[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet 

True but can you say the same about Zelda's bad graphics?

Yeah, Zelda's bad graphics are just to introduce you to the controller too.

[icruise]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet 

True but can you say the same about Zelda's bad graphics?

What is your point? We all know that it's a Gamecube game reworked for the Wii. If the games developed specifically for the Wii in the next year don't have good (albeit non-HD) graphics, then you can complain.

[Chuckit]

I don't like the style of that new Mario game, but its graphics don't look too GC-ish, in my opinion.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by icruise 

What is your point? We all know that it's a Gamecube game reworked for the Wii. If the games developed specifically for the Wii in the next year don't have good (albeit non-HD) graphics, then you can complain.

SWG can't seem to understand this. It's a Gamecube game, ported to the Wii, with new Wii controls.

Besides, no one argues that OOT sucks because of it's graphics.

[Hawkeye_a]

Yeah im guessing the Wii version of TP is pretty much the GCN version, flipped horizontally, with Wii controls. And even though it's a GCN game, i think it looks visually stunning..... please note, visually stunning to me has nothing to do with resolution, pixels, polygons or Mhz. I'm not apologizing for Nintendo here.... i honestly think the game looks amazing.... style, character design, animation.

[icruise]

Oh, I agree. Although I haven't played it (obviously) I think Zelda looks great. It's just not impressive in the "Gears of War" sense.

[goMac]

It definitely seems to be a GC engine issue because the other Wii games with more intense graphics look good and don't have the same jaggedness that Zelda has. Shame they didn't go and update the engine for the Wii.

Regardless, it won't hurt me enjoying the game. We'll have the next Zelda to look forward to for the Wii quality graphics.

Edit: Agreed, it looks good, but not XBox 360 good, which is absolutely fine for me.

[icruise]

Gamespot has their review of Excite Truck up. It got a 6.8, mostly because of the shallowness of the gameplay, it seems. Sounds like this is one of those games that comes out at a console's launch and will sell reasonably well simply because there's not much else available.

Wii Launch Center - Excite Truck Review - Wii News at GameSpot

[Jolt21]

anybody going to the Wii launch party in times square on sat. night? anyone know what time stuff starts?

[Millennium]

Originally Posted by Jolt21 

anybody going to the Wii launch party in times square on sat. night? anyone know what time stuff starts?

Alas, the place nearest me has decided not to do a midnight launch. Given that we have to leave early that morning (well before they open) for a convention, this means we won't be able to pick up the Wii until Monday evening.

In a major WTF, though, Red Steel is apparently arriving today, and we've got a preorder for that. So as of tonight, we'll have a game but no way to play it.

[Jolt21]

Originally Posted by Millennium 

Alas, the place nearest me has decided not to do a midnight launch. Given that we have to leave early that morning (well before they open) for a convention, this means we won't be able to pick up the Wii until Monday evening.

In a major WTF, though, Red Steel is apparently arriving today, and we've got a preorder for that. So as of tonight, we'll have a game but no way to play it.

well there are two official parties hosted by nintendo. one at a teh toys r us in times square, and the other in cali at a gamestop. Reggie will be at the NYC one i think. i assume they will have the most Wii's here, so thats why i am going. they said they have concerts, kioks set-up while you wait, etc..so i just now need to know what time it will start

and yea, all places can start selling the games they have in stock (except zelda, that has a hard release date of the 19th even thought retailers have it already). someone i know already has trauma center and they said happy feet and some other game was already out as well.

[Dakar²]

Originally Posted by Millennium 

In a major WTF, though, Red Steel is apparently arriving today, and we've got a preorder for that. So as of tonight, we'll have a game but no way to play it.

There's only one time when you need to worry about a game arriving early, and that's launch. Major sadistic points for Nintendo on that one.

[ort888]

Originally Posted by goMac 

Besides, no one argues that OOT sucks because of it's graphics.

That's because when OOT came out, it had the most spectacular graphics we had ever seen.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by ort888 

That's because when OOT came out, it had the most spectacular graphics we had ever seen.

I meant no one today argues that.

