Wii Control Scheme

[Man with the Plan]

I was wondering what everyone's opinion is of the Wiimote. Is it a gimmick?

[maddfrog]

Wouldn't it make a little more sense to actually wait for the Wii to come out before you make a judgement on it?

[SilverPaw750]

I agree with maddfrog. I haven't played the Wii, so I can't comment yet.

[HumanSnatcher]

My biggest question is how the hell are you gonna be able to play N64 games on the virtual console? I haven't kept up too much on the Wii, so its probably been discussed here. I can really see an NES games from the way the Wiimote is set up.

[Liquid 2]

I believe Nintendo's releasing an old style controller for the Wii for Virtual Console games and the few Wii games that won't use the controller (like Smash Bros Brawl)

[HumanSnatcher]

Too bad they don't make adaptors that you could just plug in to the older controllers. You know, like they have SNES/NES/Genesis to USB adaptors. If they could do a six button configuration like the Genesis with shoulder buttons, then it'd be perfect, albet probably bastard looking.

[Vinny]

Too bad they don't make adaptors that you could just plug in to the older controllers. You know, like they have SNES/NES/Genesis to USB adaptors. If they could do a six button configuration like the Genesis with shoulder buttons, then it'd be perfect, albet probably bastard looking.

That's actually a really good idea... but I'm guessing they're probably thinking most people, especially younger kids these days, don't have old controllers. And if they release a controller, then they can bank in on more money.:-P

Even though it's too early too call, I think it'll fall somewhere between a novelty and pure genius. I'm guessing a lot of original games will come out for it but so will a ton of FPSes and sports which'll play like one another.

[maddfrog]

Here is a good pic of the controller. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Wii_classic_controller.jpg

The only thing that I can see that might be different is the style of the controller from the N64's. I guess it will feel like playing a dual shock controller.

[dmaul1114]

Looks to be genius, but only time will tell.

I'm pretty tired of gaming in general, and hope that the new controller and games will pique my interest again.

[6669]

I was wondering what everyone's opinion is of the Wiimote. Is it a gimmick?
What do you mean by "Is it a gimmick"?

[Dr Mario Kart]

It certainly is a novelty, but it doesnt necessarily become 'old' after a while. It has the option of becoming STANDARD

[Genocidal]

There've been rumors of Nintendo re-releasing all of the old console controllers as attachments for the Wiimote, but alas, only that -- rumors.

[dothog]

Those choices are awfully limiting. Bad poll.

It's neither gimmick nor genius. The use of the motion-sensing may be somewhat of a novelty in the early Wii games, but as developers get a feel for things I think it will become an accepted form of game control in the industry. I don't think it will become the primary form of control, but I think that it brings a new opportunity in game control to a large audience and at least forces us to figure out if we enjoy interacting with our games in this manner.

So long as Nintendo provides a way for gamers to interact with their Wii games if they don't enjoy the Wii-mote (such as an optional Classic controller scheme), I don't see the Wii-mote control being either a gimmick or a novelty. Genius is a bit much seeing as how this technology has been around for some time. If anything, I think it's simply a ballsy move by Nintendo.

ASIDE: The idea of using the more intuitive motion-sensing control to capture non-gamers is a great idea--the problem is that Nintendo is banking that these non-gamers will want to stick with it and play more and more, and I think the people with that kind of mentality are already gamers.

For instance, my wife, who does not play video games, absolutely LOVED Nintendogs, but she hardly played it for anything longer than 15-30 minutes at a time every few weeks. I'm not saying her attitude is common, but it's evidence of the fact that as much as some people like an idea and think a game looks neat, some of these people just don't "get into" gaming the way the rest of us do.

While these types of non-gamers may find Wii Sports or the Wii-version of Cooking Mama appealing, will that drive them to buy the console? Assuming they've bought the console, will they just be happy with a half-hour every so often with the same game for years to come, or are they going to play, seek out, and purchase new games?

Nintendo's taking on a whole new crowd, and I'm curious to see how they succeed with the Wii in North America/Europe. Fanboys always point to the success of non-traditional titles on the DS, but outside of Nintendogs that success is limited to Japan. How will they hook non-gamers outside Japan?