Metroid Prime 3 to Launch with Wii

[fitbabits]

Once again, it's Eurogamer (http://www.eurogamer.net) with the skinny (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=64604).

Nintendo has revealed that the next instalment in the Metroid series will definitely be a Wii launch title, and that you'll be able to play the game using the motion-sensing remote controller.

Developer Retro Studios is still keeping quiet on the gameplay specifics, but have managed to pick up a few snippets of info - such as the fact that the X-Ray visor is making a welcome return, and it's being upgraded slightly to include a new wall-piercing beam that'll let you seek out cowardly enemies and frazzle them before they even know you're there. It's also going to play a bigger role in puzzle solving, but there's no word as to how exactly this will work.
At the risk of being called Mr. Obvious, Nintendo really are pushing all the right 'gamer' buttons.

[[VSK]BadCRC]

At the risk of being called Mr. Obvious, Nintendo really are pushing all the right 'gamer' buttons.

Anyone else used to play Red Faction? The had an awsome weapon where you could see thermalgraphic images, players and enemies, through walls, then shoot them with what was essentially a railgun, it was pretty much a one hit kill.

This is gonna be bitchin' for multiplayer goodness.

[Heretic Machine]

Biggest problem for a Nintendo fan this year: Too many games to buy! That's the first time this particular issue has popped up in about a decade now.

[phantomhitman]

That's the first time this particular issue has popped up in about a decade now.
for nintendo, yes

I am still not lured in by this, I just think its a lame idea. Its a nice gimmicky style of advertising games and "inovating" something new, but it doesnt hold water for me.

[Borys]

Have you heard about The Wii60?

The combination of 360 + Wii is really bad for Sony.

[Lord Dongkey]

So I showed my wife (She's not a gamer. Yet.) the Wii video, and her response:

"Ok, so, price isn't going to matter on this one. When it comes out, we buy it."

God bless you Nintendo.

[Savok]

I'll believe it when I see it. Nintendo and release dates have always had issues.

I do believe we'll get Zelda though, mainly because it's been delayed already :p

[Cubfan]

Nintendo sure does have a solid roster of upcoming games. The larger question, however- how well does the Wii controller actually work? Does it really work well with most types of gameplay across genres? Or does it only work best with simplified (i.e. Nintendo sports) titles designed specifically around the controller. Personally, my suspicions are that people will find the controller a bit of a letdown, but it will still provide a very fun experience when properly utilized by developers. We shall see.

Back to the topic, never been a big fan of the Metroid Prime games. I'd love a new 2D metroid though.

[Kelegacy]

Nintendo really is

[Tricky Thumb]

Metriod, Zelda and hopefully SSB Brawlers?

That is shit hot stuff, sirs.

[bapenguin]

for nintendo, yes

I am still not lured in by this, I just think its a lame idea. Its a nice gimmicky style of advertising games and "inovating" something new, but it doesnt hold water for me.

As the show goes on I keep reading more and more hands on impressions of the controller. And while everyone seems to agree it's fairly easy to pick up and use there are a lot of flaws in the system.

The #1 I heard is because you are playing in free space there's no physical limits or feedback. It's difficult to gauge what you are doing. I'm guessing this is simply something that must be learned.

I've also read at a few places how playing with the controller is somewhat stressful. You can actually see this in the Red Steel demo during the presser...the guy on stage keeps having to stretch his shoulders and crack his neck.

But on Metroid...everything I've read is positive. So all this might just be a giant learning curve for developers and for gamers. I guess we'll see.

[Tricky Thumb]

I think the key is smaller movements with the Wii controller. For instance, when you see the stage demo of Zelda, you will notice that while the controller's elements are definately in play they are smaller more finite movements.

I play PC games with a very sensitive mouse and many console action, FPS and even racing titles demand precise movement out of your thumbs. So I guess my personal hope is that the same result will be gained from short-medium term use of the Wii controller.

In short, it seems like when done right it should only take a bit of practice and then you're good.

