Wii First impressions

Lazybones · November 21, 2006, 11:57:06 PM

Well I have had a few hours to play now and here is what I learned.

1. The Wiimotes ARE sensitive to other IR sources, this includes the bright light fixtures above my TV.. Turning them off as well as tweaking the sensitivity seemed to help.
2. The control is very responsive but also not very reliable... I have done some tuning and it seems better now, but I was finding Wii sports a little inconsistent for control. Zelda however was very smooth.
3. WiFi is fairly easy to setup and even supports up to WPA 2 encryption.
4. There are more than one slow downloading update to install..Good thing I started playing with the online stuff last.
5. Each unit has a unique address number, you can share these with your friends so they can find you online.. I might start a thread in a more private forum, or just PM my address later.
6. I rather enjoy the zelda control, mainly because it reduces the number of buttons I need to press.
7. Fishing is sort of fun, and I haven't even gotten to the real fishing game yet.
8. Zelda's graphic show that it was a GameCube title to begin with... Although it has a style that works for it, and it flows nicely.

Mr. Analog · November 22, 2006, 12:04:40 AM

Spot on!

Shayne · November 22, 2006, 08:51:45 AM

1. How far from the TV were you?
2. Does the wrist flicking work or did you actually have to do full motion?

TheDruid · November 22, 2006, 09:12:22 AM

Do you need to setup extra sensors for the control to work *remembers the power glove and the ridiculous sensor setup that sat on the TV*

Since its IR im assuming you need line of sight to the consol for the control to work?

Lazybones · November 22, 2006, 09:18:14 AM

Quote from: Shayne on November 22, 2006, 08:51:45 AM
1. How far from the TV were you?
2. Does the wrist flicking work or did you actually have to do full motion?

1. I have controlled the menu cursor from as far as my fridge in the kitchen. As for playing I played Zelda while lying on my couch and Wii sports while standing about the length of my couch from the set.

2. I think Wii sports is best played standing..to get a smooth bowling swing it would be difficult just using your wrist. Zelda on the other hand requires much less range of motion. More wiggling, or jabbing the controller.

As I said before, the action translates almost instantly, and very smooth. There are cases where it twitches a little or will not register a movement, but this is fairly minor once you have it setup correctly. The key is not having any distracting IR sources in front of the Wiimote. However even that only impacts actions or games that use pointing, the motion and tilt sensors are amazingly smooth and accurate.

As for an update on the network stuff. I got through the two updates that are out.. One of them hung and forced me to restart the Wii, but it downloaded the second time around.. Not much to say for now, this not much up there other than 12 virtual console games.

Lazybones · November 22, 2006, 09:21:26 AM

Quote from: TheDruid on November 22, 2006, 09:12:22 AM
Do you need to setup extra sensors for the control to work *remembers the power glove and the ridiculous sensor setup that sat on the TV*

Since its IR im assuming you need line of sight to the consol for the control to work?

Actually the Wii mote has all the sensors.. the "Sensor Bar" is nothing more than a tiny, tiny bar with two IR LEDs powered by the Wii, that needs to sit in the center top or bottom of your display.. It is so small I can slide it UNDER my TV if I wanted. Apparently in addition to providing two even reference points it pulses a timing signal. Nothing as huge and stupid as the power glove sensors.

Tom · November 22, 2006, 06:33:23 PM

Its odd that you get issues with ir interference. I've heard reports from several other people that _cant_ get it to screw up.

Lazybones · November 22, 2006, 08:08:46 PM

Quote from: Tom on November 22, 2006, 06:33:23 PM
Its odd that you get issues with ir interference. I've heard reports from several other people that _cant_ get it to screw up.

Any IR source in direct line of sight should cause it problems on activities that use the IR for aiming.. Most of the Wii sports are completely gyro based.

Darren Dirt · November 23, 2006, 03:33:56 PM

It's official, as of Tuesday: Turbo Grafix 16 Virtual Console games arrive on Wii (apparently there was a glaring lack of TG-16 games, but not anymore... cuz now at least there's Bonk's!, a classic!

)

Shayne · November 23, 2006, 03:35:35 PM

Have any of you purchased these Virtual Console titles?

Lazybones · November 23, 2006, 11:11:40 PM

No, and don't plan to as I have MORE of them on my old Xbox... Only games I would like are some of the N64 ones... but 3rd party games from Rare are probably unlikely since they where purchased by MS.

Online stuff is still mostly useless on the Wii.

Picked up Monkey ball and the Rayman Rabids game..

Rayman is a pile of mini games that really make you work to win, I really wish I had more than one controller because it isn't much fun solo.

Monkey ball on the other hand is perfect!!!!! It is almost if the WiiMote was made to play this game. You just tilt the WiiMote to move and hit A to jump which is a new feature in. Single play is great because it is basically a puzzle game with a time limit.

Shayne · November 23, 2006, 11:28:30 PM

Ahh, sorta like http://www.gamespot.com/gbc/puzzle/kirbytiltntumble/ I anticipated a marble madness type game seems like a perfect fit

Lazybones · November 23, 2006, 11:37:02 PM

Quote from: Shayne on November 23, 2006, 11:28:30 PM
Ahh, sorta like http://www.gamespot.com/gbc/puzzle/kirbytiltntumble/ I anticipated a marble madness type game seems like a perfect fit

Yep, same kind of idea.. I played the Xbox version and liked it, this one plays much better as far as I am concerned.

Rayman can be a massive workout, but it does use the Will controller in all sorts of ways.

Darren Dirt · November 24, 2006, 10:13:11 AM

Every Super Monkey Ball game I have purchased or rented has been an enduring crowd-pleaser for my 10 8 and 5 year old, and is fun/challenging enough for me to enter the fray regularly. From the description of the new Wii SMB game, I'm mos def planning on that (along with Mario, natch) when I get the system in the spring... Can't wait to see some of the mini-game/challenges they threw in this time!

Mr. Analog · November 24, 2006, 10:45:30 AM

The Wii itself is amazingly well designed, the OS interface is very, very easy to use.

I'll post more later!