Taking a Wii.

[Nick Shogun]

I spent... nine hours outside in 30 degree weather, waiting in line for a Wii...

...and I didn't even buy one.

-_-'' <p><div style="text-align:center">

</div></p>

[PriamNevhausten]

This is the price paid for impatience. You remember when the PS2 released? Mass hysteria, as it were. Who do you know that didn't have a PS2 at their easy access three years ago, who actually cared to have one? Not a lot, I'd wager.

Give it time. A product is worst when it is new. <p><span style="font-size:xx-small;">"It's in the air, in the headlines in the newspapers, in the blurry images on television. It is a secret you have yet to grasp, although the first syllable has been spoken in a dream you cannot quite recall." --Unknown Armies</span></p>

[Kai]

One of my roommates was in a Wal-Mart for 36 hours. She got it.

What is WITH people? <p>-------------------------
<span style="font-size:xx-small;">I've always followed my father's advice: he told me, first to always keep my word and, second, to never insult anybody unintentionally. If I insult you, you can be goddamn sure I intend to. And, third, he told me not to go around looking for trouble. --John Wayne</span></p>

[Choark]

They're turning Japanese!
They're turning Japanese!
I really think so! <p><div style="text-align:center"> </div>
<div style="text-align:center"> </div>
<div style="text-align:center"> </div></p>

[PriamNevhausten]

As a humanitarian effort, we should move Christmas to the summertime so that we stop encouraging people annually to wait outside in freezing temperatures for the next big thing so they can have it two days before anyone else. <p><span style="font-size:xx-small;">"It's in the air, in the headlines in the newspapers, in the blurry images on television. It is a secret you have yet to grasp, although the first syllable has been spoken in a dream you cannot quite recall." --Unknown Armies</span></p>

[Zemyla]

Do you want everyone to get heatstroke instead? <p>-----
Do not taunt Happy Fun Zemyla.

<span style="font-size:xx-small;">I think boobs are the lesser of two evils. - Inverse (Pervy)
Dammit, Dan, I'm not dating a damn NPC! - OOC Will (Will Baseton)
Of course! Anything worth doing is worth doing completely wrong! - Travis English
Ultimately, wizards and clerics don't say, "Gee, I want to become a lich because weapons hurt less and I don't have to worry about being backstabbed; that whole 'eternal life' thing is just a fringe benefit."-Darklion
But this one time I killed a walrus with my bare hands, and I suddenly understood spherical coordinates. - KnightsofSquare
Also, when you've worked a 36-hour shift as an intern you too just might pour yourself a catful of coffee and sit down to cuddle with your travel mug. -eirehound
</span>

Adventurers! | RPG World World | d20 Optimization Boards</p>

[Deeum]

Not to completely derail your thread, but.

What/who is that on your avatar? <p><div style="text-align:center"><hr />
</div></p>

[Nick Shogun]

That's a promotional image from the live action Fist of the Northstar movie.

"You're already dead."

I forgot to mention that I didn't actually go there to buy one, but went to support my friend. He did get one, so I have something to play Twilight Princess on. <p><div style="text-align:center">

</div></p>

[PriamNevhausten]

Oh, well. That's significantly more intelligent, as hanging around with friends is generally safe to speak of as a fun activity, regardless of weather.

Rock on, my brother. <p><span style="font-size:xx-small;">"It's in the air, in the headlines in the newspapers, in the blurry images on television. It is a secret you have yet to grasp, although the first syllable has been spoken in a dream you cannot quite recall." --Unknown Armies</span></p>

[Justice Augustus]

Haha, I love North Carolina! My friends went to a Target, and said they were 2 of 4 people camping out for 10 Wii machines. I had a go on the sports games, and Zelda, and I gotta say:

<span style="color:red;font-size:x-large;">THE WII ROCKS</span>

Seriously, the games are amazing, the control is intuitive, and so far of the 12 people (including video-game haters) who played the machine I tried, a grand total of 0 have said that they did not like it.

