Wii - lets talk about it

Anything to do with games at all.
jawafour
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PostWii - lets talk about it
by jawafour » Tue Jan 05, 2016 7:47 pm

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Here's my Wii story.

> It's not for me!

I was a relative latecomer to the Wii and I didn't pick up the machine until 2009. I had held off for those two-and-a-bit years following the console's launch in December 2006, unconvinced by the software and uncertain about the "wands". Even so, the system was impossible to avoid... everyone seemed to have one and be talking about it! Even my brother-in-law and a close pal, each of whom were not "gamers" and had not played since the days of the Mega Drive, both had the system soon after launch. It was really quite odd. Especially as their families and (*gasp*) their parents were playing, too!

My first experience of the Wii was playing some awful party game on a pal's machine. Lousy graphics, lots of remote-waving and... well, it was just complete rubbish. It reinforced my prejudices that the Wii was gaming for people who didn't really like videogaming. For months afterwards I just ignored the Wii and turned down opportunities to play on it.

> Hold on... it's not bad.

However, by the time 2008 rolled round even my work colleagues were talking about it. Everyone had a machine and they shared stories about playing on it at family get-togethers, Christmas and other occassions. I visited a mate and I played on Wii Sports for the first time. Now... that game helped to change my mind. Some of the sports were pretty weak but, man, I loved the bowling. It was terrific! I spent a few hours playing and I realised how innovative the Remote system was. It felt good to play... and everyone wanted to play! The console looked smart, I had grown to love the Remote, and "normal" controllers were available, too. The Wii felt fresh and, once you looked around a bit - beyond the mountains of shovelware that were around - there were some all-out great games. My view had changed and, in early 2009, I jumped on board and got my own Wii.

> Golden times and then the end

I've never regretted it. The Wii enabled me to play gaming with family and even my parents - they *still* love the bowling and table tennis in Wii Sports Resort! I've not had experiences like that with any other console that I've owned. Alongside that, there were plenty of super, more traditional games that I've loved to play, too.

For me, it feels like the Wii was some kind of weird but totally wonderful fad. By late 2011 the moment had passed and people were moving on. Even so, when I visit friends and family many of them still have the system connected to their TVs, even though they're not really used much now. I could never get rid of my Wii and it remains under my screen in the front room.

- - - - -

Oh, and here are some of the games that I particularly enjoyed playing on the Wii! Wii Sports Resort (table tennis :wub: ), Boom Blox, Geometry Wars Galaxies, House of the Dead 2 and 3 Return, No More Heroes, Cave Story, Kirby's Adventure Wii, NBA Jam, Zelda Skyward Sword and Tomena Sanner (amazing fun!). I've still gotta try the Mario Galaxies... :) .


Okay... now, what's your Wii story?

Did you have one? Love it... or hate it? Did you play with friends - or did you just avoid it? And, of course... what were the games that you enjoyed?

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Pedz
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PostRe: Wii - lets talk about it
by Pedz » Tue Jan 05, 2016 7:57 pm

I got Wii on launch. Queued in Tesco until midnight. I went back to a friends and we all played his Wii and I went home around 3, maybe 4, set up my Wii and went to bed. I played it through it's lifespan and enjoyed it. There were some real great games on there, and it when it came to the end of it's life we got the fantastic Skyward Sword.

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Squinty
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PostRe: Wii - lets talk about it
by Squinty » Tue Jan 05, 2016 8:05 pm

I preordered mine at GAME. Got the day off work, went to pick it up along with Twilight Princess.

I thought it was a great console, definitely better than the one preceding it. It had that software drought period after launch, where the only I played on it was VC titles, but the 1st party software started coming out and it was good as gravy. Super Mario Galaxy 1+2, DKCR, Xenoblade and Metroid Prime 3 were cracking games. There were also a lot of great third party titles as well.

I hope time passes and it's thought of more fondly.

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ITSMILNER
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PostWii - lets talk about it
by ITSMILNER » Tue Jan 05, 2016 8:20 pm

I picked mine up at launch along with extra Wiimotes, Rayman Raving Rabids and Twilight Princess. Got it home played TP for a bit, hated the controls, took it back to game and traded it for the superior GC version!

It was a good console in terms of quality Ninty software but i've never been able to get to grips with 'motion controls' and therefore have never seen why people rave about the Galaxy games, the Prime trilogy and even the Wii port of Silent Hill: SM. I think this plays into why I hope they move away from the Wii era of Nintendo and forge a new era for themselves.

What am I missing with the Wii? Why does everyone seem to be able to enjoy the games with motion controls but not me?

