Is the Wii mainly good for casual gamers/kids?

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 8:24 pm

I expected that I would be playing the new consoles in the following order (from most time spent to least):

1. PS3
2. 360
3. Wii

As it turns out, the order is exactly reversed. I love the Wii's library so far, especially Shiki 3, Mario Galaxy, Pinball: Williams Collection, House of the Dead, and Geometry Wars. Plus, the VC is a huge bonus.

But, then, I don't have a ton of time for gaming, and I might best be described as a casual gamer.

So is the Wii best left to the casual gamers or is it excellent for the hardcore crowd as well?

Lordstar · Post by **Lordstar** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 10:00 pm

most people i know who have one have them for there kids. I dislike the wiimote.

Strider77 · Post by **Strider77** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 10:05 pm

I like a handful of games, but mostly it's crap shovel ware at this point. But there are some that are quite good, I just could count them on 1 or maybe 2 hands.

evil_ash_xero · Post by **evil_ash_xero** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 10:10 pm

The only people I know that own one are girls(no offense to girls) who play games maybe once every month, and little kids.

Well, and I know one guy who owns every system out, and just lets his niece play it, while he uses his PS3.

Everyone else kinda ignores it.

s/m

moozooh · Post by **moozooh** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 10:12 pm

VC + niche releases for the hardcore, everything else for the rest.

Davey · Post by **Davey** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 10:34 pm

moozooh wrote:VC + niche releases for the hardcore, everything else for the rest.

That's really no different from any other modern console, though, is it?

jpj · Post by **jpj** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 10:56 pm

one thing i love about the wii is when you get all these geeky hardcore g@m3r dudez slagging it off with their deluded sense of self-importance. it's not so much nintendo "forgot" about the hardcore gamer, they actually gave you a big fat fuck you and are making a shit ton of cash in the process

ukresistance once said it's a console for women, children, and the physically disabled. i wouldn't go that far. i think it's a family machine

is it excellent for the hardcore crowd

maybe in the US. fat chance of the UK getting shiki 3

360 is defnitely the most "hardcore" (in terms of how much software they purchase), but 360 owners are nearly as big a bunch of twats as people who play games on PC

Never_Scurred · Post by **Never_Scurred** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 11:10 pm

jpj wrote:one thing i love about the wii is when you get all these geeky hardcore g@m3r dudez slagging it off with their deluded sense of self-importance. it's not so much nintendo "forgot" about the hardcore gamer, they actually gave you a big fat fuck you and are making a shit ton of cash in the process

Agreed. I never understood why some so called hardcore 1337 gamers waste time and energy bitching about a console that they'll prolly never own, and was never marketed to them in the first place. I think its hilarious actually and goes to show why modern gamings sucks in the first place.

kengou · Post by **kengou** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 1:03 am

I have one, all my most "hardcore" gamer friends have one. It really appeals to everyone. I wish it had a few more strong 3rd party games but I bought the system for the potential for new ways of playing games and new gameplay, so I can wait because I know there will be lots of really amazing gems for the system over its lifetime. I mean, look at Zack & Wiki, No More Heroes, Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3...

Frederik · Post by **Frederik** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 2:14 am

I get the impression that collections of gimmick minigames are quickly catching up with muddy brown FPSes as the most generic genre.

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 6:07 am

The Wii has truly made the Revolution Nintendo had hoped for. Or rather, it may be a reaction against gaming development in the past 2 decades and back towards a time when games were just for novelty entertainment. Still, development of the primitive motion sensor technology will be useful for when VR gaming comes into play.

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 7:27 am

Don't get me started on the Wii. Most VC games look better on composite (ie. DKC2) and even some Wii games look better in non-widescreen (ie. Chocobo's Dungeon). But even then, VC doesn't count. Spending cash on roms is retarded, and since you can hack VC games onto Wii consoles, you don't even need to pay for them. But then I think to myself "or, I could just play the original game on the console it was designed for, or on my PC".

The only games I've enjoyed on it are Chocobo's Dungeon, No More Heroes and Mario Galaxy. They have the nerve to release games like Boom Blox at $60 and expect people to pay for it. And VC is just "there" but appears seemingly irrelevant thanks to the hacking scene now.

That said, I'm enjoying my 360's library a lot. The XBLA games are usually worth the price, although there's been little worth buying over the last month. But, then again, I have really odd taste. So far, 10 games are sitting on top of my HDD there, and I don't even have GTA IV, Lost Odyssey, Bioshock, Mass Effect or Halo 3.

Daedalus · Post by **Daedalus** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 8:18 am

Hah, looks like I'm the only person who voted "No one". I don't really like the system - The controls are an interesting idea, but poorly implemented in both the hardware and games(many of which are shovelware). The VC is a poor alternative to either buying the original game or downloading a rom.

I don't really like to draw distinctions between hardcore gamers and casual gamers, but if I have to... I'd recommend casual gamers pick up a DS or PSP instead. Or if they just want some party games, pick up an original Xbox, Gamecube, or PS2 for a fifth of the price.

