You'll have to travel a helluva distance to find somebody who likes the Wiimote and Nunchuk as much as we do, but there's no getting away from one fact: Nintendo's unique peripherals weren't made with intricate, combo-heavy fighting games in mind.
Fortunately, when it comes to Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes, Capcom has two solutions. Solución uno: a simplified control scheme whereby a chain combo can be pulled off with a single button press, and special moves don't require input commands. Solución dos: Tatsunoko vs. Capcom will be compatible with the sleek, delicious slab of plastic that is the Classic Controller for the hardcore set. Not that we'd expect fighting enthusiasts to play this with anything other than a Hori Fighting Stick but, you know.
Update: High Voltage just dished out a press release that talks about 16-player online gaming and WiiSpeak. It's been tucked past the break.
High Voltage has announced that they're holding a contest having to do with their upcoming game, The Conduit. They're asking fans to come up with their own control schemes for the game and submit them, with the winners getting their scheme put into the game. Sound exciting? We think so!
Head past the break for the full details on the contest.
Wii Sports Resort might not be the only title to showcase the Wii MotionPlus when the dinky add-on launches next spring. GameSpot went hands-on with The Conduit at PAX 2008, and revealed that the shooter will feature MotionPlus support. The Conduit is currently set for a March launch, so has this new information also inadvertently dated Wii Sports Resort and the MotionPlus?
Whether it has or not, MotionPlus for The Conduit is Pretty Big News -- so much so, that we're afraid it may overshadow some of the other eye-catching details in GameSpot's report. These include:
In the final game, High Voltage hopes to have a completely customizable head-up display, in which any HUD element can be dragged and dropped to different parts of the screen.
There will be nine missions in total, with the singleplayer campaign lasting "about ten hours."
Cut scenes won't be used; rather, the story will be developed through news or radio broadcasts, much like the Half Life series.
Some projectiles can be guided using the cursor, which sounds a lot like the Nikita launcher in Metal Gear Solid, automatically making it ZOMGAWESOME.
So The Conduitlooks and soundsextraexplositastic, but how will it play? Answer: probably really nicely. First-person shooter controls are something the Wii has excelled at -- both Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 boast buttery-smooth gameplay, and The Conduit looks no different.
This video, narrated by lead game designer Rob Nicholls, talks us through everything we'll be able to meddle with in the game's control settings. Tweakable stuff includes turning speed, running speed, cursor sensitivity, the ability to turn while your cursor is off-screen, and the auto-center settings. The best bit of all, though? Adjusting your dead zone as you play. Very nifty.
The Conduit, The Conduit, The Conduit -- that's all we media types bang on about when it comes to High Voltage. But the Illinois-based studio also has a WiiWare game in the pipeline: the scarcely covered Animales de la Muerte, a bloodthirsty shooter set in a Mexican zoo that has been overrun by zombie animals. Let's say that again, shall we: a Mexican zoo that has been overrun by zombie animals. It looks a bit like Samba de Amigo crossed with the gore of MadWorld, and if that's not potential GOTY material, we have no idea what is.
And it gets better. High Voltage's Micah Skaritka just confirmed to WiiWare World that Animales would feature Classic Controller support, allowing players to move with the left analog stick and fire with the right, a configuration that Skaritka compares to Smash TV (but which also reminded us of Geometry Wars or Robotron: 2084). Meanwhile, actions that would usually require a shake of the Wiimote (Whip, Throw, Rescue, and Activate) have been mapped to buttons. A welcome addition!
Your Wiimotes might be outdated pretty soon, that is if Nintendo's Katsuya Eguchi is to be trusted. During a developer roundtable, he alluded to the possibility of a hardware refresh on the Wii's motion-sensitive controller, one that would include the new MotionPlus functionality, commenting "as to looking at whether or not it will be an attachment or built in - we're always looking at how hardware should evolve and where we should take it." He also added that "it's something we'll be looking at."
Of course, there are several things to consider. For one, how much would it drive up the cost of the Wiimote? Secondly, how crappy would it be to have to (eventually) buy all new Wiimotes? Thirdly, until Nintendo shows off a killer app for the thing (as okay as Wii Sports Resortlooks, it's definitely not a killer app), does anyone even care?
