My Wii Review

[Antares]

I thought a cool idea would be a social networking Wii game where you cram the remote up your butt and get stimulated by other uses online. Should be fun.

Nintendo would never allow a game like that. And I doubt Sony or Microsoft would either.

Though, there are similar "remote control" devices out there that may suit your purpose.

 

[JackAxe]

That probably is PS3 Bowser. DS is the best MK by far, even without analog controls. All I'm saying about the PS3 MK is that if the same game were on the PS3 as the Wii, even if the same graphics were used, it would have to be 720p to meet specs so it would look better at least for that. MK seems to blur in the distance, so that helps with aliasing issues. And the ps3 controller would do just as well as the wiimote in this type of game.

No doubt it couldn't be improved upon visually, but still, Mario Kart at a whopping 160p was the BEST.


I noticed that the Wii handles depth of field blurring better than the Cube. I compared Peach Beach on MK Double Dash to the the new one. Both look pretty close, if not identical, since the textures are so simple, but I noticed the GC completely blurs out the background ship, where as the Wii has a subtle blur transition, if that makes sense.

I thought a cool idea would be a social networking Wii game where you cram the remote up your butt and get stimulated by other uses online. Should be fun.

*LOL*

Now I know why your Wiimote stinks.

Whatever makes you happy, Nintendo won't let you release the software for the Wii of course, but who says you can't do it for the the PC or Mac.

Here;
http://blog.hiroaki.jp/2006/12/000433.html

Download the source code and start coding away.

As for WW, I haven't really played it enough to recall a lot of texturing I guess. If there are, then they were rather simple. The game didn't seem to have a lot of colors really. Don't get me wrong, I like the way it looked. I just don't recall it being detailed.

Things like rock faces were covered in a painted texture, which mimicked old Disney and John Bluth background art. But overall it was mostly flat shaded to mimic cartoons.

Here's a shot, it's blurry, but you can see the cave texture;
http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/zedlausfinaleng5_640w.jpg

Here's a shot of the tress, which also have that painted look;
http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/zedlausfinaleng2_640w.jpg

I played it on my old CRT 27" at the time, things looked much sharper than the above screen shots.

<]=)

 

[darkwing]

No doubt it couldn't be improved upon visually, but still, Mario Kart at a whopping 160p was the BEST.

I never said it could not be improved on visually. I said that even if it wasn't improved in terms of graphics it would still look better at the higher resolution. I never said that MK for the DS looked the best, it's just that it is the best. The karts are controllable and handle well and the speed is good. The Wii version seems too slow and the GC version is almost too fast, but that's fun. I just didn't like the whole dual rider thing.

I noticed that the Wii handles depth of field blurring better than the Cube. I compared Peach Beach on MK Double Dash to the the new one. Both look pretty close, if not identical, since the textures are so simple, but I noticed the GC completely blurs out the background ship, where as the Wii has a subtle blur transition, if that makes sense.

Yes it does make sense. This is something I pointed out in my last post or maybe the one before that. It seems this blurring effect really helps aliasing issues, too.

*LOL*

Now I know why your Wiimote stinks.

Whatever makes you happy, Nintendo won't let you release the software for the Wii of course, but who says you can't do it for the the PC or Mac.

I tried releasing this software for mac, but even the MBA won't fit up there.

Things like rock faces were covered in a painted texture, which mimicked old Disney and John Bluth background art. But overall it was mostly flat shaded to mimic cartoons.

I guess I was thinking of the characters. Look at Link. He's like 3 solid colors. Light green, dark green, and honky.

That's pretty neat software by Hiroaki, btw.

And Antares, that wouldn't be my purpose for the Wiimote... it's just me looking for new markets to exploit.

 

[JackAxe]

I never said it could not be improved on visually. I said that even if it wasn't improved in terms of graphics it would still look better at the higher resolution. I never said that MK for the DS looked the best, it's just that it is the best. The karts are controllable and handle well and the speed is good. The Wii version seems too slow and the GC version is almost too fast, but that's fun. I just didn't like the whole dual rider thing.

