Wii hands-on worries about controller, likes games

by Kyle Orland { Oct 27th 2006 at 10:55AM }

The folks over at Bit-tech were able to score some extensive hands-on time with the Wii outside of the short demos shown at E3 or other mass-media events. The impressions are generally positive, but stripped of the effusive praise for the system that seems to have gripped most of the game journalism community

Bit-tech worries that the controller may end up being a gimmick, fun to bring out at parties but not as intriguing on a day-to-day basis. The site also felt the controller's motion-sensing technology wasn't as revolutionary as it could be -- instead of a "magic wand" that accurately senses every move, the author felt like the controller has "been designed to mimic a joypad, with a few neat tricks thrown in."

All that being said, the preview did have positive things to say about most all of the games demoed, and mentioned that the system is "fun to play." But despite the claims of a completely revolutionary experience by Nintendo and others, Bit-tech found their experience with the Wii "a bit different from the 360 and PS3, but not drastically as you may have thought/hoped."

Tags: bit-tech, hands-on, preview, wii

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Shiro @ Oct 27th 2006 11:02AM

Idiot. The controller itself isn't meant to be revolutionary, the playing experience is.

How you USE the controller (on a per game basis) is more important than the actual object.

Shiro @ Oct 27th 2006 11:03AM

Oh, I should probably point out that I was calling the guy who played the console an idiot, not the reporter here... I have a feeling the discussion will degenerate if someone misinterprets that.

kodec @ Oct 27th 2006 11:07AM

OH NO I BETTER CANCEL MY PREORDER NOW! IT'S ALL OVER FOR NINTENDO, LOOK FOR THEIR STOCK TO SWITCH PLACES WITH SONY'S BASED ON BIT TECH'S REVIEW!

Only not.

@ Oct 27th 2006 11:09AM

"The controller itself isn't meant to be revolutionary, the playing experience is."

Yea, you keeping telling that to yourself.

Wiimote = pointer + gesture input (which maps onto exisiting gameplay mechanics)

Unfortunately, people wont see the Wii for what it is until they bring it home; those 5 minute pickup sessions at BestBuy play into the strengths of Wii... good pick up and play whle avoiding the waning novelty/gimmick issue.

Moogle @ Oct 27th 2006 11:10AM

Shiro - disagree. The control *is* revolutionary, and developers will catch up over time. 2nd or 3rd gen Wii games are going to be so different that going back to the launch titles will make us laugh with how short-sighted developers were. :)

As for if the novelty will wear off - I think people are worrying too much, this will be as much as a occasional ammusement as video games themselves are (i.e. we'll play Wii like we play any games: a lot). Just because it's different, people can't envision their lives when it becomes normal.

I'm sure some people thought using the mouse for PC FPSs was a novelty. Do you remember that the keyboard was the default input for DooM? That you couldn't look up or down?!?

ncdign @ Oct 27th 2006 11:14AM

I have a wait and see attitude with the Wii. I'm not convinced that I'm going to enjoy all the motion sensitive controls. I think for some games it will be terrific but it might not translate as well to more traditional game types. I give credit to Nintendo though for trying to change the way we play games.

fawazr @ Oct 27th 2006 11:14AM

those new fangled gamepads are just a fad -- like those horseless carriages and moving pictures. No way is a motion control ever going to stop me from sitting on the couch and using my trusted joystick (with the big red knob).

Jonathan @ Oct 27th 2006 11:16AM

The stylus on my DS isn't exactly "revolutionary" either, but the DS is a hell of a lot more fun to play than the PSP (or the GBA, for that matter)

Robert Jung @ Oct 27th 2006 11:18AM

Sounds to me like the bit-tech writer was down on the Wii because he was too self-conscious -- Ryan Garside's biggest criticisms boiled down to "I'm afraid I will look like a dork when I play it."

News flash, Ryan: if you don't want to look like a dork, don't go around with a bad haircut and a "golly!" grin while wearing rainbow-striped polo shirts that look like rejects from "I Love the '70s." Sheesh, Sony should use the photos of him playing the Wii in their new ad campaign for the PS3...

