Wii Chat Channel

[excelsior]

Welcome to the Wii Chat Channel! A place to discuss all things Wii related. As per other system thread discussion/opinions of various games and topics will be introduced on a regular basis, and here any posts relevant to the platform are welcome. The goals of this thread are to share in nostalgia, explore the library and evoke the general vibe of the Wii Console itself. So with that said, get cozy, put on some Wii Shop Channel Music (below) and share your thoughts and feelings on Nintendo's hit console.

[excelsior]

Reserved

[excelsior]

Reserved

[excelsior]

OK, so before we get to the games, let's discuss the console in general. Personally, it holds great memories for me. I picked it up launch day (without those horrific queues no less) and, outside of some content droughts, it was my main gaming platform until the start of the following generation. It largely spearheaded my enthusiasm for video gaming as a main hobby, after only a passive interest for some time. What fuelled me to start this thread has been a desire to revisit the system itself, and I've decided that for the time being Wii will once again be my main platform of choice. As such I will be looking back to old favourites, and seeking out new experiences through the coming months.

So, with that out of the way, does anybody have any nostalgia or memories to share for this console? Perhaps when you picked the system up? Or notable experiences along the way. Let us know!

[Apollo Chungus]

We didn't have a Wii during its heyday, having gotten an Xbox 360 instead round Xmas 2006, but I recall playing bits and bobs of it at relatives' and friends' houses. It always kinda existed on the periphery of things, with my only real insight into it coming from reading reviews or previews in the GamesMaster magazine I used to pick up. It wasn't until very early 2014 that I finally picked one up from CeX (for about €40 along with a copy of Metroid Prime iirc); I'd gotten it to both play some Wii games and to play GameCube games since the GC I'd gotten off my cousin had died some years before.

I played a couple games borrowed off a school mate; Super Mario Galaxy and Sonic Colours iirc; and I ended up grabbing half a dozen games over the next year or so from charity shops and the like. Twilight Princess, Punch-Out!!, Zack and Wiki, even stuff like Monster Hunter Tri and the Back to the Future game, but I ended up not really playing most of those. I'm not quite sure why the thing lost its lustre so quickly, just that I mainly used it to play a few GC titles and then eventually modded the thing so I could play SNES titles and the like. (I played a fair few including Link to the Past, The Firemen and Ihatovo Monogatari, and it was very cool playing SNES games in a console setting rather than just on the computer or whatever.)

It's only in playing through Another Code R (as mentioned in the Game Finish thread) that my enthusiasm for the Wii has sparked back to life, and I'm more interested in checking out games for it again. I'm currently playing through Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, which I'd previously tried out and enjoyed before I unaccountably gave up, and my plan is to check out most of the other games I'd gotten back in the day. Maybe I'll venture into the world of WiiWare - that Jett Rocket looked pretty decent from what little I played of it...

[dsparil]

I mentioned this before, but I got too clever trying to get one on launch day. I had gone to CompUSA which did sell video games despite the name, but they had decided to not stock it for whatever reason probably thinking third place Nintendo with their weird non-HD console would be a flop. It was that kind of great business sense that led them to bankruptcy not that long later. My original choice was just the local Target, and I found out that they had enough stock for everyone there when the store opened 😖 I ended up getting one something like nine months later when I saw that they had some in stock when I was buying towels or something. It was actually kinda frustrating shopping at places that had them for a while because there'd just be ridiculous lines sometimes even if you weren't there trying to get one. I mainly wanted a Wii at launch for Twilight Princess so I just got a GameCube instead and that was enough for a while.

I loved the Wii immediately once I got one though. I can't really remember what I got at first only that it was before Galaxy had come out. All I can remember is Trauma Center since I bought before getting a Wii for some reason. Maybe I thought it wouldn't get another print run? I wouldn't say I was quite the way I am now with the Switch if only because I had also gotten a DS in the interim and ended up with a PS2 not too long after the Wii. But what made it my main console was the extras like weather, news and Check Mii Out. It felt like something that you had a reason to use even if it wasn't for a game.

[retr0gamer]

I've mixed feelings about the Wii but ultimately I think it's a great console.

I preordered mine early as I'm a big Nintendo fanboy. The people in the shop at the time told me not to bother as it wouldnt sell out. Launch day I'm in a massive queue outside the shop with people offering ridiculous sums to pick up the console.

The console had a great launch period. Wii Sports was a revelation and twilight princess was a a massive new Zelda game. Raving Rabbids was a surprise hit as well. It was a console that was fun to mess around with as well. The Mii's and all the fun non game software that was added. The virtual console was something new as well. The motion controls were also a nice novelty.

However once Zelda was out of the way the Wii was a bit slow to gain software and had a big lull period for me. It took a while to end but the Wii started to get some all time classics as well as a lot of the weirdo double A games that weren't coming to the PS360 and had been a mainstay of the PS2. Big and weird releases were quite regular.

However these then started to dry up when they just didn't sell on the Wii. It kind of became a system solely supported by Nintendo for its last few years. Core gamers only cared about the ps360 while the casual gamers on the Wii only cared about Wii Sports and a few other games.