[Balthasar]

I've also read at a few places how playing with the controller is somewhat stressful. You can actually see this in the Red Steel demo during the presser...the guy on stage keeps having to stretch his shoulders and crack his neck.
Did you notice in the Nintendo presentation how much trouble the guy playing the Twilight Princess demo was having using the controller? It wasn't so much moving around and picking up objects, but firing off his bow. It was a little awkward when the presenter says "you've been playing this game longer than anyone else here and you still can't get it?" or something to that effect. It was meant as a joke, obviously, but it makes me wonder how big a hurdle this will be. People are going to sour on this pretty fast if they have to exert themselves too much.

[Savok]

When I first got my NES at age 5 or something, I was always looking down, trying to work what the fuck the I was doing. When I got my SNES, holy shit it had like a hundred more buttons, I was completely fucked for quite awhile there.

Many of us have forgotten that at one time, we didn't know a controller by pure instinct alone, we weren't born with the knowledge, we did have to learn it. Man, I remember when I used to play Doom purely by mouse, then I got sick of not being able to strafe but I was incredibly clumsy with the keyboard, and, well, iddqd was the only way I didn't die :p

Same as it is here, we're gonna have to learn from scratch, I for one am excited by that prospect.

[Cool AN]

We should really make a list over launch games for the PS 3 and Wii.

[Heretic Machine]

Did you notice in the Nintendo presentation how much trouble the guy playing the Twilight Princess demo was having using the controller? It wasn't so much moving around and picking up objects, but firing off his bow. It was a little awkward when the presenter says "you've been playing this game longer than anyone else here and you still can't get it?" or something to that effect. It was meant as a joke, obviously, but it makes me wonder how big a hurdle this will be. People are going to sour on this pretty fast if they have to exert themselves too much.

I'm more willing to blame that on simple nervousness. He was playing a game in front of a huge number of people. I couldn't even web swing properlly in Spider-man 2 when I tried showing my roommate how cool it was.

[Rirath]

So, I'll probably be there at launch with my Metroid 3, but will I be holding Mario Galaxy as well? Haven't heard if that's actually planned to hit launch yet.

[Tricky Thumb]

We should really make a list over launch games for the PS 3 and Wii.

That would be quite possible if Sony would announce things of that nature.

As it stands now, as long as these games end up delivering Nintendo is going to have a legendary launch.

Thinking a bit further, the perfect launch lineup would be:

Super Mario Galaxy
The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess
Metroid 3: Corruption
Super Smash Bros. Brawler.


I think if they could manage those titles, the rest would just be nice extras for the most part. Eh, a guy can dream.

[Rirath]

Super Mario Galaxy
The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess
Metroid 3: Corruption
Super Smash Bros. Brawler.

I think if they could manage those titles, the rest would just be nice extras for the most part. Eh, a guy can dream.

Definitely a must have list.

[Borys]

If we are talking about the controller...

Here's a post made on GAF by a guy named Shogmaster (Sony hater by the way) who played Wii at the show:

After playing Wii, I can confidently say that it's in no fucking way worth a penny over $150. It's really a slightly boosted GC and a totally gimmicky accessory that's somehow turned into a mandatory purchase. OMYGODIHATEYOUFORTHISNINTENDOOOOOOOOOO

I can't believe I stood in line HOURS for this crap.

How can I put it simply: No way in hell does that fucking wand contraption set up (which includes the stupid sensor bar) advances the way you control your character, making it neither more responsive, nor more empowering, nor more precise. It does NONE of those things from what I have played. IT'S A FUCKING DESPERATE GIMMICK!!!!

What I have observed:

Metroid Prime - the "Wii" parts being used are; The sensor bar and IR emitter on the wand for cursor movement, the accelerometer on the numbchuck for "grabbing" shit like their sheilds from enemies, and gyros in the wand for interfacing with some door thingies. Now how do they work together? Let me put it this way. I'd rather play the Previous Prime games. Now some of you knowing how I feel about previous Prime controls, you see where this is going.

First of all, none of the games I played used gyros in the wand for camera/look control. Simply, the gyros are too slow due to inertia for such work (as I said many time from my previous gyro mouse experience).

So Prime uses the sensor bar (which must be at least 3~4 feet in front of you from your position, barring most small screen/close quarters situations) and the IR transmitter for camera/aiming/look role. This means simply that your aiming reticle acts as a cursor on a desktop, instead of giving you immediate control of the camera as with other FPS set ups. If you have an enemy to the side of you or god forbid, behind you, you must drag the cursor to the edge of the screen, which then starts to move the camera to that direction. Yep, it's a slow and prodding process, and throws any prospects of responsive 360 degree FPS action right out the window.

