Nintendo Wii Fanboy

First: From what I've seen and read, gamers don't have to be all "wave-crazy" when it comes to the controller, some subtle wrist movements will do. Sometimes though it feels more natural to give a long swing if you're hacking through enemies, in my opinion.

Second: No matter what size the TV set, the signal receiving device remains the same size. Besides, I don't know anyone with a TV smaller than 13 inches. And I know it sounds harsh, but video games shouldn't be played on a little 5-inch kiddie screen anyway.

Third: It all goes back to my first point. And if you don't have a space large enough to have four people - at the very least flick their wrists - maybe you should get a new place.

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I've always felt that the people who complain about 'using energy' to play the Wii are the PS3/XBox360 fanboys that need to get off their fat asses and get some exercise anyways. At least this would be a fun way for them to work off those Swiss Cake Rolls they continuously love so very very much.

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"they continuously love so very very much."
Blah, typo. You know what I meant.

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What's wrong with a little exercize? I plan on playing at least 20 mins. of Wario Ware a day. That should burn some calories.

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I second Ian. I don't know how many times I've had to tell people that long, tiring movements with your arms are not nessecary. Thank's to the Wii's pixel-precise control system, small movements with your wrist are accurately registered on the screen without much effort.

This also applies to plopping down on the couch and killing zombies for recreation. I'm sure you'd have enough energy for a long day at school to aim at stuff and bash at least a few people.

"The Wii, with it's emphasis on motion and energy..." Well, the "motion" part makes sense, but I've never heard anyone say that the Wii's emphasis is on energy, hahah.

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I can't wait to play with my Wii on my tiny 5in portable TV~

But I never thought much about having to use Wii on a small TV. I have a 13in in my room and I'm widely mocked for having such a small TV when the rest of the world has 20in+ TVs in their rooms and larger than life TVs and projectors in their general areas (dens, living rooms, etc). I don't know many people aside from young children who have small TVs. But if there's difficulties playing Wii on a small TV, that'll mean I'll just buy one Wii rather than two (one for the big TV when no one's watching anything or for when someone else wants single-player Wii action or a party and one for those late lonely nights and I just wanna play somebody from my bed) to save myself the hassle. That's the only thing small-screen Wii difficulties will cause me.

As for the space in the den... Nintendo themselves have said that the action needed can be done with a mere flick of the wrist or exaggerated actions. I feel sorry for people with dens that small though... I've seen matchbox apartments have room enough for people to host Super Bowl parties with comfort.

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The motion sensor is a sensor that detects any motion within a limited range, not a screen that detects motion. The person who wrote that article was ill-informed. Subtle motions work too, so they can shut up about that. You make subtle motions with non-motion sensitive console's controllers, in my opinion. And they don't have to stand and swing their arms wildly.

Who wrote this? Honestly, did he just look at a few screens and videos and see it with these people flipping out?

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Throw my name into the hat of people saying that most of the movements are far smaller then people have been lead to believe. In addition, who says you have to stand to play Tennis? And four people can't sit on one couch? If you can't fit four people in your living room, chances are you aren't going to want a system for multiplayer games anyway. At least not at your house; and whaddaya know, the small size of the Wii makes it ideal for moving... just like the gamecube before it.

However, his other two points are good. The small TV is a great point, though it applies to all games and all consoles. As someone else mentioned, the pointer is not a light gun: the sensors are exterior and thus a small TV won't affect the inherint aim. Of course, it'll be harder to see stuff on a small TV, but that's hardly Nintendo's fault.

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HAHAHAHAHahahaha!!!!

These guys are worried about moving too much? Those fat bastards have to get a Wii just to exercise!

Anyway, they shouldn't worry about moving around too much. Nintendo said at the 2005 Tokyo Game Show, that their Classic Controller would be used for (and I quote Iwatta) "existing games, virtual console games, and multi platform games".

I can assume that "existing games" means Gamecube games. And I think that "multi platform games" are simply games that can be very easily ported to and from the Wii (i.e. Metroid Prime 3, Twilight Princess, SSBB, GTA, Halo, MGS, FF, etc).