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still
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PostRe: Wii - lets talk about it
by still » Tue Jan 05, 2016 8:35 pm

Loved it - still got 25 games for it - far more than I've ever kept for any other console. By comparison, kept games for wiiU stands at six.

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PuppetBoy
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PostRe: Wii - lets talk about it
by PuppetBoy » Tue Jan 05, 2016 8:57 pm

Some of my fondest Wii memories are from the launch period. I was living in a shared uni house at the time and picked up the console on day one; I actually had an exam that morning and despite having pre-ordered the console, it snuck up on me a bit as that was on my mind.

Obviously Wii Sports was where we started and it was a real hit. Such a social game. All the housemates created their own Miis and we were having daily (in fact, hourly) rounds of golf and bowling tourneys for ages. Great times.

There were obviously huge gaps in the release schedule but I still really liked the Wii. I think being subscribed to NGamer (or whatever it was called then) helped a lot, as it fostered my interest in games I perhaps would have otherwise overlooked during the gaps between big hitters.

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TheTurnipKing
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PostRe: Wii - lets talk about it
by TheTurnipKing » Tue Jan 05, 2016 8:59 pm

Great little system, maligned slightly unfairly because while it has a lot of good games, it also got more than it's fair share of utter tat. But the rubbish really doesn't detract from the great games on offer.

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Super Dragon 64
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PostRe: Wii - lets talk about it
by Super Dragon 64 » Tue Jan 05, 2016 9:25 pm

I was interested in the Wii when it was first announced as the Wii Remote immediately put into my mind the idea of swinging it around as a lightsaber while play a Star Wars game. Sadly, this never became a reality but the fantastic Skyward Sword gave me a fantastic experience and pretty much fulfilled that initial dream.

My first experience with a Wii was actually at a friend's house, on the last day of school, just after the console had been released. I hadn't played on one before but we had a great time trying out Wii Sports and I was keen to get one when the library was a bit more fleshed out. Twilight Princess was the only game that really appealed to me from the initial line-up but I was more than happy to play through it on my GameCube, especially as it felt like the true version given that Link was left handed on the purple box of wonder.

The Wii's popularity made it hard to get my hands on one, even if I was eager to do so. I had a part-time job at Boots which was near GAME and so I would visit GAME during my breaks and got to know the staff there. One guy actually let me buy a Wii when a new shipment came in just after Christmas so I took him up on the offer.

As I went to university the following September, I didn't really spend much time playing the Wii but I did pick up great games like Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart Wii and Smash Bros Brawl. As wonderful as Galaxy is, Mario Kart Wii was probably the highlight of the console as my siblings and I played countless hours of it over the lifespan of the Wii. I was very excited at the idea of Smash Bros online but the real experience was very laggy so it was disappointing in that respect but the rest of the game was still fantastic. I even enjoyed the Subspace Emissary :shifty:

Skyward Sword would have been the last game that I played on the Wii but I was spending a year in France when it came out so I missed its launch. I did pick up a copy when I was back home but I didn't really get into it until I bought my Wii U but it's easily my favourite single player Wii game. The console may have been criticised for its waggle but I feel that it was worth it to get fantastic experiences like Skyward Sword and Metroid Prime Trilogy. The Wii Remote didn't stop us getting classics like Mario Kart and Smash Bros or new titles like Xenoblade Chronicles so it's definitely more than the box of waggle and shovelware.

jawafourcallingbirds wrote:I've still gotta try the Mario Galaxies... :) .

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Dual
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PostRe: Wii - lets talk about it
by Dual » Tue Jan 05, 2016 9:39 pm

10 years. wow.

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Ironhide
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PostRe: Wii - lets talk about it
by Ironhide » Tue Jan 05, 2016 10:12 pm

Never played on one, the wiimotes were just impossible for me to use.

The whole motion control thing was pretty much off limits for me as it just made things too physically demanding on my ever weakening muscles, even the PS3s six-axis controls made things unnecessarily difficult for me.

I know many people praised it for allowing disabled gamers to participate but for me that simply wasn't the case.

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jawafour
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PostRe: Wii - lets talk about it
by jawafour » Tue Jan 05, 2016 10:27 pm

Pedz eating pudz on sledz wrote:...I went home around 3, maybe 4, set up my Wii and went to bed.
The Christmas Fire Hazard wrote:I preordered mine at GAME. Got the day off work, went to pick it up along with Twilight Princess...
still wrote:Loved it - still got 25 games for it - far more than I've ever kept for any other console...
MuppetChristmasCarolBoy wrote:...All the housemates created their own Miis and we were having daily (in fact, hourly) rounds of golf and bowling tourneys for ages. Great times...
TheTurnipKing wrote:...the rubbish really doesn't detract from the great games on offer.
Ordering a Pizza wrote:...The Wii's popularity made it hard to get my hands on one, even if I was eager to do so. I had a part-time job at Boots which was near GAME and so I would visit GAME during my breaks and got to know the staff there. One guy actually let me buy a Wii when a new shipment came in just after Christmas so I took him up on the offer...

