Untapped possiblities: The Wii

[LoompaOompa]

When the Wii came out, there was talk about certain games that would require two Wii remotes to play. I've heard talk that there is a Samba de Amigo being developed, and then there is always the drumming tech demo at E3, but is anyone else wondering where the two Wii-remote games are?

Who wouldn't want to play a first person shooter where you dual wield pistols, with the movement controlled by one of the d-pads, and the looking controlled by your dominant hand?

Does anyone feel the same way that I do?

Also, is there anything else that people were excited about, that they aren't really seeing actually being implemented?

 

[J.theYellow]

Such games would have to be exclusive to the Wii, and there is no sound-of-mind reason to have a dual-wield shooting game available for the Wii and not the other consoles (which would require a redesign) at this point.

Unless you're Nintendo, that is. You have heard of Metroid Prime 3 and its dual-wield system, right?

 

[Arbre]

Who wouldn't want to play a first person shooter where you dual wield pistols, with the movement controlled by one of the d-pads, and the looking controlled by your dominant hand?

As said above, it seems to be what Metroid Prime 3 does. Which could be way better than playing a FPS with joypad [insert laugh].

That said, I suppose Nintendo would be happier if the untapped potential was bit less geared towards hardcore gamers.

 

[LoompaOompa]

In Metroid prime 3, you use the Wiimote and nunchuck to control your character. I'm talking about two wii remotes, both capable of aiming at the screen and firing, NO nunchuck. Forward, back, and strafing controlled by the dpad of one hand, and looking controled by one of the wiimotes. A game with two crosshairs, and two guns. Not like metroid at all.

 

[Arbre]

Two crosshairs... nope. I'd rather have one motion sensor used to rotate my head, and ther other to point the crosshair. And the analog stick to move around.
That would be quite good.

Now, we have to account for the reports about the wiimote's lack of accuracy. I don't know how bad it is.

 

[Automatic Meat [deprecated]]

I'm still waiting for that adventure game renaissance.

 

[Woozy]

The Wii's "potential" is pretty routinely overstated by people who have apparently been unconscious every time they've played it. There isn't a lot more you can do with the Wiimote after you run "vertical swing, horizontal swing" into the ground. Of course this fact isn't even tragic until you consider that DBtS with a mouse is still more fun than anything on the Wii thus far.

 

[LordLocke]

They haven't scratched the surface much yet on motion control. So far Nintendo's been mostly satisfied using it to basically replace the A button. ("Hey, swing the Wiimote to swing your sword... even if the Sword motion will have nothing to do with your Wiimote swing in any way except being triggered by it") and 3rd parties haven't much of a clue what to do with it. We've seen flashes of potential brilliance on occasion with games like Metroid Prime 3, but unless Mario Galaxy does something absolutely revolutionary with the concept (and from what I've heard, while being a really, really good Mario game, it doesn't do anything to push the envelope on motion control), Nintendo doesn't have anything on the horizon that will really lead the way for other developers to see what can be done with it.

Then again, this somewhat follows the trend the DS took- mediocre-to-bad games that overemphasized the touch screen with the occasional shining gem, followed by an era of pretty much ignoring the touch screen existed to get back to creating good games, to finally getting around to figuring out how to make good games with the touch screen used in ways that enhance the game instead of needlessly dominating it.

 

[Salmon]

I think a solution to the two crosshairs, would be to develop a addon for the wii remote, that replaced the nunchuck with something that more resembled a crossbetween the nunchuck and remote, with the Analog stick with a pointer part as well, in an elogated fashion.

 

[Arbre]

They haven't scratched the surface much yet on motion control. So far Nintendo's been mostly satisfied using it to basically replace the A button. ("Hey, swing the Wiimote to swing your sword... even if the Sword motion will have nothing to do with your Wiimote swing in any way except being triggered by it") and 3rd parties haven't much of a clue what to do with it.

Probably because there's not much to do with it.

We've seen flashes of potential brilliance on occasion with games like Metroid Prime 3,...

What kind of flash of brillance exactly? Mimicking the action to pull a lever or so is not a revolution in my book. It's actually something that would distract me from the game. I'd rather open doors with button A than bother pulling and twisting my arm just "as if".

... but unless Mario Galaxy does something absolutely revolutionary with the concept (and from what I've heard, while being a really, really good Mario game, it doesn't do anything to push the envelope on motion control), Nintendo doesn't have anything on the horizon that will really lead the way for other developers to see what can be done with it.

I don't think that fresh ideas will appear because of the existence of that gimmicky controller.
The most innovative stuff I've seen in video games these latest years was completely independant of any controller, and actually pretty much worked on standard controllers.

Then again, this somewhat follows the trend the DS took- mediocre-to-bad games that overemphasized the touch screen with the occasional shining gem, followed by an era of pretty much ignoring the touch screen existed to get back to creating good games, to finally getting around to figuring out how to make good games with the touch screen used in ways that enhance the game instead of needlessly dominating it.

