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sieanr said: Kwaad said:It's because they look at who is visiting their site. 90% wii... 10% others. Hmmm.. make the Wii look bad... They go somewhere else... hmmm... Yeah, exactly. Gamespot gave wii sports a crappy review because they tried playing bowling sitting down, and thus it didn't work very well. Of course their score must have been because they just know what systems all their visitors own. Scoring a game poorly because they can't get their head around the control system is just silly.
I totally disagree with your last statement. Nintendo touted the Wii as having the most intuitive controls ever. If you can't get your head around the control scheme in an hour, the game has failed to live up to that expectation of intuitiveness. Also the Wii has been hailed as being more engrossing as a result of motion controls. However, if you don't like the control scheme to the point where it takes away from the experience and is no longer engrossing, how can you justify scoring the game well? In most of the low reviews, the reviewers gave such low scores because the controls weren't working as they felt they should. I don't think these reviewers are just being stubborn and hate to adapt to motion controls. Clearly, they felt motion controls were poorly implemented in this game, thus a low score. Reviews have always produced varying scores based on controls. The MGS series has lost some points with some reviewers because the controls can be pretty awkward at times. The reason why the scores weren't drastically different, however, is because the systems they were on were not so heavily defined by the controller. The Wii is ALL about the controller and nothing else. Therefore, if the controls don't work as one believes it should, the game will be a failure in the mind of that person.



My Top 5:

Shadow of the Colossus, Metal Gear Solid 3, Shenmue, Skies of Arcadia, Chrono Trigger

My 2 nex-gen systems: PS3 and Wii

Prediction Aug '08: We see the PSP2 released fall '09. Graphically, it's basically the same as the current system. UMD drive ditched and replaced by 4-8gb on board flash memory. Other upgrades: 2nd analog nub, touchscreen, blutooth, motion sensor. Design: Flip-style or slider. Size: Think Iphone. Cost: $199. Will be profitable on day 1.

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http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=143350 Very interesting thread, I'll quote a few comments by Mr. Spinnington, who bought it :

