The wii topic

[frogbeastegg]

Pape: You want me to stick tacky blue putty stuff on the on/off switch of my shiny white console!? Gah!, I say to you, sir, gah!

BDC: Go and buy Zelda. Then play it. Finish it. Then go and buy all the other 3D Zeldas, play and finish them. Then come back. Go now. This is one of my favourite series, and it contains my favourite game ever: Ocarina of Time. I don't get on with the 2D ones though, to my ever-lasting disappointment.

And as for kiddy, it may not have blood and gore and swearing, but I find that seldom makes anything mature at all. On the contrary, games with that often feel very "I'm a teenager and wannabe cool!!1!" to me. There's very few which use it to good effect.

Some parts of the recent Zelda games are quite dark, if you think about them. There also tends to be a sorrowful atmosphere to them, and the endings are bittersweet at best. If you think about them.



Anyone played Monkey Ball, Red Steel or Rayman? We can't decide which one to pick up with Wii Play. :sigh: This is the problem when you give your boyfriend the chance to give his opinion, instead of choosing for him and telling him to be happy

I have fond memories of the first Monkey Ball, but didn't find the second to be nearly as good (level design wasn't as good, the camera had real problems on some levels, story mode was crap, and the whole experience felt less pure). I have never been a fan of the mini games in this series, with the exception of the first game's version of monkey flight. I hear this new one has bosses. This sounds like a terrible idea and makes me doubtful. Monkey Ball is about rolling monkeys in balls around intricate levels collecting bananas and teetering on the edge of death, not about bopping stupid monsters.

Red Steel has swords, guns and ninjas. He likes that sort of thing. I don't mind it occasionally provided it is well done and not a straight run and gun type. Red Steel has had a lot of reviews complaining about poor controls and bugs, and it sounds like a very straight up shooter.

Rayman sounds so silly and perfect to play with another person ... except it also sounds short-lived. It's going to be a while before Wii games go down in price. Being nothing but mini games it also doesn't have much meat to it for SP gaming.

[Lehesu]

I also heard that Red Steel is god awful.

[Xiahou]

Pape: You want me to stick tacky blue putty stuff on the on/off switch of my shiny white console!? Gah!, I say to you, sir, gah!

Just hook it to a power strip that you can switch off when you're not playing. That'll save you from unplugging it all the time.

Something tells me that I'll be getting Monkey Ball for Christmas, so I'll know more about it then... I have heard some mixed reviews on it though.

I had rented Red Steel, and it's not a bad game. The controls seem a little awkward at first, but I got used to them within the first hour. It's basically just a shoot em up with a thin plot about rescuing your GF who's dad is a Yakuza lord. The sword fighting is kinda fun, but they don't make much sense in the pacing of the game- You're running along shooting everyone in sight, then you go into a room with a guy with a sword and you duel him instead of just blasting with a shotgun... for some reason.

I own Raving Rabbids and it sounds like you got it nailed. It's a collection mini-games with a all but non-existent plot tying them together. The mini-games are good fun and have a sense of humor, but alot of them seem to involve similar motions.

--------------------------

I just got the forecast channel and the Internet channel installed on my Wii. Both of them are pretty neat w/forecast channel you can view your local forecasts or zoom out to a global views and spin the view to other towns/cities around the world. The Internet channel is just a customized Opera browser, but it supports Flash- which means it can play youtube videos and play Flash online games.

[Fragony]

Wii's got it, oh baby wii's got it.

Couldn't be happier with my purchase. Ok, I am with the frogmod, the wii specific elements aren't that great in Zelda, but aiming with the wiimote is a great improvement.

Now about Zelda, WIW. Awesome. I always get nervous when developers talk about making the game darker, Zelda needs to be kiddie. But, it works. I am especially fond of the soundtrack, just epic, lots of horns yay. Just finnished the first dungeon, loving it to death.

[frogbeastegg]

Ok, I am with the frogmod

:calls off her ninja death squads:

Congratulations on finding a wii


Xiahou, thanks. I think what I may do is wait until my few days off over New Year, then rent the three games and see what they are like. Wii Play remains sold out everywhere, with no date for restocking.

Did you get Monkey Ball?

[Fragony]

What is this Wii-thing? Never heard of it.

Anyways, I got Zelda and Red Steel, which is actually pretty good, just not very consistantly. The parts that are good are good , but a lot seems like filler, and the swordfighting is a HUGE dissapointment, a rushed release for sure.

ps, I did it, traded my 360 for a beer, had it with that boring pos and I was thirsty. Me happy, friend happy. Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

[Xiahou]

What's up with you Euros and your hatred of the Zelda Wii controls anyhow?

I scored Monkeyball, Red Steel, and CoD3 over Christmas- but I didn't get to spend much time playing them because the primary game my family was interested in was WiiSports. Brother, sister, cousins, parents... everyone wanted to create a Mii and play, even 'non-gamers'. The only person who didn't want to play was a techno-phobe uncle, but even he was handing out advice on technique to my parents from the sidelines.