--R.J.

adam @ Oct 27th 2006 11:19AM

I'm sure the novelty of HD graphics will wear out too. Shiny != next-gen

ViEt pRiDe @ Oct 27th 2006 11:23AM

this is exactly the problem with Wii, people are WAY overestimating how useful/revolutionary/fun the controller will be, because it *HAS* to be. Otherwise the system is just gamecube+, strip away the controller and there's nothing 'new' left. Anyone who is honest with themselves will admit that ninty could have just sold the controller for ~$100 and had identical gameplay.

Unit @ Oct 27th 2006 11:24AM

MOGGLE, your def' right with the doom reference!. Everyone is writing the wii off as a "novelty" or "gimmick" because it's not the same as playing with a standard controller like we've been acustom to for years. I atleast applaud them for being bold enuff to make it their standard controller cuz as i've stated in a previous post, we are constantly advancing in gfx's/ animation/effects on these next gen systems but still playing them the same way(dmc4 anyone?). why not control the same games differently? it'll atleast give us a new play experince whether good or bad. ahh but that's just my opinion.....

Moogle <ampcodes!> @ Oct 27th 2006 11:26AM

> sure loves to ride that same old 'gesture' horse. I'm curious if he's ignoring the obvious, or just honestly in disbelief.

Yes, LiveMove is a piece of software for gesture recognition, but it's by no means the only way to develop, or even a good idea for anyone other than cross-platform developers who *want* 'button press' gestures to accomodate current playstyles.

People have already commented how Wii Sports follows your movements exactly. We've seen videos of people using Samus's grapple beam with the nunchuck to throw enemies around. This is *obviously* not just gestures.

crono141 @ Oct 27th 2006 11:27AM

Stip away the cell processor and blu-ray and there's nothing "new" left.

You know, if you say "take out the thing thats new in this console" and then say "there's nothing new left" is kinda retarded. DUH!

Sony spend their R&D on new processors and media. Nintendo spent theirs on new controls. If you take out whats NEW in both, you're left with ps2+/gamecube+.

@ Oct 27th 2006 11:32AM

"People have already commented how Wii Sports follows your movements exactly. We've seen videos of people using Samus's grapple beam with the nunchuck to throw enemies around. This is *obviously* not just gestures."

I dont want to bring up this one-to-one mapping non-sense again (wii aint), but, if you cant comprehend the technical points (most of the Wii demographic) then go on and beleive what Nintendo tells you. .. oh, and ducking behind a couch will avoid damage in RedSteel too.

bobby @ Oct 27th 2006 11:33AM

my thoughts on it are it is a gamecube 1.5 with a gimmick. i cant see it ever getting a serious game. like say resident evil 5 instead they got RE-chronicles . i cant see any rpg on it either . i see mostly alot of fps's and activity games and to me that crap got old with the DS.

JUJUSTSHUTUP @ Oct 27th 2006 11:36AM

another dud man

Derbeste @ Oct 27th 2006 11:38AM

"if you don't want to look like a dork, don't go around with a bad haircut and a "golly!" grin while wearing rainbow-striped polo shirts that look like rejects from "I Love the '70s."

.....I think he's kinda cute.

If he REALLY wants a better Wii experience.........nevermind.

Journal Fan @ Oct 27th 2006 11:46AM

It's really, really hard to take any review of the Wii seriously when one of the main concerns is that playing the games makes you look stupid.

If you look like a spastic Ray Charles when you're playing, so what? If I'm playing the Wii, I don't give a crap how I look. I care about how much fun I'm having. If you're that worried about your looks when you're playing a game, then buying a Wii is the least of your worries.

The moment I read that part of his article, the author started losing credibility in my mind. He then goes on to talk about how the Wiimote doesn't work the way he expects it to, and knocks it for that as well. Uhm, just because it doesn't work the way you want it to doesn't make it a bad control scheme.

Realistically, I think the author is just trying to get people to look at his review. In the end, the only substantial negatives he offers is the Wiimote *might* end up gimmicky. The key word there is "might". People said the same thing about the Nintendo DS, and the "might be" gimmick of the touchscreen has clearly proven it's not just a passing fad.

Any real review should be looking at the hard facts of the games and the console, not the "What If?" situation of what "might" end up happening. It's also funny that, for as much as he knocks the control scheme, he sure did love a lot of the games, and talked about how much fun he had.

Jonathan @ Oct 27th 2006 11:46AM

I really don't understand anyone who says the Wii is just a Gamecube with a fancy controller. What about Wiiconnect24, Virtual Console, etc? The Wii is a new system with new experiences. Why is that so difficult to grasp?