I was being sarcastic with the 160p comment, because 3D can look nasty at that size with no aliasing. But I was also getting at this; With Mario Kart I personally don't care if the graphics look better, higher rez, more colors, or even a better control schemes, because with MK DS, it didn't matter at all, it was just pure fun. I was scared the first time I saw screen shots though and was thinking the game wouldn't play well on a DS.

Which carts or bikes are you using? When I use the bikes, they feel slower than the cars.

Yes it does make sense. This is something I pointed out in my last post or maybe the one before that. It seems this blurring effect really helps aliasing issues, too.

Fixed pixel displays are EVIL. CRTs have built in blurring, weather the game calls for it or not. And they also add cool image distortion on the fly. The game looks good even my LCD, but on the CRT everything looks super sharp, where as the count down numbers don't have any jaggedness. Kind of like cartoons on my CRT have really clean ink lines with no pixillation.

I tried releasing this software for mac, but even the MBA won't fit up there.

I guess I was thinking of the characters. Look at Link. He's like 3 solid colors. Light green, dark green, and honky.

That's pretty neat software by Hiroaki, btw.

And Antares, that wouldn't be my purpose for the Wiimote... it's just me looking for new markets to exploit.

Yea, they're all flats shaded, just like real cartoons, lots of honky. :]

I like it. I've used it to play a few emulator games. The Classic controller support is exactly what I wanted.

<]=)

 

[darkwing]

I honestly replied to your last message but it isn't here...

I'm mostly upset with MKWii now because I get hit with crap all the time. I'll get hit 5-7 times in a row very quickly and lose races often because of it. It's ok for this to happen randomly, but it's happening way too much. In multiplayer, it isn't a problem as it's part of the fun.

 

[JackAxe]

I've had my share of frustration and cursed up a storm while play with 2 of my friends. But it's all fun.

I just started on 100cc Grand Prix and have been hit 4 times in a row. I've already hit the reset button out of anger. I'm sure 150cc is going to drive me insane for a few days, just like it did on MK DS.

<]=)

 

[darkwing]

I've had my share of frustration and cursed up a storm while play with 2 of my friends. But it's all fun.

I just started on 100cc Grand Prix and have been hit 4 times in a row. I've already hit the reset button out of anger. I'm sure 150cc is going to drive me insane for a few days, just like it did on MK DS.

<]=)

When will you take the "Okami Wii - Almost here" out of your signature?

I have all golds on 50 and 100cc. Working on 150cc now. It's harder, but doable. I find that you want something with higher handling on 150. I normally race with Peach and the Wild Wing, and on 50 and 100 that was fine. On 150 the vehicle angles too sharply while drifting too wide, so I went with her smaller kart. (I use Peach because she sorta looks like my beautiful girlfriend.) Anyway, getting hit all the time is really being a drag. I did notice one thing they did that was nice. I had the bullet on the track where you hop over all the mushroom tree things, and I knew it was going to end and drop me in the pit, but it didn't. It actually stayed active until I was safely across, even though it should have ended about when I went over the pit.

Anyway, getting hit is fun with people. When you have to unlock more characters and karts, it's a real drag. I'm ok with the DS version where sometimes you lost because of getting hit too much last minute, but it happens all the time on the Wii version.

And 150 gave you trouble on the DS? Sheesh.

 

[JackAxe]

NEVER!!! Not until Capcom gives me a port/game that hasn't rushed. I'm also waiting for the the tards over there to stop making myopic decisions about which system gets which games... Why oh why have they cursed the DS with a billion Megaman ports -- mostly kid version, but have yet to offer up a Ghost 'n Whatever game... Capcom thought the DS would bomb early on. They even prematurely pulled Phoenix Write from the shelves, I know this for a fact, then lied about doing so.

Thief, I'm the only one that can play Peach. She's the best drifter and she has an annoying voice. I tried Rosalina, but her voice wasn't annoying enough, but the little star guy was great!

I have gold in 50cc with most stars, I just have been swamped with work lately, so 100cc will be slow going for me.