The Wii was always a secondary console to the ps360 like the GameCube was to the ps2 although I feel it was a much better console than the GameCube. It did however excel at parties. Id bring it to college parties all the time were we would play Wii Sports, boom blox and Bomberman 93 until the early hours.

Looking back at the Wii and it's library, it's a damn fine console. It's leagues ahead of celebrated console like the N64 and I think it gets unfairly neglected. There's quite a few all time classics on the system as well like Mario galaxy, last story and Xenoblade.

One niggle was that the ghost of shitty 50 hz pal games still lived on with a few games like madworld being ruined by only supporting 50hz.

[spanky]

The Wii huh?  I got mine when I was in grad school, around the summer of 2008 I want to say. I had my buddy who worked at Target pick me up one in 2008 with his employee discount. I had little interest in the console but the hype for Smash Bros. Brawl finally got me. The official Smash website would update every day with some sort of new game element - character, item, gameplay feature etc. It was the first thing I would check in the morning, very exciting. Wii Sports was also incredibly fun in social settings. I have relatives who still put out their Wii and play the bowling game at family gatherings as of a few years ago.

Unfortunately I don't think I am quite as enamored as most of you all with the Wii's library. I did like Super Mario Galaxy 2 (never played the first one!) and Punch-Out! I thought Donkey Kong Country Returns was pretty good. Skyward Sword might be my least favorite mainline Zelda and the NSMB games do absolutely nothing for me. I've never gotten deep into the Wii library as I also had an Xbox 360 around this time and was really getting into playing fighting games online and even let a few of my friends talk me into playing CoD with them. I'm looking at the collection of Wii games I still have and the only non-first party games I have are Mad World (decent) and Resident Evil IV(great port) I did like the VC quite a bit and downloaded a ton of games for it - being able to play Rondo of Blood finally was a huge deal for me at the time! Also loved the shop song and the funny little animation of Mario stealing your money while the game downloaded.

I could never fully accept the controllers for the system and honestly my strongest of the system's library are just seeing the stacks and stacks of cheap shovelware found in any used game shop. Kudos to Nintendo for trying something different I guess - it did make them tons of money.

[Snake]

I remember seeing it being announced at E3, and it was an instant must get for me.  For some reason, I had the not so smart idea to reserve and pick-up my copy at Electronics Boutique.... at Universal City Walk, the shopping area in front of Universal Studios Hollywood.  If I could go back in time in a Mr. Fusion DeLorean, I wouldn't do it again.  It costed $10 to park, and I waited 2 and half hours in line past midnight, to just pick up the bloody thing.  

It was exciting to boot up, and the music instantly hits of nostalgia.  Just the whole style of the jingles, the Mii maker, the Wii Shopping Channel, it all echoes the background music to Mario Paint.  

To my regret, I lent out my Gamecube (with Gameboy Advance Player) to a friend, since the Wii basically is a Gamecube with a new Wii remote and sensor control scheme.  I'm still waiting to get that Gamecube back... he always tells me it's at his parent's  house in a box in the garage somewhere.  Sooner or later, I think I'll just buy another purple Gamecube, and another Wii to hack.

My Wii is relatively unmolested, and still in good condition, though I haven't touched it in years.  I remember being excited to fill it with Castlevania Adventure Rebirth and Final Fantasy IV, the first chapter of the After Years. I could have held off on After Years, since it just ended up being completely compiled on PSP later.  Towards the end of a tumultuous relationship, I got my ex-girlfriend hooked on Phoenix Wright.  I downloaded it so we could play it together... and then we had a pretty bad fight.  Enough that I got seriously fed up with the amount of real-life Korean drama we were constantly living in.  I basically left my house we were cohabitating in, and stayed at my dad's until she found a place to move out to.  When I finally returned to my house, and my Wii, I found that she had downloaded the other 2 games in the Phoenix Wright trilogy to it!

[personman]

Ah the Wii, the crazy discourse around its announcement I will always remember. Everyone was just flabbergasted with the thing and even I, an ardent Nintendo fanboy at the time was rather reluctant with it. I quickly found I'm just a curmudgeon when its comes to controls. Give me a D-pad or give me death, like even the DS which I did love usually offered both and I avoided any touch controls like the plague. Still I pre ordered one and was somewhat excited for it with the hopes the classic controller add on would give me the concession I wanted. I worked at Gamestop at the time so I was able to get first dibs and picked up Trauma Center with it (I loved that on DS, it was the ONE exception to the rule lol) and then I... didn't really touch it. Even lent it out to my friends who were way more excited for it at the time and I don't think I got it back from them till a few months later when they got their own.

I ended up digging my heels in with the 360 before hand and with how much I just wanted nothing to do with new control schemes I could never really get myself to care much for the thing, it was basically a Gamecube for me and off the top of my head I can only think one other game I picked up: Metroid Prime 3 (which I was disappointed by) and the rest I ever played like Mario or Smash Bros was just at a friends place.

I did get some mileage out of the virtual console. I condemned it at first since I had long been into emulation before and didn't see the point but when they release Super Metroid I caved and discovered I just plain enjoy playing retro 2D games on a console than on my PC if I can help it. I quickly filled the things memory up with many old SNES games and there were some really good Wiishop titles too like the Konami Rebirth series.

