Nintendo Wii Fanboy

There is a popular viewpoint pushed by those who campaign against the likes of Manhunt 2, and it runs a little like this: motion-controlled on-screen violence is more likely to corrupt players than that which is played through pressing buttons. Senators have used this argument in the past, as have journalists, but they're both wrong. Gloriously, wonderfully wrong. Who says so? Science says so, that's who.

A new study from the labs of Villanova University has revealed that swinging a Wiimote and pressing a button generated the same amount of "hostility and aggressive thoughts in" 118 college students (68 female, 50 male). The participants played either Manhunt 2 or Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2008, with each individual having their levels of "psychoticism" tested before and after play. Nobody completely flipped out, and whether flailing with a controller or pressing a button, levels of hostility remained even -- and thus another anti-gaming myth crumbled.


[Via Game|Life]

After taking a second, head-shaking look at the Wii Sqweeze prototype, and also thinking about Wii MotionPlus, we had to take a moment to stop and ask a serious question: just how much motion do we want? Lately, we've been down in the mouth about all the games that aren't going to include Nintendo's new motion-plus peripheral, but how much 1:1 control do we need? Swordfighting will be awesome, yeah, and sports games have amazing potential, but at what point do we just put down the controller and go participate in the actual activity? Or is a move closer to a virtual reality game better, no matter what?

Hands down, Wario Land: Shake It! is the best game I've played so far here at E3. And, thanks to my persistence and rudeness, I was able to enjoy the game a lot longer than most others who've been fortunate enough to play it, not only enjoying some of the game's normal levels, but also taking part in an underwater excursion in Wario's badass sub.

So, I started out on the tutorial level, which shows you all of the in-game actions Wario can perform through some handy billboards sprinkled throughout the level. I was dashing through blocks, scurrying down pipes and doing butt stomps with ease, and once I got to the end of the level, I discovered its end creature, the Murpel (odds are, that isn't spelled right).

AILive has announced the next version of their LiveMove software, called LiveMove Pro, a motion recognition tool for Wii development. According to AILive chairman Wei Yen, developers are flocking to the new software, apparently showing an interest in good controls for their dang games: "We expect most existing LiveMove 1.x users to license LiveMove Pro as well as a significant number of new users," he told Gamasutra.

LiveMove Pro will allow developers to make games "that let players perform complicated motions tightly coupled to on-screen animations," if the completely unbiased AILive representative is to be believed. Anything to improve the occasionally iffy motion controls in Wii games is a-okay with us.

When I played Rockstar's Table Tennis at PAX, I had a really difficult time seeing the relation between my actions and what was happening on the screen. Sure, if I moved the Wiimote, the paddle would move (most of the time), but the direction or speed of swinging didn't seem to matter as much as the d-pad-based spin controls (which mattered in that they made the ball a different color). I kind of assumed that the game really didn't take the specifics of my motions in account, rather using the swing as a trigger for a canned "swing" action.

Apparently, that's not true. Rockstar sent Wired's Chris Kohler details about the control schemes, and apparently your Wiimote movements do affect your shots like you would expect; as in, you can actually aim your swing and position the ball. This is true even in the mode in which ball placement is mapped to the joystick. In fact, the Wiimote controls are the same in all three control schemes, meaning that it would be fairly easy to try the others once you've gotten used to one. I like that; it adds a little bit of choice and replayability to the game.

At this point, I feel like my problems with the controls may be partially due to their newness and to the venue in which I was introduced to them. I'm not entirely convinced that they aren't just nuts, but I'm at least interested in giving the game another chance in a location that isn't full of the din of hundreds of World of Warcraft CCG games and virtuoso Rock Band performances.

Every Tuesday, Mike Sylvester brings you REVOLUTIONARY, a look at the wide world of Wii possibilities.

I was going to jump right into writing another script with you this week, but as development progressed, I remembered how much time I wasted on my first scripts because I didn't have a handle on exactly what motions were triggering the responses I was after. I figured I'd be doing you a disservice if I didn't take time out to get you primed on the nomenclature of all the motions and get you started in thinking in 3 dimensions.

Last week we wrote a simple script that didn't use the Wiimote's motion detecting functionality. Some might say that defeats the purpose of using the Wiimote, but is that really what the Wiimote is about? The different input options are there to give the developer choices. Sometimes the developer will throw in lots of alternatives and pass the choice on to the gamer. Taking every feature of the controller and slapping it onto a game isn't going to assure a fun time. More than likely, you'll wind up making something repellent that people will call "gimmicky." It's best to have an understanding of the control options available, and be selective in applying or omitting ones from your project.

Looks like Peter Moore's homage to the Wii has started the wheels of speculation in motion. Our comrades over at 360 Fanboy are considering the possibilities for Microsoft outside of the realm of casual games.

Moore did make the point about the Wii being about an experience, after all, so the idea that Microsoft might go the motion route isn't too far-fetched. And it's not like Microsoft never "borrowed" anything before (wink, wink). But like many, we're uncertain that we'll see motion-sensitive controls on the 360. Likely, Microsoft will try something entirely new, but the possibilities there are so widespread that we're not even sure how to start. Let's just hope any extras are cheaper than some we've seen in the past.

We know many of you are proudly sporting the Wii60 badge, so we wanted to ask you what you thought. Can anyone do what the Wii does, and should anyone even try?

[Via Joystiq]