The Wii just likes to beat you, it's nothing personal.

I had my frustration with 150cc, but then the 150cc mirror was cake, go figure, so nyaaaa.

<]=)

 

[darkwing]

I just go through the cups sequentially. I have 3 left in 150cc. The game is utter crap for single player. I played one of the cups in 150cc last night and had to turn it off out of anger. Three times in a row in the last race of the cup I'd get hit with a blue shell when I was about 3 seconds from the end, and then I'd lose. Three times in a row. Where's the randomness?

I'm all for games being hard, but when a game does something you have absolutely no defense against, it's lame. Even blue shells are tolerable (I enjoyed the DS game just fine) but not when they always are followed up by a lightning bolt, red shell, red shell, and bullet-rider.

I just like Peach because I'm dating her. Luckily my girlfriend has a cute Southern accent and doesn't sound like a 12 year old who was kicked in the sack.

 

[pcypert]

So if you can count on all that happening why not ride towards the middle for most and make a run at the end. That's what I had to do in 150CC backwards on DSlite. Only took a couple times before I learned. It's annoying, but it's a different race strategy and at least on the DS it actually worked.

Paul

 

[JackAxe]

This makes me think of the time I played my friend's son online with the DS. The little turkey kept on getting the Blue Shell every race, sometimes more than once, so after loosing over and over, I finally started pacing the race to stay right behind him until the very end. Then I woooouuullld win...

LIES!!! Peach only dates Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Bowser! Speaking of voices, Toad has the funniest scream.

<]=)

 

[darkwing]

So if you can count on all that happening why not ride towards the middle for most and make a run at the end. That's what I had to do in 150CC backwards on DSlite. Only took a couple times before I learned. It's annoying, but it's a different race strategy and at least on the DS it actually worked.

Paul

I've started doing this. I won the first two in 150cc star cup this morning 1st place, then got 4th (hit a grounded shell stupidly) and then fell off rainbow road about 40 times. Too hard on 150cc, but that's ok.. at least that's my fault and not cheapness. My goal is to try and get 1st in the first 3 races, and then just get enough on the rainbow road to win.

JackAxe, I hate the voices Nintendo uses. One of the reasons I'll never buy Mario Galaxy (unless maybe I see it in a bargain bin for a few bucks) is because I don't want to mute it every time I start the game. (Super Mario Galaaaaaxy!) Ugh. People say Nintendo caters to kids, but sometimes I think they just cater to idiots.

Speaking of consoles, I may buy a 360 when the price drops. I want to play some JPRGs and Microsoft is buying them all. I hope we get Xedge on PS3 in America.

 

[JackAxe]

I stopped breathing from laughter after hearing Toad scream, as he fell off a rope in Mario Party 8. I'll be an idiot, if it makes me laugh.

I honestly haven't played a JRPG for years(at least for any extended period of time), so I've kind of lost touch with them.

<]=)

 

[darkwing]

I finally got the gold in special cup on 150cc. I guess I'll have to do it again on reverse. I've come to realize that I truly hate Mario Kart Wii. I've never hated an MK game, but this one I hate. No game has ever upset me more than this one. I haven't yet played multiplayer, so perhaps I'll enjoy that experience a bit. I'm actually kinda depressed about it. Luckily I still have mountains of PS2 games to play until this generation starts getting fun.

 

[JackAxe]

I've loved and hated every Mario Kart. The ones I hated(angered me) the most, like MK DS and SNES, are also the ones that are my favorite and were the most fun with friends.

I'm looking forward to WiiWare and will buy Lost Wind on the first day. I also have Okami to play through, Zelda TP to finish, so I'll be good for a few.

<]=)

 

[JackAxe]

I finally picked up that 2 billion ton 30" CRT widescreen tonight. The size sucks but the picture is excellent. It's not as sharp as my LCD TV -- thankfully, but the color and contrast are through the roof in comparison. My biggest concern was distortion, but it's very minimal, even less than my little 14" CRT.

This will tide me over until FED TV pans out.