Fantastic memories, guys! There really is nothing like getting a new console home, setting it up and playing a new game or two :-).

magicmilner wrote:...What am I missing with the Wii? Why does everyone seem to be able to enjoy the games with motion controls but not me?

Yeah, I can understand that, dude. I don't think everyone liked the Remotes.

'Hide the presents wrote:...The whole motion control thing was pretty much off limits for me... I know many people praised it for allowing disabled gamers to participate but for me that simply wasn't the case.

Dang. That's a shame, 'Hide. I guess that although the controller was perhaps simpler than normal, the physical movement required perhaps made it inaccessible for people who have movement difficulties.

Ordering a Pizza wrote:...My first experience with a Wii was actually at a friend's house, on the last day of school, just after the console had been released...

Okay, now I do feel old :lol: .

Dual wrote:10 years. wow.

Yeah, Dual, it does seem rather unbelievable. But, hey, really it's only nine at the moment so we're okay!

- - - - - - - - - -

Even though there was a period where incredibly poor "party"-type games seemed to appear every week on the Wii, I did enjoy Nintendo's own Wii Party title. In particular, the "rope-swinging" one was hilarious... although really simple, I had a lot of fun re-playing that with my family :-).

AndyXL
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PostRe: Wii - lets talk about it
by AndyXL » Wed Jan 06, 2016 12:02 am

I hated the Wii with a passion for two reasons:

1. The ridiculous stupid waggle controller, which ruined all of the decent games.

2. It wasn't HD.

It was a huge disappointment, and Nintendo sacrificed their hardcore fans to get the casual market, which has now moved on to swiping their fingers on tablets and smartphones.

I initially got it on launch day, had a some fun with the bowling game. The only thing it was good for was Virtual Console, and I must have bought over 50 NES, SNES and N64 games on it.

But I'll always hate the Wiimote...with a passion.

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ITSMILNER
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PostRe: Wii - lets talk about it
by ITSMILNER » Wed Jan 06, 2016 6:42 am

The HD thing never really bothered me (although I would like HD releases for the Galaxy games and the Prime trilogy with new control schemes) but the controller did bother me. I don't understand why Nintendo didn't cater to everyone, have your motion control option for Galaxy but let me plug my Gamecube pad in and use that instead (RE4 did this, Nintendo should have too)

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Trelliz
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PostRe: Wii - lets talk about it
by Trelliz » Wed Jan 06, 2016 7:50 am

Bought one at launch, had it for a while then sold it. Boight another one a few years ago, played some of the exclusives that had come out since the first one then it too went. Now i play them all in HD on Dolphin.

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Christopher
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PostRe: Wii - lets talk about it
by Christopher » Wed Jan 06, 2016 8:30 am

Bought it at launch for Zelda. Ended up buying two as I forgot to cancel one of my pre-orders (did the same for Vita :fp: ) ended up selling the second Wii for £650 :datass:

Loved the system eventually, it was hard to like it until Mario Galaxy turned up and changed my world.

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Super Dragon 64
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PostRe: Wii - lets talk about it
by Super Dragon 64 » Wed Jan 06, 2016 9:09 am

Trelliz wrote:Bought one at launch, had it for a while then sold it. Boight another one a few years ago, played some of the exclusives that had come out since the first one then it too went. Now i play them all in HD on Dolphin.

Xenoblade Chronicles with texture mods :wub:

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SMPL
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PostRe: Wii - lets talk about it
by SMPL » Wed Jan 06, 2016 9:23 am

I got it early on for Zelda. All I ever really played on it was Zelda, Smash Bros, the Mario Galaxies, Mario Kart Wii (which I feel is the worst in the series) and my GC games.

Around 2009 I just stopped playing it, and it lay dormant for years. Then I went back in with the excellent DKCR, and softmodded it with a load of 8 & 16bit games. Now that the PS4 is here it's been cast aside again but I'll hold on to it for emulation & the GC catalogue.

There's a handful of good games on it but DKCR & the Galaxies the only ones I might replay.

