Climbing the learning curve with Wii Sports Bowling
Since Nintendo announced the motion sensitive control scheme for the Wii, there has been a lot of debate over how easy the new controller would be to learn and use well. Would the natural motions be completely intuitive, as Nintendo claimed, or would swinging an arm actually end up being harder than pushing a few buttons. Now that we actually have a Wii console in our grasps, we decided to find out how our skills with the controller developed over a few games of Wii Sports: Bowling. Read on to see how quickly our skills developed.
Game 1: Having trouble letting go of the "B" button in mid-swing. The result is a late throw that ends up dribbling down the lane for a few pins. Score: 110
Game 2: Better with the timing, but the ball has a natural curve at the end that makes most shots miss the mark just barely. Score: 116
Game 3: Consciously focusing on keeping the ball straight. Throwing it at less than full power seems to help. Score: 146
Game 4: Confident in the straight game, I focus on adding some spin to the end of the shot. Most shots end up too turning too much or too little. Score: 145
Game 5: Working off a surprise strike from game 5, I decide to try a standard first shot for all ten frames -- full power, straight on from the right edge with maximum leftward spin. I get two strikes but miss a few easy spares. Score: 147
Game 6: I try shooting with an approach from the extreme left side, angled towards the center with a slight spin. No strikes, but I pick up the spare on all but one frame. Score: 166
Game 7: No set strategy -- I pick shots based on flights of fancy. Pick up eight spares and two splits. Score: 159
Game 8: Arm is getting a little tired from 140+ straight throws without a break, so I try to fool the system by sitting down and just flicking my wrist. The results are disastrous. Score: 111
Final thoughts: My virtual bowling skills have definitely improved even over one short play session. Compared to the random flailing of the first game, I feel I've gotten much better at using finer movements to control shot power and aim. Throwing straight shots is pretty easy, though controlling the amount of spin on the ball is still a little difficult. Strikes still come extremely rarely, but picking up most simple spares comes relatively naturally after only a few games. Overall there's still room for improvement, but it will probably take a lot of work to break 200.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Fernando @ Nov 11th 2006 1:36PM
Hi... what are the chances that someday the Wii can handle a game engine like Unreal 3 (Gears of War). I mean, the X-Box 360 release a game with that engine after 1 year, so maybe the Wii can also handle an engine like that in 1 year (I mean, Red Steel is a first generation Wii game and looks like a first generation X-Box 360 game)
Vlad Bien-Aim @ Nov 11th 2006 1:45PM
Being able to sit down and just flick your wrist is supposed to be one of the main defense points against those who believe the Wii will just tire everyone out. I hope it's the fact that it's a bowling game that made it turn out that way for you guys.
LordMinogue @ Nov 11th 2006 1:46PM
Fernando, the Wii has the effective graphical power of Xbox 1, give or take. The system uses motion sensing to innovate and move in new directions. Expect to see Chaos Theory and Halo 2 quality graphics consistently, but you will never see graphics on par with Gears of War.
The idea is to make games that are fun and innovative, not pretty.
Sonic @ Nov 11th 2006 1:59PM
To say that games on the Wii will not be pretty is a completely ignorant take on what pretty is, no offense. Is seeing the blood pouring from eyeballs all that pretty just because its high polygoned or realistic looking? I know games from even NES that are far "prettier" then even the best games out today, its all art direction that determines if a game is to be pretty or not. Graphically superior is the word you're trying to use, not prettier.