<]=)

 

[darkwing]

JackAxe, I gotta say that there's a sense of irony regarding you having to buy an old crappy tv to make the Wii look its best....

I need to finish Zelda TP, too. I also need to beat MP2 and get started on MP3 if I can ever get used to the dang controls.

 

[JackAxe]

Oh the irony, that such a crappy display tech still produces the best all around image, weather it's HD or SD. Go figure. =P

How are your blacks... :]

Speaking of controls, my new tube isn't setup yet, it's just sitting on two chairs behind my couch, so when I tried MP3 on it, I was all over the place.

Don't buy LostWinds, until you get your bar setup figured out.

<]=)

 

[darkwing]

Oh the irony, that such a crappy display tech still produces the best all around image, weather it's HD or SD. Go figure. =P

How are your blacks... :]

Speaking of controls, my new tube isn't setup yet, it's just sitting on two chairs behind my couch, so when I tried MP3 on it, I was all over the place.

Don't buy LostWinds, until you get your bar setup figured out.

<]=)

You know what sucks? I looked at Gamestop's upcoming games list for Wii and not a single title this year interests me. WTF? I guess it'll be collecting dust most of the year. Can you suggest anything?

My blacks are truly wonderful, actually. I have an SXRD and LCOS is not only a fantastic image but the blacks seem to be rather nice compared to DLP/LCD sets I've looked at. They may not be as good on paper as a CRT, but they certainly look good enough to me. I had a rear projection CRT at one point and it never had a picture that came even close to this TV.

Keep on looking for reasons to justify Nintendo's inability to further the industry with cutting edge graphics with your ancient TV as long as it really makes you feel better.

 

[JackAxe]

Besides a few titles on WiiWare[Sam and Max episoides], I think the only game I'm still interested in right now is We Love Golf. But to be honest, I haven't given it much thought recently, but there's still more games out than I have time to play. You have more game systems than I, so you should have even less time to play. :]

I still need to pick up Harvey Birdman and Doom Blox. I'm also getting WiiFit for the Ski games.

Oh, I REALLY WANT THIS GAME, but it's not for the Wii... It's reason enough for me to buy a PS3 sooner than later.

Yeah, your TV is definitely better than a CRT projection, they're too dark. Not bad at all and I wouldn't mind owning one, but it's not a priority.

My TV may be based on an ancient proven, long-lasting, and optimized tech, but it has all of that high-tech stuff like 1080i, *yawns* volume buttons, and HDMI. It's just bulky, really bulky, but the picture quality is everything I love about better CRT tubes, but with widescreen. My PS3 will look great on it!

Better graphics rock! This is how I want games to look in real-time. It wasn't Nintnedo's inability to push graphics, it was their choice, which is even better. :] They put in their lion-share of tech-pushing, which has led to modern GPUSs. I would like better visuals all around, but I'm still quite happy with what I'm seeing.

<]=)

 

[darkwing]

Nintendo puts out inferior products for less money, which is fine because that's where the market is. Technology won't move forward if the market doesn't demand it, and judging from Wii/DS sales the market isn't demanding it. Too bad for me. I'm demanding it!

Anyhow, agreed on CRTs being optimized tech. It's like when I had my 99 Ram Air Trans Am, it weighed 1000 pounds more than a Honda S2000, did 0-60 a second faster, and the 1/4 mile over a second faster, and was also rated for 3 mpg more on the freeway. Come again? How does a big V8 make more power and move a heavier car faster and do better on gas? Weird. I guess 30+ years (at the time) of small block Chevy engines meant they were quite refined.

Remember the RX-7? Lots of power in a tiny motor... for like 11 miles per gallon. Ouch. There's something to be said for sticking with tradition. I'm sure that tv will last longer than your hairline.

 

[Oneness]

Nintendo puts out inferior products for less money, which is fine because that's where the market is.