It's official people: 12/12 of Gus' friends love the Wii.
<p>

---

"Moreover, when on the following night, much to his dismay, [Caesar] had a dream of raping his own mother, the soothsayers greatly encouraged him by their interpretations of it: namely, that he was destined to conquer the earth" - Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars - Julius Caesar, chapter 7</p>

[PriamNevhausten]

I dunno, the bowling and golf parts show weakness in the location-sensor part of the remote. Like, serious weakness.

But Zelda seems good, because it doesn't use the location-sensor bit for the most part. Pointing is good, motion detection is not quite so much so. <p><span style="font-size:xx-small;">"It's in the air, in the headlines in the newspapers, in the blurry images on television. It is a secret you have yet to grasp, although the first syllable has been spoken in a dream you cannot quite recall." --Unknown Armies</span></p>

[Endesu]

Okay, I'll admit that I'm excited about the Wii. Various things made me change my mind (the price and the titles, say) and now it's on my list to buy a somewhat distant point in the future.


(I dare say Sadness had something to do with it. If Ajil were here, the wastralot would have something to say, I'd bet!)

Concerning Wii Sports, here's a comment from a poster at the GHZ forums who tends to know what they're talking about...
<blockquote>Quote:

---

I was skeptical about all the reviews that said that Wii Sports bowling was an incredibly accurate simulation of real bowling. But you know what? I'm playing it now and every single one of my throws spins out to the left.... just like what happens when I'm really bowling!

Bowling is best because, in real life, it's a game where nearly all the motion is done with your arms. That means you can bowl just like you would in real life... the controller can catch all of the motions involved, even things like putting spin on the ball!

Games like Tennis are less enjoyable because such a big part of the real games is moving your whole body, not just the raquet. The game has to do all those non-raquet moves for you, which means that in the end the experience is actually LESS complex than a game like Virtua Tennis.

---

</blockquote> <p><hr />
<div style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:xx-small;">Curtis: Dannyboy, look at you. You've changed considerably, into a badass, if I may.
Dan: Yeah, you've changed a lot too, into an old man! I went to see the devil, now it's your turn!
Curtis: Oh, my pupil, so tenacious of life, guess I have to kill you again.
Dan: Shut up, before you run out of breath!
Curtis: I got rid of those smiles, there's no one left to disturb our game. Just you, and me.
Dan: Sounds fair, 'cuz I hate holding back, even for an old fart like yourself.
Curtis: Talk all you want, I won't need six bullets for you.
Dan: Or four for you.</span>
</div></p>

[BrainWalker]

The problem with that review is that Tennis is almost certainly the best thing about Wii Sports.

Also, I didn't feel quite fanatical enough to wait outside in stupidly cold weather for more than an hour, and I still got a Wii. It doesn't take retarded dedication, it just takes not being retarded. And probably some luck, and maybe the grace of God. Or at least the gaming gods. <p><div style="text-align:center"></div></p>

[Spleen]

My lackey (not my sidekick, my lackey) got the Wii, and I plan on pretending to be his friend again so he'll let me come over and play it.

I'm also planning on buying a controller of my own, regardless of when/whether I get the system. As happened with the Gamecube early on, I imagine I'll go to a friend's house, there will be two people playing the Wii and two people waiting their turn because there are two controllers. However, because I will have a controller of my own, I'll be like "Fuck this, sign me in" and whip it out. I mean, I already carry a GC controller in the bag with my laptop, so it's not much of a stretch for me. <p>-_-___-___-___-_-

"There are four types of men: one who says what's mine is mine and what's yours is yours - he is a neutral person. One who says what's mine is yours and what's yours is mine is a fool. One who says what's mine is yours and what's yours is yours is righteous. One who says what's yours is mine and what's mine is mine is evil."
-Talmud, Avot 5:13

Arch mage144: Spleen doesn't bother with penis size contests; instead, he goes straight to penis number.</p>

[Ajil6]

I have one and it's kickin' rad. :D I wanna hug it but it has no arms with which to hug me back.

