I've been playing Metroid Prime 3 for a while week now, and I also played a demo for Portal on my pc using a mouse +controller setup for it. Honestly, I can't figure out how anyone can say that Mouse + Keyboard is better than properly configured wii controls.

I love portal, and usually my big complaint about the mouse and keyboard setup is in the keyboard. I hate trying to position my fingers over the keys, and having to use my fingers for movement instead of my thumb. The latter issue is more with being raised on a console, but the former is valid regardless, as if my fingers slip off even the slightest extent, I have to fumble around and usually look down in order to gain control of my keys again.

In order to make sure this wouldn't detract from my enjoyment of the game, I plugged my PS2 controller in, holding it in my left hand, with the mouse in my other hand. This gave me a setup that, for the most part, simulated what the Wiimote + nunchuck setup is. Jump and duck were the shoulder buttons and the analog stick covered my movement. my left and right mouse buttons were the portals and the middle click was picking up objects. Really, it was quite a smooth setup that way, and I had a lot of fun, even though the demo version didn't let me get to the point where I could use the orange portals.

It was after this point that I rented MP3(I will be buying it eventually) I was utterly blown away by how smooth the control interface was. I chose the free aim option along with reversing A and B so that I was shooting with the trigger. I seriously have never enjoyed a FPS to this great of an extent. I haven't noticed ANY lag between the mouse movement and the pointer, and I've never had any issues with the sensor bar not working properly (I have an optical mouse, and it has had more "squiggle" issues than I have with the Wiimote, though part of that is finding a good surface to mouse on)

But then I went back to playing Portal again, and this is where I actually noticed a few points that push the Wiimote+nunchuck to not just being "as good as" but actually BETTER than the mouse+keyboard combo:

1) I've already mentioned that holding the nunchuck is a more comfortable deal than trying to keep your fingers over the keyboard, but I'll state it again. It's more comfortable, and you're less likely to lose place of the keys, and even if you somehow do, maybe by dropping the nunchuck, you can get your hand repositioned by touch without any issues.

2) ANGLE AIMING. With a mouse, if you want to aim up, you have to move your hand in the direction of up, however that direction is entirely dependent on which direction the mouse is angled at. If the top of the mouse is tilted a little to the left, that becomes the new up. Wiimote pointer may not be 1 to 1, but it CAN be through software configuration, and even without it, aiming up and to the left is always aiming up and to the left, regardless of how you have the wiimote held.

Along with this, angle aiming means that you can aim through two different means, the first being moving your whole arm, and the other is moving just your wrist. This means that you can move your arm to the right, but still tilt your wrist to the left in order to aim to the left. This may sound backwards, but it actually makes it feel more intuitive, because where you aim ends up being determined by where you are actually pointing, not just which direction your hand goes.

3) This next point is actually semi debatable, as it is much a developer issue as it is an issue with the actual mouse interface. the issue I'm talking about is TURNING.

When I played portal after playing Metroid Prime 3, I found myself troubled by something I hadn't noticed the first time. That is the fact that, in portal, I only turn when I'm actually moving the mouse. If I want to keep turning in one direction, I have to keep moving the mouse in that direction, and if I get to the limit of that direction, I have to pick up the mouse (thereby stopping my turning) and then put the mouse down and resume moving the mouse in that direction.

Now MP3 uses edges to determine whether you turn or not. If you move your pointer far enough towards an edge, you start turning in that direction, and continue turning in that direction as long as you keep pointing in that direction. I actually prefer that method, as it entirely negates the need to keep picking up the mouse, which ends up with a constant turn-stop-turn-stop-turn-stop which can get really grating when you're trying to aim at the same time. This isn't without its issues though, but they are issues easily addressed, as I will explain momentarily.

Now, as I just said, Metroid Prime 3's controls are, in my eyes, not yet perfected. While I enjoyed how smooth my aiming and turning was, what I regretted was my ability to properly deal with enemies behind me or off to the side. It is at this point that the constant turning becomes a curse, as even though you can turn at a reasonable pace, in the midst of battle that rate feels like an eternity as you are being blasted away at while you slowly attempt to face your opponent, hoping desperately that they aren't circling you to constantly stay behind your back.