Jake Parker @ Nov 11th 2006 2:14PM
No. The gamecube was for all purposes slightly more powerful than the xbox 1 (albeit not in all respects, such as shaders, but that was Nintendos decision, their hardware COULD have supported them)
The magic number for the wii has been 2-3 times the GCN. The Wii is more powerful than the xbox 1 (360 it is not, however)
Mr BoomStick XL @ Nov 11th 2006 2:16PM
Well back to the topic at hand boys, I think that after trying the Wii already I can say that you will see more and more people say that after 30-45 minutes of swinging thier arms they will shut the system off and turn on thier PS3's or 360's!! I can't wait to get mine next Sunday, I REALLY looking foward to Zelda:TP but with I tire out after a 1 1/2 of playing?? We shall see!!
joshua @ Nov 11th 2006 2:18PM
wow you wii fanboys are on the defensive
Koekoenutt @ Nov 11th 2006 2:22PM
Not that I have gotten my hands on the Wii, but respectivly speaking, I dont think you hands and arms will get tired of a game like Zelda where it doesn't take that much. I saw this due to all the videos people were playing in the past days saying they didnt tire. I think Nintendo will make games that will tire you out, and bowling is probably one of them, but I highly doubt everygame will wear you out. Im sure Boxing is another game that will wear you out after an hour or two of play, but you can easily turn on another game on the Wii that is more fit, like Zelda.
Jules @ Nov 11th 2006 2:32PM
There's a quote on the wall of my gym that goes like this:
'don't wish it were easier...wish you were tougher'.
The point is you shouldn't complain about getting tired from sitting down holding a light remote and wish you were able to handle it. If you read any game console manual i'm sure it'll tell you that you should have a rest from playing games frequently anyway so really you shouldn't have anything to complain about. If you can't handle it get your fat ass off to a gym.
mark @ Nov 11th 2006 2:34PM
"The magic number for the wii has been 2-3 times the GCN. The Wii is more powerful than the xbox 1 (360 it is not, however)"
Did you just say the 360 isnt more powerful than the regular xbox?
...
And the Gamecube wasnt more powerful than the Xbox. the xbox had more raw power and could do alot of things the gamecube couldnt, graphically. The Wii tho, is on par with the xbox / slightly better.
Nintendo_Fanboy @ Nov 11th 2006 2:43PM
@2
Wii Sports was designed as a game that uses full motion. The reason the "flick your wrist" strategy doesn't work on it is because it was not designed for it. All of the other games (the ones you will actually pay for) will have flick of the wrist options (with the exception of warioware and others like it).
Don't worry.
Optimus Prime @ Nov 11th 2006 2:47PM
I doubt the 'tiredness' thing will be an issue.
Games requiring wide, repetitive, and complex motions will most likely be of the party/mini-game variety.. ie games with no depth that you will only play with friends allowing you to take turns.
If these types of games are a staple for your gaming consumption, then it might be a problem.
Normal games will allow you to make small motions like zelda or redsteel.
DjRockadoo @ Nov 11th 2006 2:47PM
god, the people on here are morons. I have spent extensive time with the Wii (E3 and beyond). Unless you are a fat ass loser, you are not going to get tired making little flicks of the wrist and aiming around.
Graphics, the simple fact that Wii supports 16:9 and progressive out of the box for most games would make it actually better and seem better (yes, both sides of the spectrum) even if it was exactly a gamecube.
Look at the reviews that have been coming for Genji and Tony Hawk 8. The graphics are important for about the first 10 minutes. Then all the more important factors will rear their ugly or pretty heads.
Gears of War is not great because it looks so good. It's the icing on the cake. I gurantee if in some parallel world, Gears of War were being ported to the Wii, it would look marginally worse and get review scores within a similar range.
Look how good Call of Duty 3 is looking for Wii and that's first gen, scrambling just to get it done quality.
Grant @ Nov 11th 2006 2:47PM
Mark, he didn't say the Xbox wasn't more powerful than the 360. How did you interpret that quote to mean that.
MrD @ Nov 11th 2006 2:51PM
@Mark
I think you read that wrong. He said the Wii is more powerful than the Xbox, but not the Xbox 360. He didn't say that the 360 was less powerful than the Xbox, and the also didn't say that the Gamecube was more powerful than the Xbox.
Sloan Ranger @ Nov 11th 2006 2:57PM
I can't think of a single xbox game that couldn't have been reproduced perfectly on the cube. The only things the cube lacked were media capacity, a hard drive, and an obese footprint. The cube ports that suffered did so because of inadequate development times / small teams, not hardware limitations.