Okay I gave in, quick impressions: omfg this game is fun. When you start playing you're going to fall down a lot --mostly trying to land tricks. Go straight to the tutorials. It took about 10-15 minutes to get a grip on the controls, but that's because I jumped right into quickplay without thinking. I only played for a couple minutes before going into the tutorials and believe me, they tell you a lot. The game's manual is superthin, so most of the learning takes place in the game through experience, but once you get it everything clicks. The controls are so beautiful and engaging that I can see where people come off saying it'll be hard to go back. I can live with this game, and I gladly will. I gotta run, but yes I've gone through the uber trick tutorial. They work great and I've also had problems. I can give a thorough explanation after class because it deserves at least a chapter on what the reviews aren't saying, but I can go into it after I get back. With what I've played and the amount of content to look forward to, this one's looking like a keeper for sure./quote] [quote]Let me explain what's going down with uber moves: Simply, I didn't have a problem pulling them off in the tutorial until I replayed it the 3rd time. Why? Maybe it's because I got over-excited and forgot to hold A, but I have a better feeling it was something else. Let me preface this by saying that SSX Blur is a very engaging and very interactive Wii game. You will get into the controls, which is great for a longtime fan of the series such as myself. I've always felt great with a PS2 controller in my hand, effortlessly racking up numbers and padding down the slopes in SSX3. I had the same luxury of letting my thumbs fire me into the air to land with a TRICKY in the preceding game, but I always wanted to just.... get in there, you know? This is the next step for SSX in my opinion because it plays in a way that nearly connects you to the mountain. This is an excellent thing, as once you "get" the controls everything is just fun and involving. Every motion EA came up with feels great, and although I've only had a taste of the game along with very recently clicking with what the developers had in mind, I can easily see how once you get it down pat --nothing gets in the way of itself and the nunchuk/Wiimote become extensions of your own hands. With this in mind, uber moves come out half and half when you make an average gesture. A small heart shape seems to yield about a 20% success rate for uber moves, whereas a medium-size heart gets around 50%. If you exaggerate motions to a generally large heart shape, your success of pulling an uber move hits somewhere between 90-100%, but it's still finicky at times. Another important thing to remember is that drawing shapes relies on a plane of the Y parallel, which means if you stray from up/down motions and get into the Z-axis of space that whether or not the game recognizes the gestures will become more questionable. I'm nearly certain that these are the issues which determine who has better luck with uber moves and who doesn't. Some people will get their hands on SSX Blur and think the controls are broken, but others won't know what the problem is. In reality, one person is just better at navigating the motions on a flatter surface and the other person is letting their hands go in and out along with up and down. SSX Blur's uber moves may hearken back to the old schoolyard survival-of-the-fittest rules, where some people may just naturally get the hang of it and others never will. Anyone feel free to add to this or correct me if you play it and don't find this to be the case. Overall, I'm very happy with it as I don't have a huge problem executing uber movies, and am happy with regular tricks for the time being since I'm just a baby to the Wii version's controls. Still, I'm very eager to get back to it since I just got back from class, so I'll come back with more to say keep an eye on any questions you guys have. I'm sure there will be more feedback and impressions than just mine throughout the evening, anyways.
Oh by all means, the controls are going to kick your ass. They're definitely something you're going to have to learn. Even now, I'm still learning a lot and it's coming in large amounts of trial and error [such as learning to hit A in order to wrap up a combo and land your tricks]. But like I said before, you'll go at it and then suddenly a piece will just click, and it's like this release of happiness. Here's what I told my friend a bit ago. Imaging you've never had hands, and now you have them. At first it's going to be overwhelming and demanding, trying to get motor skill concepts down to each individual digit may even seem impossible at first, but one you get it you're like "holy shit, I can do all kinds of stuff now!" SSX Blur is a lot like this. There is so much that the controls do, you'd think they were customized for one person who was really adept at the game, but you too can learn them if you try! This is where the initial challenge sets in. The controls are a little bit simple but very complex, and it completely changes the way you play the game. I've been having little revolutions since I started playing, along with my fair share of clumsiness [entirely my fault, mind you]. Much like the game's integrated music and Groove meter, I can only imagine what it's like when you have the whole symphony going. Not to mention that there's all kinds of neat little things going on, like how crisp and white the snow looks compared to Peak 1 in SSX3, how little snowflakes pour out of the cursor so that you can mess all over the screen until you have your own miniature flurry, or that you get a little buzz vibration from the Wiimote when a course has loaded. Like I said, I'm very happy but it's important that more impressions get in here because there will at some point down the road be someone who hates it for whatever reason. It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, and especially not to those who are adamant about motion controls or learning a completely new style of play unlike anything they've come across.
Wow, I feel like an idiot. Okay, in Career mode there is an option in the pause screen to look at available Uber tricks. This is even in the back of the manual, which is why I feel so dumb about it. You can go in and look up close at how each one is performed and even lock the screen to practice them as long as you wish. You'll get "Good!" or "Try again..." depending on if you can do it or not. This was a perfect spot to test out my Y/Z-axis theory and I was wrong. However, it does seem to read movements that are slower and more exaggerated far better than quicker or smaller motions. This is a great spot to practice Uber tricks until you find yourself in a good way with your own motions. Thanks to this extremely thoughtful option, nailing Uber tricks becomes much easier and more natural after some practice.
Yeah it definitely alleviates many worries I had about Uber tricks. I don't feel like re-reading every review, but I wonder how many times that part of the game was mentioned as it's a very critical part or arguing that Uber tricks aren't broken but actually harder to learn.



Nobody is crazy enough to accuse me of being sane.

That's not the best way to look at it, jman8, if you were, the PS3 would be defined by blu-ray only and the xbox 360 by online only. Not exactly a fair take on any console.