However the Wiimote is not just a mere pointer. It is also a MOTION sensor. Metroid Prime 3 had numerous uses of the motion sensors in the Wiimote, such as activating switches, using the nunchuck for the grappling claw and using the wiimote to make the morph ball mode jump. However, when aiming the gun to fire and turn, the motion sensors in the Wiimote are pretty much entirely unused, and instead rely solely on the pointer. This means that motion controls are free to be used however designers wish to implement them, and my idea goes as follows:

Under normal circumstances, turning can take place simply by aiming towards the edge of the screen, aiming only slightly away from center will produce a slight turn, while going as far to the edge as possible will produce a faster turn. In emergencies, where the target is to the side, or even behind, the wiimote can be snapped in that direction, even if this means the pointer leaves the screen momentarily. When the Wiimote is snapped hard in a direction, the orientation of your character is then rapidly turned by 90 degrees in that direction.

If the wiimote is snapped to the left once, then the aim will rapidly shift to what is directly left. If the wiimote is snapped to the right, the aim will go to the right. By following this first snap with a second snap in the same direction, this would allow you to rapidly turn to view whatever it is that was behind you. Once the snap is completed, fine tune aiming can be done by bringing the wiimote to point back at the screen.

Because Metroid Prime 3 does not implement this, I cannot consider its controls to be perfect, but MP3 does make it very obvious that the Wii is capable of controls that are even better for FPS than mouse + keyboard.

I'll admit, that some of these issues may not be present for long time PC FPS players, and on top of this, the slight improvement of using Wii controls over PC controls will be of little concern unless developers can make appealing games that actually use those controls properly. My point stands regardless though, that the Wii is entirely capable of giving better control for a FPS than even a mouse+keyboard can.

Discuss.

=O

Will read properly later.

Haven't finished reading yet but if you're going to the point that WASD

Wii-mote wins. Now what they need to do is have every FPS (or any shooter) have you point at the top-left and bottom-right of the screen. Then it can be perfect aim, like in other light-gun shooters.

I've always wanted to see a set-up were tilting the Nunchuck (like how you'd turn a doorknob) left or right would turn you, and the stick strafes/forward/back. Then all aiming with the cursor since moving towards the edge of the screen wouldn't turn you anymore. You'd do all you movement with one hand all your shooting in another. Be worth a try.

I was thinking the same idea but the opposite on the nunchuk BrainBox. Using the control stick to turn and move, and tilting the nunchuck to strafe. I'd like to try them both out to be honest, in fact I'd love to just experiment.

A grand piano is better than a kid's Casio keyboard.

Like a musical instrument, the computer keyboard takes practice, but after holding my fingers in the WSAD position for years, I can say my fingers slipping is not really an issue, and the sheer number of keys available to map to a game makes it much, much better than a gamepad to me.

It might not be the best control option for beginners, but the combination of a keyboard for body movement and a mouse for looking and aiming, I have yet to find anything better...unless someone puts an analog stick or rudder on a keyboard, which would allow for adjustable walking, running speed...but that's not very essential.

I am not trying to be a fanboy, I truly believe that a keyboard and mouse are the most versatile, accurate, fast, and customizable control options available. Turning speed with a mouse is never a problem for me, moving up or down relative to the mouse's position has never bothered me, and while a nunchuck is more comfortable to hold than a keyboard, it has all of 2 buttons, a joystick and motion controls...which can only get you so far.

You can play Valve games with a gamepad, or a gamepad+mouse, it's in the control options. Console gamers might prefer it.

But I submit that most that hate keyboard+mouse hate it because they are not used to it. Once you get used it, you'll find that nothing on the market today can beat it.

I've been computer gaming for like 5 years Ben, and I'm still pretty interested in FPSing on the Wii. The disadvantage I see is yes the amount of buttons. As I play America's Army a lot there are so many more commands than the Wiimote+Nunchuk's buttons could dream of having.

I didn't say I wasn't interested in FPS gaming in the Wii...I'm simply stating why I think the keyboard and mouse options are the best, since Grey said he couldn't figure out why anyone would think so.

I love Metroid, haven't played MOH:H2 but I'm sure that's great, and I even loved the Red Steel multiplayer. RE:UC is also amazing. Wii shooters are refreshing because it's cool to point at the screen and shoot, and they are pretty fast and accurate, at least compared to regular gamepads.