I was also in the MMO PC gaming phase of my life too and as such I just didn't have much time for the thing. Think I got effected by the toxic behavior of the Warcraft community too since I always felt a bit ashamed to touch the console since all podcasts and such dubbed it the super casual machine and I couldn't be associated with that! I'm not a filthy casual!... yeah even in college I was still letting random peer pressure get to me lol.

It's big blind spot for me and if we're gonna have a thread like this maybe it can help me get into some of the gems it had. After all I got the Wii U modded and ready to emulate a bunch of them already I just have to make myself do it lol. I'm most interested in the Punch Out!!! game, Mario Galaxy, Super Paper Mario and Sky Crawlers.

[excelsior]

It's been a while. I am expecting this to be a bit of a slow moving thread. It's much tougher to keep up with these games than the SNES thread, but I do have a few in my pocket. Rather than the obvious starting point, that being Wii Sports, we're going to begin with WarioWare Smooth Moves. My reasoning for this? Whilst Wii Sports is so well built upon the capabilities of the Wii Remote, WarioWare better shows off exactly where those capabilities lie, and what the limitations are. It manages to better train the user in how the Wii Remote works than any other game I've come across on the platform.

Smooth Moves is the same MicroGames concept we've seen explored before, once again being put to use as something as an experimental game that highlights quirky control schemes. The flexibility of the Wii Remote is brought to the forefront as gradually the game introduces new 'poses' to hold the Remote for the various MicroGames. We start off simple, with the remote style of play and both obvious and surprising ones are added. Some just seem to be there for pure silliness, such as the elephants trunk, but positioning of the Remote is calibrated differently and so positioning is still important.

I've seen the controls get some backlash for this game, with quite a few complaints that certain games don't work. From my playthrough, I strongly disagree with this, but I see why somebody may think this way, and this comes back to the limitations of the controller. In WarioWare games, part of the challenge has always been interpretation of the gameplay itself, but here that goes further into how each game is controlled. A good number of the games control so naturalistically, as per the aforementioned Wii Sports, but then you will come across the odd one where this is not the case. This can leave a sense of confusion or frustration, and it can seem like a control flaw. Fortunately, it's possible to practice each encountered game within the catalogue here individually, and this is a great way to further understand what's required of you. Firstly, initial positioning is imperative, since once more, it relates to the specific calibration of the Remote. From there on, it's simply down to trial and error. Certain styles of motion just work in a more clear fashion than others. For instance, depth is something that the Wii Remote struggles with somewhat, and it largely comes down to making smaller motions than you would expect, which can feel counterintuitive. There are other games which require similar smaller motions, so a good idea is to slow down your pace when uncertain. I only came across one game that didn't seem to work as suggested: Boot Camp. This game asks you to switch to The Elephant partway through, but seems to be calibrated for the remote. Using the higher elephant position I wasn't able to get the game to register. The other suggestion I can give if you are having trouble with the game picking up your movements - sit further from the sensor bar if you can.

As per the games contents, there's over 200 MicroGames here. As per usual, they're broken down into stages with randomised games followed by a longer 'boss' game. Each stage has a number of games to unlock, by random selection. On replay you can go beyond the boss as the speed increases as you continue onwards. Now the game will be interspersed with additional poses, but these are just for fun and add further to the games atmosphere which is one of humour and straight up wackiness. As far as the humour goes, I found this to be the funniest game in the series, causing me to laugh out loud frequently, something that, regrettably, I experience rarely these days, especially from a video game.

From it's character introduction videos, to the silliness of pose descriptions, to the ridiculousness of the games themselves, Smooth Moves is just plain playful. Criticisms for being somewhat shallow may have some validity, but I feel they miss the point. Sometimes in life, it's important to just be silly and have fun, and WarioWare embraces this idea. Not only that, but through playing Smooth Moves and ensuring you understand how each MicroGame is played, you'll find a better understanding of how the Wii Remote works going forward.

[dsparil]

I think Smooth Moves was the first Wii game I actually played even before Wii Sports. I remember Rayman: Raving Rabbids was the non-Sports party game of "choice" being the only option at launch, but it's time was so very short lived and already in the past. Among people I knew, Smooth Moves really didn't have much longevity though. I think the greater approachability of Sports and then Brawl and Mario Kart sort of buried the game despite its charms.

[retr0gamer]

Warioware smooth moves just wasn't very good. It should have been a slam dunk after how good the GBA and DS games were and it seemed made for motion controls but you kind of saw everything in 2 hours and it didn't have the extra modes that made the other games so compelling. It really didn't stack up against how good twisted was, it was a real step back from that game.

[excelsior]

There was a focus on making this into a party game, so extra single player modes were dialed back. I would say that the controls being inconsistent in their intuitiveness was a bigger flaw for that kind of audience, but IS really pushed the humour to the forefront in this game, so I would definitely consider it a good game. For those looking for a single player experience, it didn't justify the price tag. Nowadays it goes for a few quid, so it's tough to complain about value.