Wait for the HD port? I don't see why he wouldn't just pick it up for his Wii, the game was designed for the Wii-mote. It actually has my favorite use of motion out of all the games on the system (minus Motion+).

I suppose if you really dislike "waggle," it's one thing, though personally a lot of the game's appeal would be lost to me.

(Or did you misunderstand him?)

@loves2splooge: It isn't "poor game design" when the end result is damn fun. The fact is, the user interface has a huge impact on gameplay. How would Duck Hunt be with a standard NES controller? Rail shooters? Sword fighting? Wheels for racers, too... this can all be imitated by standard controllers, but it's often way more fun / immersive using the controller that fits the game best.

Yeah, I'm saying you should wait and see as the extra features and improved graphics may be worth the wait.

I don't know how you can still have fun after awhile when the motion controls basically devolve into this kind of gameplay. I can just picture it:

"oh i slash left now? ok. *slash left* i slash up now? ok. *slashes up* wee this is fun."

I don't see how that is supposed to be consistently fun. The game uses motion controls to disguise the shallowness of the combat. I don't see it as any better than button mashing. To each their own I guess. The gamepad isn't best suited for everything. I agree. But NMH isn't exactly a great case for motion controls (I'll give Suda51 brownie points for using masturbatory motions to recharge the lightsaber though). Wii Sports Resort sword fighting is a real example of an effective case for motion-controlled sword fighting.

And since this new port of NMH will have extras and enhancements, I'd rather this new version. I wouldn't play through this twice and if I'm going to play through it once, I want to play through the complete version (for those who already played this on Wii, I can understand why they wouldn't want the port. It would feel tedious to go through all of that again just for extra content). Especially when my interest in the game lies with the story, style and social commentary and I never was interested in this for the controls (other than the masturbatory gimmick, which is the coolest motion-controlled function ever). I was warned that the gameplay didn't have much substance but I think the other elements could make up for it. Even that Zero Punctuation guy recommended the game (even though he trashed the shallowness of the gameplay). He believes it's something that you just have to experience and the story and style will motivate you to keep on playing. I wouldn't be surprised if NMH has that effect on people. It looks like a breath of fresh air.

I don't know how you can still have fun with any game ever made when their 1980s controls devolve into this kind of gameplay.  I can just picture it:

"Oh I press A now? ok. *presses A* I press B now? ok. *presses B* wee this is fun."

If you're going to over-simplify it that much, you just described every video game.

This game is a button-masher, just like every other 3rd person melee fighter.  You run around pressing the fight button until all the bad guys are gone.  They're all the same.  In this game, like most, the fight button is A.  You press it about 8 billion times.  What the Wii remote does differently in No More Heroes is that you can point the remote vertically to hold your beam katana up high, so that pressing A will vertically strike your enemy's head, and you can point the remote horizontally to hold your beam katana low, so that pressing A will horizontally strike your enemy's body.  With a traditional controller, there would've just been 2 attack buttons for vertical and horizontal attacks, and you'd go back and forth.  But this control scheme allows you to quickly press AAAAAA to attack attack attack, but while doing so very quickly switch from head to body attacks by subtly rotating your wrist like you're holding a sword.  It's not much physically, but that alone made this game very very enjoyable.  It made it more immersive.  Moving my wrist to control my attack angle while I'm playing made all the difference, and that's why I personally enjoyed this game more than all the other Dynasty Warriors, Gods of War, and Devils that May Cry.  They added a small subtle difference to the button mashing that made it more fun.

(There are other things you can do in the game, but I was just simplifying it to focus on the button-mashing, because the Wii controls actually made button-mashing fun for me, for the first time since 2-D beat 'em ups like Double Dragon and such.)

On the HD consoles, they'll rework the control scheme and replace all that with buttons, turning it into a regular button-masher like Dynasty Warriors and friends.  I'm not sure if porting will work in this direction.  Gimping the graphics and replacing it with new and improved controls is one thing, and worked really well for The Godfather and will probably work really well for Modern Warfare Reflex.  I'm not sure if gimping the controls and replacing it with new and improved graphics will make any positive difference, and I think the sales of the game will suffer, and end up more like Chinatown Wars on the PSP.

Either way though, the game has some of the greatest boss battles of all time, so it's tons of fun.  I'd definitely recommend at least a rental of any version of this game for the boss fights alone.

It's easy to imagine being boring, but... have you played the game?

Most reviews do praise the combat system... I actually just looked up Zero Punctuation's review you mentioned, and he says "... actually the sword fighting is pretty fun, as it had fucking better be, considering the amount we have to do." Again, that's what I'm trying to get across - the combat is fun.  If there are complaints about the gameplay, it's probably the minigames needed to get cash for the boss fights - this does suck, one of the game's major flaws. That has nothing to do with the Wii, though.

I'd actually love to go through the HD console versions, if I could use the Wii-mote or equivalent. It would only feel tedious because the combat would be dull. (oh yeah.)
...

Okay, I'm aware I'm not about to convince you of anything. I just think the game utilizes the motion control better than any game on the Wii (without Motion plus), which is one of the main reasons I bought it. I mean, if story / style / etc are what you're going for, you can save yourself a whole lot of time and money by just youtubing the thing once it releases.

edit: Can't believe I forgot about the music games - DDR and Guitar Hero. Great examples of a games with the user interface essentially making the game. In reality, all of the gameplay can be done with a standard controller, but... that'd defeat the purpose, and the fun. I share similar sentiments regarding NMH and the Wii-mote.

The game is a button-masher, that i can agree with, but this game has 0 DEPTH, compared to the combat in Devil May Cry, or God of War, and its agree to disagree whether it is more immersive to move my wrists while button-mashin the whole freaking game will make it more immersive, i think its gimmicky like he said, but it works, but it works because there aren't as much enemies, the AI is almost non-existant, and the combat is slower than those games you mentioned. Improving the graphics won't work, the game lacks in many ways.

I also agree with your last line. The boss battles are great, they're fun, mainly cause they're fuckin crazy. I would also recommend a rent, but this game is cheap online also.

Honestly, I dont see any of the hipothetical ports to HD consoles selling any good. A 2 year old port, with the gameplay in the video isnt going to appeal to HD consoles owners that can get better from new games.

 I see exactly what happened to chinatown wars hapening now, but I think its justified, I woudnt buy chinatown wars for the psp knowing its a DS port, they shouldve made the desission from the begining, its like porting a ps1 game to ps2, no one wouldve actually cared about the game, even if the gamecouldve been better on the ps2 if developed specially for it from the begining.

360 version screens (right click -> view image)

nice, although I'd like to have something to compare it to

Looks like it's just been res-ed up a bit. I own the wii version (and love it), and whether or not I buy this depends entirely on extras. If it's just in HD with the girls in bikini's i'll skip.