And that sensor bar/IR emitter combo is a finicky bitch. You have to be careful not to aim your wand outside the sensor bar's field of vision. And yes, it's IR so you can't block it's line of sight. Many time I accidently waved the wand outside the sensor's field of view, and re-establishing the beam to the sensor bar takes a good second, making you a nice target for the AIs to take pot shots at.

Also, even when you are aiming at enemies within your camera's current window forward, it's not as precise nor responsive as you'd want. In the first place, the tap tap tapping of the A button to shoot tends to throw off your aiming of the cursor. Second, your arm in the air has no reference point as to where you are currently so even going back and forth between same two points over and over is not consistant. It's just gimpy mess trying to aim properly.

For an advanced gamer who wants a serious FPS experience, the wand become nothing more than a cumbersome distraction at best, and an hinderance and a chore most of the time. It does not make the experience better AT ALL. You can't aim any better. You can't turn around any faster. It's a step backwards.

Tennis game - ALL YOU DO IS FLICK THE WAND. That's fucking it. You don't control where the character goes, you con't control how the swing is made with any precision nor consistancy, all you do is control the timing of the swing. I realised this as I waited half an hour watching "important" people cut in front of me to play it.

A funny example; 1up gang cut to the front of the line to play the game, and I got to see (and tape) the myth, the legend, Skip Skipperoo Pfisterman do some hilarious projecting of his notion of how the wand works as he played. He was literally, doing the whole nine; dribbling the ball before the serve toss, tossing the imaginary ball WAAAY up in the air and the SMASHING it towards the screen, hopping on his toes waiting for the volley, and all. It was quite the performance, but of course the real hilarity was that the fucking wand ONLY GIVES A SHIT WHEN YOU TIME THE SWING FOR THE VOLLEY. It doesn't care how you swing it (I did the same simple flicking motion throughout the my turn at the game, but the game was showing volleys from the left, right, underhand, overhand etc), it doesn't care how hard you swing it, and it doesn't care where you swing from. All it wants from the gamer is to flick the accelerometer into action to time the swings. The people that end up doing better at the game than others are the ones that realise those facts and do the same small flicking motion, only concentrating on the timing.

I'm not sure what was simpler with the tennis game; the game control mechanics or the 3rd grader-ish graphics. Sure, the execs in suits that never played games in this century loved it, but I really don't relish one of the greatest gaming entities spending a whole gen into this travesty.

SOMEONE WAKE ME UP FROM THIS NIGHTMARE!!!!!

Hmm, Shogmaster (http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/member.php?u=5316) *IS* registered here under the same name, I wonder why he doesn't post often.

[[VSK]BadCRC]

Did you notice in the Nintendo presentation how much trouble the guy playing the Twilight Princess demo was having using the controller?

I did notice that, but the guy was getting shot at, and it seemed like everytime he got hit it knocked him out of the bow view. That's not to say that he wasn't having difficulties, the dungeon was dumbed down for E3.

But I think when you actually play the game, that you would take better cover, instead of running straight out into the open and try and peg off enemies where they have a close range and easy shot at you.

[pheriannath]

As much as I think the Wiimote is an interesting idea, I hope beyond hope that the developers make everything compatible with the 'classic' controller as well, so people can fall back on something familiar if they have to.

[Spigot]

Heck, I STILL have a problem keeping the Square and Circle buttons straight on the Dualshock, and this is after having played countless rhythm games and the Shadow Hearts series where you really need to know which button is which.

I'm sure that the Wiimote will confuse a lot of people, especially those of us who are used to the gamepad style of play. According to that demo video at the press conference, even your grandpa can play it and have fun... and there's no way that was staged.

I'm just worried that I'll destroy my living room when I play Metroid Prime if I have to jump around like the guy in the video.

Is Warwiioware a launch title or is it coming later? Even without it, this is probably one of the strongest launch lineups Nintendo has had in quite some time, and it doesn't even take into account all of the Virtual Console stuff.

[bapenguin]

So Prime uses the sensor bar (which must be at least 3~4 feet in front of you from your position

That better not be true....that can't be true.

