Essentially, only the nunchuk is used for camera and movement. The top joystick moves and strafes your character, while left and right rotations trigger the accelerometer and rotate the characters perspective left and right and a forward / back roll with cause the camera to look down / up, respectively. In play testing the control scheme, using the accelerometer control to move the camera feels awkward, and the rotations seem to move in 15 degree spurts (as opposed to fluid movement). After a few minutes, however, the movement became more intuitive.
With the simplification of movement in one hand, the other hand (and, more importantly, the infrared motion sensor) is free to control whatever -- sword-fighting or off-of-middle cursor positioning. Level Designer Bryan West told us, rather bemused, that with how the control scripts are implemented in the engine that even he could build a game with what's available.
Visually, the engine looked slightly better than Red Steel, especially the character model we saw. West talked with us and lamented about the common trend of ignoring Wii's graphical capability and simply upscaling textures used for PSP titles. We're assuming, then, that we won't be seeing the same issue with Alien Syndrome, a PSP and Wii title using the Vicious Engine. West also told us that they are working on a Wii game internally that involves the Vicious Engine but cannot currently discuss at this time.
(Page 1) Reader Comments
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I'm guessing the structure of the CPU/GPU is similar? Who am I kidding, I honestly have no idea. Maybe they are to lazy to port a WHOLE* PS2 game, or want to rush a product fast to ride the Wii money train.
*sarcasm
@Topic
Sounds cool. I just hope it doesn't feel "tacked on". But what's wrong with using the control scheme of KB/M, pointer to move camera and analog stick to strafe?
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http://crystaltips.typepad.com/wonderland/2005/03/burn_the_house_.html
Chris Hecker rants about Microsoft and Sony too. Just last year. His opinion is null. And he has no reason to talk... He's working for EA. :P
And we get it. You don't like the Wii. Please.. For the love of everything sane, stop talking. You're a very insecure anti-nintendo fanboy, if you need to continuously come into pro-nintendo threads and post useless information about the topic.
@topic
Sounds good. I do wish they'd give the traditional Mouse/Keyboard control scheme a shot. Oh well, maybe it's not as responsive? Oh well.
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Red Steel if you took the time to learn the limits you could actually move quite fast. You had to learn how far to move the wii mote to the side to get the character to look spin around. Move too fast and your character and your character would spin around in circles. It was far faster then a dual analog but not as fast as a mouse.
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Other games of this nature will be made for the PS3 or 360. Therefore if a company wants to make a game multiformat, it has to do all the HD stuff, or it could just release it for the two consoles who are not as powerful as the 360 or PS3.
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I really don't have clue where the "PSP to Wii" bit came from. The architectures are totally seperate. PSP runs on a platform called MIPS, usually found in cell phones and other mobile equipment nowdays. The Wii uses PowerPC, which is the same architecture used in IBM's servers and, until recently, the Macs, as well as the GameCube (hence the GCN1.5 allegations). Also, Cell (PS3) and Xenon (X360) are derived from PowerPC. The GPU in th PSP is a custom Sony job, while Nintendo uses a variant of ATI(now AMD)'s Radeon platform for their GPU.
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Seriously, if you've seen how the HL2 arcade controls work, you'd know how this works as well.
In fact, I'd like to see if anyone gets the "bright" idea to patent this, cause I'll gladly argue this to be obvious. (or at least, obvious to me..)
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Would you care to enlighten us on this "HL2 Arcade" control system? Links and video would be appreciated
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Its true. Just look at the Vicous Engine. Nintendo fans are so naïve. Even when the facts hit them square in the nose they still can't see it. You must be troubled inside to know that you will never experience great games without PS3/360.
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"And we get it. You don't like the Wii. Please.. For the love of everything sane, stop talking. You're a very insecure anti-nintendo fanboy, if you need to continuously come into pro-nintendo threads and post useless information about the topic."
Hey dumbshit, this is Joystiq.com not (insert system name)fanboy.com. People can say whatever the hell they want.
Sorry but this is not a pro-Nintendo thread. It's an anti-Sony thread. /sarcasm lol. This is (supposed) to be a anything goes kind of thread.
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All I have to say is... It's about time... Seriously, I'm tired of seeing Gamecube-capable titles on the Wii, LET ME SEE WHAT THAT EXTRA HORSEPOWER CAN DO!!
