Nintendo hands-on (p)Wiiview

I really appreciate the honest realistic review. Doesn't change my mind about lining up early on nov19 to get one. I want a wii for fun and something different and multiplayer entertainment. for super graphics i'll stick with pc games. I still think it will be worthwhile.

 

Good preview, as much as I want to believe the Wii is going to be as perfect as people make out, it's good to read a less then supremely positive preview of it. My only dislike was the overuse of the word actuality, as cool as it is, it struck out at me the third time (but then I am odd like that I guess).

 

I agree that in Western markets the 360 is doing better than Dreamcast but the market for video game entertainment is far larger now than ever in the past. Also IIRC the Dreamcast had pretty impressive first year sales figures in the US too. The fact is the 360 is going to be percieved by many as a .5 to PS3s next gen. Unfortunately, the higher price of the PS3 is only going to cement this misconception. I have spoken to plenty of non-PC, non-Internet aware console gamers and the vast majority see the PS3 as far superior to the 360; solid reasons are lacking but I guess that's not the point.

As for you second point I couldn't agree more.

 

Don't you have a PC?

I'm still likely to get a Wii (unless I decide to get an N64 with plenty of games), but one thing that's bothering me is space. Surely with a lot of swinging about and such, waving the controller/s about alot, if I wanted to play multiplayer, wouldn't I need a big room to cope with the people and swinging space? I could probably only just about have 2 people in my bedroom to play it, if I played it downstairs in my living room I'd probably only have room for one more, a fourth player at a squeeze.

 

THE LOOK ON SONY'S FACE PRICELESS.....

SO PS3 will cost around £430, a 360 now costs £279.99 with 2 wireless controllers and PGR3 in the box, and a Wii costs £179.99, even with another £30 for an additional controller that is still more for your money that a single PS3, which by the way the wii has software in the box as does the new 360 bundle so the added £50 to the 430 makes it all even stevens.....

BUYING A 360 & Wii WITH EXTRA REMOTE, OVER A PS3 £490.00

THE LOOK ON SONY'S FACE PRICELESS.....

 

First off: I'm a Nintendo fan, and the WIi's the only next gen console I'll own for around a year. I love their games. Now onto my point.

I think this is a well balanced article. While I haven't had the luxury to play the Wii, I do see that a lot of the initial offerings on the Wiimote, especially with games that are considered "traditional" like Zelda, Metroid, Call of Duty 3 etc, will effectively map gestures to buttons. I do think that if you have enough imagination, this will still offer more of an experience than the classic controller we all know and love, but I don't think it will be the panacea that Nintendo would have us believe. Party games like Wario Ware, Rayman Ravin Rabbids mini games etc, will make better use of the Wiimote as they tend to have games that require pointing and tilting a controller where the immersion is obvious and doesn't distract from the game, it's essential to the game. But that leaves those of us who prefer traditional games wondering if we'll get good experiences with the Wiimote system.

Put it this way. If I can get the same title on the 360 and Wii it's going to be hard to make me want to get the Wii version over the 360 if the controls don't blow me away and don't offer something I just cannot get on the other platforms. The 360 will blow the Wii out of the water graphics wise and if the control mechanism is essentially the same, why not have great graphics?

That said, I feel (Hopefully wrongly) with this generation Nintendo will suffer an albeit expected level of fallout with the hardcore gamer because to get the non-gamers they so desperately want, you need DS and "Touch Generations" style games. I can see those types of games dominating and I'm concerned that we'll see less and less of the traditional offerings. All I can hope for is that developers see that it's worth while to make Wii versions of their 360 and PS3 offerings to make Wii an all round machine.

 

Many thanks for the sober preview. I'm getting a 360 for my birthday as I've been saying for the past week or two, will pick up a Wii and a PS3 next year — dunno in what order (probably both at once) — so I don't really need to take sides.

It's interesting to see the hype settle down a bit with regards to the Wii. The remaining portion of this year is certainly going to be fun to watch!

 

I'm amazed at the graphics on the console, such low specs yet it can produce near current gen content. I can't wait till there is the the "re4" of the wii which pushes it to the max O_O.

 

There probably has been too much hype over the total-immersiveness of the games and so on, but Nintendo are once agin set to deliver their unique take on gaming- perhaps its the market that is changing?

In terms of introducing crazy new ways of controling the games, I find one of the best uses for the DS stylus is for playing Advance wars, and thats just point and click stuff. Not nearly as complex and cool as Metroid on the DS but just as satisfying.

 

You are forgetting the Dreamcast.

Like the X360, the Dreamcast came to the market before the PS2.

Unfortunately for MS, the X360 has sold less units in these 11 months than the Dreamcast did in the same time. The userbase the X360 has built is nowhere as great as MS wants us to belive, and quite far from their previsions (they expected to have a 10 million (in units sold) advantage by the time the PS3 launched, and they are still 4 million short, with only a few weeks before PS3 launches.