[ort888]

Have you played it lately? It looks pretty rough.

Games need to be compared to other games from the same era. OOT is one of the best games ever made, but if Nintendo released it today, it would be a laughing stock.

[Dakar²]

First gen 3d games all look rough. I find them less attractive than SNES in games in most instances.

[icruise]

Originally Posted by ort888 

Games need to be compared to other games from the same era. OOT is one of the best games ever made, but if Nintendo released it today, it would be a laughing stock.

Well duh. However, if they released it on the DS with those graphics (which they probably could) fans would lap it up.

[icruise]

The MP3 functionality on the Wii seems rather underwhelming. Apparently there is no actual MP3 player program. To listen to MP3s, you have to view a slideshow and choose it as your background music, or use a game that supports custom soundtracks (this is not a system feature, but rather varies from game to game).

Dude, where's my MP3s (Wii annoyance #2) - Joystiq

[Calimus]

Originally Posted by icruise 

The MP3 functionality on the Wii seems rather underwhelming. Apparently there is no actual MP3 player program. To listen to MP3s, you have to view a slideshow and choose it as your background music, or use a game that supports custom soundtracks (this is not a system feature, but rather varies from game to game).

Dude, where's my MP3s (Wii annoyance #2) - Joystiq

Unless you're a college student in a dorm, why would you want to use your game console as your mp3 player/stereo? Most people already have a good way of getting their music to their stereo. Not to mention the fact that you won't have all your music on the Wii since you'll just be loading some music onto a sd card. (unless you only have a few gigs of music) For in game sound tracks, it will work fine, and that seems like a legitimate use for mp3s on a console.

[icruise]

Why build MP3 player functionality into the console and not have an actual player? It doesn't make much sense. I could see people wanting to use the Wii as a music player hooked up to their stereo. I wouldn't do it myself, but since the capability is already there, it seems odd to hide it under the "slideshow" option (which, by the way has no fast-forward or rewind function and will only play one song at a time in a loop).

Originally Posted by Calimus 

For in game sound tracks, it will work fine, and that seems like a legitimate use for mp3s on a console.

Well that's actually my main gripe here. It doesn't "work fine" for in-game sound tracks because the game has to specifically support the feature (unlike on the Xbox 360, where I believe it is a system-based feature that can be used in all games). So far the only game we've heard that definitely supports it is Excite Truck.

[ort888]

The point I'm trying to make is that all of these all-time classic Nintendo games had groundbreaking graphics when they came out. Sure the incredible gameplay was there as well, but they were all graphical powerhouses.

I remember people coming over to my house and watching me play OOT and being completely stunned by how incredible it looked. I seem to remember someone saying they could not believe how real it looked and how they had never seen anything like it.

If anyone thinks that the graphics had nothing to do with making OOT an all-time classic, then they are kidding themselves. Same goes for Super Mario Bros, Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Mario 3, Mario 64 and pretty much every classic Nintendo game.

When I first saw Super Mario Bros I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Same for Mario 64 and Metroid Prime.

Is anyone ever going to say anything like that about the Wii?

[Chuckit]

Super Mario Bros. 3 did not have any kind of revolutionary graphics. Its graphics were good, yes, but hardly a radical leap forward. In fact, it used the exact same hardware as the original Super Mario Bros. So if you had that feeling with Mario 3, there's no good reason why the Wii couldn't inspire a similar reaction.

[ort888]

SMB3 didn't have an "Oh my God! I can't believe what I'm looking at" feel to it, but it was still the best looking game we had seen to that point on the NES. It had great graphics for it's day, and they were a big leap over SMB and SMB2.

[Chuckit]

Sure, and some game will have the best-looking graphics on the Wii.

[icruise]

Originally Posted by ort888 

Is anyone ever going to say anything like that about the Wii?