I did get to spend just a few minutes playing Monkeyball mini-games (multiplayer) and CoD3. Compared to the controls of any other console FPS, those of CoD3 seem very intuitive. Obviously, you aim/steer with the wiimote, but you can also lean out from behind cover by tilting the wiimote to the left/right. That with throwing grenades via the nunchuk added some very nice touches imo.

[Kekvit Irae]

I decided to take the plunge. I'm now a wiitard. Can anyone suggest any good games to get for it (Wii/GC)? Besides all the Zelda games, of course. That's pretty obvious.
Additional Information: I already have RE4 for the PS2, and I played MGS: TS when I had a GC, and was not impressed in the remake. I also own Pokemon Colloseum (which is pure love thanks to an ACTUAL PLOTLINE and traditional RPG elements).

Bah, I wish Katamari Damacy was on the Wii. The game just BEGS to be played on the wiimote!

[Xiahou]

Well, I'd say that I'm pretty happy with all the games I got for my Wii. The biggest time consumers are probably WiiSports and Zelda, but the others have their good points as well. I really wouldn't know which ones to recommend, but if you have any questions about the gameplay of any of them I'll be happy to try and answer.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

For the record, I own:
WiiSports
Zelda
Raving Rabbids
Elebits
Red Steel
Monkeyball
CoD3

Frankly, with the amount of playing I actually get to do, I probably have enough games already to last me at least several months... but I'm hankering to try out the Wiimote on a racing game. Anyone heard anything good or bad about NFS: Carbon, or Excite Truck?

[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.

[Kekvit Irae]

I never thought I'd actually say "I love playing with my Wii" without looking like a pervert.

[Xiahou]

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

I spent a bit of time playing the demo and the controls were surprisingly robust. The config I used was the stylus as a mouse w/tap to jump, the D-pad controlled movement ala WASD and the shoulder buttons shoot. I never bought the game though since, as you say, it seems to be mainly about MP and I dont think I could keep up with the 13yr olds online(nor would it be much fun to try).

I dl'ed Toejam & Earl for the VC, I'd recommend that for anyone who has a friend to play with- it boasts some really well done MP co-op for a game that was made so long ago. If you're near each other, you both play on the same screen- but if you seperate, it automatically switches to a split-screen allowing you both to explore seperate areas of the map independently.

I never thought I'd actually say "I love playing with my Wii" without looking like a pervert.

I won't even embarrass myself by sharing all of the lame Wii jokes I've subjected my poor wife to...

[Kekvit Irae]

I played Toe Jam & Earl on the Genesis many years ago. And it still murders a lot of modern games today with its quirkiness and enjoyable gameplay. If the Wii Store would accept my credit card, I would be playing it over and over and over again.

[frogbeastegg]

Toe Jam and Earl love

Looks like my solution to being beaten repeatedly in wii sports game has just arrived. :downloads:

Um ... I'm kind of embarrassed to admit this ... and I know I'm risking being lynched ... but what the heck is so good about Gunstar Heroes? This game is worshipped, it's classed as one of the best games on the VC, a must have for all wii owners. I downloaded it, played the first level, and was bored. Run right while holding down fire. Occasionally jump a bit and throw an enemy. Run about doging bosses while holding fire. Die. Respawn. Keep on running while holding fire. Yay I win the level.

[Xiahou]

If the Wii Store would accept my credit card, I would be playing it over and over and over again.

Well, there's always points cards.

It gave me trouble with my credit card too- apparently it couldn't resolve my city and zip code. The solution was just to use the other town associated with my zip (even though I don't live in it) and voila, it worked.

Frog, I thought about getting Gunstar heroes and then decided against it. I figured if I really wanted a side-scrolling shoot em up, I'll just spring for the Metal Slug Anthology- at least it gives you more control options and includes 6 games in one.

[Fragony]

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

Oh yes they can, they do

more a shooter then metroid though, good game.

edit, now take a look at this.




impressive.

[frogbeastegg]

I got Rayman and Monkey Ball for my birthday, and Red Steel may be making an appearance later on. I managed to locate a copy of Wii Play two days ago as well.

Rayman is stupidly fun so far. I love the games which involve shooting rabbids with plungers Brilliant. The dancing mini games are better than I expected; rhythm games aren't my cup of tea, yet vaporising rabbids in time to music is quite addictive. The toilet door one is a pain; I can't last more than 20 seconds in it. For some reason it doesn't seem to pick up the hand being placed over the doors, so no matter how quickly I shake the nunchuck the doors always open and I get a face full of plungers. That's the one, single solitary control issue I've encountered; the rest of the game plays to perfection. I can't imagine playing it on one of the other consoles.