Probably for the best or I'd have nightmares. <p>[--------------------------------------------]
FETUS. I am a FETUS.</p>

[WillBaseton]

I went to the mall 10 minutes before it opened on Black Friday and got one. I was just a lot faster than a bunch of parents and overweight teenagers, so I got Spot 5 in line, while my dad got spot 5 in the GameStop on the other end of the mall. He got the console, I got Zelda and a few controllers and could've gotten another console had I felt like being a total ass.

But I decided to show compassion. Gasp.

Either way, it's now sitting back in my room back at home since I refuse to send it through the mail. I'll be getting it back at Christmas. Sad.

[Archmage144]

Having actually spent a little time playing Wii Sports, I can say that it's a lot of fun, but its primary purpose is definitely to show off the controller; beyond that, it doesn't have a lot of gaming depth. However, Wii Sports is not the entirety of the Wii's game library. It's more like a demo intended to get you hooked.

Considering the way I was jumping around the gaming room last night playing Wii Tennis, I think I'm hooked. I haven't had that much fun playing a game of any sort in a while. And Wii Bowling was awesome as well. Somehow I managed to waste everyone else in the house at it despite being an absolutely terrible bowler in real life, but the controls were intuitive and entertaining. Everyone else sitting down while one person took the floor made it feel like we were in an actual (virtual) bowling alley, minus all the cigarette smoke and ugly shoes.

I'm hoping that come Christmastime I can pick up some of the other near-launch titles that look interesting. Has anyone else played Red Steel yet? Depending on how controller functionality is implemented, a lot of the other stuff that's coming out soon looks good, too. I can't pass up a new Smash Bros. game for obvious reasons, and even if controller functionality isn't a selling point for it, Metal Slug: Anthology is an irresistable possibility. <p>

---

<div style="text-align:center">

RPGWW Wiki!</div></p>Edited by: Archmage144&nbsp; at: 11/27/06 10:45

[WillBaseton]

Actually, Metal Slug Anthology does have special Wiimote functionality, or so I hear. It's also GCN controller-compatible, which is nice. I think that for the most part, if I have a game that offers me a choice between the Wiimotes and my Wavebirds, I'll pick the Wavebird every time.

Thankfully, Smash Bros. Brawl is fully Wavebird-built and has no Wiimote functionality in the main battles, so sayeth the Sakurai. I fully approve of this. I'm glad they're not trying to add some sort of gimmicky "wave it this way to do this attack, wave it that way to do that one" battle system and just sticking with the basics. It proves not every game has to be needlessly sycophantic to the control scheme, and will hopefully inspire other developers to just make normal, non motion-sensing games for it in the future. Not to mention it just wouldn't be Smash Bros. without the classic control scheme in there somehow.

...as for my actual opinion on the console itself? I'll get to it when I'm not about to die from the crushing weight of a paper on a boring Shakespearean play. <p><hr />"Whoa! Whoa whoa whoa! Teal'c! BULLETS BOUNCE!"
- Cameron Mitchell, Stargate SG-1</p>

[Archmage144]

I'm as glad as you are that we'll have the opportunity to use more "standard" controllers to play Metal Slug and SSBB; it's not that I don't want to use the Wiimote for it so much as it would be way easier to play both games as I know them with a regular controller setup. They could do something really crazy cool with Wiimotes and SSBB, but it'd be a completely different game. I'm personally looking for "more of the same" in terms of SSBB's gameplay--with updates and new characters, of course. I want to CQC Pikachu to death before skittering away in my cardboard box. <p><hr /><div style="text-align:center">

RPGWW Wiki!</div></p>

[PriamNevhausten]

I dare say the controls for Wii Sports bowling are not all that intuitive--I've had problem after problem in getting the thing to acknowledge my usual bowling swing as an actual swing, and BW and I have spent days--no exaggeration!--trying to figure out how ball spin works, to no avail. Tennis, too, seems to have some sort of spin element, but it is indecipherable to us at present. Thankfully, that game's spin factor comes up far less frequently and far less impactfully than bowling's, but it would really, really be handy to know how to make it actually *work.*

Boxing, on the other hand, is 80% arcane. If something works the way it is intended, it is a complete accident. <p><span style="font-size:xx-small;">"It's in the air, in the headlines in the newspapers, in the blurry images on television. It is a secret you have yet to grasp, although the first syllable has been spoken in a dream you cannot quite recall." --Unknown Armies</span></p>