Did you have any such moments with the Gamecube? To some degree I think we're getting jaded. We expect good graphics as a matter of course and now it takes hi-def to wow us. Nintendo (for better or worse) decided to go down a different path. Maybe people will be talking about how the Wii games are so much more immersive than a normal game where you just hit buttons on a controller. We'll see.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by icruise 

Did you have any such moments with the Gamecube? To some degree I think we're getting jaded. We expect good graphics as a matter of course and now it takes hi-def to wow us. Nintendo (for better or worse) decided to go down a different path. Maybe people will be talking about how the Wii games are so much more immersive than a normal game where you just hit buttons on a controller. We'll see.

Playstation games are going further than buttons on a controller too. The new Warhawk for PS3 (if I recall correctly) is going to use the Playstation controller much the same way Excite Truck uses the Wii controller.

[icruise]

That is correct, although the SIXAXIS controller doesn't have the "pointer" functionality of the Wiimote -- it's limited to motion and tilt sensing. That, and the fact that it's shaped just like the normal Dualshock controller, make it somewhat less than ideal for this use. The launch games pretty much use it as an afterthought if they use it at all.

[Calimus]

Originally Posted by icruise 

Why build MP3 player functionality into the console and not have an actual player? It doesn't make much sense. I could see people wanting to use the Wii as a music player hooked up to their stereo. I wouldn't do it myself, but since the capability is already there, it seems odd to hide it under the "slideshow" option (which, by the way has no fast-forward or rewind function and will only play one song at a time in a loop).

While it would be easy for them to implement it, I just don't think it's a compelling feature that many people would use. The system has a clock, why can't you use the Wii as an alarm clock? You could even have the wiimote by your bed for snooze. It has a web browser, but you can't telnet or ftp. Why isn't there a channel for rendering fractals images, or a voice over IP system because it's connected to the net.

Personally, I think the photo feature is even a little extraneous. My point is that they "could have" included all kinds of features that 5-10% of the consoles users MIGHT use, but they have to draw the line somewhere, and they decided that not enough people wanted to use the Wii as a jukebox.

Plus with all the Wii channel slots they have, I would be shocked if they didn't add some new channels besides VC games down the road. Who knows, maybe a music channel will be one of them.

[Calimus]

Originally Posted by icruise 

That is correct, although the SIXAXIS controller doesn't have the "pointer" functionality of the Wiimote -- it's limited to motion and tilt sensing. That, and the fact that it's shaped just like the normal Dualshock controller, make it somewhat less than ideal for this use. The launch games pretty much use it as an afterthought if they use it at all.

Also, using a combination of the pointer and motion sensors, the Wii remote can tell things like where you are in relation to the tv, up, down, left, right, and close/far from the tv.

[ort888]

Originally Posted by icruise 

Did you have any such moments with the Gamecube? To some degree I think we're getting jaded. We expect good graphics as a matter of course and now it takes hi-def to wow us. Nintendo (for better or worse) decided to go down a different path. Maybe people will be talking about how the Wii games are so much more immersive than a normal game where you just hit buttons on a controller. We'll see.

I sure did. Several times. Rogue Squadron, Wind Waker and many others wowed me, but Metroid Prime and RE4 both made me go "Oh my God, I can't believe what I'm looking at!".

[icruise]

Originally Posted by Calimus 

Plus with all the Wii channel slots they have, I would be shocked if they didn't add some new channels besides VC games down the road. Who knows, maybe a music channel will be one of them.

I hope so, but when you have Nintendo adding useless messaging features (are we really going to be leaving messages for our family members on the Wii?) instead of something that could be potentially very useful to some people, you sort of have to wonder.

[Millennium]

Originally Posted by icruise 

That is correct, although the SIXAXIS controller doesn't have the "pointer" functionality of the Wiimote -- it's limited to motion and tilt sensing. That, and the fact that it's shaped just like the normal Dualshock controller, make it somewhat less than ideal for this use. The launch games pretty much use it as an afterthought if they use it at all.

To be fair, the SIXAXIS controller is likely to be sufficient for Excite Truck-style games, where what's important is the controller's angle, not its position.