Monkey Ball is a very mixed bag. Most of the mini games I've tried are a bit crap, and too many have fiddly and/or unreliable controls. Some are reasonable. Snowboarding is alright, and the space invader rip off one is decent enough. The bird flying one is far and away the best so far; the controls work beautifully, and it's quite relaxing. But I was never a fan of Monkey ball's mini games; the original monkey flight is the only one I've liked.

The main SP game is about as good as Monkey Ball 2's, though the controls are going to take a bit of getting used to. Presently they don't feel as accurate as my old analogue stick. Given time I expect I'll gain fine control.

Monkey Ball’s bird mini game has gotten me thinking about how good a Wii katamari game would be …

I shall try Wii Play when my arms stop hurting. Spraying oncoming hordes of rabbids with carrot juice is hard work. My puny little arms are in danger of getting muscles

[frogbeastegg]

I did get Red Steel as well. I haven't enjoyed a console shooter as much since Perfect Dark on the N64. I don't understand all the complaining about the controls; they felt natural to me after five minutes of play whereas I have never been able to get on with using dual analogue sticks. I always ended up blowing my own feet off, or running about in circles. Much prefered Perfect Dark's control set up, with forward/backward/strafe on the cluster of buttons, and look on the stick. The training sword fights were neat too; nothing wrong with them. I did tweak the sensitivity a bit, and set the sword fights to large movements instead of small, so maybe that is important in getting it to control well.

I'm not a shooter connoisseur; in fact I haven't really played any for several years. Maybe it's my uncultured tastes showing? Whatever, it's fun and that’s all I care about.

Wii Play is great when played with another person. My boyfriend and I wasted an entire hour on it before moving on to a bit of tennis. Target shooting is fun, and the fishing game. We didn't like billiards much.

[Fragony]

Feel the same way about Red Steel, they just should have given the makers more time because a lot of awesomness is underdeveloped. People are complaining about the cheesiness, but that is intentional. What made Max Payne so charming was the over the top noirishness, Red Steel does the same thing but with Hongkong action flicks. Common, what is it with these japanese that they drop weapons and go samurai the minute they see a sword

I really have no idea what the game does so terribly wrong, it has ok graphics, lots of destruction and a control scheme that kicks the crap out of the mouse/keyboard setup. People that have trouble with the controls only prove thhat the evolutiontheory isn't complete. I am dancing my way through this game making headshots I never thought possible. The final stages really demand that you are comfortable with the controls, it gets hard

Swordfighting sucks though, shame.

[Xiahou]

I really have no idea what the game does so terribly wrong, it has ok graphics, lots of destruction and a control scheme that kicks the crap out of the mouse/keyboard setup.

I don't know that I'd go so far as to say that Red Steel puts keyboard/mouse FPS controls to shame- but it most assuredly does put analog stick FPS controls to shame.

I'd also go one further than "Ok" graphics, and say that in many places they actually look quite good. Red Steel shows alot of promise for the Wii in general, imo. Consider that the game was probably designed almost totally on the development prototype Wii (basically a GC with a Wiimote) and, iirc, developed before the Wiimote "learning" development kit was released as well. This suggests to me that there should still be significant room for improvement graphically and in terms of controls for things such as sword-fighting.

While I'm at it, the sword-fighting really isn't bad at all. It's just all about timing- parry/dodge, attack, attack, then rinse & repeat. If you can get proficient at the knock-back parries, you can usually put a beating on a guy pretty quickly.

[Meneldil]

Any plan of an Eternal Darkness II released for the Wii ? Zelda is the first game I ever played, but I'm not a great fan of the 3D ones that were released lately (on 64 and Gamecube). While Twilight Princess looks cool, I don't think I'd buy a console for only one game (just like I bought PS1 just for FF7 ^_~)

Now, if Silicon Knights were kind enough to release Eternal Darkness : Sanity's redemption, or however they chose to call it, then I'd happilly buy a Wii to smash zombies and Ancients with a Wii-ed Alexandra Roivas.

Edit : And well, I wouldn't mind playing Super Smash Bros aswell. It was already hilarious on the Cube.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

An ED sequel would be fantastic. Unfortunately, Silicon Knights are currently working on Too Human for the 360, and might be at that for a while, so I wouldn't hold your breath.

It is coming, though. Clicky.

[Fragony]

[QUOTE=Meneldil]Any plan of an Eternal Darkness II released for the Wii ? Zelda is the first game I ever played, but I'm not a great fan of the 3D ones that were released lately (on 64 and Gamecube). [QUOTE]

You simply have to play the Minish Cap then, 2D Zelda at it's oh so finest.

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

I'm a little annoyed with the lack of console games up for the download. Mario 2 and 3 need to be out up quickly as some of the games at the moment have been really talentless

On the subject of old game cube games Freedom Fighters is one of the best games arounf for it and the best mulitplayer easily on the game cube