I'm not saying the X360 will go the way of the Dreamcast, as MS has way, way more money than SEGA did and can support his console for much longer...but the cold numbers say the X360 sales worldwide aren't really that exciting
( http://www.joystiq.com/2006/10/16/analyst-xbox-360-sales-solid-but-lackluster )

Don't get me wrong...I'm no SONY fanboy...I have already decided to get a X360 as soon as I get a HDTV. But I'm pretty sure that many geeks and forumites all over the Internet, are going to get a rude awakening when the PS3 does pretty well and they realise that 99% of the stuff and news that are so big in forums and tech sites are close to irrelevant to the general public.

And this article, more or less confirms what I've allways thought about the Wii. A gimmicky controller that doesn't add as much to the experience as N's marketing would want us to belive and a great party console. But for daily gaming a X360 or PS3 look much better. The Wii doesn't look much more than a Eye-Toy On Speed to me (yeah, I'm a N hater...sue me )

 

it takes them a while to make games that fully use the new interface. It happend with the DS, at first that was a gimick.

 

According to this : http://www.joystiq.com/2006/10/16/analyst-xbox-360-sales-solid-but-lackluster/
the X360 is selling worse than the original XBox

And I read somewhere that the X360 hasn't sold as many units as the Dreamcast in the same numbers of months (launch shortages probably have something to do). I don't have the numbers, though, so I could be wrong.

 

Nice review of the Wii and how you perceive it being at launch, but I have one little question. What is with the damn angled pictures? Was it impossible to take a straight shot of the screen or something? I'm sorry but it just annoyed the ever living piss out of me while I was reading the article. Also, why the watermark on Nintendo press release images? They're all over the internet so it's not like someone is gonna steal it from bit-tech...

I had been looking forward to picking up a Wii at launch...until they released the price. $250 for the console and $5 - $10 for classic games? God, I absolutely refuse to buy any of the classic games on XBOX Live Marketplace for $5 a piece so I sure as hell won't be paying that for classics on the Wii. Especially when I can't hop on a torrent site and download every NES, SNES, N64, SEGA, etc etc, game made in just a few downloads. I could see myself paying $1 or maybe even $2 but $5? I don't think so, Nintendo.

I might pick one up sometime next year...or when the price drops. Probably when the price drops to $150 as the most I'd spend for a Wii is $200 and the controllers cost $60 a pop....

 

Capcom Classics Collection (PS2)

1942
1943: The Battle of Midway
1943 Kai
Bionic Commando (arcade version)
Commando
Exed Exes
Final Fight
Forgotten Worlds
Ghosts 'n Goblins
Ghouls 'n Ghosts
Gun.Smoke
Legendary Wings
Mercs
Pirate Ship Higemaru
Section Z
SonSon
Street Fighter II
Street Fighter II': Champion Edition
Street Fighter II' Turbo: Hyper Fighting
Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts
Trojan
Vulgus

= £12.50 (new two for £25)

On the Wii = 22x3 = £66

BARGIN!!!!!!!!!!

 

Thanks for the great info However, I'm excited about the control scheme for Monkey Ball... I've always had a lot of trouble with precision movement with the analog sticks in any game so I've always been bad at console FPS games (mouse + keyboard is the king) and was not so great at Monkey Ball either.

I think I'll have much better luck at Monkey Ball with the wiimote!

 

Playing Monkey Ball on Sega Superstars makes you look like a Spitfire doing cartwheels.

It's ace.

 

Hmmmm, "interesting" article...

I think it's a bit strange that one of your big disses against the Wii was that it made you look silly. Do you really care? If my friends come over and want to play games, I don't think any of us would really give a rip how "stupid" we look or how embarrassed we feel. In fact, I think that's partially the point for the some of the Wii games - Wario Ware, Cooking Mama, Trauma Center, Wii Sports...

Some of your other comments at least make sense - small motions producing better results than more realistic motions could be a problem, or at least an annoyance - but I think it's also important to remember that what we're seeing are the very first generation of Wii games. As others here and elsewhere have pointed out, the same problems/complaints/issues came out when the DS was first released, and yet here we are today - the DS is a huge hit and features a boatload of interesting, innovative games.

For me, this is the first system I've been hyped about in a LONG time. I have pretty much every system out there, but buying them and playing them hasn't been the experience I was hoping for. I'm pretty sure the Wii will change that - maybe not on launch day, but definitely soon after.

 

I wonder how close the 2nd and 3rd place players in the console wars are going to be. Gamecube sold about 21million and xbox 24million units but the real battle is the cost margins. The gamecube didnt sell as much but they also didnt lose as much on each system sold. Im not sure how much the Wii costs to manufacture but im sure its going to be a similar situation. The R&D costs on Wii games will also likely be less because its based on a familiar platform.

Already got the 360 myself but im definitely going to check out the wii.

 

You can have your wii60 all you want. Gimme Wipeout, Gran Turismo, and Colony Wars for PS3 and I'm sold.

 

Nintendo is making a profit on each Wii sold right out the gate. It's like $12 a console or something of the such.