Do you Wii?

[Verto]

Originally posted by Asher

But is it any better than using a traditional controller? In a word; no. Different; yes. Fun; yes. Does it change the gameplay enough to recommending it over the PS3 or Xbox 360 titles? No. It doesn't create a new strategy or require a new way of thinking about each game to be successful. It's a great alternative, but doesn't make executing anything on the field any simpler. You could say it's a "revolutionary way to play" videogame football, but while a revolution always signals change, things aren't always better as a result.[/q]

Wow. That sounds familiar.

Yeah, this is a damning statement about the Wii! If you take a game that has been based around a regular controller for years, if not decades, and then switch it over to the Wii, whaddya expect?

[Asher]

Originally posted by Verto
Yeah, this is a damning statement about the Wii! If you take a game that has been based around a regular controller for years, if not decades, and then switch it over to the Wii, whaddya expect?

A half-assed implementation, which they have not done.

In fact, I've heard the implementation of the controller is brilliant.

But, as expected, the control scheme is merely a gimmick. It doesn't change the gameplay at all, it just changes the control to a new alternative that people find fun for a bit.

That's been my argument all along, and it's 100% true from every game we've seen.

[Jon Miller]

Dance Dance Revolution is just a control scheme, doesn't change the game play. Same with Guitar Hero.

However, both games are wildly popular and have many fans who aren't big fans of more traditional games.

JM

[Asher]

Originally posted by Jon Miller
Dance Dance Revolution is just a control scheme, doesn't change the game play. Same with Guitar Hero.

However, both games are wildly popular and have many fans who aren't big fans of more traditional games.

JM

Actually DDR's popularity has waned significantly after the fad wore off.

Guitar Hero will be the same.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Asher

Actually DDR's popularity has waned significantly after the fad wore off.

Guitar Hero will be the same.

POTM went to a DDR session at her high school. She has no use for consoles as a rule, and little use for PC games. She enjoyed it a lot.

If what its all about is "how do I win, whats the strategy" than of course its hard to see what you can do with the Wii you couldnt do with a conventional control scheme. If its about, you know, doing something fun and different and social, well ....

[Kuciwalker]

As far as I can tell DDR is still quite popular. As lotm mentioned, there's actually a "club" for just playing DDR during 8th period (the block for club activities and such) at my HS.

[Asher]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
POTM went to a DDR session at her high school. She has no use for consoles as a rule, and little use for PC games. She enjoyed it a lot.

If what its all about is "how do I win, whats the strategy" than of course its hard to see what you can do with the Wii you couldnt do with a conventional control scheme. If its about, you know, doing something fun and different and social, well ....

Why is the Wiimote more social than any other controllers? That one's a brain teaser.

(Hint: They're not)

And the whole REASON it's "fun and different" is because it's different. It's what's called a novelty factor. Once that wears off, what we're left with is "how do I win, whats the strategy" .

The reason the Wii launch games were pretty much panned across the board is their "gameplay" relies on the novelty factor of the control scheme rather than, well, gameplay. How many of you still play Wii Sports for hours a week?

I know several of you will claim you do to try to discredit me, but you know I'm right...

[Asher]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
As far as I can tell DDR is still quite popular. As lotm mentioned, there's actually a "club" for just playing DDR during 8th period (the block for club activities and such) at my HS.

I sincerely doubt it's still "quite popular" in North America.

Once upon a time every movie theatre had 1 or 2 of the machines here, campuses (UofC and Waterloo at least) had about 4 per campus.

UofC is down to 1 (huge Asian contingent...), Waterloo has none, and no movie theatres have had them for at least a year. DDR's pretty much dead...

[Verto]

Yeah, DDR's popularity has plummeted (from my experience). It's all about that ****ing Guitar Hero

[Asher]

I'm willing to bet that Kuci's hip friends are about 3-4 years behind the trends.

[Asher]

http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=14940

Finally the December NPD numbers are out.

Xbox 360: 1,131,886
Wii: 604,170
PlayStation 3: 490,682

Top 10 video games:

360 GEARS OF WAR - MICROSOFT 815.7 K
PS2 GUITAR HERO 2 W/GUITAR - ACTIVISION 805.2 K
PS2 MADDEN NFL 07 - ELECTRONIC ARTS 737.1 K
GCN LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILIGHT PRINCESS - NINTENDO 532.9 K
WII LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILIGHT PRINCESS - NINTENDO 519.2 K
PS2 WWE SMACKDOWN VS. RAW 2007 - THQ 484.5 K
NDS NEW SUPER MARIO BROS - NINTENDO 427.5 K
360 CALL OF DUTY 3 - ACTIVISION 410.8 K
NDS YOSHI'S ISLAND 2 - NINTENDO 407.2 K
PS2 CALL OF DUTY 3 - ACTIVISION 365.3 K

PS3 and Wii game & console sales = teh sux.

[Asher]

Weee!

This is, of course, US only.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Asher

Why is the Wiimote more social than any other controllers? That one's a brain teaser.

Human beings move. Human beings laugh. Not just at whats happening on a screen, but at what the humans are doing in "meat space". Believe it or not, there are some people who find that more entrancing then watching pixels on a screen.

And yeah, I know, you can play a real guitar, play real tennis, etc, etc. But just as the pixel games have a role, alongside real life activities, it seems human movement-console games may have a role too.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Asher

http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=14940

Finally the December NPD numbers are out.

Xbox 360: 1,131,886
Wii: 604,170
PlayStation 3: 490,682

Top 10 video games:

360 GEARS OF WAR - MICROSOFT 815.7 K
PS2 GUITAR HERO 2 W/GUITAR - ACTIVISION 805.2 K
PS2 MADDEN NFL 07 - ELECTRONIC ARTS 737.1 K
GCN LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILIGHT PRINCESS - NINTENDO 532.9 K
WII LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILIGHT PRINCESS - NINTENDO 519.2 K
PS2 WWE SMACKDOWN VS. RAW 2007 - THQ 484.5 K
NDS NEW SUPER MARIO BROS - NINTENDO 427.5 K
360 CALL OF DUTY 3 - ACTIVISION 410.8 K
NDS YOSHI'S ISLAND 2 - NINTENDO 407.2 K
PS2 CALL OF DUTY 3 - ACTIVISION 365.3 K

PS3 and Wii game & console sales = teh sux.

Yup, the console that rules seem to be PS2 By a long shot.

And Guitar Hero seems to be a very popular game.

[lord of the mark]

Am I reading that graph right? It seems like Wii's launch is as good as or better than the 360's at a comparable point.