Joystiq E3 hands-on: Wii Sports Resort
What Wii Sports did for the Wiimote, Wii Sports Resort does for the Wii MotionPlus. The added precision of the Wii MotionPlus gets to show off in the title and, from the three minigames we experienced, it gives an idea of how other games could benefit from the accessory.
We had a chance to try out Disc Dog, Power Cruising and, our favorite, Sword Play. Nintendo says the Wii MotionPlus gives 1:1 control, but that's stretching the truth just a little. The controls certainly feel more precise than the Wiimote in its current state, but we're not exactly sure just yet if it'll fulfill gamer fantasies of precise lightsaber duels.
Let's get the other two games out of the way with the quickness so we can talk Sword Play, the standout of our hands-on time. Disc Dog is a game where a frisbee gets tossed and a dog will go and try to catch it. No buttons are pressed, it's all about making a frisbee toss motion and flicking your wrist like you've released a frisbee at the correct time. There's a target on the screen that the player is trying to make the dog run to catch the frisbee. The easiest way to play is to look at where the target is on the screen compared to the Mii, imagine yourself as the Mii, and just flick your wrist at where the target would be if it were in the real world. For example, if the target is at the Mii's two o'clock, just flick at your two o'clock -- ignore the TV.
Power Cruising is simplified Wave Race 64 ... um, yeah, that's pretty much it. Hold the Wiimote and nunchuk like a handlebar to steer, twist the Wiimote to boost like one would on a Jet Ski. Easy-peasy.
OK, Sword Play. This minigame ended up creating laughter, humiliation, cheering, agony and glee. Basically, it's sword fighting and everything that we thought Red Steel should have delivered, which we now feel could happen with Red Steel 2 using Wii MotionPlus. The controls aren't perfect, but it certainly feels good. It would be absolutely worth purchasing Wii Sports Resort for this minigame alone ... if, it had more depth, which it doesn't. There is much potential found in Sword Play which we hope developers take advantage of. The minigame takes the waggle out of the Wiimote and shows how it could be a more elegant instrument.
Wii Sports Resort is an excellent showcase for the Wii MotionPlus. Although we could go without every playing Disc Dog or Power Cruising again (although they both have their charm), we'd certainly like to go back and try Sword Play again and imagine the potential for future products.
We had a chance to try out Disc Dog, Power Cruising and, our favorite, Sword Play. Nintendo says the Wii MotionPlus gives 1:1 control, but that's stretching the truth just a little. The controls certainly feel more precise than the Wiimote in its current state, but we're not exactly sure just yet if it'll fulfill gamer fantasies of precise lightsaber duels.
Gallery: Wii Sports Resort
Let's get the other two games out of the way with the quickness so we can talk Sword Play, the standout of our hands-on time. Disc Dog is a game where a frisbee gets tossed and a dog will go and try to catch it. No buttons are pressed, it's all about making a frisbee toss motion and flicking your wrist like you've released a frisbee at the correct time. There's a target on the screen that the player is trying to make the dog run to catch the frisbee. The easiest way to play is to look at where the target is on the screen compared to the Mii, imagine yourself as the Mii, and just flick your wrist at where the target would be if it were in the real world. For example, if the target is at the Mii's two o'clock, just flick at your two o'clock -- ignore the TV.
Power Cruising is simplified Wave Race 64 ... um, yeah, that's pretty much it. Hold the Wiimote and nunchuk like a handlebar to steer, twist the Wiimote to boost like one would on a Jet Ski. Easy-peasy.
OK, Sword Play. This minigame ended up creating laughter, humiliation, cheering, agony and glee. Basically, it's sword fighting and everything that we thought Red Steel should have delivered, which we now feel could happen with Red Steel 2 using Wii MotionPlus. The controls aren't perfect, but it certainly feels good. It would be absolutely worth purchasing Wii Sports Resort for this minigame alone ... if, it had more depth, which it doesn't. There is much potential found in Sword Play which we hope developers take advantage of. The minigame takes the waggle out of the Wiimote and shows how it could be a more elegant instrument.
Wii Sports Resort is an excellent showcase for the Wii MotionPlus. Although we could go without every playing Disc Dog or Power Cruising again (although they both have their charm), we'd certainly like to go back and try Sword Play again and imagine the potential for future products.












Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
WiiFTW @ Jul 19th 2008 11:33AM
Puppies are cute?
http://nintendoe32008.ytmnd.com/
Yay! for shallow mini-games with no depth.
Richard 2.4 @ Jul 19th 2008 1:20PM
Yay for redundacy.
deaftly @ Jul 19th 2008 5:32PM
that ytmnd is amazing
Abscissa @ Jul 19th 2008 5:59PM
It actually one-ups the old "Sad Picard" pic :)
Mr.ESC @ Jul 19th 2008 9:29PM
I'm going to see that drummer in my nightmares.
Lord Bowser @ Jul 20th 2008 5:59AM
...
GrossGreg @ Jul 20th 2008 2:49PM
Yay! for douchebags with no intellect.
BV @ Jul 19th 2008 7:46PM
I agree, Sword Play is by far the best from all of those games. Disc Dog seems to me like more of a gimmick than an actual game - what fun, throwing a frisbee at a dog virtually. It doesn't have any replay value.
From Nintendo's E3, it looked like Power Cruising might not be that bad - it looked a bit enjoyable, actually - if there was no objective, I would enjoy just cruising around.
Sword Play looks good, though.
But seriously, unless they give this game a good price, it seems a lot like a gimmick to me.
P.S. Here was the (only) good part (imo) of the E3 conference by Nintendo: http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/2411/lole3nintendomx1.jpg
CTC XBL-supapaypamawio PSN-ctclaw @ Jul 19th 2008 3:33PM
You got to play them?
BV @ Jul 19th 2008 7:46PM
No, just from the looks of the game.
Yourself @ Jul 19th 2008 11:39AM
Not that the writer of this post implies it is, but I do always like to chime in that 1-1 swordplay is literally impossible, at least until someone introduces a device which stops your arms in motion when you come into contact with an opponents sword. It's not necessarily that feedback is part of the definition of 1-1, just that positioning becomes an impossibility after the player is given free reign to move where the avatar cannot.
SkreeHunter @ Jul 19th 2008 12:19PM
I've used haptic devices in the past that actually allow that to happen. It was actually more of a pen on a robot arm that allowed you to stick a needle into a arm and feel the resistance of the needle. Quite possibly the creepiest thing I've ever done.
Kind of like the Novat Falcon except about $1000 more.
The Fatass of Kickassness @ Jul 19th 2008 1:01PM
Skree, that sounds horrible.
SJ @ Jul 19th 2008 4:35PM
@Skree,
I actually work with one of those devices. We are using it to create a surgery simulator. It's awesome. I think such force feedback is going to be the future in videogames.
mr mobius @ Jul 19th 2008 11:43AM
Okay, so many people including myself complained about the distinct lack of Zelda at this E3.
I'm now ecstatic that was no Zelda this year because it means they have time to implement this into a new Zelda game for the Wii. That would be amazing. I can still remember how easy the bow and arrow was from the first Zelda with the IR. It was my first real experience of the ability of the IR.
Imaginationland Warrior @ Jul 19th 2008 11:48AM
True that. Just think, you Ninty could probably put more emphasis on combat in Zelda with WiiMotion Plus. If an enemy has a weak spot or a shield you would have to be able to get to it on your own. It would be better if the enemies were smart enough to move around and use a shield too instead of just standing there waiting to be attacked.
Abscissa @ Jul 19th 2008 6:18PM
Yea, except that they had two completely different controls for "look up/down" and "look left/right". That annoyed the crap out of me. I did *very* much like being able to aim the arrows with IR pointing though.
Badger_badger_badger @ Jul 19th 2008 11:43AM
Wow, those screens don't make me want to play the game, they make me want to go on a real vacation!
Lord Bowser @ Jul 19th 2008 11:44AM
How does the sword fighting game handle weight? Is there a recoil when I attempt to attack someone and they block? What happens if I just flail, would it mimic the actions perfectly? It seems intriguing, especially seeing as Wii Sports is one of my favourite games, ever.
deaftly @ Jul 19th 2008 5:21PM
You're not complaining about something!?!?!?
DBuck_Eye @ Jul 19th 2008 11:54AM
I have a bad feeling that this game will fail. The last game was only mini-games, but each one had a lot of depth to it. With ten mini-games in this one and basic sports already used up, I feel like this will end up like 3rd party attempts more than the original.