[Stormwatcher]

Well, I've read a hell lot of people praising the wiimote. And one raging forum poster I never heard about saying it sucks... Hum...

[Savok]

Another thing you gotta remember is that this is E3, playing games there at the best of times is agony, between the people, the lack of time, the noise. Toss a whole new control scheme onto that and you're gonna fuck people.

[Tricky Thumb]

Borys: That guy comes off as quite the dramatic prat. To be honest after reading that entire thing he wrote I've got to say he seems like the most cynical little bitch I've never had the misfortune to meet.

Look, the thing is meant to be played in a living room from a not-so-far distance. The controls he described were for two games, one of which is obviously a very simple tennis game not meant to be a simulation but merely a simple display of ways to use the controller.

An excerpt from Gamespot's (http://www.gamespot.com/wii/action/metroidprime3/news.html?sid=6150263)Hands On:

The cursor actually moves within the screen, instead of being fixed to the center of the screen as with most first-person shooters. This makes it possible to aim and fire at something you see without moving Samus, but the tradeoff is that your ability to turn quickly is compromised. To turn, you'll need to move the cursor all the way to the edge of the screen, at which point Samus will begin turning. There's definitely a learning curve involved with getting used to how the Wii controller works for aiming, but thankfully you can press on the Z trigger on the nunchuk to lock on to a target, which keeps the interface feeling somewhat consistent with previous Prime games. The lock-on only works if you have an enemy somewhat close to the center of the screen, so it's not exactly a crutch--and lock-on won't work on very fast-moving targets, plus enemies can often break out of target lock by dodging back and forth.

It seems to me all they need to do is make it so you could press a button to "lock" the crosshair on the screen and allow you to move Samus. Seems like a simple fix.

Considering that other guys says:

I'd rather play the Previous Prime games. Now some of you knowing how I feel about previous Prime controls, you see where this is going.

I'd say he loses all credibility for me.

Gamespot DID point this out though.

From our time playing Corruption at E3, it seems that the game maintains a lot of the same design principles and style that have made the franchise such a hit. The primary difference will be, of course, the manner in which you control the game. It took a little bit of getting used to, but the remote and nunchuk worked about as well as expected. We did have some trouble here and there when the sensors seemed to have trouble reacquiring the signal whenever we put our hands down--finding that invisible plane where the sensor wants your hands to be can be a little tricky or frustrating if you put your hands down for any reason.

That worries me, but I'd still like to play it for myself before I feel one way or the other over it.

I still would like to maintain that there are far more games for the Wii than "Tennis" and Metroid 3.

[Balthasar]

BadCRC']
But I think when you actually play the game, that you would take better cover, instead of running straight out into the open and try and peg off enemies where they have a close range and easy shot at you.
But he was having trouble before that, when he was just trying to aim before any enemies were brought into the picture. He couldn't center fairly easy targets. He very well could have been nervous, but it defintely got me worried. It also came off as a little complex, the way you play when you switch between weapons. Not complex for us, per se, but if I handed this off to my mom, I question how easily she could pick this up, versus the controls for Wind Waker.

[Borys]

Dudes, it's okay I mean no harm nor I would like to. I just posted a hands-on reaction and I would post a praising one as well, believe me.

I really think we need more hands-on impressions, not only from journos but normal gamers as well.

[[VSK]BadCRC]

I've only got one concern for the controller to be honest... I have a large aquarium in our house, and I can easily bounce infrared signals from my television remote and control my TV without even aiming it remotely close to the TV.

So I wonder if these kinds of reflective surfaces will do to the Wii if you take the remote out of range or the signals bounce around.

[Spigot]

Another thing you gotta remember is that this is E3, playing games there at the best of times is agony, between the people, the lack of time, the noise. Toss a whole new control scheme onto that and you're gonna fuck people.
That's the impression that I get. I'm more interested to see how people who play it in a closed-door session or back at the office (once the review units are shipped out) react than I am in the reactions from the show floor. If this sentiment had been something everyone was ranting about, I'd also be a bit more concerned about the controller, but this is the first complaint I've seen.

[Kelegacy]

I couldn't care less about Metroid (never a fan for some reason, maybe the high amount of backtracking), but the Wii has me excited. From the virtual console to the new stuff, I want to fondle Mario like a priest in a confessional.