And... I don't know about those FPS controls... but maybe it works in the long run. I'm not going to shoot it down because even though it sounds weird, I've never tried it.
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"Even when the facts hit them square in the nose they still can't see it. You must be troubled inside to know that you will never experience great games without PS3/360."
Well then what the hell have I been playing?! I guess my Wii system is different than yours? Oh...you've never played it? Why is that not surprising
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I realize that this isn't (insert console)fanboy.com.
I just think it's pretty shitty of him to come into every "OH shi, positive stuff about the Wii!" thread and just post something that has NOTHING to do with the topic?
If you think that it's alright for him to do so, then you sir are the dumbshit.
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I've played all consoles, and while the PC is still my gaming instrument of choice, the Wii is a close second. No other console can deliver the instant playability of the Wii. Just point and click. It's like a wireless mouse for your TV. If you've never played a Wii, pick one up, and you'll understand.
That said, I'm not thrilled about this Vicious Engine control scheme. Why is the camera movement a part of the Nunchuk? Why not use the Remote as a mouse for Camera movement as well?
And, yes, as someone pointed out make a frickin' turn around button.
The Wii offers the best non-PC gameplay around. For the last time, Graphics do not equal great games. It's about ease of play and having fun.
'Nuff said.
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It still amazes me that people still ride the Mindless Troll Train. I dare you to make an intelligent comment. Fucktarts like you give video gaming a bad name. But its not your fault, you've been programmed. Faulty programming but programmed you were none the less. When someone can be so blind as to make a comment supporting "PS3/360", considering that 80 percent of the games coming out for either machine will be shared, it makes my skin crawl.
@ Virtua Fanboy
This thread was filed under Nintendo Wii and GDC. Get your shit straight, bitch.
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Hey wait a second buddy. I don't go into every Wii thread and post negative stuff. Its only only in the threads that piss me off deeply.
Why? I will tell you!
Its because Nintendo promised that the Wii would be a revolution in gaming and it turned out to be a half ass console with tacked on controls that makes games feel worse.
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What specifically makes you think the Viscious Engine control scheme is any worse than the control scheme in most console first person shooters?
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Though you say you don't go into Wii threads and post negative stuff, I could probably (but wont, because it's a waste of my time) go through every Wii news thread and find your name somewhere in there giving people shit.
It's not Nintendo's fault that developers are taking their sweet time making "new and innovative" ways to use the controller. I thought Warioware was amazing, and (I've played parts of it already) Metroid Prime 3 is amazing.
You can't bash a console in its first year. I've realized that already. I bashed the 360 to no end when it first came out. But now I own one. And I'm happy with it.
Short answer: Give it time. Stop being so angry at a company. It sounds like Nintendo broke into your house one night and raped your mother. You're waaaay too hostile towards Nintendo bro. Relax, and play some video games. :)
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"I dare you to make an intelligent comment."
Ok, I will. The Wii suck as a gaming console.
"When someone can be so blind as to make a comment supporting "PS3/360", considering that 80 percent of the games coming out for either machine will be shared, it makes my skin crawl."
80% of the games comming out on the Wii are Gamecube/PS2 titles. It just makes my skin crawl.
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Are you saying you would rather look at a pretty picture than play a fun game????
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Wow... Just.. wow... You, sir, are a gentleman.
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On topic, from the beginning I've thought the wiimote could be a very fun shooter control. So far, I've been disappointed. And lack of online is killer when it comes to shooters. But I still have confidence that the system will one day have a must-have shooter with online vs/coop.
It just seems like the controller could be so damn fun for a shooter. Something really fast-paced where you are whipping the crosshairs around and blasting away, often half blindly. I've only played red steel for wii shooters, and was thoroughly disappointed to be honest. Maybe Vicious will be the first to get it right.
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Just because a game looks pretty iy doesn't mean its not fun.
Okami is beautiful to look at and play. Same with Gears. Look up Eternal Sonata. That game looks very beautiful.
Swinging a tacky controller around a room doesn't make a game fun either.
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Have you tried Red Steel's multiplayer? Minus the bugs, it's actually pretty fun.