The touch screen does offer new oportunities of interaction, but not new ideas. It does certainly open the valve for a flood of mini games, though.
There are many PC casual games to be played with your mouse which are barely different than what you do with your pen.
I have not seen a single game on the DS that was dubbed fresh or innovative because of the pen.

Simply put, I don't buy the "untapped potential" myth.

At best, the Wii controllers may make new concept easier to play, but I can't see how they'll create the new game designs.

 

[Katana314]

I think the wii has been working well for many simple concepts; as proved by my introduction last night to the new WarioWare. But I agree that it seems nigh-impossible for someone to hit on one specific usage that will be lasting and have an element of skill. The controller just doesn't seem sensitive enough for that sort of thing, though.

 

[Chilango2]

Well, I'd argue that the whole point of the wiimote is that it isn't supposed to have any one specific usage. As for skill, in the games for the Wii I have played, the controller scheme has worked well enough that you can achieve what you want and not think about it, thus allowing you to go up a mental level and *strategize* what your doing, and there lies the test of skill, I'd say.

 

[savagegoose]

can i ask, is the motion sensor in wii able to discern speed and direction, or is it just basically a switch? i had thought the swinging part of it recorded your movement and speed and kinda entered int in as input into a game! i know im kinda niave like that.

if its a true 3d vector motion sensor then we can blame the game designers for the lame ass games, if its just a switch well its a POS from the start.

i had thought a marrige between a game like black and white and the wii was the shape of things to come,. where gestures replace the mouse movements in B&W

 

[Fiye]

As far as I can tell, what the Wii overs with their controller, the PS3 offers as well. This might seem like me shooting myself in the foot, but before the flaming begins, let me just say that yes, it does seem like the PS3 did copy the Wii's remote.

Anyways, PS3 Controller. SIXAXIS control (Basically you can move it in all six directions [in space. With the X, Y, and Z axis] and rotate it by its X Y and Z axis. Hence the name SIXAXIS. Not to mention it looks like a PS2 controller, and mimics the Xbox 360 controller.

On the Wii's side, we got the same SIXAXIS controls as seen in the PS3 plus the added pointer, which, if Nintendo could get games like Time Crisis or House of the Dead to jump onto the Wii, would be awesome.

And then you have a unique controller shape with a D-Pad, Power Button, A button, Home [GOing off what the 360 did], 1, 2, and a B button. With the Nun-Chuck housing the C and Z buttons. Not to mention an Analog Stick and a motion sensor (Basicall and detect when you fling it).

Its an interesting era, though personally, PS3's take on it, with Insomniac's fix for it in R&CF: ToD, is my favorite. A good controller with an added gimmick that can make everything better.

Though, as we've seen, the developers don't bother adjusting the sensitivity of the SIXAXIS.

 

[Katana314]

Well, I'd argue that the whole point of the wiimote is that it isn't supposed to have any one specific usage. As for skill, in the games for the Wii I have played, the controller scheme has worked well enough that you can achieve what you want and not think about it, thus allowing you to go up a mental level and *strategize* what your doing, and there lies the test of skill, I'd say.

Um...please don't tell me this is the sort of supporting evidence you'd use in an english paper...it seems like you're just somehow struggling to strap something skill-related to its usage.

 

[Arbre]

As far as I can tell, what the Wii overs with their controller, the PS3 offers as well. This might seem like me shooting myself in the foot, but before the flaming begins, let me just say that yes, it does seem like the PS3 did copy the Wii's remote.

Anyways, PS3 Controller. SIXAXIS control (Basically you can move it in all six directions [in space. With the X, Y, and Z axis] and rotate it by its X Y and Z axis. Hence the name SIXAXIS. Not to mention it looks like a PS2 controller, and mimics the Xbox 360 controller.

On the Wii's side, we got the same SIXAXIS controls as seen in the PS3 plus the added pointer, which, if Nintendo could get games like Time Crisis or House of the Dead to jump onto the Wii, would be awesome.

In theory, if the PS3's pad was shaped like a gun or a stick, it could be used as a pointer as well, right?

The SIXAXIS (damn, that looks as vulgar as JACK THOMPSON) understands how you tilt your pad, roll, dive, and all that.

It recognizes rotations, but does it recognize translations?

 

[Nordstrom]

The SIXAXIS can detect tilt and acceleration but it doesn't work as a pointing device. In addition to tilt and acceleration, the Wiimote detects the location of the sensor bar to do the pointing. The two controllers are not directly equivalent. Wiimote = SIXAXIS + pointing. The SIXAXIS motion sensing is equivalent to the nunchuck by itself.

 

[Unholykrumpet]

Well, I thought they were done when they announced the Wii's version of Operation, the cute kid's game where you take away people's organs for fun. But don't touch the sides! -end sarcasm

So far, most reasoning behind buying a wii was for Smash Bros. Brawl, zelda, and super mario galaxies, plus all the other cute mario titles. As of right now, most of my friends who bought wii's have seriously regretted it, seeing as nintendo hasn't released a decent title in a while (except maybe Metroid if you're into the series. I for one am, but don't have a Wii). It's a wait and see kinda deal.

Cheers, Unholykrumpet