The wii is obviously more powerful than an xbox, not "on par."
But this is all irrelevant and way off topic. I'm GLAD bowling can't be "cheated" on, and hope the other wii sports games have been programmed the same way. It's BOWLING, what's the point if you can cheat on it? Zelda is totally different, swinging a sword with bravado motions in a 70+ hour game can get tiring for long sessions (though you can do it from impressions I've read). Nintendo was smart to enable shorter swings for that game.
The level of 1:1 controller motion authenticity should be totally up to the game designers, and basically it is. Wiimote FTW, T minus 7 days @;)
Stop Bytching @ Nov 11th 2006 3:03PM
"i'm sure it'll tell you that you should have a rest from playing games frequently anyway so really you shouldn't have anything to complain about. If you can't handle it get your fat ass off to a gym."
Gym or gym genius hold your arms up or out for an extended period of time you they WILL TIRE"
Only a fanboy would use a MANUAL as defense. If i play a game for only an hour It better because something else came up. I dont want to be in on a rainy day And nothings on TV and can only play and hour because im tired from swinging. Try holding your arms out for an hour with nothing in your hands see how heavy gravity makes it feel. Another scenrio, im home sick with nothing to do, last the i want to do is wave my hands not even a little bit. I cant wait till this comes out cause when you learn that, that hold it in your lap ish wont fly well see how many used wii's we see at gamestop and ebames and ebay 2weeks after people realize it wasnt what the were expecting. and how many people will be pissed in a few years when wii graphically cant keep up. Go back and play 007 on 64 yea great game and all that but the pixels are smacking you in the face. The same WILL happen with the wii, some wont care but most will start to get pissed when a game released on all three and there's look like how Ps1 games look to us now blocky jagged lines loose pixels. You people can defend this if you want to non fanboys arent really tring to bash, Hell most of us came up on nintendo and deep down want them to win, but we know a fad/gimmick when we see them mostly because becuase nintendo tries is all the time from that damn robot to 64's and GC "different" contoller. You'll learn so enough
george @ Nov 11th 2006 3:07PM
OK maybe we wont get tired in the games unless we are badly out of shape but no one is thinking about the real problem that may arise. Carpel tunnel syndrom! It doesnt matter how great shape you are in flicking on the wrist and using a keyboard and a mouse can all lead to it. I work on the computer and using the wii remote seems like it could be similiar. I am surprised i never heard anyone mention this over the tiring problem.
CD @ Nov 11th 2006 3:15PM
On GameSpot yesterday they did a live marathon of playing Wii. At first they were playing everything sitting down then at one point they had one guy stand up and everyone else sit down for comarison. Even with Wii Sports you could play everything sitting down as long as you had room to move your arms but naturally it made the movements feel awkward. I don't think there's any way a seated gold swing could feel anything but awkward though.
And he didn't start to get tired until after 140+ swings without breaks. If you were taking turns with another player you could probably go all day without getting tired. Any repetitive motion done that many times uninterrupted is going to get your arm tired.
R2P2 @ Nov 11th 2006 3:39PM
I'd like to know how good Kyle is at bowling in the real world. I don't think I've ever even broken 100, so the 110 on his first try with the Wii actually sounds impressive
Vampt Vo @ Nov 11th 2006 4:03PM
Wow, you fanboys are just pathetic. And I'm talking to both sides of the fence here.
I am a supporter of the Wii, but I'm no brainwashed fanboy. The Wii could easily be a failure. People could definitely get tired of swinging their arms around, and people might also not accept the fact that its graphics are (essentially) last-gen. But you know what, I wouldn't go so far as to say that it will be a total failure. It's a brilliant concept, but it all comes down to how it is pulled off. Just because Nintendo says controls matter doesn't mean the buyers will accept that opinion. And just because Sony says graphics matter doesn't make the Wii an automatic failure!