Nobody is crazy enough to accuse me of being sane.

vanguardian1 said: That's not the best way to look at it, jman8, if you were, the PS3 would be defined by blu-ray only and the xbox 360 by online only. Not exactly a fair take on any console.
Well... it is fair to say all the Wii has is the controller... But the PS3 is lurking in that turf. Cant wait for Eye of judgement.



PSN ID: Kwaad


I fly this flag in victory!

fooflexible said: Honestly I really don't think you can judge the Wii based on review averages. My point being alot of people were critical of Wii sports, I understand why, it is relatively shallow, and the controls don't work right on every game but, it was free(a detail most reveiwers ignored, also ignored Wii Play coming with a controller), and it was the first console title most people played with motion contol, I don't know about most people but when I first tried I was blown away by it(so were my friends, and I'm including friends that normally refuse to play games). And the multiplayer alone got me 10 hours out of the game so far. Not to mention two of my friends are trying to buy a Wii now simply based on their experience of playing Wii Sports. yet this game on gamerankings.com averages a 7.7 out of 10. That is a view from a hardcore gamers perspective, yet the Wii is aimed a at the casual nongaming community which I think they would give this game 9 of out 10. Same with Wii Play, now I'm not saying Wii Play was a great game, but it was really cheap considering you get a controller, not to mention these two titles alone sold in the millions already.
Foo - I agree completely. (I had a much longer reply, but lost it ). I think Wii Sports could easily be scored a 9.5/10 or even a 10/10. In a lot of ways, I think its best multiplayer/casual/party game ever released - on any console.



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IGN gives it an 8.4. They say it's great, just difficult for pick-up-and-play. That's cool with me though...I think the Wii needs more games that require a bit of skill. PS3 is sort of lurking in the turf of motion control...the Wii is designed around it, and the Wiimote's capabilities are certainly better for motion controlled games. The PS3 can do what the nunchuck can do, basically, but the combination of the nunchuck and the Wiimote, which has better motion sensing than the nunchuck, make for a unique system that the PS3 can't really get to. There certainly can be some innovative PS3 motion games though. EDIT: Whoa, Wii Sports isn't THAT great. It's a very fun game and a fresh experience...but there have been more fun multiplayer games, and there will be better Wii games.



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i guess i see the Wii differently from you, Vanguardian1. If I were to buy a game on the Wii, the controls would be the single most important factor. If the controls are average or below average, i think the game has failed to be a good Wii title. If the game would be better served by a standard controller, again it's not a good Wii title. Nintendo hasn't emphasized anything about the Wii but the motion controls. I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a single quote from them that has nothing to do with motion controls, while at the same time touting the Wii as a great console. The Wii is a great system solely because of the Wiimote. What else does the system have going for it? What else has Nintendo said is great about it? Sony and Microsoft haven't touted their systems as being great for one single feature as Nintendo has. Yes, Sony has talked a great deal about Blu-ray, and yes Microsoft has talked a great deal about online. But they've also talked a great deal about immersive experiences through realistic graphics. Sony has talked about Eyetoy innovations. Both have talked about things beyond gaming such as multimedia capabilities. I believe Phil Harrison of Sony has spoken about tackling new subject matter by making games that aren't simply fun, but also deal with deep or disturbing issues in their stories. The expectations I have for the 360 and PS3 have to do with those things mentioned in the 2nd paragraph. The expectations for the Wii all center around motion controls. No other system is so singly focused on one aspect of the gaming experience. This isn't to say Nintendo is taking the wrong approach or the Wii is bad. It's just that the Wii is so drastically different from any other console on the market ever. And the reason for this difference is the motion controls. Therefore if the motion controls fail for a certain game, so to does the entire game itself. On the other hand, if the controls are great, the game is great.



