Imagine this... Wii Sports 2 - Now with full online functionality!
Is it possible the late blooming of online features in Wii games is intentional? Nintendo knows their hardware is lacking compared to the other consoles available. And their VP of Marketing just came out and said that they predict the lifecycle of the Wii will last more than five years.
Nintendo had an ace up their sleeve with the new controller. They knew it. They felt they would sell consoles without a full set of online features. So why not introduce the console with limited networking capabilities? They will sell the console to the early adopters and when demand starts to slump, release a highly anticipated game with online play. Then add a new game download channel. Then add a 'Battle Arena' for Miis.
Keep that up 2-3 times a year for 5+ years and I can see how the technically inferior console could at least end up with a third of the market after 5 years.
On a side note, I just realized last night how important the Wii Remote is to the future of not only game controllers, but any type of electronic controlling device. I popped in a DVD and found myself trying to browse the menu by waving the DVD player remote. That damn thing is spoiling me!
Wow. I cannot believe you got modded to +4, Insightful. Not by people who actually own a Wii, I'm sure.
The size of your TV does not really matter. All movements are read relative to the "sensor bar". So it doesn't matter where you are pointing on your screen. I'm sure there are others who know a lot more than I do that could explain it better.
And they do have a built-in sensitivity tool. I have it and I have not been online with my Wii yet.
Go to your Wii menu -> Wii Settings -> Wii Systems Settings 2 -> Sensor Bar -> Sensitivity
Make sure you cover the entire area given with the pair of dots. Particularly the edges. If not set properly, a third dot will often show when you get near or on an edge.
You can also set your screen type (4:3 or 16:9) and sensor bar position (top or bottom of TV). I wonder if you've even browsed through those settings.
As for the 'Nintendorks' reference, very juvenile.
You make some outstanding points, and overall, I loved your post. But you were a little hard on the people coming to Ninteno's defense.
The Wii is what it is. And it is an outstanding example of what it is.
I'm mostly a computer gamer (Vic20, C64, Amiga 500, PC), yet I purchased a Wii day one. Do I love the Wii? Hell yeah. Do I want to play the Wii every time I play video games? Hell no. I still love my PC games. They give me what the Wii cannot. What any console cannot, IMO.
But you know what? The Wii gives me what PC games cannot. Or the other consoles.
Point? Let the Wii be what it is. Not what everybody thinks it should be.
Oh yeah, and the Wii is by no means "... a piece of shit."
I PURCHASED the original Half-Life when it was brand new and loved every moment of the game (even the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th time I played). So needless to say, I have been awaiting this game for a very long time.
I live in a rural area and survive (quite nicely) on dial-up. I am a Linux user and only use Windows for gaming. I didn't even have my modem set up before this fiasco. I make it a point to never connect to the outside world with Windows (I really don't need to explain why here on Slashdot).
Once I found out I would need to connect to unlock the game I was upset and almost didn't buy it. But hey, its Half-Life 2. I can make this one exception. Big mistake...
I PURCHASED the game (the $80 version), brought it home and installed it (Half-Life 2 and Half-Life: Source, no CS). ~6:00 pm. Connected to my local ISP. Started Steam. Hmmm, it needs to update Steam first. Over 4 Meg of data (remember, I'm on dial-up) and 45 minutes later, Steam was updated. ~6:45 pm.
Now I need to create a Steam account. This process alone took over 15 minutes! Oh and while this is going on, I am seeing pop-ups telling me this & that and to go here or there. I've been infected with spyware! Grrrrrrrrr.
After all of their content loaded (once again very slow on dial-up), I saw a button to register a product I OWN (their words, not mine). I hit this button and was given a menu with checkboxes for the 3 games that came on the disk. I did not un-check CS (boy did I regret that later). Hit next. ~7:15 pm.
I was then shown a window telling me the following process would take up 900 & some odd Meg on my HDD. ? I thought I already installed the game. Hit continue anyway...
After about an hour of network activity, drive activity, network activity, etc. It said Half-Life 2 was unlocked. ~8:15 pm. Then it started working on CS. Shit, is it going to download the whole game since I left it checked and didn't install it? After about 30+ minutes of network activity I thought yes. Hit cancel hoping I would be able to find that menu again and uncheck CS. Couldn't find it anywhere. ~8:45 pm.
Thought to myself that it did inform me that HL2 was unlocked so I should just be able to play, right? Wrong. After trying all sorts of other possibilities, I just wiped everything clean and started all over just installing/activiating HL2. ~9:00 pm.
While that did finally work, it took 2 hours. And by this time, I'm stewing in a huge pot of rage.
Finally playing at ~11:00 pm.
I vow to never again purchase software where I, as a legitimate customer, have to jump through so many damn hoops to use the product I paid a shit load of money for. Total bull-shit. $80!
Damn I'm pissed. Sure put a damper on what was supposed to be a great gaming experience.
Slashdot Mirror
Japan has just completed their ladder to heaven and have declared heaven an official part of Japan because they got there first.