Will everybody please try to stop and see the world from someone else's point of view. Some people won't like the Wii, and they won't buy it. Others will buy it, and others won't care. No matter how many times you flame the Wii fanboys or the PS3 fanboys, it won't change what's going to happen. Next week, they will both go on sale, we'll all buy them, and by then, it won't matter.
From a Nintendo fan with an open mind,
--Vampt Vo--
Me @ Nov 11th 2006 4:08PM
Just so you guys know....the processor in the Wii i believe is around 900mhz (the xbox was like 750). the graphics cards in both are pretty much the same. The Wii is just barely faster as far as processing goes and on par with the xbox in graphics.
Now to the point at hand.....I don't see the Wii being all that tiresome unless you try to play it like you would play your PS2 all day or if you play alot of computer games and have carpel tunnel syndrome (then your screwed) !
Wayne @ Nov 11th 2006 4:23PM
I'm looking forward to getting my Wii, burning some calories and hopefully shedding a few pounds.
JRM @ Nov 11th 2006 4:49PM
be thankful the wiimote doesn't weigh 7 pounds :)
Psykechan @ Nov 11th 2006 4:58PM
The processor in the Wii is 900MHz? Wow! That's just as fast as my old cordless phone. Maybe that's why the 2.8GHz PS3 is so much better... it's faster than newer 2.4GHz cordless phones!
The "megahertz myth" should have died when Intel's Core processors hit early this year when their new 1.83GHz Core Duo handily beat a 3GHz "Netburst" Pentium 4.
If you even touch a piece of consumer electronics with a microprocessor you should understand that clock speed doesn't matter as much as other factors.
So tell all of your friends and please stop furthering misinformation.
Pince @ Nov 11th 2006 5:00PM
I simply can't believe people are whining because they actual have to move. At this rate, the new Wii slogan will have to be "hey, at least its not DDR, fatass"
Boohoo cry cry. Now, I'm just waiting for those same people to bitch that tilting the sixaxis is too strenuous.
Yashar @ Nov 11th 2006 5:02PM
Red Steel looks like 360 launch titles!?? Call Of Duty2 and PDZ look like Red Steel? Two High Quality HD games Vs a innovative but PS2 looking game!?
Wii = A bit better than PS2 or GC with shaders
+ Innovative controller
360 = PS3 or Xbox2
Jake Parker @ Nov 11th 2006 5:04PM
The xbox has much higher specs than the gamecube. Yet, the gamecube games still are able to match their quality. Why?
The original xbox was slightly modified commodity PC parts. The gamecube was designed from the ground up, custom cpu, custom gpu etc. This allowed Nintendo to work out bottlenecks as much as possible.
Nintendo published real world benchmarks. Microsoft published theoretical ones. The fact is the xbox is a lot less powerfull than it is in theory, because of its design. Even the PS2 theoretical benchmarks blow the GCN away, but I don't think anyone can argue that the PS2 has better graphics than the GCN.
One reason why the GCN suffered in ports was the fact that they choose to only have ~24MB of 1T-SRAM. The PS2 had 32mb and the xbox 64mb. Nintendo only used 24 because 1T-SRAM is more expensive. It was a trade off for quality (1T-SRAM is much faster) and quantity. The problem is your run of the mill 3rd party developer just wants to port the game, not take full advantage of each system (with the gcn's faster disk reading and faster ram, it couldve loaded things like textures more often and stored less in memory)
Anyway, the GCN was not as "powerful" in theory as the xbox, but in practice it was, and in some cases it was more powerful. The Wii will not be "on par" with the xbox, because the gcn was "on par" with it. The developers have said 2-3 times the GCN, and that's great.
A lot of the launch titles look pretty shitty though (red steel is nice in spots though, TP is a GCN game..) I will wait for Retro to show MP3 in its final form, they pushed the GCN pretty far and will probably do the same with wii (remember that MP3 so far has been the build that was done on gcn hardware with wii controllers)
P.S., Mark, I'd suggest you reread what I said and try and figure out what I was really saying.