Everyone who says "it's a gimmick, it won't last, people will buy the Sony system because the graphics are way better blah blah blah..." they sound exactly like the DS vs. PSP arguments of yesteryear. You know, most people out there aren't big tech nerds like we are. They don't care about Blu-Ray, they don't have an HDTV, and if they buy a system at all, it's because it has fun and exciting games, period.

People often compare Nintendo to Apple. Well I guess you could say that Nintendo has made the console "for the rest of us."

So I say to Wii-haters: go and enjoy your PS3 or XBOX360. Enjoy your Gears of War or Oblivion or whatever. But if Wii turns out to be the fastest and best-selling system of the three, just remember that there's more of "the rest of us" than you realize.

hoos30 @ Oct 27th 2006 11:47AM

NDF....ATTACK!!!

SupaDave @ Oct 27th 2006 11:49AM

It all comes down to the developers. If they just take GameCube games and replace button presses with gestuers, then yess it will get old.

However, if they use the controller to make the game more engaging and interactive, the wii will be a HUGE success.

By the sound of it Wii Sports, Raving Rabbids and Excite Truck will be a lot more fun to play on the Wii than they would be on any other system. Elebits is another example of a game that you couldn't do on any other system.

It all comes down to the developers coming up with fun and engrossing ways to use the controller.

Shiro @ Oct 27th 2006 11:50AM

@ 5 - Sure, it's revolutionary in the video game sense, but as a piece of hardware, it's just accelerometers and gyros, etc. I simply prefer to focus on the games rather than the controllers, but I can definitely see where you're coming from. The controller is a key part of... well, everything about the Wii.

@4 - I can't even tell what you're trying to say. First you bash the Wii then you praise it... You're like the John Kerry of gaming.

El Guapo82 @ Oct 27th 2006 11:57AM

Everyone thought the DS was going to be a gimmick, but it has proven everyone wrong.

ScreamingSkull @ Oct 27th 2006 11:59AM

My gf's DS is really fun to play, but she rarely gets out the stylus unless it's necessary. My psp gets a ton of play because of tekken. I think it can almost always boil down to who makes what and how well it's done.
A good gameplay experience can make or break your outlook in a second. Just think about the first time you see a collosus in SOTC, or the first time you slice a zombie in half with the chainsaw in DR.

Some gimmicks catch on and can become endearing, like rumble packs or memory cards, save game states or parallax scrolling.

crono141 @ Oct 27th 2006 12:00PM

This guy is a closet PS3 fanboy. His last paragraph gives it away (dumping on Wii60 concept, 2 controllers cost more blah blah)

To be fair, he has some legitimate concerns (other than looking stupid, which he doesn't need to worry about, he's got it covered). There is a possibility that his negative comments (gimmicky, gets old, won't last) may come to pass. But I think there as an equal or more likely possiblity that all the positive reviews of other sites will come true, and this will change how we play games forever.

I was disappointed in his revelation of no AA in Zelda. The thing that bugs me most about 480p is jaggies (especially on GC. Its aweful). But the fact he mentions it for Zelda means its not a problem in the other games, which is comforting.

Finn @ Oct 27th 2006 12:01PM

I don't comment on this site usually but for the guy who keeps saying that wii does not do one-to-one mapping you are wrong. Go watch a video from wii sports baseball and you will clearly see that it is possible

GMan @ Oct 27th 2006 12:06PM

@> (#15)
"I dont want to bring up this one-to-one mapping non-sense again (wii aint), but, if you cant comprehend the technical points (most of the Wii demographic) then go on and beleive what Nintendo tells you. .. oh, and ducking behind a couch will avoid damage in RedSteel too."

Well, the OP was talking about Wii Sports, not Red Steel. Red Steel is gesture based, but Wii Sports is much more, how shall I say it, analog. In baseball, it's pretty much 1:1. In tennis, any swinging gesture will swing, but the rotation of your hand as you swing is used 1:1 as a real racquet would for ball english. Etc. etc.

@crono141
"Sony spend their R&D on new processors and media. Nintendo spent theirs on new controls. If you take out whats NEW in both, you're left with ps2+/gamecube+."

++. An excellent point.