I have to disagree with you on the use of the word inferior. If Nintendo chooses not to put leading edge technology/graphics in its products that does not make them 'inferior'. Does it make them less powerfull? Yes. Does it limit what the Wii can do graphically? Yes. Does it mean that those who buy the Wii have to compromise on visual eye candy? Yes.
To me inferior refers to the quality of the product not the performance of it.
I love the look of the Dodge Ram line of trucks, but I would never buy one because they consistantly rank last in reliability ratings, even though their 'performance' should put them right alongside any any other truck.

I guess to me the Wii insn't 'inferior' it is just different. If fact I don't think it is really comparable to the PS3 or the 360. It's like comparing an Accord to Porsche.

Now if you want to talk 'inferior' you can talk about the 360.

 

[darkwing]

I have to disagree with you on the use of the word inferior. If Nintendo chooses not to put leading edge technology/graphics in its products that does not make them 'inferior'. Does it make them less powerfull? Yes. Does it limit what the Wii can do graphically? Yes. Does it mean that those who buy the Wii have to compromise on visual eye candy? Yes.
To me inferior refers to the quality of the product not the performance of it.
I love the look of the Dodge Ram line of trucks, but I would never buy one because they consistantly rank last in reliability ratings, even though their 'performance' should put them right alongside any any other truck.

I guess to me the Wii insn't 'inferior' it is just different. If fact I don't think it is really comparable to the PS3 or the 360. It's like comparing an Accord to Porsche.

Now if you want to talk 'inferior' you can talk about the 360.

I did mean inferior in terms of power and capability. (Obviously the PS3 and 360 can handle the same controller as the Wii, and that's the only different thing it has.) I think that Nintendo did a very good job with quality once the initial hiccups were out of the way, and I'm impressed the PS3 had no wide-spread failure issues. We all know about the 360, though...

My girlfriend's dad has a dodge ram diesel, but I prefer the duramax.

So if you like, I can use the words "less powerful" instead of "inferior." However, I really don't think that Nintendo has done much to further the gaming industry in the last 10 years. Just my opinion, though.

 

[JackAxe]

Inferior has that tone like cheap is to inexpensive, or an issue is to a problem... :]

Less power, less power consumption. The PS3 and 360 are power pigs like our comps. The Wii uses a wee bit of power, but is still more powerful than its predecessor. Of course my Wii is plugged into a CRT that consumes a butt-load of power while projecting an image that can be viewed through several walls from yards away with the right device.

Nintendo focused on expanded the gaming market beyond the minority of cliché hardcore gamers and they succeeded. As rambled, they reinvigorated console gaming for peeps like me. Just think of all the new friends that we can game with now, like this guy.

<]=)

 

[darkwing]

Inferior has that tone like cheap is to inexpensive, or an issue is to a problem... :]

Less power, less power consumption. The PS3 and 360 are power pigs like our comps. The Wii uses a wee bit of power, but is still more powerful than its predecessor. Of course my Wii is plugged into a CRT that consumes a butt-load of power while projecting an image that can be viewed through several walls from yards away with the right device.

Nintendo focused on expanded the gaming market beyond the minority of cliché hardcore gamers and they succeeded. As rambled, they reinvigorated console gaming for peeps like me. Just think of all the new friends that we can game with now, like this guy.

<]=)

Don't get me wrong. I support Nintendo for what they did in that the market responded well. I just wish the market agreed with me. I take solace in that the PS3 is doing well, which people said it would not do, and that current sales projections have it surprassing the 360 as early as next year if trends continue. However, I thought it would beat the Wii and I wasn't right, and I honestly don't believe the PS3 will ever outsell the Wii unless people get tired of older visuals. If the market is comfortable with the graphics the Wii can put out, then by all means it will remain the market leader this generation simply because it's the cheapest option.

At least I can admit when I'm wrong.

Started playing TP again last night and am enjoying it. Spent like 20 minutes fighting that stupid flying light bug boss. I didn't realize the way to beat it was to use midna's purple dome thingie so I kept hitting the legs. Luckily I figured it out when I had one heart left. (stupid me)

Oh, I got all the gold cups on all the mario kart grand prixs and will probably never touch the game again.