SoulBlade @ Jul 19th 2008 12:29PM
Wii Play's been on the top 10 for ages now. I think it's going to be fine.
DBuck_Eye @ Jul 19th 2008 12:39PM
I was saying fail in terms of quality, not sales.
The Fatass of Kickassness @ Jul 19th 2008 1:00PM
"Wii Play's been on the top 10 for ages now"
And thats all because of the game. Yup. People are paying $50 for Wii Play. They're totally not buying it because it comes with a controller. Nope.
SoulBlade @ Jul 19th 2008 1:17PM
And people will buy this one for the WMP. I didn't think that'd be a hard connection to make. This game wouldn't sell nearly as much at 50 bucks if it didn't come w/ the WMP.
Fail in terms of quality - possibly, but there are a lot of games that fail the quality test on all three systems. Wii's primary target audience doesn't seem to care much about quality like the core gamers do, so you're going to see more of that.
Curmeo 2.0 @ Jul 19th 2008 11:57AM
Wii Sports Resort and Wii MotionPlus are what Wii Sports and the Wii Remote should have been from the start...LOL @ you fanboys who think the MotionPlus will provide true 1:1 control though!
i guess the next Zelda Wii title will finally have somewhat respectable graphics for a current gen system and voice acting...
and Metroid Prime 4 will have an online mode (which the same fanboys who currently say it doesnt make sense in a Metroid game will praise)
see the trend? tsk tsk tsk Nintendonald's.
Linkman2004 @ Jul 19th 2008 12:09PM
If you'd been reading things about the Wii Motion Plus, you'd have realized by now that they couldn't have done this back when the Wiimote came out. Up until just last year, the gyroscopes used in the Motion Plus were large, power-hungry, and expensive. If they had this technology from the start, not only would the Wiimote cost more and be larger, it would also suck down batteries faster than it does already.
So go read up about it and the technology behind it before you go and say that it should have been there from the start. It just couldn't have.
Curmeo 2.0 @ Jul 19th 2008 12:48PM
Linkman2004, dude no offence but it looks like you just repeated everything Nintendonald's and InvenSense said.
how about you try to form your own opinion instead of letting the suits think for you?
here's my opinion: the only reason why this add-on tech wasnt incorporated into the Wiimote from day 1 is because it would mean Nintendonald's healthy hardware profits would decrease by a slight bit. the Nintendonald's faithful will call that "a good business decision". i call that milking your gullible customers like a bunch of Swiss cows a.k.a. immoral/unethical consumer treatment. and bullshitting for months about how the original Wiimote is so revolutionary and will change gameplay forever and 1:1 and this and that doesnt help with their image either.
they should have added this tech from day 1 and absorbed the slightly decreased profits per hardware sale, especially since they made such grand statements about the REVOLUTIONARY Wiimote! take a page from MS and Sony who lost $100 of dollars initially on hardware sales which cost them billions. but no Nintendonald's is the good guy!
The Fatass of Kickassness @ Jul 19th 2008 12:58PM
I agree in part with what you're saying Curmeo (a first since I usually think you're a fucking nut with too many Anti-Ninty conspiracy theories) but to act as though this was possible from the start is just plain stupid. Of course, why believe the company that actually makes the gyroscopes, when we have Curmeo's divine logic to go by?
Oh, and, uh, stop being a moron. Zelda isn't the kind of game that would need voice acting (although a graphical update would be nice), and the only people who were clamoring for Multiplayer in Metroid Prime 3 were twits who hadn't played a game in the series before. We've had multiplayer in two Metroid Prime games, and neither had GOOD multiplayer (Metroid Prime Hunter's entire focus was Multiplayer. Did fans 'praise' it? Nah, when it comes to Metroid fans, that's usually the most universally disliked title in the Prime series).
loof @ Jul 19th 2008 1:00PM
Curmeo 2.0,
So if I'm reading this correctly you're saying that Nintendo should have done this for the get go. When the whole point of Linkman2004's post was that it wasn't possible to do when the Wii was originally released.
Where exactly is your proof that this was possible 4+ years ago when the Wii was being designed?
fred @ Jul 19th 2008 1:10PM
Is it possible to be banned for using the term nintendonalds so friggin much? His posts are like 50% that word and it's really fucking annoying. Or word filters: I think using word filters for M$ and its variants as well as nintendonalds would be great. It's not even clever, it's retarded.
