Mii and my Wii
I’ve been keen on getting a Nintendo Wii for a while now, pretty much since I first had the chance to play with one shortly before the launch. Much to my delight, this birthday/Christmas delivered one and I’ve spent the past few weeks playing around and poking into the corners. I’ve played with Wii Sports, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Paper Mario, Mario Party 8 and Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (spot the odd one out in that list…) so far, as well as Mario Bros. and Super Mario World from the Virtual Console. I’ve also used the various other Channels, such as the Everybody Votes and Photo channels, as well as the Miis.
My initial impressions were quite good and they haven’t come down too much. The system was a cinch to setup and I have since replaced the provided cable with a composite version without any hassles. Getting used to using the cursor does not take long and, while I’m still not sure of the best place to put the sensor bar for my setup, I find the remote to be quite accurate. As expected, playing a game such as Wii Sports is very intuitive, to the point where I had my parents bowling strikes in about ten minutes. However, it does seem that in many cases, the developers don’t quite know how to handle the remote. MK:A is an example of this and I quickly moved to using the classic controller instead of trying to perfect the motion controls.
One game that I have thoroughly enjoyed is Super Mario Galaxy. After putting in far too many hours over Christmas, I have picked up 118 stars and have nearly thrown the remote out the window trying to get Luigi’s purple coins! The game is brilliantly designed with great graphics and a surprisingly good soundtrack. I had fun with the gravity mechanics, and while the majority of the game was not overly challenging, a few levels are particularly difficult and the level design is consistently good, meaning I was never bored. I can’t say the same for Super Paper Mario, however, as I feel this game doesn’t meet up with where my expectations were of the gameplay mechanics and execution of its concepts. I’m looking forward to experimenting with more games that push the envelope a bit in terms of what we expect from a console.
The News and Weather channels are quite useful - this is one area I hope continues to develop. I have also heard that some games are able to replicate the current weather in-game, which is a nice touch. I hope that further channels, such as an RSS reader for example, come online soon and help make the Wii a more versatile tool in the lounge room. To that end, the Internet channel is a welcome addition, even if it does come with a price tag. The ability to quickly check something on the Internet in an ad break while watching TV is definitely a convenience. I don’t see all that much value in the Mii Contests or Everybody Votes, but these are an amusing distraction every so often.
My main concern with the platform is the number of worthwhile titles being released. There seems to be a small number of must-haves that implement the features of the system well, such as Super Mario Galaxy and what I’ve heard about Zelda: Twilight Princess, Resident Evil 4 and Metroid Prime: Corruption, but the majority of titles seem to be poor translations of other, franchised titles that have been twisted to work with the Wii’s radically different control system.
We seem to be at crossroad in console design where simple ports just won’t cut it anymore. The Wii, like the DS, needs to be designed for with the control system in mind. This in itself opens up so many possibilities, as the controls allow for a completely different style of gameplay that the old d-pad or analog stick can’t match. Until more developers realise this and start innovating, a great platform will suffer because of the lack of quality software. Hopefully, the homebrew scene will start to make their mark and, with any luck, their outside-the-square thinking will flow on to larger game studios and in turn prompt them to develop more interesting and unique titles, rather than just shoehorning the latest EA Sports title or blockbuster movie tie-in onto every conceivable platform without thought.
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