Back to bowling, it looks sweet, I bowl in a league and am very interested about being able to hook the ball.
JIB @ Nov 11th 2006 5:41PM
@17 Stop Bytching
DO YOU LIVE IN A CAVE???!!
You don't need to stretch your arms out in front of you.
You can rest your arm on your fat leg or the arm of your chair. (sorry, I couldn't tell if you said that or not on account of your lack of punctuation und horibul speeling) BTW how long exactly did it take you to spam those Wikipedia pages?
DjRockadoo @ Nov 11th 2006 6:19PM
Psykechan
dude, buddy, please tell me your joking with the phone thing.... Those are wavelengths at which the phone's send out radio waves not processor speeds.
holy crap, thats incredible..... forget the fanboy crap aspect, why even post if thats the scope of your technical knowledge.
anyone with me?
Jules @ Nov 11th 2006 7:09PM
@17 Stop Bythching - I wasn't using manuals as a defence. I use a computer for work for 7.5 hours every week day and by law i'm meant to take regular breaks. Do i do it? no. Do i blame my employer for having sore bloodshot eyes at the end of some days? no. You shouldn't blame Nintendo for giving you tired arms if you decided to want to play it for hours on end. That's your choice. Like other people have said - you don't need to extend your arms out for extended periods of time.
If you're home sick then play a damn game that doesn't need you to move around - there'll be a hell of a lot of VC games that you can play and rest your hands in your lap like you'd prefer. I can't believe that you're so closed minded as to a new way of playing games. This isn't going to be a gimmick, and i bet you thought the ds was one too?
Who ever said the GC controller sucked too? I think the GC controller has been the best yet of any games console. My 5 year old nephew has an X-box and those controllers suck, especially for people his age.
Joystiq staff have had wiis for a couple of days now and they have not posted articles saying they're disappointed with it (from what i've read they all wanna get on with Zelda as it rocks). I wish i could see your face when you see the wii catch up with Xbox 360 sales quickly!
Oh and pixels can smack me in my face all they want if the games are like Goldeneye!
Ves @ Nov 11th 2006 7:19PM
Look if your worried about getting tired after playing 2+ hours on the Wii, here is a hint: The Wii isn't targeting you!! You see you have 2 other perfectly wonderful consoles that will make games for you. You can plop you lazy butt on the couch and only have to move your fingers to any of numerous complicated buttons on the other two consoles controllers.
This may be a shock to some of you so brace for it.... You don't HAVE to play a video game for 4 hours straight. *gasp* I know its hard to believe but even more insane is that fact that there are actually a large amount of people out there that DON'T WANT thier vidoe game's designed to be consumed in 4 hour incriments. I know I here ya brother "What will they do with thier wasted lives if they can't play video games for 8 hours every day?". Well, and this will be another shock to you, they have other commitments (*gasp*), they have jobs (the horror) or families (ok now I know you're lying). Its these unwashed, inferior, unskilled masses that I think Nientendo is trying to target. I know, I know, I find it silly too. Just because that demographic actually has a decent amount of disposable income, no one is really targeting them specifically with an experience designed for them and they represent larger part of the population then us hardcore gamers, that is no reason to target them as opposed to us. I mean we have been gaming for years, we know what we like! We like 20 button controllers that have absolutly no intuitive mapping to in-game movements. It's complicated, it requires skill to learn even the most basic movements. That keeps the newbs and our grandmoms from playing. Thats how gaming should be!!! Who cares if Nientendo sells 10s of millions of these consoles to casual gamers. They still won't have any hardcore gamers because we won't play a game system that makes us physically tired (thats not real gaming). In the end they will have an entire user base of nothing but unskilled non-gamers, I don't care how much fun they will be having. They will never be leet like us... Can I get an Amen!!!
Ves
schtum @ Nov 11th 2006 9:01PM
He was joking, rockadoo. His point is that megahertz is a meaningless metric, especially when comparing completely different microchip architectures. Why even post if your sense of humor is so limited?