If anyone wants to see the source of this information, look at this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4NTJnhoANg&search=2005%20tokyo%20game%20show

(the video is about 22 minutes long, so to watch the part that I quoted, go to 14 minutes and watch from there)

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I don't find it tiring after work to spend a couple of hours playing Guitar Hero. Assuming you're not playing like the models in the promo videos, why would the Wiimote be any more tiring than that?

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About point number 2,
That point in particular seems silly in the light that the other guys are requiring a BIG SCREEN HDTV to make the most of their consoles. If you were going to play the PS3 on a tiny tv, I'm sure Ken would have a few great quotes about that one...

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This is what passes for negative press? Weak, uneducated, dibble. But hey, be negative and get some readers I guess.

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What's interesting is that even though these fears are completely wrong, this is what Nintendo is going to have to find a way around.

They want to show the games being played wildly, because, like they've said, that looks fun to play and people want to join in. But lots of gamers don't understand that you aren't required to move around like that.

Like others have said, the sensor bar provides the information the remote needs to determine positioning, so the size of the TV will make NO difference. But once again, this is a misconception that Nintendo needs to clear up.

If these are the main complaints from those deciding to not buy the Wii, when Nintendo clears up these misconceptions they'll experience far greater sales.

Personally, I'm excited. I'd rather see people complaining about something and be wrong than complain about an actual weakness of the system.

Another misunderstanding: some are dismissing the console because of a lack of power... and don't realize it's going to be more powerful than the XBOX. Deciding to push only SD will help the console eek out all the power because it doesn't have to push HD visuals, which take a rather large portion of the 360 and PS3 hardware.

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While i'm giddy for the Wii, I actually agree on all his points and I don't really consider them "negative press". They are just his concerns. He's not really so much bashing on the Wii as he is voicing his concerns and issues with the system.

I actually REALLY agree with his second point. I have only a standard non-widescreen 27" CRT TV and I have no idea how enjoyable my experience with the Wii will be on that small screen.

I also agree with him on the 3rd point in that the room my TV is in now is REALLY small and will not allow more than 2 people to stand up and move around. I'm actually in the process of fixing that issue right now though, i'm finishing my basement.

The 1st point I only half agree with. While some games will require you to get up and move around and will feel like a workout, alot of games you can simply sit on the couch and play just like any other control scheme (FPSs, Driving games, etc.).

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"Like others have said, the sensor bar provides the information the remote needs to determine positioning, so the size of the TV will make NO difference. But once again, this is a misconception that Nintendo needs to clear up."

Actually the size of the TV WILL make a difference. Even though the sensor bar does the sensing, you are still limited by the size of the TV in which to aim the remote. Think about it. Don't you think it would be easier to aim at enemies in Red Steel on a 60" TV as it would to aim at those same enemies on a 19" TV. If nothing else, the enemies on the 60" will be bigger. Sure, the sensor does the actually sensing, but in one case you have 60" in which to work, in the other case you only have 19". On the smaller TV, the "game" will look smaller and be more difficult to interact with if any gameplay requires precision with the remote.

Think before you talk people, the size of the TV DOES make a difference.

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27" is a SMALL screen? Are you nuts? That's plenty big.

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"27" is a SMALL screen? Are you nuts? That's plenty big."

:) Not for me, i'm saving up for my plasma, but that will be a while.

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The size of the TV does NOT matter. If you read around, you find out that the Sensor Bar creates an infrared grid from which the remote reads. The remote then sends its movement data to the console.

None of the action is dependant on TV size. The same motion of the remote will be read the same each time, and will be translated to the same in-game action each time.

Granted, your inclination is going to be to make smaller motions on a small tv and bigger motions on a bigger tv, but that's up to the player.

If it worked like you think, there would be no need for the sensor bar. The player would simply configure the console to work with their size of TV, then the remote would translate between the different sizes.

The sensor bar, since it will be the same size no matter the TV size, eliminates any TV size disrepancy. Thus, the TV size does NOT matter.

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Yes, I realize the size of the TV doesn't matter when it comes to the actual control. But it will just be easier to aim on a bigger TV, that's all I'm saying, and I think that's all this article is saying too. I don't know about you, but being in a huge crazy firefight with lots of enemies would just be easier on a large TV when you have to physically aim at the enemies on the screen. I mean, you LITERALLY aim right at them. On a big, the enemies are HUGE and easier to hit. On a big TV, it would be like using a scope to aim. I guess on a small TV, you could just sit really really close to the TV like we all used to do to cheat in duck hunt.