Just hard to find 3 other people that are decent at the game. It takes about 45 minutes to get used to the controls lol...
Man, so much hope for that game too.
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Ok i was just making sure...oh and didn't like okami or gears for that matter..but i see your point..
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The Wii is a solid system; low price, decent graphics, excellent control setup, and fun games.
If you want mindblowing graphics, buy a good video card or an Xbox 360 or a PS3 for more money.
I just want a Dual Wiimote FPS. That'd be kickass.
That and Metroid Prime 3.
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*stands and applauds while screaming "hell yes"*
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I, for one, would like to at least try this new control setup. It sounds difficult to me, but it could be interesting, depending on how well it is implemented.
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I, for one, would like to at least try this new control setup. It sounds difficult to me, but it could be interesting, depending on how well it is implemented.
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The fact remains, despite the bad ports, the tacked on controls, and the less than stellar graphics, the Wii STILL has better controls than any other console. Period.
Hopefully, it will get better. I see no reason to denounce the Wii just because of a few bad games. The potential is obvious. I won't be surprised if MS and Sony eventually make their controllers more "Wii-like."
Hell, Sony already tacked on it's crappy six-axis motion controller, so they obviously feel there's a market there to be exploited.
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I see what you mean, but I don't agree. I have been enjoying the Wii and in some cases I can't go back to the old way. For example, I can't go back to playing Halo. I tried to go back and finally beat the game, but I can't handle it anymore. After playing Call of Duty 3, Elebits, and Red Steel, I think the old way is worse for controling those kinds of games. After playing SSX Blur, I can't go back to playing SSX the old way. Especially since I always had trouble doing Uber tricks in the old games. My girlfriend rocked at the tricks, but I just couldn't get the hang of it. With Blur, I can do Uber tricks at will.
So to some it may be an underwhelming experience, but for others, that's not the case. If you don't like the games, there are other choices. As a multi system owner myself, I go where the fun games are and right now they're on the Wii for me.
Oh, and you shouldn't generalize about why people like those items. It's not simply about the masses. I enjoyed iTunes LONG before it was mainstream. You may not like those products and that's fine, however just think that there are people out there who genuinely like them. I still can't see why people like Linux or even Windows, but people do. I don't knock their opinion for liking them either.
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Thank god someone has sense. Turn around should be left or right on the analog. Straffe could be lean left or right with the nunchuck as I think that would be alot more intuitive. THis control scheme will remove the need to use the very center fo the screen asd an aiming point and will allow for real "gun like" aiming although not one to one. If you walk into a room with a gun and look straight ahead you could still shoot to your left and right using your peripheral vision. This brings that idea a little bit closer. Or at least you could shoot and have full motion which is something the keyboard cant emulate too well. I guess the strafe thing could get annoying if you couldn't get a good center of balance but I assume you could have it strafe after tilting it a certain amount of degrees. We will just have to see.
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There are two modern low-level graphics libraries on which game engines are built: OpenGL and DirectX. These are essentually the interfaces between the software and the GPU.
The PSP, PS2, PS3, N64, GC, Wii, and DS all use the OpenGL graphics library, while the XBox and XBox 360 uses DirectX. The low-level function calls do to things like send geometry to the GPU are more similiar between the N64 and PS3, than between the PS3 and 360! (Obviously the PS3 supports functions that the N64 does not, however rendering code for the N64 should theotically run on a PS3 with only minor changes!)
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I see your point, but it must be noted you cannot have true peripheral vision on a standard monitor or TV screen.
My priority is a bit different: I'd rather be able to run one way, while looking another, not something that sounds possible in this control scheme (unless I'm mis-reading?).
It seems silly not to have your camera linked to your targeting system - you're never going to need to look in one direction, and fire in another (as opposed to moving in one direction, while looking in another).
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Hmmm, Looks like a did misread it. For some reason I thought you had to hold down the buttons and then use the joystick for the camera, I missed the whole moving the nunchuk up and down to look up and down.
This is something I would need hands-on to see if it works or not.
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One last thing I thought I'd mention. I saw a diasabled kid in a wheel chair playing the wii. He was similar to Steven Hawkins in that he could only move one hand. He would totally have trouble playing any FPS but he could play wii sports. And he played it well. SO the wii has some advantages in that area as well.
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