And I know many people say the Wii is making some long overdue revolution in the gaming world... but last I heard, they had some pretty poor software sales for their massive install base. I think a lot of people are initially attracted to the unique controls and inexpensive initial purchase. But once the novelty wears off there's little to look forward to unless you're a huge fan of Nintendo's franchises.

Strider77 · Post by **Strider77** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 10:00 am

i really enjoyed mario galaxy, metroid prime 3 and no more heroes. I have resident evil 4 on it b/c it's the definitive version. smash i enjoyed alot... the side view platformer campaign was alot of fun.

Frederik · Post by **Frederik** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 12:34 pm

Daedalus wrote:But once the novelty wears off there's little to look forward to unless you're a huge fan of Nintendo's franchises.

More like IF you´re a huge fan of the Nintendos franchises. Zelda, a Mario platformer, Smash Brothers, Mario Kart, Metroid - all the major titles are released now. For the Nintendo fans (not the Wii fans), there certainly is a long drought coming up. (I don´t count Mario sports games as Mario games, however.) And yeah, there´s also the new Megaman and Wario Land games coming, but the "big load" has been fired.

Elixir wrote: But then I think to myself "or, I could just play the original game on the console it was designed for, or on my PC".

The lack of savestates is hurting, too. I mean, yeah, I get the concept - play the games like they were on the actual console, but there are certain game I really wouldn´t play EXACTLY like when I was ten years old, especially considering most people buying these games are older gamers that now have considerably less time than in their youth and don´t necessarily have the patience to start games over and over again. Maybe they just want to play through them one more time in a convenient setting for nostalgic reasons. (I mean, I don´t credit-feed at shmups, but that doesn´t mean this "code of honor" translated to every old game I play.)

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 1:47 pm

I can understand not liking this or that control configuration for the Wii, but a wholesale dislike of the controls makes no sense. The pointer is excellent-- very precise and reasonably comfortable. The cross bow adds even more control, even if it's a bit clumsy. The controls for Mario Kart are terrific, imo. (I don't use the wheel peripheral.) The stick is great for Shiki 3 and the VC-- better than the classic controller, I find.

I'm more optimistic about the future as far as releases are concerned. First, Kirby should be coming. Second, the looser regulations for the Wii (vs. 360 and PS3) has given rise to some crap, but ultimately it should yield some unforeseen gems.

As far as the VC goes, here's a news flash: it's for people who want to avoid the piracy route. I think it's great that they make import titles available. And even better is being able to play these games on your HDtv with a decent stick.

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 1:57 pm

professor ganson wrote:As far as the VC goes, here's a news flash: it's for people who want to avoid the piracy route. I think it's great that they make import titles available. And even better is being able to play these games on your HDtv with a decent stick.

Here's a news flash: People could, you know, just buy the original cartridges off ebay. Since, you know, most of the actually rare games that should've hit VC by now (EB, CT, etc), haven't. The stick happens to be a third party product by Hori, and it isn't even that good. Nintendo haven't done anything apart from re-release roms that you have to pay for. There's even better emulators out there.

Hrhrhr, those silly pirates are inferior to my rom purchasing skills. I dare say, I'm feeling quite satisfied that I've one-upped them here! Why, downloading a rom and paying for it at the same time? Virtually purchasing a game designed for 4:3, then played in 16:9? They can't even BEGIN to comprehend how smart this is.

moozooh · Post by **moozooh** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 2:49 pm

Davey wrote:That's really no different from any other modern console, though, is it?

Pretty much, but that wasn't the question.

Elixir wrote:Here's a news flash: People could, you know, just buy the original cartridges off ebay.

Remind me, how much cheaper it is to buy a cart off ebay, again?

Aru-san · Post by **Aru-san** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 3:47 pm

Elixir wrote:Virtually purchasing a game designed for 4:3, then played in 16:9? They can't even BEGIN to comprehend how smart this is.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but provided one hooked up an old console to a 16:9 screen, wouldn't it still stretch regardless? It's not like the old consoles have some sort of magic functionality that automatically detects that it's hooked up to these newer, widescreen televisions and automatically adjusts the aspect ratio.

Unless, of course, you're talking about playing the original games on a 4:3 screen which, of course, is reasonable for both the old-school gamer AND the VC player (or so I think).

FatCobra · Post by **FatCobra** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 4:16 pm

It's a big "meh" for me. While I do credit Nintendo for thinking outside of the box, the WiiMote won't be replacing traditional controllers anytime soon. It's too awkward for me, and in most games, it basically boils down to "waggling", the Wii's verison of button mashing. And in games where you can use a Gamecube controller, the GC pad is usually the better option. I'm guessing "hardcore" Smash Bros and Mariokart players use the traditional controller anyway. And the rest of the library is just shovelware minigame collections. The VC console is a joke too, why pay for ROMS? I'm not fond of digital distribution because all I'm paying for is a bunch of 1's and 0's that make up either a song or an NES game. There's nothing tangible, nothing physical, you know? I'm one of those few people that like to hold the box and read the manual.

