The wii topic

[frogbeastegg]

Wii games are not available for rental. Gah! I have a sneaky suspicion this is a Nintendo thing; I have a nagging memory of them trying to ban the rental of either SNES or N64 games years ago ...

Can anyone suggest any good games to get for it (Wii/GC)

On the Gamecube I'd mention:
Moneky ball. I'd go with the original gamecube edition; it was the better game of the two on that platform, and I haven't tried the Wii game.

Metroid Prime I/II. I edges it out as the better game, with a nicer world to explore. II is more challenging, and a bit creepier. Not that number I is particularly easy.

Skies of Arcadia: Legends. Director's cut edition of the famous JRPG about pirates and ships which sail through the skies.

Paper Mario. Odd. No other RPG like it, save the other Mario RPGs.

Tales of Symphonia. Another quality JRPG. You control one character in battles, with the others handled by AI

Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader. Brilliant. Don't bother with the third game - it's poor by comparison.

Smash Brothers: Melee. Especially if you have other people to play with.

Luigi's Mansion. Short and sweet, and the game which made me think my brand new cube had a great future ahead of it.

Pikim I/II. I haven't played II yet, but I know it's a larger game all around than the first, and it lacks the time limit. Come on - it's strategy and exploration with a mini army of cute little plant creatures! What's not to like?

Anyone heard anything good or bad about NFS: Carbon, or Excite Truck?

A lot of people seem to be talking about Excite Truck in a positive way.

[Xiahou]

I'll second Tales of Symphonia on the GC- I loved that game.

Another classic is Eternal Darkness. It's an epic survival horror that covers an entire millennium- very well told and well produced. Anyone who hasn't played it needs to immediately run out and buy it. It's $19.99 or less new and as low as $10 used.

A lot of people seem to be talking about Excite Truck in a positive way.

I've heard it's alot of fun too. I was just wondering if the lack of depth would lose me eventually... Of course, I've heard that NFS is very shallow/short as well.

[frogbeastegg]

Another classic is Eternal Darkness.

Gah! How could I forget Eternal Darkness!? A few days ago I spent a good while expounding its merits to a colleague because he'd picked up a gamecube in the sale.

One of my favourite games on the cube. I played it through start to finish three times, once on each path, and I did it in less than two weeks: phenomenal for a frog and the kind of intensive play only a limited handful of excellent games receive. I remember most of the plot now and stand-out moments, four years later. That’s how good it was.

The voice acting in this game is some of the best I have heard. The storyline is above the standard; each chapter makes you feel attached to your character, and the end of each chapter is quite bruising to the emotions. Don’t let the survival horror tag fool you; this isn’t resident evil, this is Lovecraft. This isn’t zombies and shocks to scare, it’s psychological and well built. This game single-handedly disproves all those who say the gamecube only had kiddy games on it; it’s mature in the true meaning of the word.


Ah, the nostalgia. With games like Eternal Darkness, Luigi's Mansion, Smash Brothers, Monkey Ball and Rogue Leader around so early in its life the gamecube looked to have a bright destiny ahead of it. Those first months with my brand new gamecube were some of the best gaming times I've had, full stop.

[Kekvit Irae]

I've played Rogue Leader to death when I used to have a GC, and I absolutely hate all the Metroids that came out after Super Metroid. First person shooters on a console were never meant to be. I tried Prime and didnt like it. I even tried the demo of Hunters for the DS. Again, didnt like it.

[Justiciar]

My brother and I jointly purchased a Wii for Christmas.. having stood around in some godawful que for an hour.

Anyhow, it isn't as good as some people initially said and it certainly isn't as bad as others have claimed. Zelda's a great game (no surprises there) though it clearly wasn't made for the Wii. The only other game we have is Wii Sports. Now THAT is fun. According to it's fitness test I'm old enough to be my own grandfather.

[Xiahou]

Ok, so I broke down and bought Excite Truck- and as advertised it's loads of fun. The controls were a little difficult at the outset, but in a matter of 15mins or less I felt comfortable with them. Rather than "turning" the wiimote as though it's the center segment of a steering wheel, you simply tilt it in the direction you want to go. I quickly realized that this was a motion I already made subconsciously when playing this type of game "leaning into the turns", so once you're used to it it becomes quite intuitive. Also, they throw in the feature of being able to load mp3s on your SD card and use them instead of the default soundtrack.

The game is technically a race, but it's about pulling off crazy stunts/jumps as much as it is about actually winning. As you race, you collect stars for stunts and then you get bonus stars at the end depending on where you place (50 for 1st, 25 for 2nd, ect). 150 stars isn't an uncommon score for an "S" rank on a course, so winning is integral but not near enough by itself if you want the highest ratings- in versus, my wife actually beat me while losing the race itself by a wide margin.

So far, it's tons of fun- but it's too early to say if it'll ever start to get boring.

[frogbeastegg]

Thought of another good gamecube game: beyond good and evil. I have the PS2 version so it didn't immediately come to mind.

Metroid isn't really a FPS. It's more about exploring than shooting, which is why you have the lock-on system. Still, I admit the controls were a royal pain. I never did feel at home with them, however long I played. For me the exploration and detail made the annoyance of struggling to lock on worthwhile. Seeing the helmet visor mist up, bug goop splattering and blocking your view if you killed an enemy too close up ... and the incredible sights at some points in the game. The music was damned good too.

I didn't play Hunters. The controls can't possibly work, and it's mainly MP.