You know, one of the reasons Nintendo didn't release this as a Gamecube peripheral is because they have stated the GC isn't powerful enough to handle it. I'll believe that - the Wii remote takes somewhere between 200 to 300 samples per second. A PS/2 mouse, for comparison, has a sample rate of about 40 or 50Hz. USB mice are of course much, much higher.

Rocco @ Oct 27th 2006 12:11PM

I like the fact Nintendo seems to focus on innovating the gaming experience, I just don't like the fact the console includes 5 years-old technology leaving me with low-res graphics, wich would have been only fine at a $ 150 price-level. After playing my 360 on my HD screen, for me there's just no going back to last-gen visuals, no matter how much fun a Wii-mote controller can be.

trent @ Oct 27th 2006 12:16PM

just like with the ps3, its going to depend on the developers ability to leverage the new power! if the developers cant wrangle the cell processor into submission, its useless. if the developers cant find clever ways to use the wii-mote, then it too is useless. imagine if the ds used the touch screen to have you simply touch buttons instead of pushing them. thats the kind of unimaginative crap that could have killed the ds. fortunaly, a lot of first party stuff came out that showed people how it should be done.

hopefully the wii wont just be a series of titles that map the analogue stick to the motion sesitivity. it would give this emtremely analogue motion sensitive device the feeling of being digital and existing on 2 axis. this is what nintendo is trying to defeat. like they said earlier, theyre trying to make new actions besides the tires old push button action.

instead of swinging the sword or gold club, you can move your wrist and inch and get teh same result. that kinda dumbing down of the new actions is what the bit-tech guy was worried about.

DCSimian @ Oct 27th 2006 12:16PM

Like some of the previous posters have mentioned, I think it will take some time for developers to really get a grasp of what can be accomplished with the wiimote. Sounds like 1st party titles (most of 'em...looking at you Zelda...) have the motion down, i.e. Wii Sports, as well as some 3rd party titles.

I think we'll see quite a few games that follow the whole 'replace the buttons with gestures' motif...at least initially. I do think one-to-one can happen, but it won't be right out of the gate...may take some time. Here's hoping someone does it sooner than later.

Koekoenutt @ Oct 27th 2006 12:21PM

@16 - Bobby
"my thoughts on it are it is a gamecube 1.5 with a gimmick. i cant see it ever getting a serious game. like say resident evil 5 instead they got RE-chronicles . i cant see any rpg on it either . i see mostly alot of fps's and activity games and to me that crap got old with the DS."

It's almost like you haven't read a single thing about the Wii, besides obvious negative reviews. There is already a serious game out for Wii, It's called Zelda. On top of that, Super Smash Brothers Brawl will be a very serious game due to how popular the previous Smash Brothers have been, especially with Tournaments.

Square Enix is also creating a game or two for Wii, along with the new Fire Emblem being developed. When the Wii was first announced with its new controller as Revolution, They said their main targeted games were RPG and FPS. Along with Wii being one of the first consoles that might make RTS (Real Time Strat)a common place on your TV. This alone has potential to lure a lot of Hardcore computer gamers to the Wii for serious titles.

Jesse Morrison @ Oct 27th 2006 12:21PM

I think the concerns mentioned are valid, but they are similar to what happened when the DS first came out. The DS was poorly designed for in its first year, and it wasn't until games like Nintendogs started coming out, which used all of the features of the DS, that it was taken seriously. And it wasn't until Mario Kart that developers seemed to understand that it was okay to ignore the stylus if it wasn't necessary.

The Wii will probably follow a similar track, with developers struggling to figure out the best way to utilize the system. I think eventually, most games will ignore the features of the Wii unless they contribute to the gameplay. Maturity will be shown in Wii games when developers stop feeling required to use features that don't fit naturally.

Finn @ Oct 27th 2006 12:22PM

@29 To tell you the truth I don't understand why everybody says things about bad visuals. I have been watching dvds in 480p on my HD for awhile now and they look great to me (not as good as 1080i on my 360) but great.

mandarin @ Oct 27th 2006 12:26PM

This guy in the picture reminds me of Steve Carell

jabbertrack @ Oct 27th 2006 12:26PM

I'm pretty sick of the "people thought the world was flat" analogy that gets driven into the ground with the Wii comparing it to the DS.