[Archmage144]

I dunno, man, I bowled a strike on my first three frames, and the second two were not by total accident. I'd call that intuitive, or else I just have good intuition. <p><hr /><div style="text-align:center">

RPGWW Wiki!</div></p>

[PriamNevhausten]

I'd say more that you happen to be in the population for whom the style of bowling matches the style of Wii bowling. If someone could tell me why a straight throw results in a dire curve, and in so doing tell me what the hell the mechanics are on the spin, then I would bestow upon them a fresh, crispy $20. <p><span style="font-size:xx-small;">"It's in the air, in the headlines in the newspapers, in the blurry images on television. It is a secret you have yet to grasp, although the first syllable has been spoken in a dream you cannot quite recall." --Unknown Armies</span></p>

[WillBaseton]

There does seem to be some debate on whether or not Wii Sports is glitched, causing it to automatically hook left on each throw. I'm not sure if it's TRUE as several people at the party I had this Saturday never saw this problem (there were two Turkeys thrown in a period of one hour, one by me and one by a fellow guest), but one thing I've heard that does help alleviate it is to, while you're throwing, rotate your wrist slightly to the right, which should compensate slightly for the innate spin.

I think part of it is just generally that most people's arms follow a swing pattern that actually does hook slightly to the left, rather than going straight from back to forward, and it's just a matter of getting over that natural handicap.

As for putting spin on it in Tennis, I've heard two possibilities. One is using the d-pad just before you hit to "aim" the shot spin-wise and the other is rotating your wrist slightly just before impact to put more or less spin on it. Test it out, let me know which one seems to work better. <p><hr />"Whoa! Whoa whoa whoa! Teal'c! BULLETS BOUNCE!"
- Cameron Mitchell, Stargate SG-1</p>

[PriamNevhausten]

Well, not really.

Take, for instance, that if you switch your bowler's dominant hand to left, then you will suddenly curve every ball to the right, regardless of which hand you use.

Unless you're Shini, in which case you will hook the ball towards whichever side you used to hold the remote. This utterly baffles me.

But seriously, I've held the remote in my right hand, swung back, and then ran off to the right side of the room as I release the button, and it curves to the left. I have twisted my entire body to the right, even going so far as to do a mock shoryu-ken, even to other occasions of nearly twisting myself into a fall to the floor, and still achieved a sizable left spin.

Words fail.

I have rotated the remote on all three axes independently and together in trying to ascertain the nature of this spin--to no avail. It seems there is just an amount of spin that the game wants you to have, and you just have to learn how to deal with it and hope that the game is pleasant enough towards you to keep it consistent. <p><span style="font-size:xx-small;">"It's in the air, in the headlines in the newspapers, in the blurry images on television. It is a secret you have yet to grasp, although the first syllable has been spoken in a dream you cannot quite recall." --Unknown Armies</span></p>

[BrainWalker]

Part of the problem with Wii Sports is that it seems to be crazy-sensitive to every little weeble and wobble. Just try holding the bat steady in Wii baseball... it's never gonna happen. There's no "margin of error" for the natural human propensity to not be a robot. By comparison, in LoZ:Twilight Princess, I can put an arrow into a guy's forehead from half a mile away without having to stress about it. There's also a minigame where you roll a ball along a narrow pathway by tilting the Wiimote which in turn tilts the game board, and controls for this have proven to be both smooth and solid.

Honestly though, I think the wonkyness of Wii Sports controls is part of the charm. We wouldn't be doing nearly as much crazy stupid silly shit in our Wii-motions if we weren't trying to figure things out. <p><div style="text-align:center"></div></p>

[PriamNevhausten]

I figured that would probably be the case, actually: It's up to software developers to use what's in the intelligently, because left to its own devices the Wii's remote motion sensing isn't necessarily all that good at figuring out what's going on.