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Herdanos
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PostRe: Wii - lets talk about it
by Herdanos » Wed Jan 06, 2016 9:43 am

Played Twilight Princess at xmas 2006... on the GC. (Glad I got that version now. :mrgreen: ) I had my first proper job in the summer of 2007 so at the end of it I decided to treat myself and buy a new Wii with Wii Sports. I remember being extremely underwhelmed at first.

But not too long after I'd accumulated a few more remotes and took the console with me back to my shared house and the console began to see hundreds of man-hours of playtime. Got Mario Kart 64 on VC and with four GC controllers in, and for the first year or so it was pretty much just those two games, played almost universally with four players. It was ace.

The Super Mario Galaxy games are the pinnacle of the Wii. In my opinion, the two finest games ever. Skyward Sword I didn't much get on with (reasons outlined in the link in my sig) and I've only recently played Metroid Prime Trilogy, which is wonderful, but outside of the Galaxies there wasn't such a wide range of fantastic first-party software. Brawl was great but sedate; I love it for its depth of content and endless celebration of the games of my youth, but it simply didn't have the same impact as Melee. Mario Kart Wii is the worst Mario Kart. Super Paper Mario didn't deserve to have the words 'Paper Mario' in its title. Wario Ware neither had the freshness of the GBA original nor the multiplayer brilliance of the GC version. Mario & Sonic was basically Track and Field except more colourful and less polished.

For all those 'big hitters' that missed, there were other first-party games that were criticised that I came to love. People who disliked Wii Music seemed to be missing the point IMO; it was just fun, which is what a game should be. And even now, it's fun - and funny - to look back at the 'recorded' videos of my friends and I with our incredible/horrendous takes on basic songs. Some of which I have no recollection of so I assume we were drunk. Wii Party made every Mario Party game ever redundant by bringing the time required way down (while still having the option for a several-hours-long-sesh) and by personalising the experience, whilst also being far fairer to non-gamers than any of the N64 or GC Mario Party games ever were.

It was a third party franchise that dominated the later years of my multiplayer experiences on the Wii. Given that the console was our party machine of choice, it made sense that I'd get Rock Band for this console and not my Xbox. I might have missed out on online, HD, achievements, etc. but I don't regret it. Outstanding fun.

I'm not sure I actually understand what 'waggle' is or was or what the problem with it is, it's an absolutely straightforward controller to use for almost every game I played (MotionPlus got a bit hairy but the regular Wiimote never caused any problems for me or anyone else I know). I think a lot of people like to blame 'waggle' for games that they just plain didn't like but don't have a justifiable reason for not doing so other than their opinion (which is fine! But just say so!)

What else did I play on the Wii? Loads of stuff. Donkey Kong Country Returns, Boom Street, Link's Crossbow Training, Bit Trip - all of which I still have. Boom Blox, Super Monkey Ball BB, Samba de Amigo, Excite Truck, Rhythm Heaven - all of which were perfectly playable, just that I don't think I'll ever play again. Pro Evo, MadWorld, Red Steel, SSX Blur, Wii Play - all of which I didn't think were much good. I also downloaded a couple of games - but TV Show King :slol: is the only one to have lasted the distance.

So by itself, the Wii isn't really overwhelming in terms of software - or at least exclusive software. There are more timeless classics from that generation not available on the Wii than are only available on the Wii. But the two Mario Galaxy games are just so, so good, and the Wii is so cheap now, that there's absolutely no excuse not to play them (I'm looking at you, jawafour). And, of course, you've got all that lovely VC content, plus backwards compatibility with the GC, and suddenly we've got a different picture. We're no longer looking at one generation, we're looking at every generation before it. And it means there are more timeless classics playable on the Wii than there are not playable. Add to that the undeniable fact that the Wii has had an impact on the world gaming market not seen since (and arguably more defining than) the original PlayStation, and before that the NES, and you can start to understand why it's held in such high esteem.

Allowing for backwards compatibility, not including a gaming PC with pirated software, the Wii is the only logical choice if you could only ever have one console. A plethora of all-time SP classics and the best local MP laughs you'll ever have.

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TheTurnipKing
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PostRe: Wii - lets talk about it
by TheTurnipKing » Wed Jan 06, 2016 10:33 am

"Waggle" I generally don't mind, but it strawberry floated up Donkey Kong for me good and proper.

Glowy69
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PostRe: Wii - lets talk about it
by Glowy69 » Wed Jan 06, 2016 11:58 am

Got one at launch, zelda and wii sports.

Sold it in the January, after the beautiful gamecube this ruined any interest I had in nintendo forever. I didn't like the motion controls, I didn't like those mii's, I didn't like their online setup. And the power of the console was woeful.

Not as essay driven as most but its the poorest console I've ever owned.

Fabian Delph is a banana split.

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