SoulBlade @ Jul 19th 2008 1:23PM
Bans don't work well for douches. Do you really want to see a 3.0? Pain.
Richard 2.4 @ Jul 19th 2008 1:26PM
Fact > Opinion
why not the LS2LS7? @ Jul 19th 2008 2:41PM
Linkman2004:
That's complete BS.
The motion sensors used in the Motion Plus are not of a level beyond what was available when Wii came out. They're not gyroscopes, BTW, they're just more MEMS devices.
This is way overblown, there's still no way to do 1:1 movement with dead reckoning (as these motion sensing systems use). I'm sure it'll be better, but I wouldn't go expecting miracles.
And before some person asks me for "proof", these MEMS devices were used in the Macbook Pro laptop in that timeframe. Ask Linkman to offer proof of his statement.
Anni @ Jul 19th 2008 5:45PM
fred, thank God you're three heart'd. I knew I wasn't the only one who automatically downvoted shit posts that used either M$ or Nintendonald in their arguments.
Of course, I would downvote Curmeo anyway based on everything ELSE that's wrong with his posts.
j.howlett @ Jul 19th 2008 11:59AM
i like the slicing things with the sword.
playwhutyalike @ Jul 19th 2008 5:27PM
Yeah, like prostitutes.
LAZoftheTamarinds @ Jul 19th 2008 12:09PM
The only game good from those is the sword fighting one. And even that is bad, I'm gonna look like the next "Star Wars Kid" in front of the TV!
coldbrand @ Jul 19th 2008 12:17PM
I can't wait to make a jackass of myself trying to sell this over the attachment by itself at my new job.
bouncicles @ Jul 19th 2008 12:46PM
Oh, I think it will do fine, just like Nintendo's other hardware-driven titles such as Wii Play and Wii Fit. People will probably end up buying this game to get a Motion Plus unit, if nothing else.
Strange that Nintendo's big software titles now seem to be driven by included hardware (like GH and Rock Band). It used to be common wisdom that games needing peripherals didn't sell well because the buying audience was automatically limited. I guess that doesn't apply when you bundle the peripheral, especially if it doesn't push the cost of the game much higher (in Nintendo's case, anyway…the price is bumped quite a bit for GH and RB).
ChooChooCharlie @ Jul 19th 2008 1:00PM
I wonder if you can use the Wii MotionPlus in older titles. It would be nice have some issues resolved by the more sensitive motion control option. (I'm looking at you MK Armageddon.)
playwhutyalike @ Jul 19th 2008 5:30PM
How about Manhunt 2?
AlphaOmegaSin @ Jul 19th 2008 2:40PM
Where the fuck did the day of just going out and getting a game and enjoying it go to? So much flaming a bitching and theorizing, blah blah blah. If you think its a gimmick dont buy it then. If you think its worth whatever price tag they slap on it then plunk down the cash and have a ball. Im going back to enjoy Firefighter F.D.18 for another hour or 2. Fuck this retarded debate.
Dre Day @ Jul 19th 2008 3:41PM
@why not the LS2LS7?
Umm, Wii MotionPlus most definitely uses Gyroscopes (thee in fact), and non MEMS.
This was confirmed by Invensense, the company responsible for the technology inside the MotionPlus. GameSpot then confirmed that the device uses three of them for accurate tracking.
1) http://kotaku.com/5025650/how-exactly-does-the-wiis-motionplus-work
2) http://www.gamespot.com/features/6194443/index.html
Also
Saria the Cat @ Jul 19th 2008 4:04PM
All I have to say is...poot.
Abscissa @ Jul 19th 2008 5:57PM
Wii Sports Resort doesn't have *just* these three games, does it? Or are these just the only ones demoed? If so, what are the other ones supposed to be? Was there any announcement on that?
Dre Day @ Jul 19th 2008 7:22PM
^ It'll have around 10, though they haven't announced what they'll be.
Mr.ESC @ Jul 19th 2008 9:30PM
Eh well maybe if it is included with the wiimote plus.
ugg.tryptophan @ Jul 19th 2008 10:49PM
if it comes with wiimote plus, ill buy it,but only to play conduit, and sparring kinda looks fun
Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Jul 20th 2008 5:39AM
Sword Play video on YT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1emrtvihg8