Nintendo Wii - Playtested!!
Hi all,
I was at a technology expo in Dublin over the weekend, and I got to play the Nintendo Wii!!
Anyways, I found it to be great fun to play. They had four games on display, Zelda:Twilight Princess, Excite Truck, Rayman: Rabid Rabbits (I think it's called) and the sports game that comes free with it. I managed to get a go at Excite Truck and watched all the others extensively.
First off, how well does the controller work? Exceptionally well. I found it to be extremely easy to pick up and play, although a lot of people were having trouble with it initially. My first go using it I got 2nd on excite truck, and I was the only person I saw managing it (though my bro says he did too). The wiimote works well with the nunchuck accessory too.....I'm sure that sentence makes no sense if you dont know the wii, so hang on I'll find a link....here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_Remote
On Excite truck it was held sideways like a standard game pad and tilting it left or right turned the car. In Zelda It was used as a fishing rod, with the remote acting as the rod itself and the nunchuck as the reel, so you could literally reel in your catch and play with them as you wished. Tennis was also good with people putting the wiimote into the air above their heads to serve and doing backhand and forehand shots as needed. I was particularly impressed with a boxing game which gave you complete control over the boxers hands, and the fight system in zelda, which had link's shield and sword controlled by the nunchuck and wiimote respectively.
Overall I was very impressed by it, I think it's an innovative, truly next-gen movemnt forward, unlike the usual better graphics approach, and with games like trauma centre (you are a surgeon and have to perform operations!) coming out very soon I reckon it'll do well, especially with Sony's ridiculous lack of forethought in the european market leaving an open plain for nintendo's release.
Needless to say I'll be playing with my wii this christmas!