Sure, the sensor bar controls the aiming, but you're still limited by the TV size in what you can physically aim at. Unless you're going to be shooting at guys by aiming at the corner of your room or something.

Think about it. Imagine playing Red Steel on a 60" plasma how easy it would be to hit enemies with the precision of a Navy Seals sniper while sitting 10 ft. away from the TV. Now imagine playing Red Steel on a 13" TV and trying to hit enemies while still sitting 10 ft. away from the TV. You're physically aiming at something smaller, it would be very hard to hit.

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vidGuy, I think you're misunderstanding how FPSs will work.

You PHYSICALLY and LITERALLY aim at the things you see on the screen. If you have a bigger TV, you WILL have to make bigger motions. On a TV that is 60" across (yes I know TV are measured diagonally) to shoot at something on one side of the TV and then shoot at something on the other side, you would physically have to move the remote that far, and that would be very precise on a big TV.

The Wiimote does NOT behave like a mouse in an FPS. With a mouse the movement is relative. One inch of movement with a mouse may represent 5 inches on the screen, and that can be adjusted with the sensitivity settings of the mouse.

With the Wiimote, there is no "sensitivity settings" at least for the aiming part, there may be for the turning part. But for the aiming, you LITERALLY aim the remote at what you want to hit, just like back in Duck Hunt. You can't adjust that, you just aim and shoot like a real gun.

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Even though the Wii using the sensor bar now, FPSs will still behave EXACTLY as they did back when we were all playing duck hunt. And I don't know about you, but playing duck hunt on a huge TV was much easier then on a tiny TV, especially when sitting back a ways from the TV.

I think you're all under the impression that you can somehow adjust how you'll aim with the Wiimote. You can't, you literally point and shoot (just like duck hunt), there is no relative adjustment or sensitivity adjustment like a mouse. If you could adjust the sensitivy or relative motion, then you would be aiming at the corner of your room or straight up at the ceiling to aim at enemies.

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I believe there's a sensitivity setting for aiming as well as turning. You will be able to adjust how quickly the cursor moves across the screen, so you can make small motions or big ones. You could then turn down the setting on a small screen to make it more precise. The objective is to allow the best control, and it mimics the mouse pretty well.

Surely Nintendo has considered all the possibilities and has fine tuned the system to its best. I'm sure we'll have details on how things work within the next few months, but I'm not concerned because I know it WILL work.

Nintendo is most concerned about getting the remote in players' hands because they know that those fears will subside once you are playing.

For those interested:

http://www.anandtech.com/tradeshows/showdoc.aspx?i=2757

"The sensor bar emits an infrared field out directly in front of the TV...Using triangulation logic, the remote is able to determine location, angle, and distance; as you move the remote around, the change in location/angle/distance is calculated. The remote then communicates with the console via Bluetooth, sending this information to it, and from there the software determines how your movements relate to the game world/application... The sensor bar doesn't receive any type of signal from the wireless remote and is there purely to generate the field."

Or read the posts in this thread:
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/06/14/wii-stumped-the-mystery-of-the-optical-sensor/

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Ooooooooooooh craaaaaaaaaap. I think I may have stuck the largest foot in my mouth ever!!! I just found this sentence in a past Wiifanboy article.

"While moving the Wiimote corresponds to movement of the aiming reticule on the screen, you are not directly pointing to that spot."

I am the biggest ass ever. I guess it doesn't work the way I thought it did. I really did think you just literally aimed at the screen at the thing you want to shoot. It turns out you don't. That actually kind of sucks and will make aiming a little more difficult in general, well it will require a learning curve at worst.

I still think aiming on a big TV will be easier though, just because everything is bigger and easier to see.

I apologize everyone, i'm an idiot.

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Yep. But don't worry, that's a common misconception. While there will be a direct relation between your movements and the on-screen action, you do not hold the remote out and physically aim at the screen.