When playing a game, what do you look for most? Is it good visuals or tight controls? Do you think in-game events dictate the worth of a title? Is it the source material and story? When checking out a game, what has to be good for you to stick around? What's the most important feature you look for in a title?
After reading Joystiq's hands-on write-up of Skate It for the Wii, we were thrown back by one particular comment: "Skate It's control is one of the best gameplay implementations of the Wiimote yet." Wow, what a statement!
We were all excited about Skate It, even more so when we found out it featured Balance Board support, but now we're even more pumped to try it ourselves. But, does it tout one of the best Wiimote control schemes yet? We'll have to wait and see, however, in the meantime, tell us what titles you think best utilize the Wii's wonderfully unique controls? We'll get you started with an easy one: Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure.
GamePro had some time to check out the Wii version of upcoming Lucasarts game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. During their time with it, they managed to sink their teeth into the robust PVP aspect (called Duel Mode, it allows for one-on-one combat between 27 different characters from the Star Wars universe) of the game, as well as provide details on how the motion controls will work. They even took time to compare the two versions of the game graphically, showing the difference in character detail and textures between them. But, who cares about graphics? The controls are where it's at, right?
For the chart containing the game's controls on Wii, click here or head past the break.
For those of you looking for a control scheme in Mario Kart Wii that does not involve a wheel or a Wiimote in any way, know that you won't be given the same love you were in, say, Smash Bros. Brawl. Instead, you're ... wait, what's this? Actually, for Mario Kart Wii, the exact same control schemes available in Super Smash Bros. Brawl are open to gamers for use.
Head past the break for the full breakdown on how you'll be busting tricks and trashing the competition in Mario Kart Wii.
While we enjoy the Wii's motion controls most of the time, they can ruin a game if they're not implemented properly. Have you played any games on the Wii that had horrible controls? If so, what were the worst offenders?
I'll just come out and say it: Smash Bros. Brawl is the best game on the Wii right now. It beats Super Mario Galaxy, it is a better game than Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and it .. it's just amazing. Smash Bros. Brawl is a must-own game in the Wii's line-up and a benchmark for everything the system can do, both correctly and incorrectly.
So, you've had more than 24 hours to play Brawl. You've unlocked several characters, took the fight online and probably spent some time gawking at your trophies. But, the real question lurking in the back of many a fanboy's (and fangirl's) mind is: which control scheme is the best to go with?
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has awarded Nintendo, for the second year in a row, an Emmy® Award for excellence in engineering creativity. With a name that long, it has to be big and important, right? As you might imagine, the Wii was noticed for its motion-sensing controls, which have "attracted a broad range of nontraditional gamers and veteran players alike."
Yesterday, the award was presented in Las Vegas, at the annual Technological & Engineering Emmy Awards. The new award, which follows last year's award for Nintendo's invention of the plus-shaped d-pad, brings great joy to the company, as NoA's executive vice president of operations Don James stated "We're grateful for this award and thank the academy for honoring us a second time."
Congratulations, Nintendo! You certainly deserve the recognition.
Why does this news pertain to you, intelligent and drop-dead gorgeous reader? Well, for one we suspect you have a deep and dark hatred for Bill Gates and his company. Also, this rumor states that Microsoft is working with one of Nintendo's partners to establish this motion-sensing controller.
Gyration, a company that Nintendo had worked with in the past to establish what has become the Wiimote, has now begun work with the Redmond-based giant to develop a unique controller for the Xbox 360. And, with the Xbox 360 being the only current-gen console missing motion-based controls, it's likely that Microsoft could be planning to correct this soon.
When playing a game, what do you look for most? Is it good visuals or tight controls? Do you think in-game events dictate the worth of a title? Is it the source material and story? When checking out a game, what has to be good for you to stick around? What's the most important feature you look for in a title?
While we enjoy the Wii's motion controls most of the time, they can ruin a game if they're not implemented properly. Have you played any games on the Wii that had horrible controls? If so, what were the worst offenders?