This is a legit and balanced review that highlights some of the dangers of designing a console around a controller. If you're buying a Wii then awesome... the article isn't going to disuade you.

Also try not to take it so personal when someone who isn't a complete fanboy lunatic writes a review of a console that you haven't even played for yourself but are raving about on the intertubes.

@ Oct 27th 2006 12:39PM

People keep bringing up the DS.. heres one way to look at it:

Nintendo has dominated the handheld market since the original gameboy; they know how to make handhelds. That their DS is doing well against a new comer is hardly surprising; its beat out GameGear, Lynx, NeoGeo Pocket, etc..

Now, in the console market; Nintendo has been completely irrelevant for the past 10 years. Their last console success was SNES; since then, they've completely messed up one console after another. With N64 it was expensive catridges (which was demanded by Shiggy himself) and not enough ram. With Virtua Boy, its just a plain gimmick (how quick ppl forget). With GC, .. i dunno, it just blew.

So, why are fanboys so eager to jump on the Wii as the last bastian of great gameplay when nintendo has has their last three consoles fail (VirtuaBoy too)? You guys need to see things more objectively than lap up whatever Nintendo feeds you..their console track record is abysmal.

Elixir @ Oct 27th 2006 12:47PM

The wiimote is a gimmick, and i truly do feel bad for those kids who have heard all the hype and bit into it, just to be hugely dissapointed after bringing the console home.

however i dont feel bad for all these retarded game journalists that have praised this thing up and down without truly sitting down with it.

nintendo fanboism is the biggest out of the three consoles, and its going to be pretty funny to see them come crashing down (again).

botdeluxe @ Oct 27th 2006 12:48PM

Sounds like a reasonable assesment to me. Some concerns, but a "wait and see" attitude. I think some of the fanboyism here is a little ridiculous considering this is quite a different style of play, and some of you already consider it the best ever, without even trying it.

eric @ Oct 27th 2006 12:49PM

like ol' dirty bastard said,"tis' fo tha kiiiiddddsss!!!!!"

John @ Oct 27th 2006 12:53PM

Finn @ Oct 27th 2006 12:56PM

"when nintendo has has their last three consoles fail"

First the gamecube didn't fail in my eyes. There were lots of great games on the cube it just didn't do as well as the ps2 so I guess in that sense it fails. Second people like nintendo because of the 1st party stuff.

The last gen all 3 systems were pretty much the same thing hardware wise, the 360 really had the most going for it with live. But they all had comprabable visuals and controls.

Now this gen its about what brings you more immersion into the game. I'll use call of Duty 3 for an example Does enhanced visuals, sound, and imparticular A.I. (Assasins Creed anyone) bring you into the game more. Or does a controller in which you can throw your arm just like you would to throw a grenade and the char acually does it on screen bring you more in.

Koekoenutt @ Oct 27th 2006 12:57PM

@37 - >

Even though the N64 didn't do as well as the PSX, I still don't think you can call that system irrelevant when it really pushed the FPS Genre for consoles, along with Wrestling games. The system itself might have "failed" compared to Sony, but the games that came out for it were revolutionary at the time. To say the system was irrevelant is just ignorant. Also pushed new ideas that were still "Amazing" at the time with Super Smash Brothers, Mario 64, and Ocarina of Time.

The Virtuaboy was a failure. At the time though, Gameboy was still huge and Nintendo wasn't "irrevelant" at that time either. Just a horrible product to say the least.

Just seems like your throwing crap out there when you can't even back up half your statements. The Gamecube did horrible due to the lack of support from Third party systems. Some first-partied games didnt have the same feel that some would expect. Yet, Smash Brothers is still a huge game to this day creating tournaments all over the world and still has pushed for innovative and new genre of games.

Finn @ Oct 27th 2006 12:59PM

lol imparticular

spike117 @ Oct 27th 2006 1:01PM

"So, why are fanboys so eager to jump on the Wii as the last bastian of great gameplay when nintendo has has their last three consoles fail (VirtuaBoy too)? You guys need to see things more objectively than lap up whatever Nintendo feeds you..their console track record is abysmal."

Please explain your definition of failure. The reason people like Nintendo is not for the hardware, its for their games.

But that is a double edged sword. The reason Nintendo games are consistently great is half because of their software development and half because they control every aspect of the hardware used.