It'll be cool to see what the Wii's got for it in a year or three. <p><span style="font-size:xx-small;">"It's in the air, in the headlines in the newspapers, in the blurry images on television. It is a secret you have yet to grasp, although the first syllable has been spoken in a dream you cannot quite recall." --Unknown Armies</span></p>

[Spleen]

You'll have to give us some juicy details about Twilight Princess's control scheme, BW. I'm really wondering about it. <p>-_-___-___-___-_-

"There are four types of men: one who says what's mine is mine and what's yours is yours - he is a neutral person. One who says what's mine is yours and what's yours is mine is a fool. One who says what's mine is yours and what's yours is yours is righteous. One who says what's yours is mine and what's mine is mine is evil."
-Talmud, Avot 5:13

Arch mage144: Spleen doesn't bother with penis size contests; instead, he goes straight to penis number.</p>

[Archmage144]

The basics of Twilight Princess are that you play with a "nunchuk" analog stick attachment and the Wiimote, one in each hand. The analog stick controls all of your basic movement, and there's a button on it for both switching to first-person look view and Z-targeting.

When you want to swing your sword, you swing the wiimote horizontally. It's fairly sensitive, so you don't have to swing your arm around like you're actually using a sword, but it usually won't go off by accident. If you're Z-targeting you can also do vertical slashes with the same motion, or you can press the A button to jump slash. A spincut is executed by shaking the nunchuk back and forth, and you can stab by holding the analog stick forward while Z-targeting and making the slashing motion with the wiimote.

Your secondary item is activated with the B-trigger underneath the wiimote, and aiming (for example, with a slingshot or bow) can be done freehand by simply pointing the crosshairs that show up when you're using the weapon at wherever on the screen you want to shoot. You can also Z-target and fire, like in Ocarina of Time, to save yourself the trouble of manually aiming at every flying keese that bugs you.

I had trouble with the sword at first because if you haven't made a wiimote motion to draw it, you can't do things like jump attack or spin slash, so I wound up running around in circles like a moron executing rolls in the middle of a fight when I hadn't readied my weapon first. Now I start each fight by swinging the wiimote to get the sword out, and after having gotten comfortable with the system, it's pretty fun to work with. The big plus in my mind is that it reduces the amount of button pressing that you have to do during combat with wrist movements. It's not really like using an actual weapon, so it's not quite that immersive, but it's still an improvement over "press B to swing." <p><hr /><div style="text-align:center">

RPGWW Wiki!</div></p>

[BrainWalker]

Awww shits, I just realized that I can't just say "you press buttons and stuff happens" anymore. Curses!

It's important to note that the sensor bar doesn't actually do any sensing, so it's not like you're actually trying to point at a location on the screen like you would with a light gun. The Wii senses the orientation of the Wiimote in your hand, not it's position relative to the TV or the sensor bar. It's really good at picking up tilts and twists, not so much with travelling along the plane perpendicular to your TV. That's why I've been having trouble figuring out how Wii Boxing works...

ANYWAY, I bring this up because it means that the Wiimote is really good at pointing, so long as you realize that you're not actually physically aiming at onscreen things like a light gun. Although functionality like that could certainly be programmed into some software, you'd just need some calibration first, like with super scope games. This means that you can hold the wiimote wherever the heck you want and still aim your bow with precision.

Of note: You learn new fighting techniques as the game progresses, and the second one you get is a shield bash, which is executed by "thrusting the nunchuck foward" while z-targetting. I have found that tilting the nunchuck downward is usually tantamount to "thrusting forward", but either way, you've got two separate techniques that are bound to waggling the nunchuck, and the Wii never confuses the two. I think I've done all of one shield bash when I meant to spin attack in the entire 30+ hours I've got logged on my save file, and that was becasue I was being lazy. It's pretty tight. <p><div style="text-align:center"></div></p>

[PriamNevhausten]

It also bears mentioning that the spinslash apparently does not require repeated shakings back and forth, because which way you spin depends on which direction you move the chuck. <p><span style="font-size:xx-small;">"It's in the air, in the headlines in the newspapers, in the blurry images on television. It is a secret you have yet to grasp, although the first syllable has been spoken in a dream you cannot quite recall." --Unknown Armies</span></p>