchscreen.
One time I threw a brick at a duck.
Forget FPS. I want a lightsaber game. I've been wanting one for almost thirty years.