However, as you say, it can't really be used as a pointer. You might be able to simulate pointing for very short periods of time, pointing the controller at the center of the screen to calibrate it and then using dead reckoning to figure out where it has moved. The Wiimote does exactly this when it can't find the sensor bar. But the accuracy of dead reckoning decays quickly; you have to recalibrate the controller very often in order to keep things in an acceptable range. The Wiimote does this automatically whenever it can see the sensor bar (which, despite its name, isn't a sensor at all; it's an emitter), but SIXAXIS doesn't have any kind of beacon to use as a point of reference like that, so you would have to constantly repoint the controller.

I've got to say, the more I learn about how the sensor bar works, the more I understand why Nintendo did it the way they did. Among other things, I now understand why my radio-beacon proposal would not have worked: the wavelength of radio is too long. In order to be able to determine the position of the controller with the kind of accuracy a console needs, you need to go further up the electromagnetic spectrum. In fact, the wavelength you need falls right into the range of -you guessed it- infrared light. And since you need to use IR anyway, the method Nintendo used suddenly makes the most sense.

[Gamoe]

About Photos, MP3s, Slide shows and messaging:

Honestly, with Nintendo denouncing other consoles' non-gaming capabilities as unnecessary and unfocused, I don't understand why Nintendo even put these features in. Seriously, how many people are going to use the Wii as a "photo editor" or a to view photo slide shows or even play MP3s? It's unnecessary, as Nintendo says, so then why doesn't Nintendo follow it's own advice? It's just extra fat that does nothing for me. Same goes for the weather and news channel and all the like.

The message board I am a little less sure about, because it will be used for and by games to leave the gamer "notes" and as a log with game usage information. Allowing the gamer/user to input his own notes is nothing bad if the functionality is still there, but it can and is used for other, more practical things as well. I think the Miis are a wonderful idea, though.

Originally Posted by Millennium 

I've got to say, the more I learn about how the sensor bar works, the more I understand why Nintendo did it the way they did.

I just hope the technology proves to be mature and stable enough at this point. I'm not too crazy about my controller becoming less (or non-)responsive because of sunlight.

[zerostar]

Got this from Amazon.com today:

Important News For Amazon.com Video Games Customers

The Nintendo Wii will be available for purchase on Amazon.com on 11/19, Sunday morning (PST). We will be limiting purchases to one per household and we anticipate that we will sell through our inventory very quickly as we've received 100 times more Wii email sign-ups than consoles we'll have available for sale (i.e., for every Nintendo Wii we'll have for sale, over 100 people have signed up to be notified).

We expect to receive periodic shipments of the Wii from Nintendo throughout the holidays and we will post availability updates on the product detail page as well as in the customer discussions on the Nintendo Wii product page:

Amazon.com: Nintendo Wii: Computer & Video Games. <http://www.amazon.com/gp/r.html?R=VMT44CCAAA2R&C=X5MYSKM7B9VP&T=C&U=%2FNint endo%2DWii%2Fdp%2FB0009VXBAQ&H=vq0ALMmMSEascQ7oPZs tExJsKg4A>

Thank you for your continued support of Amazon.com.

[Dakar²]

Cool.

I myself am curious whether there will be any surplus just sitting at stores next week.

[Millennium]

Originally Posted by Gabriel Morales 

I just hope the technology proves to be mature and stable enough at this point. I'm not too crazy about my controller becoming less (or non-)responsive because of sunlight.

If I understand things correctly, light shining on the sensor bar doesn't actually matter. The point of failure -assuming it's actually an issue- will be on the Wiimote, not the sensor bar.

This is important, if it comes up it should be relatively easy to nullify. Put the sensor bar below the TV, and add a small 'hood' over the front of the Wiimote, covering only the upper half. This should nullify the influence of sunlight coming from above while still allowing the Wiimote to see the beam coming from the sensor bar below. You could make one of these from black construction paper for pennies, and third parties will no doubt start selling 1337er models as third-party add-ons.

As a note on lighting: again, the problem should be on the Wiimote, which means that it should only be an issue if strong infrared light is shining directly on you from the front. This is unlikely to be an issue in home setups, as long as you stick to two basic rules:

• Don't shine a halogen lamp into your face.
• Don't set up your TV where it can be backlit by sunlight.

Does anyone do either of these anyway?