Are Genesis games going to be on the system, too? What besides TG-16?

[Heretic Machine]

The idea of having to target in Metroid with a "cursor" type of control scheme horrifies me. It sends chills down my spine, and infects my heart with a kind of dispair that I haven't felt since the day the Dreamcast died. Say it's not so, Nintendo! o.o

[Savok]

But he was having trouble before that, when he was just trying to aim before any enemies were brought into the picture. He couldn't center fairly easy targets. He very well could have been nervous, but it defintely got me worried. It also came off as a little complex, the way you play when you switch between weapons. Not complex for us, per se, but if I handed this off to my mom, I question how easily she could pick this up, versus the controls for Wind Waker.
On stage in front of god knows how many people when you count the webcast, under studio lighting, having to stand and look down as probably a shitty little studio monitor knowing the whole presentation is riding on your actions. No pressure :p

Note I'm not saying the Wiimote is awesome or anything, just that - as said - until proper review copies of everything have been sent out and people can play the games in their natural environment, nothing really means anything.

[Bydo_Empire]

Officially announced: NES, SNES, N64, Genesis, and TG-16. They have not announced any specific games, other than "first party TG-16 games."

Assuming Zelda, Metroid and perhaps Mario (don't know if that was slated for launch), I honestly can't think of another system launch with so many must-haves. Aside from those, the thing with the Wii is that even stale franchises like Tony Hawk and Madden have the opportunity - if done right (and that's a big if) - to be fun and fresh all over again. I'd never buy a traditional Tony Hawk game, but the Wii version has me intrigued. I hope developers iron out these control issues (and I'm sure they will), the potential sure is there. I'm definitely going to be a Wii-Sixty owner this generation.

[Balthasar]

Note I'm not saying the Wiimote is awesome or anything, just that - as said - until proper review copies of everything have been sent out and people can play the games in their natural environment, nothing really means anything.
Well, sure. I'm not backtracking on the Wii; as it stands right now, I should be getting one. But that's not going to stop me from being troubled by some of these reports about the physicality of the remote.

[Kamalot]

When I first got my NES at age 5 or something, I was always looking down, trying to work what the fuck the I was doing. When I got my SNES, holy shit it had like a hundred more buttons, I was completely fucked for quite awhile there.

Many of us have forgotten that at one time, we didn't know a controller by pure instinct alone, we weren't born with the knowledge, we did have to learn it. Man, I remember when I used to play Doom purely by mouse, then I got sick of not being able to strafe but I was incredibly clumsy with the keyboard, and, well, iddqd was the only way I didn't die :p

Same as it is here, we're gonna have to learn from scratch, I for one am excited by that prospect.
I think this is an important thing to remember.

We are all about to become Noobs.

[MosBen]

Did Doom even have mouslook? I thought the id game that first used it was Quake, though maybe I'm confused because that's the first game I used mouselook on. Man, I played Decent with just the keyboard...that was tough.

As to this, I'm sure it's been said a few times already, but I bet half of the first party games that Nintendo says will be ready for launch get pushed back, not to mention some of the bigger third party games. Not only are they Nintendo, with a long history of delays in their games, but that's just the way it goes with launches.

[Cubfan]

Well, I've read a hell lot of people praising the wiimote. And one raging forum poster I never heard about saying it sucks... Hum...

Everyone has expectations for the Wii. I'd imagine a large part of the gaming press has high expectations, they would benefit from something fresh and new, something that might inject some new interest into gaming and help reach new untapped markets. Others discount the new control method as nothing but a gimmick.

All of these hands-on impressions are people picking up the thing for the first time, for a mere 10 minutes of playtime. I think it's easy for someone and to contort their brief experience to better match their preconceptions. I think the gaming media has more of vested interest in seeing the Wii succeed, so they're likely to give it the benefit of the doubt after their 10 minutes. I'm happy to hear what 'raging forum posters' have to say, because I think there's a chance they'll more truthful. Then again, they just might be some random jackass with an agenda.

I guess we'll have to wait for the press to have some extended game time with the Wii before we get really accurate impressions. I'm starting to have my doubts about the Wii but I guess we'll find out in time.

