WIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.................................
Nov 13 '08
The Bottom Line The WII is a good system and quite unique - but that uniqueness is both a strength and a weakness.
Background Information...
The market was already crowded with high-spec game consoles and more were about to amaze the market; Nintendo saw this, realised that they couldn’t make something that was going to bust the opposition in terms of specifications, and so opted to change the way games were played instead. The result was the Nintendo WII, which is designed to appeal to those who weren’t previously interested in gaming, and offer something different to those who were. Though there are weaknesses to the WII, overall it succeeds in both of those aims.
Now I don’t see the point in getting particularly technical here; hardcore gamers to whom aesthetics are very important have likely already decided that the WII is not for them, and the whole ethos of the WII makes statistics rather unimportant. The graphical abilities of the WII are nowhere near the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3, it’s true – though the weak graphics in WII games often owe more to laziness on the part game publishers than the WII itself, as the WII is capable of some pretty decent graphics. The sound quality is pretty good, with the added feature of a speaker in your Wiimote – the controller that is the crux of the whole set-up – adding quite a bit to the overall gaming experience. The WII itself is a slim unit that will fit snugly alongside your TV. But enough of all this.
Innovative Control...
To review the WII really means to review the game controller technology, for that is that biggest asset of the system. Though there are other options available, the main controllers are the Wiimote and Nunchuck. Apart from cursor / joystick controls and various buttons for different functions, both of these controllers are motion sensors. Not all games use both controllers at the same time – for instance Tennis or Bowling on WII Sports only require the Wiimote to takes yours shots / roll the ball – but the most immersive gaming experiences use both. In the boxing part of WII Sports, for instance, you effectively control your boxer’s hands – whether you get fully into the spirit of things and risk smashing your TV with an overenthusiastic right hook or do little rabbit punches like my wife (the annoying thing about it is, she usually beats me!) is up to you. Using this sort of control mechanism is both the greatest strength and the Achilles’ heel of the WII – games that make good use of the control technology give you a completely different gaming experience to using conventional controllers, but games which don’t use the motion sensors effectively are a real disappointment. There are some games that don’t use it at all, and these can feel like a bit of a waste of time – after all you could enjoy the same games with much better graphics on other consoles.
The odd exception to the above come along in the form of games like LEGO Star Wars, which don’t use the motion detectors very much but do manage to offer an enhanced gaming experience anyway. The buzz of the lightsaber coming from the region of your hand really adds atmosphere – again, installing a speaker in the Wiimote was a masterstroke. Some games, such as Crash of the Titans, don’t offer much different compared to other systems, but are great fun anyway.
Products Most WII Owners Have...
The three flagship games for the WII are WII Sports, WII Fit and Mario Kart WII. The first is a much-imitated idea of a set of games using the controller, which is great fun despite being slightly limited, and rarely improved on by the myriad of imitators. The second is a much sought-after fitness programme designed to make losing weight fun; again, it’s good although a bit limited. The important thing about this product is that it brought about the WII Balance Board, which can also be used in certain other games (WII Family Ski is the only one that comes to mind at the moment). This is a great piece of kit when it comes to skiing games and the like, though the full capabilities of it haven’t really been explored yet. Hopefully more games will be released to use this expensive but extremely cool piece of hardware. One unfortunate limitation is that you can only use one balance board per WII... two-player games with both players using the board to surf / ski or whatever would have been very good. Still, it significantly opens up the possibilities that the WII has.
The third flagship game, Mari Kart WII, highlights the versatility of the Wiimote. You can turn it sideways and use it as a steering wheel (fun, but rather difficult!) or put it in the steering wheel that comes with the game. (As with the balance board, this can be bought separately from the game if you want more than one, or want one for use with a different game.) Mari Kart was of course already a well-established brand name and it’s great fun, and has good online multiplayer options.
Other Features...
The WII comes wireless internet ready (which is fine for me as I have a wireless router), but annoyingly for some there is no Ethernet connection (I’m assuming this is not just an omission of the European model). Nintendo run several competitions for themed “Miis” – a Mii is a little character you make to represent yourself in various games – you can enter or help judge these competitions, and it’s a feature my wife enjoys though personally I can’t really see the point of it. You can also get weather forecasts and news reports through your WII as long as you have a wireless internet connection. Games can be downloaded if you’re bought enough WII Points for them; I haven’t really explored this option yet, though I want to see what retro games might be available (particularly Ice Climber and Battle Toads). Speaking of retro, there is a cartridge slot for playing Game Cube games on the WII – a great option for those who owned the Game Cube before getting a WII (assuming they kept any of the games, of course!). Since much of the WII hardware is based on the Game Cube hardware, presumably compatibility problems would be either very small or non-existent.
The range of games available for the WII is good and considering how many WIIs have been sold (at time of writing the estimate I remember seeing was 40,000,000+) will only get better. Unfortunately the actual quality of the games is extremely variable – this is something that affects all systems, of course, but for the WII there are quite a few games that seem to have been chucked together without much thought simply to use a gimmicky control option. If anything the main problem with a lot of WII games is that they tend to be too simple, though this is a benefit in that people can usually pick up and play the games quickly. Some games which seem like they should really work well on the WII – Worms: Space Oddity particularly comes to mind here – just don’t, and seem like the designers haven’t put much thought into them. I do find that using the Wiimote for controlling a cursor on the screen never feels very comfortable, but you soon get used to it enough to select menus without any problem.
Verdict
Overall the WII is a relatively inexpensive system – though extra controllers will set you back a bit – with a novel approach to gaming that works brilliantly when done well, has a good range of available games, some good online options, and will appeal to non-gamers, casual gamers, and to an extent seasoned gamers (that’s a nice way of saying people who’ve been playing computer games and aren’t particularly young anymore...). To be honest I got it for two main reasons; to try to lose a little weight (hasn’t worked so far!) and for two (or more) player games. I don’t see much point in single-player games on the WII as a whole, and I don’t see any point whatsoever playing strategy games on it – give me my PC and a mouse & keyboard anytime! I’ve known several gamers get all excited about the WII when it first game out, go out and buy one, and then not play if for months – all of them were playing games on their own, and I think it’s no coincidence. The WII sets out to be a healthier, more sociable gaming system, so the typical image of the loner sitting playing games doesn’t work at all for the WII.
It’s very good for certain types of game (sports games particularly), average for most, bad for some. If you have people to compete against – WII parties where a group play against each other are becoming quite common in some places then it’s a good buy. What I would say is that unless you’re only a casual gamer, you will probably not be satisfied with the WII as your only gaming system, as it’s not good for every type of game.
WII Game Reviews
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
WII Sports
Crash of the Titans
Big Beach Sports
WII Play
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