And this is why the Wii won't be tiring. Lightgun games require you to line up shots, which causes stress after a bit of play. But the Wii won't. You could sit your hands in your lap and play just fine.

While you aren't specifically aiming at the spot on screen, you aren't relating to the remote to aim. You only look at the on screen crosshair/reticule. I don't think this will require a learning curve because its just like a mouse: you don't look at the mouse, but at the pointer on screen. You get its sensitivity in your mind and you don't think of it again.

It will be easy to get used to, and will be awesome to use, I'm sure.

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vidGuy, I just want to apologize again. I was seriously under the impression that you physically aim at the screen and that the Wii would need some initial calibration to your TV or something like that. I can see now that I was totally wrong. Now I feel like an idiot.

And now that I know the truth and have had time to think about it. I like the way it actually works much better. It WILL be less tiring and probably work out better in the end. I was not looking forward to sticking my arms out in the air like an idiot to shoot things.

I still stand by my thoughts that a bigger TV = better though, just because it'd be easier to see the action on-screen, but that's true of any game with any console and any controller.

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What is this preconceived notion that playing the Wii will always have you wildly gesticulating?

From the gameplay videos curtesy of E3, this couldn't be further from the case. Wii sports is one thing (which STILL didn't seem to take much effort), but look at a game like Metroid Prime 3. The recorded player was sitting down, hardly "wildly waving" his arms.

I like to relax with a game as well, but I just doesn't seem like the Wii will wear you out. Even little exercises do give you energy in the end. A week or two on the Wii and I doubt the minor movements required will be tiring.

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No prob, Loban. I'm glad I could help you and those reading this to better understand just what Nintendo has here.

I feel that having an on-screen cursor is well worth what will be possible with the remote. I'm looking forward to being able to aim at baddies without the stress Lightguns (and for me, a keyboard+mouse setup) cause. Add in the ability to, say, whack them in the head with a quick jab of the remote (made possible by the remote's other functions), and you have a great controller.

Just for a test for those of you out there. Move your mouse cursor around and think about how easy it is to control. After your first play, you'll be using the remote in a similar fashion. Remember, most of the reviewers only had 5 or 10 minutes with the console... and most said they fell in love with it after that time.

The size of the TV makes no difference, other than that it has since video gaming began - that of visibility. Control will be uncompromised.

All this talk has really got me wishing it was Q4!

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Wow they found something negative on the Wii. I remember in October of last year the press was harsh on Nintendo. They doubted their efforts all the way to E3 then they changed. Now Ninetendo rarely gets bad press. Sony has taken over getting bad press now. It just goes to show you these knotheads will report whatever they want. At least most everyone knows by now that Nintendo is on to something big and Sony is watching a ship sail away.

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vidGuy, now i realize just how big of an idiot the guy who wrote that article is. He is under the same impression I was as well as all the people who responded to the article. There's a big debate going on over there right now about how the Wii will calibrate itself to the size of your TV, whether you'll have to do it or whether it will be automatic. They're all under the impression that the size does matter (hehe) and that you aim just like in Duck Hunt. Not one person has brought up the way it actually works.

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And this is what I'm worried about. But once the console is out, hopefully the masses will get educated and their fears will disappear. Because, honestly, Nintendo has hit a homerun in every aspect, even down to the batteries.

Feel free to go spread this news, link to this comments section, whatever. I hope Nintendo realizes what the community thinks and does something to rid these misconceptions.

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Well, your common consumer isn't going to think about stuff like this anyway. So I don't think you have anything to worry about. The common consumer is just gonna see "motion control" and think "cool!!" and buy it, only to find out later just how powerful it really is. They're not going to really contemplate the control scheme and how it's going to work. That's what nerds who post on gaming message boards do. ;)

You have to realize that people who actually think about this kind of stuff and read about this stuff on the internet only comprise about 5% of the gaming population. The rest don't know and don't care.

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So of those three 'problems', number one isn't a problem (not as much movement is required), number two isn't a problem (TV size does not matter more for the Wii than any other console), and number three isn't a problem (granted the players don't make the exaggerated movements seen in the press releases).

Gotcha. Why isn't it Q4 yet?!? Or at least September, I need a release date (I'm not worried about pricing, I'm 95% certain the Wii will launch at $199, with the possibility of a $249 package deal).