If you read any quote from a major developer complaining about Nintendo's hardware ability it is usually followed up with "But Im still going to buy [Wii/Gamecube/N64] for myself to play Zelda".

Nintendo designs hardware to play Nintendo games. If you like Nintendo games you buy Nintendo hardware. If however you do not like Nintendo games your better off with a Sony or Microsoft product.

This does not however take away for the quality of Nintendo's hardware. It does exactly what its designed for.

You ever hear anyone complain that Pixar movies arent real enough? Why are they so kiddie!? I mean common only kids watch Pixar right!?

Pixar makes movies for Pixar, why don't you go complain about them?

Anna @ Oct 27th 2006 1:02PM

Well people tend to consider me a fangirl, but i'm pretty worried too. I like the idea, but I wonder how usefull it wil be in the long run, if I'll really want to constantly do motion sensing and all.

I've half considered picking up the Cube zelda instead...

However despite my doubts, I have a Wii, Zelda, Rayman, and Excite Truck, preordered, and I intend to be playing on the 19th.

SuicideNinja @ Oct 27th 2006 1:05PM

I really don't see HOW the Wii could be a day-to-day gaming device. I mean...once I get through the Metroids and maybe a couple Mario games....then what? I'm probably not going to want to play multiplatform games on the Wii because the visuals will be lacking. We can say graphics don't matter, but when I go back to a PS2, Gamecube, or Xbox game...it matters. A lot. An ugly game that is fun is still ugly. And it's not like Xbox 360 games and PS3 games will be made unfun because of the Wii's existence.

Whether "a magic wand" is included with the new Nintendo console makes no difference. I don't expect it to be "revolutionary". Just different, and made by Nintendo. And I want it, just like the DS originally.

In my opinion, the touch screen on the DS has worn thin already, just like this motion-sensing probably will. A good question to ask yourself: Did the DS's touch screen really change gaming?

@ Oct 27th 2006 1:05PM

"Now this gen its about what brings you more immersion into the game. I'll use call of Duty 3 for an example Does enhanced visuals, sound, and imparticular A.I. (Assasins Creed anyone) bring you into the game more."

Actually, yes, more NPCs with complex indivdiual and collective AI makes it more dynamic rather than scripted. So, yes it doe improve gameplay and immersion.

"Or does a controller in which you can throw your arm just like you would to throw a grenade and the char acually does it on screen bring you more in."

This is the $50k question. It will be fun the first time you do it; what about after a 2 hour session? Every other day? How many ways are there to throw a grenade (that wont be interpreted as another gesture)? That is, all the unique control gestures will have been used one way or another in the lanuch releases.

Its like going to an amusement park. Those games are FUN because of their novelty (you dont do those types of things everyday)! But, shallow, and, they're not going to be fun if you do them everyday.

gamerx @ Oct 27th 2006 1:05PM

Attention SDF and Anti-Nintendo specimens:

Wii is twice as powerful as Gamecube.

Wii is not a "Gamecube 1.5 with a new remote".

Wii has built-in Wi-Fi, 512 MB flash memory(more than enough to download a handful of Virtual Console games as the roms are extremely small in size, we're talking in the single and double MB digits).

Wii has WiiConnect24.

Wii supports native 480p widescreen output.

Wii will not look ugly on HDTVs as HDTVS automatically upscale/downscale resolutions so image quality is not affected significantly.

Now get over it.

Koekoenutt @ Oct 27th 2006 1:09PM

I think the majority of the problem is that most people see these party games and expect Nintendo to only have these "gimmick filled" games. People see the commercials Nintendo has created with people jumping behind chairs and wild swinging motions. The reality of things is that there is a bit of everything, besides jumping behind chairs and couches. There will be games that might need broader and bigger motions, but there will also be games that will need little to none. There will be games that are short and party-themed, but there will be games that will be hours long and full of solo play.

Most act like this "gimmick" is the only thing to do on the Wii, but in reality there is much more to it than just motion sensing. Its how you want to play the games, and they leave that option for you. The library of games will not stick you with one style of playing.

Nintendo leaves the options for the consumer and developers.. Its how the developers use them and how they go about them. Its about what games you like and pick up to enjoy and have fun with. People tend to steer towards getting tired and not being able to relax with the Wii, when its just how you want to play the games, and what games you play.

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