Imagine this... Wii Sports 2 - Now with full online functionality!
Is it possible the late blooming of online features in Wii games is intentional? Nintendo knows their hardware is lacking compared to the other consoles available. And their VP of Marketing just came out and said that they predict the lifecycle of the Wii will last more than five years.
Nintendo had an ace up their sleeve with the new controller. They knew it. They felt they would sell consoles without a full set of online features. So why not introduce the console with limited networking capabilities? They will sell the console to the early adopters and when demand starts to slump, release a highly anticipated game with online play. Then add a new game download channel. Then add a 'Battle Arena' for Miis.
Keep that up 2-3 times a year for 5+ years and I can see how the technically inferior console could at least end up with a third of the market after 5 years.
On a side note, I just realized last night how important the Wii Remote is to the future of not only game controllers, but any type of electronic controlling device. I popped in a DVD and found myself trying to browse the menu by waving the DVD player remote. That damn thing is spoiling me!
Wow. I cannot believe you got modded to +4, Insightful. Not by people who actually own a Wii, I'm sure.
The size of your TV does not really matter. All movements are read relative to the "sensor bar". So it doesn't matter where you are pointing on your screen. I'm sure there are others who know a lot more than I do that could explain it better.
And they do have a built-in sensitivity tool. I have it and I have not been online with my Wii yet.
Go to your Wii menu -> Wii Settings -> Wii Systems Settings 2 -> Sensor Bar -> Sensitivity
Make sure you cover the entire area given with the pair of dots. Particularly the edges. If not set properly, a third dot will often show when you get near or on an edge.
You can also set your screen type (4:3 or 16:9) and sensor bar position (top or bottom of TV). I wonder if you've even browsed through those settings.
As for the 'Nintendorks' reference, very juvenile.
You make some outstanding points, and overall, I loved your post. But you were a little hard on the people coming to Ninteno's defense.
The Wii is what it is. And it is an outstanding example of what it is.
I'm mostly a computer gamer (Vic20, C64, Amiga 500, PC), yet I purchased a Wii day one. Do I love the Wii? Hell yeah. Do I want to play the Wii every time I play video games? Hell no. I still love my PC games. They give me what the Wii cannot. What any console cannot, IMO.
But you know what? The Wii gives me what PC games cannot. Or the other consoles.
Point? Let the Wii be what it is. Not what everybody thinks it should be.
Oh yeah, and the Wii is by no means "... a piece of shit."
"They're always after me_lucky_charms!"
...was pure hell.
I PURCHASED the original Half-Life when it was brand new and loved every moment of the game (even the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th time I played). So needless to say, I have been awaiting this game for a very long time.
I live in a rural area and survive (quite nicely) on dial-up. I am a Linux user and only use Windows for gaming. I didn't even have my modem set up before this fiasco. I make it a point to never connect to the outside world with Windows (I really don't need to explain why here on Slashdot).
Once I found out I would need to connect to unlock the game I was upset and almost didn't buy it. But hey, its Half-Life 2. I can make this one exception. Big mistake...
I PURCHASED the game (the $80 version), brought it home and installed it (Half-Life 2 and Half-Life: Source, no CS). ~6:00 pm. Connected to my local ISP. Started Steam. Hmmm, it needs to update Steam first. Over 4 Meg of data (remember, I'm on dial-up) and 45 minutes later, Steam was updated. ~6:45 pm.
Now I need to create a Steam account. This process alone took over 15 minutes! Oh and while this is going on, I am seeing pop-ups telling me this & that and to go here or there. I've been infected with spyware! Grrrrrrrrr.
After all of their content loaded (once again very slow on dial-up), I saw a button to register a product I OWN (their words, not mine). I hit this button and was given a menu with checkboxes for the 3 games that came on the disk. I did not un-check CS (boy did I regret that later). Hit next. ~7:15 pm.
I was then shown a window telling me the following process would take up 900 & some odd Meg on my HDD. ? I thought I already installed the game. Hit continue anyway...
After about an hour of network activity, drive activity, network activity, etc. It said Half-Life 2 was unlocked. ~8:15 pm. Then it started working on CS. Shit, is it going to download the whole game since I left it checked and didn't install it? After about 30+ minutes of network activity I thought yes. Hit cancel hoping I would be able to find that menu again and uncheck CS. Couldn't find it anywhere. ~8:45 pm.
Thought to myself that it did inform me that HL2 was unlocked so I should just be able to play, right? Wrong. After trying all sorts of other possibilities, I just wiped everything clean and started all over just installing/activiating HL2. ~9:00 pm.
While that did finally work, it took 2 hours. And by this time, I'm stewing in a huge pot of rage.
Finally playing at ~11:00 pm.
I vow to never again purchase software where I, as a legitimate customer, have to jump through so many damn hoops to use the product I paid a shit load of money for. Total bull-shit. $80!
Damn I'm pissed. Sure put a damper on what was supposed to be a great gaming experience.