And Loban, even with such a small portion of Nintendo's market thinking about these things, I think the Wii will have greater acceptance throughout the gaming community once everyone understands how it works and how it's played.

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This guy hit the nail on the head. These are the problems with Wii that I have been trying to tell other people. I just can't imagine spending six hours waving that thing around playing a game...even if it were to just be small wrist/hand movements. The Wii will definitely not work well for some types of games...like role playing games where you spend hours and hours playing. Don't believe me?...you'll see...

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Nope, I don't believe you Mike. The Wii can be played within a few inces square, and that's how I play every other console game.

Read the comments and read around, these "problems" are 100% false.

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inces = inches

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vidGuy,

why is it that my posts go unnoticed? I stated earlier that Iwatta said at the 2005 Tokyo Game Show that the Classic Controller can substitute for the Wii (then called Revolution) Remote

Now let's just say, for the sake of argument, that you HAD to swing your arms around wildly. Like Iwatta said, the Classic Controller can take the place of the Wiimote.

I don't know why people have this misconception.

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"I don't know why people have this misconception."

By misconception, I mean swinging arms around to get movement on screen.

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Sorry I didn't comment on that... maybe it's cause of that long discussion we had a while back! :)

But yeah, even if there WAS an issue with the Wii remote, there's ways around it.

Honestly, I don't see how an educated gamer could complain about the Wii. It sounds perfect and looks like its going to have great 3rd party support.

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I wasn't asking for *you* specifically to comment, it's just that I'm surprised no one brought it up before.

But anyway, I'm rooting for the Wii all the way. My only regret about it is that it won't have amazing third party games for a while.

I'm hoping for FF 14 to be made for the Wii (I'm not gonna play it though. The satisfaction of having a PS3 exclusive on the Wii is enough :P). Possibly other Xbox/Playstation exclusives could be made for the Wii, cuz I remember reading an article a while back that the creator of Halo was very interested in the Revolution (that shows how old that read was).

Who knows? Maybe this gen we'll see GTA, Halo, FF, God of War, Burnout, and other "exclusives" come to the Wii.

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Well the Final Fantasy: Crystal Cronicles offshoot is confirmed for the Wii, but I'd also like to see a full fledged FF. Not too hard, I'd think, since in-game visuals are less than top-notch for the series.

As far as the others... Burnout will probably make it. GTA? Possible I guess, but I'd say only about a 10% chance.

The real thing is, I imagine the Wii will have great 3rd party support. The more games the better. But on the other hand, I don't want 3rd party offerings to be mere ports of other games, especially since they will need at least a slight graphical downgrade. The Wii has to offer more. Like CoD3 allowing you to use the remote to hit baddies.

Joystiq posted a quote today from Sega's VP "The way the Wii is being built you have to design for it. Ports and upgrades are no good."

I hope that developers see the goldmine they have in front of them. The Wii will allow things not available ever before and not available on any other console. I'm glad that developers' kits are so cheap; a lot of inventive games will be made available through normal streams and the Virtual Console, made by upstart companies who need to take risks to make it big.

Sega's VP has said that those missing out on early Wii games are making a "massive error"... basically missing out on large profits. I can't wait for Nintendo to have the largest game library, which looks entirely possible.

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1. Maybe it'll be hard playin a Wii on a 13 incher but it'll hardly a be a new experience playing a 360 or a PS3 on it either. What with no HD graphics an all. Besides, the sensitivity of the Wiimote can be callibrated to fit the screen size.

2.If I'm too tired to play a Wii game then I'll play on the virtual console.

3.The only game I've seen arms swinging around wildly in was Red Steel and that still was hardly 'wildly'.

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I just thought of something. Since the remote doesn't use the TV to determine positioning, it could easily determine where you are firing without your target being on-screen!

Now here’s the fun part about that: say you are walking down a corridor and you have baddies in front of you and on your sides. You can take a blind shot at the ones at the side by moving the remote over there and firing! You don’t have to be looking at the baddies on screen! THAT’S what these quotes are all about!

So yeah, I'm guessing that's what the quote about Red Steel not all being on the screen was about.

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