[Sl1pstream]

Officially announced: NES, SNES, N64, Genesis, and TG-16. They have not announced any specific games, other than "first party TG-16 games."

Actually, there's a list on their press site that shows all games that are being developed. It's pretty big.

[phantomhitman]

Did you notice in the Nintendo presentation how much trouble the guy playing the Twilight Princess demo was having using the controller?

I noticed this with every single on stage and floor demo. People were swinging like crack monkeys at everything. Red Steel looks bad anyways, but the controller issues seem to be bad with this game. The tennis game was full of miss hits, not top spin or special move hits, just hitting the dam ball. Hopefully everything will work in the end, but it is still a "look at me look at me" device.

[Chameleo]

I noticed this with every single on stage and floor demo. People were swinging like crack monkeys at everything. Red Steel looks bad anyways, but the controller issues seem to be bad with this game. The tennis game was full of miss hits, not top spin or special move hits, just hitting the dam ball. Hopefully everything will work in the end, but it is still a "look at me look at me" device.

miyamoto had the control down pretty good. wonder how long he practiced to get used to it.

the winner of the contest didnt stand a chance. the control will just take some time to get used to. i.e. what angle to hold it at, how big a swing to take, how much movement you need to produce the results you want on the screen.

you'll need more time with the system than what you'll get on the E3 showfloor. I'm curious about *how much* time it'll take to get used to it... if its longer than 5 mins, you can kiss all those 'non-gamers' goodbye.

[EternalGamer]

There certainly is going to a learner curve involved, as there has been with every new development we have face. Anyone else remember going from Atari's Joysticks to Nintendo's thumpads on the NES? I fell in pits I don't know how many times. Super Mario Bros, was HARD when I first started playing it. Simiarly, the first time I used a PC with Mouse look, the first time I used an analogue stick. I was frustrated as hell playing Mario 64 for the first time, but I had a blast. It felt too "loose" at times, and I thoght I'd never be able to walk across those narrow platforms with ease. I was amazed at how I whizzed through the game the second time without a problem.

So the learning curve will not be a problem with gamers, we've done it before. I think it does present a potential problem, though. Can Nintendo hold the interest of this casual market long enough for them to adjust to the learning curve? That's the real challenge.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

Metroid and Zelda? This will easily be the best console launch ever. :)

[GunnyMo]

I hope that with the Wii controller Metroid will finally have freelook. The Metroid's on GC are one series I would so loved to have completed (finished about 3/4 of #1) but the archaic non-freelook in a FPS was incredibly stupid.

Nintendo fanboys can suck my dangly bits with the argument of: "It's not a FPS. It's an adventure game!" The view is FPS hence there are a few basics you have to include since the late 1990s and freelook is one of them.

Let's hope they wake up and smell the FPS.

[Lister]

I must be the only person in the world scared that Nintendo is putting out too much on launch... Will they be able to keep the momentum a year from launch? If I ran nintendo, I would put out Zelda at Launch, Metroid 3 months from then, Mario 3 months later, etc. If you stagger these amazing games, more people will buy them, and you'll keep the pressure on the 360 and PS3.

[bone_matrix]

I must be the only person in the world scared that Nintendo is putting out too much on launch... Will they be able to keep the momentum a year from launch? If I ran nintendo, I would put out Zelda at Launch, Metroid 3 months from then, Mario 3 months later, etc. If you stagger these amazing games, more people will buy them, and you'll keep the pressure on the 360 and PS3.


I was actually thinking about that too. They need mroe than one great title at launch. If they do Zelda and Metroid, I'll be happy. Course, I'll get Wii Sports too.

Have Mario come out later, than SSBB in 2007, but not too far into it, because I really really want it.

[Savok]

Did Doom even have mouslook? I thought the id game that first used it was Quake, though maybe I'm confused because that's the first game I used mouselook on. Man, I played Decent with just the keyboard...that was tough.
No it didn't have mouselook, you couldn't look up or down. See pushing up on the mouse moved me forward.... yeah. See WASD wasn't around back then.

Give a non-gamer a Dual Shock and watch them break down and cry. They see 2000 buttons and think "what the fuck do I do with this?". What's natural for us is completely alien to them. A golf game for instance, it's either "press this to gauge power, then press this for accuracy when the bar hits that point, except during a full moon which will affect gravity enough to make you have to compensate" or "swing this like a golf club"?

