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

Ok, I was interested before but now....

[Iguru42]

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.

Re:Ok, I was interested before but now....

[ALeavitt]

I'm betting that the console, as well as individual games, will have adjustable sensitivity. They wouldn't be able to offer that at e3 because it would take time away from the actual game demo, but it would be almost unthinkable not to have adjustable sensitivity.

Re:Ok, I was interested before but now....

[Yahweh Doesn't Exist]

the biggest FUD about the Wiimote is that people NEED to make big movements.

When people play the tennis game, for example, for the first time and are told to move as if it's real, that's because it's the simplest and most intuitive way of explaining the control mechanism to them. It doesn't mean you have to play with big realistic motions. They can play instantly, whereas if you start saying things like "to do a backhand with topspin make a curving motion with the controller tilted inwards" it just makes things sound complicated.

So don't worry: you can play the Wii sitting down and making small movements just as well as you can standing up and swinging your arms about.

Re:Ok, I was interested before but now....

[edwdig]

The Metroid Prime 3 demo had 2 sensitivity settings. Most people playing on the standard setting weren't very impressed, but those playing on the higher sensitivity loved it.

Re:Ok, I was interested before but now....

[rmadmin]

Swinging a controller all over hell to get a character to move? Hell, I was doing that on the NES. JUMP MARIO! *makes upward motion with controller*. Guess Nintendo has been paying attention to their customers :P

Re:Ok, I was interested before but now....

[lowrydr310]

I realized I got too immensed in a game when I went for a drive after playing GTA for six hours. I ended up running a red light to pass a city bus (on the right side!) that was about to stop and pick up passengers. Fortunately I didn't jump out of my car to pick up the Porsche 911 that was stopped at the next light.

Re:Ok, I was interested before but now....

[AuMatar]

You fool! Any time you have a chance to draw them into gaming you take it. Once you have them hooked, they no longer yell at you to get off the damn computer and spend time with them.

A Collection of Videos on /. ???

[Pieroxy]

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

Great, more confusion

[99luftballon]

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.

Re:Great, more confusion

[gEvil (beta)]

Well, since the Wii isn't a portable device (yet), it's still safe to say that they're epileptics.

Re:Great, more confusion

[steveo777]

Just wait until the devices are implanted in your molars. Then people can think you're a skitz again! My girlfriend's dad thought I was nuts because I was talking to my brother with a bluetooth headset. My phone was in my pocket, no wires. Just... talking... to thin air.

A few strange looks later and a warning to his daughter and I finally caught on.

Re:Great, more confusion

[Anonymous Coward]

To quote Hobbes "I bet your natural charm has made you a great sprinter"

Picture it

[MrSquirrel]

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!

Re:Change is good

[Zigg]

Wait, what part of that doesn't Xbox Live Arcade already do?

I'm a Nintendo fan, and I'm more interested in VC than XBLA simply because of the Nintendo titles and (hopefully) potential of the service by way of the percieved audience, but I'm not going to deny XBLA its due for setting the precedent here.

Total Revolution

[Pablo El Vagabundo]

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

Riiiight

[tickbox]

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?

Re:Riiiight

[CastrTroy]

Often when I go over to someone's house and play video games, it gets really boring really fast, because some of the new games require so much time to learn. This is with games that are meant to be played with others, like sports, driving, and fighting games. It gets even worse for FPSs and games that are mostly played with 1 player, or over a network. I have a gamecube, and I like that there's a lot of games available that don't require weeks of play before someone is good. Games like Bomberman, MarioKart, MarioParty, really stand out as games that anybody can pick up and play.

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?

[iabervon]

The Wii is really designed to interest the non-gamers. The point of the controller is basically to let games have people make movements that they actually make in real life, rather than traditional gaming, where the player is actually sitting still holding a small box and moving their fingers slightly. It lets them have a ping-pong game where, instead of using a bunch of knobs and buttons to play ping-pong, you play ping-pong to play ping-pong. This is obviously likely to be more popular with non-gamer ping-pong players.

I think Brain Age reflects this shift in thinking; you say things by saying things, and write by writing. When you're reading aloud, it's just like you're holding a small hardcover book and reading it. I think the goal of the Wii is to expand the concept of having the player action match the character action beyond fingertips and voice.

Another hint that it's not targetted at gamers: there's little hardware difference between the Gamecube and the Wii aside from the controller, especially compared to the difference between the Xbox and 360 or PS2 and PS3. The Gamecube is therefore already essentially sufficient for what they want the hardware to do, aside from the limited interaction with the controller.

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!

Can't wait

[squison]

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.

Re:Wireless PS2 Remote

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, basically because a WiiMote wouldn't work on my PS2

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/

My take on it...

[rAiNsT0rm]

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.

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).

Hot Coffee

[Eric Coleman]

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!

Not all that for fps

[Sark666]

The mouse and keyboard is perfection but it would be cool if there was an alternative even for a more emmersive factor.

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=615026 3&pid=928517

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.

Re:That's true.

[poot_rootbeer]

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.

Re:That's true.

[be-fan]

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.

Re:Total Revolution - flame on

[joshsisk]

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.

Re:Change is good

[amjacobs]

3 dimensions, 6 degrees of freedom. More than 3 dimensions would require the manipulation of time and/or some string theory dimensions.

Re:That's true.

[trix7117]

I know slashdot is land of the bad analogy, but are you really trying to relate playing a video game to soldiers in Iraq?

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

[thatguywhoiam]

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.

Now there is an *excellent* point. After all, the standard Nintendo creed is, Its Not About The Graphics, Its The Gameplay... right?

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.

How to tell if someone has a Wii or a PS3

[WillAffleckUW]

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.

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.