[zro]

I don't want to have to wait in line all night Sunday. I'm sure the next shipments will be much easier to score a Wii, but there won't be a glorious 4-day weekend immediately after. What a dilemma.

[Hawkeye_a]

I'm not "hardcore". i will try the Wii at a retail location before i buy it.

Beleive it or not, im still a little skeptical. I love the idea of the Wii, but it seems so ambitious i really wonder if they have managed to pull it off as well as the reviews say they have.

The "sunlight" issue isnt a problem for me. all i gotta do is close the curtains and play...in fact i prefer playing in relitavely low light. it definately isnt a make/break issue for me.

The "kiddie" image...bah...ignorance....whoever lets the image get in their way will be missing out on the great stuff Ninendo puts out. Zelda Wind Waker...was in almost every way one of my most favorite GCN games(my first Zelda game)....and beleive-you-me....im not a kid, and i found the game challenging....but thats cause i dont play video games for every waking minute of my day. If i had to choose between the cell shaded WindWaker and the grit in games like GTA or GoW...i'll go with WW. personal choice, thats all....it just feels like im watching sequels of the same movie...too repetitive. GoW looks amazing...but ive personally grown tired of the gritty games....surely there are other styles to explore in 3D art. And for the love of ll that is good....come up with something more than invading aliens.

[Jolt21]

IGN has the info on the NYC midnight launch party.

Reggie will be there
Starts at 8
Toys R Us will be transformed into something else
Playable Wii's everywhere



now my only question is how many extra will they get for people who didn't preorder..

[Jawbone54]

Originally Posted by Jolt21 

IGN has the info on the NYC midnight launch party.

Reggie will be there
Starts at 8
Toys R Us will be transformed into something else
Playable Wii's everywhere



now my only question is how many extra will they get for people who didn't preorder..

Does anyone like Reggie?

[Dakar²]

My god no

[Jolt21]

Originally Posted by Jawbone54 

Does anyone like Reggie?

he's kinda funny lookin. i just wanna take a pic with him to say i did.

[Jawbone54]

Originally Posted by Dakar² 

My god no

My thoughts as well. How did this guy get in the position he's in? He's a god-awful speaker.

[Jolt21]

Originally Posted by Jawbone54 

How did this guy get in the position he's in?

If you kicked ass and took names, you would be higher in your field as well.

[Dakar²]

Originally Posted by Jawbone54 

My thoughts as well. How did this guy get in the position he's in? He's a god-awful speaker.

I do believe he has an insanely good looking resume. Worked at a bunch of big name companies... for like no more than a year and a half each.

[goMac]

I was going to try to pick up a Wii launch day at Target, but if those PS3 lines are any indication of the Wii launch lines, it could be a problem. I'm not going to camp out overnight, but I'll probably head out in the morning to get one. The launch numbers in my area are on average 60 or 120 per store.

Edit: Actually up in Alderwood there is a Toys R Us and a Target almost next door to each other. Maybe I'll do that.

[starman]

My local Gamestop said they'd have more Wiis a few days later. I might get one. I'm still not convinced of the controller. Watching how Zelda is supposed to be played, it looks tiring. All that swinging my arms and sh*t. I go to the gym for that.

[Jawbone54]

Originally Posted by starman 

My local Gamestop said they'd have more Wiis a few days later. I might get one. I'm still not convinced of the controller. Watching how Zelda is supposed to be played, it looks tiring. All that swinging my arms and sh*t. I go to the gym for that.

Don't lie. You know you don't go to the gym.

[Jolt21]

Originally Posted by starman 

My local Gamestop said they'd have more Wiis a few days later. I might get one. I'm still not convinced of the controller. Watching how Zelda is supposed to be played, it looks tiring. All that swinging my arms and sh*t. I go to the gym for that.

you dont have to move your arm, just the controller

and all reviews have said your arms dont feel anything anyway, i would bet that the reviewers are more of a couch potato and need to work out more than any of us.

[Hawkeye_a]

Exercise is a bad thing ?

Dont now about other ppl, but i relax by exercising.....rather than turning into a button mashing zombie in front of a TV.