Anyone with me?
Kyle Orland @ Nov 11th 2006 9:58PM
Since a few people have asked, my average in real life bowling was 140 when I played in a summer league. My high game score in real life is 181.
Fernie @ Nov 12th 2006 1:56AM
Of course now that I realize that I replaced the m in .com with an n, you've already answered the question I wanted to ask @_@. Thanks.
Extinction @ Nov 12th 2006 12:11PM
"The cube ports that suffered did so because of inadequate development times / small teams, not hardware limitations."
On every single multiplatform title? No, the problem is the hardware since Cube's versions were inferior to XBOXes EVERY SINGLE TIME, no exceptions. Cube is weaker, accept it and just walk away. Walk away.
Extinction @ Nov 12th 2006 12:12PM
The Megahertz myth does apply here, XBOX360 and PS3 are multi-cored systems, all 3 of 360s cores support dual threads, and one of PS3s 8 (7 SPEs, and 1 PPC) supports dual threads. Wii's processor is single cored, single threaded. Which makes Wii's 900 MHz a LOT weaker than 360/PS3s 3.2 GHz multicored/threaded processors.
Majortom @ Nov 13th 2006 12:08PM
First off wii bowling works just like regualr bowling.
I have played it at Nintendo world. If you dont throw the wii remote straight then the bowling ball wont go straight.
If you watch your hand and make sure your arm and hand go straight then you will go straight.
Works the same way in bowling.
also if you turn your wrist even slightly then your ball will curve accordingly.
Its not that hard.
Brian @ Nov 18th 2006 2:02AM
@mark,
No, he didn't just say the 360 isn't more powerful than the xbox. "360 it is not, however" means that the Wii will be more powerful than a GC, but not nearly as powerful as the 360.
Thank you for your wonderful insight into the Wii's graphics capabilities. You seem to have some inside information that I don't, so I'll just assume you're an expert. English major, however, you are not.
joepaz @ Nov 19th 2006 2:59PM
Ok, just got done giving bowling a try, and I love it. I haven't bowled in a few years, but the last league I bowled in my average was 203. First game I had no idea how the ball would react, and ended up with a 107. Second game I decided to try and play it like I really bowl. Stood all of the way left behind the left gutter and pointed it down the lane towards the right gutter. Gave it a natural lift like I would with a real ball, and the ball hooked beautifully. Plenty of power into the pocket. Clean game with a double and a four timer for a 228. God I love it.
Phil @ Nov 23rd 2006 6:24PM
When I bowl solo I get tired after about five or six games. But I play pretty quick and I only intend to play a few games anyway. Like people have said most of these types of games are meant to played in groups so the tiring factor isn't likely to come into play. And like others have said if you get tired after a little physical activity you need to put your PS3/XBOX360 away, stop buying Mountain Dew and get some freakin' exercise.
Playing Zelda with the Wiimote and Nunchuck I felt was far more comfortable than holding a joystick for hours. I was able to lounge on the couch pretty much however I wanted with my arms apart and comfortable. Once in a while I'd need to flick my wrist to swing my sword. I think it is actually less tiring than using a joystick.
Playing Red Steel was frustrating though, mostly because I suck at 1st person shooters (and 2nd person, 3rd person, 4th person...any kind of game where you run around and shoot people). Playing that I felt I had to stand up and honestly I guess I haven't tried it sitting down. Maybe I'd do better if I sat down. Damn, I hadn't even thought of that.
And as much as I didn't think the Wiimote would make a very good controller for the Virtual Console it also fits very comfortably in the hand, at least for playing Bonk's Adventure.
Now, my question is has anybody figured out what the 1000 is on the bowling graph and what the + or - means each time you play. I made it to Pro level and it seemed like I got a heavier ball that was harder to put spin on, essentially more control I guess.
I wish there was more documentation so you could decipher what is going on.
With that all said, I think Bowling is one of the most fun games I've played in a long time.