My Top 5:

Shadow of the Colossus, Metal Gear Solid 3, Shenmue, Skies of Arcadia, Chrono Trigger

My 2 nex-gen systems: PS3 and Wii

Prediction Aug '08: We see the PSP2 released fall '09. Graphically, it's basically the same as the current system. UMD drive ditched and replaced by 4-8gb on board flash memory. Other upgrades: 2nd analog nub, touchscreen, blutooth, motion sensor. Design: Flip-style or slider. Size: Think Iphone. Cost: $199. Will be profitable on day 1.

jman8 said: i guess i see the Wii differently from you, Vanguardian1. If I were to buy a game on the Wii, the controls would be the single most important factor. If the controls are average or below average, i think the game has failed to be a good Wii title. If the game would be better served by a standard controller, again it's not a good Wii title. Nintendo hasn't emphasized anything about the Wii but the motion controls. I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a single quote from them that has nothing to do with motion controls, while at the same time touting the Wii as a great console. The Wii is a great system solely because of the Wiimote. What else does the system have going for it? What else has Nintendo said is great about it? Sony and Microsoft haven't touted their systems as being great for one single feature as Nintendo has. Yes, Sony has talked a great deal about Blu-ray, and yes Microsoft has talked a great deal about online. But they've also talked a great deal about immersive experiences through realistic graphics. Sony has talked about Eyetoy innovations. Both have talked about things beyond gaming such as multimedia capabilities. I believe Phil Harrison of Sony has spoken about tackling new subject matter by making games that aren't simply fun, but also deal with deep or disturbing issues in their stories. The expectations I have for the 360 and PS3 have to do with those things mentioned in the 2nd paragraph. The expectations for the Wii all center around motion controls. No other system is so singly focused on one aspect of the gaming experience. This isn't to say Nintendo is taking the wrong approach or the Wii is bad. It's just that the Wii is so drastically different from any other console on the market ever. And the reason for this difference is the motion controls. Therefore if the motion controls fail for a certain game, so to does the entire game itself. On the other hand, if the controls are great, the game is great.
You my friend. Have just become the first person under 50 posts for me to like. That is exactly what i hate about the Wii. (i'm sorry but the Wiimote is fun and all... but it feels el'cheapo.



PSN ID: Kwaad


I fly this flag in victory!

jman8 said: Reviews have always produced varying scores based on controls. The MGS series has lost some points with some reviewers because the controls can be pretty awkward at times. The reason why the scores weren't drastically different, however, is because the systems they were on were not so heavily defined by the controller. The Wii is ALL about the controller and nothing else. Therefore, if the controls don't work as one believes it should, the game will be a failure in the mind of that person.
There is always a "learning" curve for *any* control system. The more complex (i.e. complicated) the control system, the potentially higher learning curve. Pressing a button is *always* going to be less complex than even the simplest gesture based control. Yet the Wii has attracted non-gamers - why? Gestures feel more *natural* - especially for certain types of games. The most obvious way for someone to swing a bat in a baseball game - is to swing the controller in the same fashion. Conversely, say you have a game where the character presses a button - mapping this action to some complex gesture is making the input/game more complicated (regardless of how good the gesture detection code is). My issue with too many reviewers is that they are too used to playing 'traditional' (hardcore?) games. They aren't comfortable with gestures and tilts - they love their button combos, dpad/analog stick movement, etc. They have had years to practice these, and (like most of the people on this board) are experts at them. But try getting a "non-gamer" to play the same game. The button press/combos instantly overwhelm them (I have seen so many non-gamers lose interest when more than 1 button comes into play with any game). To these people gesture based movement will seem more natural - more obvious. It will still take them some time to "get into" the game (& controls), but they can actually do it. To sum this up - time to learn/adjust/perfect input controls: Gamer: Non-gesture movement - 1min Gesture movement - 5-10min Non-gamer: Non-gesture movement - NEVER Gesture movement - 15-30min



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BenKenobi88 said: EDIT: Whoa, Wii Sports isn't THAT great. It's a very fun game and a fresh experience...but there have been more fun multiplayer games, and there will be better Wii games.
Name 1. Im basing on games my wife's mother would play... I am 100% sure there will be better Wii games - I just think that Wii Sports achieves what it sets out to perfectly.



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