X360 is a bit more "hardcore" - if by hardcore, you mean beer-drinking fratboys. Don't forget the Red Ring of Death as well. They sure don't make em like they used it. Also, FPS games are clunky as hell to play with a controller.

PS3 - Too expensive, and Sony is all smoke and mirrors.

PC - Awesome, if you got the hardware for it. Unfortunately, this seems to be a dying market. Factors like high system requirements and intrusive drm are putting a choke hold on the world's only open-source gaming platform. Plus there's the fact that computers are complex and not idiot-friendly. Piracy is just a scapegoat the publishers put the blame for create such destructive copy protection, DRM that either destroys your DVD drive or turns your $50 disc into a coaster because you installed it too many times. Which the pirates crack anyway. Since when did pissing off paying customers become such a good business model?

At least PC assimilates all consoles eventually.

jpj · Post by **jpj** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 4:59 pm

i can only speak for the UK, but the PC market here has been in steady decline for year-on-year software sales since 1995. each year worse than the last for the past 13 years (this is from figures obtained by ChartTrack and ELSPA; you could probably find exact numbers by searching mcvuk.com

). drm might be a hot topic to some people now, but the market has been steadily going into downward spiral for a long time. and the reason why is simple when you look at the opposite simultaneous rise of console and console software sales for the same period. the epitome of what's wrong with pc gaming has to be neverwinter nights 2. on day one of release, to get it to work, you needed to download a 1 gb patch....

a lot of people enjoy the simplicity of what a console brings

moozooh · Post by **moozooh** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 5:26 pm

It kinda saddens me that PC market has been turned into crap these days. Developers rush their products way too much, releasing them with accidentally missed critical bugs and whatnot. The only good thing is that the PC still has an immense library of good games (more than every single console out there), and is able to emulate most consoles faithfully enough to play them as you would do on a real thing. And what's most awesome, the price for a computer that can be used as an old game/emulation rig is still less than that of the PS3.

kengou · Post by **kengou** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 5:30 pm

I'm also one of those who thinks the most "hardcore" platform is the PC. 360 is for drunk frat boys (I know plenty that have one), and the PS3 seems decent but way too expensive, (and who the hell wants Blu-Ray anyway).

I still play my PS2 and Wii but I play on my PC much more and probably always will.

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 5:34 pm

moozooh wrote:Remind me, how much cheaper it is to buy a cart off ebay, again?

It depends on the game itself. Like I said, many rare games like Earthbound still haven't been released on the VC, and they're still fetching high prices on ebay. I can't put a price on that sort of thing.

But what you're essentially paying for is a rom directly from Nintendo's servers. Even if it's more expensive to purchase them on ebay, at least you have something physical. Virtual downloads aren't a bad thing, when they're value for money.

Aru-san wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong, but provided one hooked up an old console to a 16:9 screen, wouldn't it still stretch regardless?

It would actually look worse because it can't run in 480p like the VC games can (or any downloaded rom for that matter).

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 6:50 pm

kengou wrote:I'm also one of those who thinks the most "hardcore" platform is the PC. 360 is for drunk frat boys (I know plenty that have one), and the PS3 seems decent but way too expensive, (and who the hell wants Blu-Ray anyway).

The drunken frat boys remark seems on the mark to me, but blu-ray is great. My wife likes to watch movies and Netflix sends us blu-rays by default. Impressive.

The problem I have with the PS3 is simply that still today the PS2 is consistently getting more interesting releases than the PS3. What happened to the strategy of getting a massive, diverse library? The Wii is way outperforming the PS3 in this respect.

neorichieb1971 · Post by **neorichieb1971** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 6:55 pm

Never owned a Wii and only spent about 5 minutes on one. Problem is these people that own them only own the sports game and maybe one other that plays roughly the same. No good to me as I like my adventures.

I only own a PS3 and not terribly excited about it gaming wise. It does a million other things though and is on most days playing music, video or pics or 2 of those 3 at the same time.

I am disappointed with nextgen gaming so far. It seems the software takes 3 years to catch up with the hardware.. I could sell all my PS3 games and not give a crap about it. It also seems the monthly good game releases are becoming rare. Its almost 3-7 months between good releases these days.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 7:32 pm

kengou wrote:I'm also one of those who thinks the most "hardcore" platform is the PC.

Supergun? That would probably be my vote, I guess, though PC is right up there.

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 9:58 pm

It's a bit hard for PC gamers to be considered "hardcore" when PC gaming itself is dying/stuck in a rut/irrelevant until VALVe makes the next big thing.

moozooh · Post by **moozooh** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 10:03 pm

You discuss hardcore gamers in the context of modern mainstream games? :D
Try something like Elasto Mania, that shit's truly hardcore.

Strider77 · Post by **Strider77** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 12:38 am

wouldn't it still stretch regardless?

no... 16x9 tvs give u an option to stretch or view it "reverse letterboxed" in 4x3.

shmups.system11.org

Is the Wii mainly good for casual gamers/kids?

Who is the Wii good for?

Is the Wii mainly good for casual gamers/kids?