You're not gonna get them started on the more complex stuff, you start simple, get them interested, and let them go deeper themselves. You don't read Moby Dick before "Run Jack Run".

[Opty]

One thing: the people on stage during the Nintendo thing for everything but WiiTennis were tethered to the ground with cords to make sure the input got to the console; that's probably why they were so awkward. For Tennis it wasn't so much a demo as "watch these people have fun" and making sure that the input came across wasn't as much of a big deal.

Also, for normal people who haven't touched a video game in their lives, the people who don't have to relarn how to play with the Wii: who's to say they'll have problems? Maybe the people who haven't played games in their lives will pick it up easier than the avid game player because preconcieved control notions won't have to be broken down and rebuilt.

[Ultima Thulian]

Has there even been a bad Metroid game (the Prime series kicked ass, you haters)? No. So I'm excited.

[Nessus]

even stale franchises like Tony Hawk and Madden


IGN is in love with the new Madden on Wii. And honestly, I hate sports games, but their description of the new one interested me.

So far my biggest concern is when the remote is being used for aiming. I don't know if they can somehow extend the range of the sensor bar, in fact I'd rather the thing use more than one sensor bar if it made the signal more reliable.

When running purely on gyros I've read of no serious issues. From what I've read Sonic and Excite Truck seem to work nearly perfectly after you get used to the new style of control.

I'm already trying to figure out if above or below my televison would be the best spot for the sensor bar. I'm a bit worried about trying it on my rear projector television because the screen is so big the sensor bar will be even farther from the center of the screen.

Overall I'm still optamistic. Most of the impressions from both journalists and random people seem positive, and that's with E3 builds in a noisey crowded hall with dozens of Wii controllers all potentially interfering with one another.

I just hope that all of the companies listen very closely to feedback and adjust the sensitivity in their games and just streamline the hell out of the interface. I'd rather see Red Steel delayed than launch in anything resembling its current state.

And I think an optional sensitivity adjust should be mandatory for all games on Wii.

[Savok]

Has there even been a bad Metroid game (the Prime series kicked ass, you haters)? No. So I'm excited.
Zero Mission. It's like someone emptied their bladder on the original game.

[Spigot]

Zero Mission. It's like someone emptied their bladder on the original game.
Pshaw. I enjoyed Zero Mission immensely.

[Savok]

It was a rush job that murdered what little plot the Metroid side scrollers have. On top this it devolved into an Easter Egg hunt for no other reason then to catch them all as it had the shittiest end boss the series has seen yet.

[Stormwatcher]

Everyone has expectations for the Wii. I'd imagine a large part of the gaming press has high expectations, they would benefit from something fresh and new, something that might inject some new interest into gaming and help reach new untapped markets. Others discount the new control method as nothing but a gimmick.

All of these hands-on impressions are people picking up the thing for the first time, for a mere 10 minutes of playtime. I think it's easy for someone and to contort their brief experience to better match their preconceptions. I think the gaming media has more of vested interest in seeing the Wii succeed, so they're likely to give it the benefit of the doubt after their 10 minutes. I'm happy to hear what 'raging forum posters' have to say, because I think there's a chance they'll more truthful. Then again, they just might be some random jackass with an agenda.

I guess we'll have to wait for the press to have some extended game time with the Wii before we get really accurate impressions. I'm starting to have my doubts about the Wii but I guess we'll find out in time.

What really undid that guy's impressions for me was him criticizing the GC Metroid Primes' control scheme... I like it a lot, therefore I disagree with him right off the bat.

And I really didn't expect anything great from WiiTennis, because it's probably a very, very simple game meant only as a demonstration of the new stuff. I'm excited about Metroid, Mario, SSBB... WiiTennis is just something to amuse my mother-in-law... I'm sure that Sega will make a far superior Wiirtua Tennis game for us. And there is already Pangya, for golfing. The online pc version is pretty fun.

[Stormwatcher]

Dudes, it's okay I mean no harm nor I would like to. I just posted a hands-on reaction and I would post a praising one as well, believe me.

I really think we need more hands-on impressions, not only from journos but normal gamers as well.
Borys, don't worry, I was pissed with the guy who did the first impressions, not you...