Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Wii Now Shipping Without Built In Suck

The Nintendo Wii is now officially worth owning. Thats right kids, you heard it here first, Nintendo's little fun-bomb has now broken free of the downward sucking grip of a huge lack of quality titles. Im still not 100% sold on how many games implement the motion controls, and I really wish there was a gamecube controller option for Samus in Metroid Prime 3, but there are enough very strong titles out now that laying down $250 for one of these little boxes is a no brainer, especially if you like classic gaming, because the Virtual Console is freaking sweet. Ive owned one since July 07 because I received it as a gift but to be honest I hadnt played it much until Super Mario Galaxy came out. But check out the library of "A" titles out now:

Okami
Mario Kart
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Paper Mario RPG
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Geometry Wars Galaxies
Endless Ocean


I played Okami on the PS2 and its amazing, I cant wait to play it in 480P 16:9 with the Wiimote. Twilight Princess I played on the Gamecube, and I have to say if its not the best Zelda game I've played, its definitely my personal favorite and by far the most epic. And the rest of the games are all Wii exclusives, and you have to consider 2nd-gen Wii games like Starfox, Kid Icarus and the next Zelda, that Nintendo is currently developing.

The Virtual Console is also amazing, especially because you can download Turbo Graphix 16, Neo Geo, Famicom, and previously import only NES, SNES and N64 titles that are extremely rare and expensive on ebay. I own more NES systems than I care to count (7, maybe), 2 SNES, 2 Sega Genesis, and a GBA, so most of the good stuff is already in my collection, but there is something to be said for having all that content centrally located on a small system that wont lose your save if you accidently bump it or yank too hard on the controller.

The Wii really does look best on a 480P native cathode tube television of between 20" and 32" in size. I have a flat screen 27" CRT Samsung and Smash Bros and Mario galaxy look absolutely amazing, while virtual console games look better than ever in 480P. For those of you that have huge LCD or Plasma displays, it wont look as crisp or bright, but will still be plenty playable.

Im of the opinion that the Wiimote is cool for certain types of controls, like a baseball bat, golf club, sword, or paintbrush, and for these it truly is most interactive and superior control. But it requires expert programming to work properly. And unfortunately, even expert programming must work within the limitations of precision that the device presents. As a racing wheel, the IGN UK review of Mario Kart mentions the lack of 100% accurate control will likely dissuade most serious players from using it in ranked online racing, where the pros will all be using the Gamecube controller or Wii Classic Controller. My hope is that most if not all Wii games in the future will allow the use of the Classic Controller as an alternative for those of us who arent yet ready to make the complete transition. Whatever you do this Spring, check out the Wii.

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