Wii Half-hour playtest

DesertEagleXIX

DesertEagleXIX

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I relinquished my license and credit card for half an hour to test the Wii at my local Gamestop in Hollywood, CA. Let's hope the employees didn't 'buy' any games while I was playing.

At first I was having problems with the Wiimote; The pointer was flickering on and off. I was told I was too close; you have to stand back 4-5 feet from a 27" monitor. I like the feeling of immersion, where the sides of the screen fill my peripheral vision. I'm crazy like that.

On display was Excitetruck, the only game available. First, this felt like the full game and not a demo. You had to complete training before you could race others. That took a bit of steam out of my sails. Training was ridiculously easy, once I took a few step back from the machine.

The first two races are two lap affairs in Mexico and Fuji. Vehicles looked nice with a selection of 4 at the outset and about 15 unlockables. Racing felt very similar to Burnout, with a hilly course. I did notice some slowdown and clipping which I found to be a minor distraction with the game. I was hoping for a steady 60 FPS affair like burnout and was disappointed.

To control your vehicle, you hold down the "2" button, and move the wiimote to steer. At times I wanted a quicker, sharper turn than the wiimote could give me; perhaps you can adjust the settings, although I didn't check.

AI felt good, with no rubberbanding. One problem I had was after a crash, you are encourage to tap the gas pedal repeatedly; doing so will give you a boost. The boost is ridiculously easy to obtain (I never failed to get it in at least 10 attempts), and almost unfairly give you an advantage over the AI drivers. Along the course are bonus items, for insatnce rings to jump through. Jump through 5 rings and you get another boost.

Hitting the dpad, gave you a turbo. In a nod to exitebike, you have to watch a temperature gauge. Too much turbo will overheat your vehicle.

The sound that comes out the wiimote was a bit soft. The sound from the speakers completely overpowered it. When I did hold it up to my ear to hear, it sounded a bit 'tinny' and cheap.

Overall, the game is fun, but in no way is it a system seller. Maybe I'm getting jaded, but I wouldn't pay more than $20 for the game; and I do plan on getting a Wii soon after launch.
 
Did you get a chance to see how many unlockable tracks there are? I'm excited for the game but I won't pay $50 for it unless it is filled out with unlockable goodness.
 
fuck! 4-5 feet from a 27"? I was optimistic for the Wii, but that stings a little. I have very poor vision (legally blind) and I sit incredibly close to my 27" TV. Son of a bitch! :bomb:
 
"he pointer was flickering o and off. I was told I was too close; you have to stand back 4-5 feet from a 27" monitor."


DAMMIT!
 
"he pointer was flickering o and off. I was told I was too close; you have to stand back 4-5 feet from a 27" monitor."


DAMMIT!



My room is too narrow for 4-5 feet :(
 
4-5 feet isn't much... how close do you people sit to your TVs? Hell, I sit 3 feet away from my 21".

Maybe gaming does kill your vision.
 
Just a guess, but you could conceivably place the sensor bar a few feet behind the TV and still sit very close.
 
I'm really curious where you guys live. Even when I was back in my bedroom in my parents house that was a converted den (8' x 10'), I was never less than 3 feet from my 13" TV. Or in my 6' x 8' dorm room with 17" monitor.

Unfortunate that it's got some slowdown, I wouldn't have expected that. Ah well, I guess every game won't be perfect.
 
[quote name='Vinny']4-5 feet isn't much... how close do you people sit to your TVs? Hell, I sit 3 feet away from my 21".

Maybe gaming does kill your vision.[/QUOTE]
Since I have a tape measure in the bottom drawer... my eyes are currently 4' 7" from the tv and 2' 6" from the monitor.
 
[quote name='BIG5']Just a guess, but you could conceivably place the sensor bar a few feet behind the TV and still sit very close.[/quote]

I was just thinking that. I just measured from the top of my TV to the end of my bed where I sit to play games, and it measured around 4'. That sounds about right.
 
[quote name='I AM WILLIAM H. MACY']Yeah that's quite a bit...perhaps he meant like 2-3 feet?[/QUOTE]

No, it was about 4 1/2 feet. A bit over four size thirteen end-to-end steps back; I measured. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who has this problem with the in-store demo.
 
My room is long but narrow, I cant set my tv up long way since the door is the long way in, so Im forced to go narrow, where I have about 4 feet sitting away, but I have fairly long arms so unless I play with my hands at my side Im working with about 2 feet....
 
I got in a few races while (attempting) to pick up my GoW preorder.

The controls were simply AWESOME. FYI you need to turn the Wii-Mote sharply for sharp turns.

I was going to give Exitetruck a quick rent when I grabbed the Wii, but demo converted me to a full-blown preorder.
 
I got a chance to play the Wii too today. Only played one race, just to get a feel for the remote. Personally, I think they should have chosen a much better game to showcase the Wii. The game was okay, but I think the Wii sports would've utilized the remote MUCH better. I really didn't care for the Wii games, I just wanted to experience the remote. And for that, excitetrick was a bad choice, IMO.

I didn't notice any problems about standing too close. I am pretty sure I was less than 4-5 feet away, and it seemed to be working fine. Normally, at my house, I sit quite a ways back, so this isn't a problem. I only stand close when I am playing on a kiosk. Anyway, no problems for me when I was standing close.

Also, I loved the little speaker in the controller. Maybe my TV wasn't as loud as yours, so I didn't feel it was being 'overpowered'. Maybe there is a volume control for the controller speaker? For me, the speaker was at a great volume, and actually made quite a difference to me. It caught me by surprise at first, because the speaker had completely slipped my mind for some reason. That and I never thought a racing game would utilize such a thing.

As for the actual gameplay, I found the wiimote to be a bit tedious for this game. The actual remote worked well, but I feel that this is one of those games that doesn't benefit as much from the wiimote as others. I really wanted to try some sort of FPS or the sports game. I think, the problem was the choice of game. I am confident that the Wii will be great, and I look forward to trying a more "motion-featured" game.
 
[quote name='Eastsidecracker']How did the game look? I want to hear more about the graphics.[/QUOTE]

They obviously weren't anything to gawk over, but they weren't bad either. They worked, is what I am basically saying. Nothing that will impress you, but just enough to where it doesn't impact the game negatively.
 
[quote name='Eastsidecracker']How did the game look? I want to hear more about the graphics.[/QUOTE]

Imagine Burnout with hills and jumps through the air, and with a slightly less stable framerate.
 
I think the distance thing is all in the setup. Obviously whoever calbrated the wiimote with the system stood farther back than DesertEagle would've like. I imagine that if you sit/stand where you want to to play when you setup your machine that it will work out just fine
 
I'm sure distance is more in the calibration, but I think most people will find that they're overestimating how far 4 feet really is. My room is tiny, but I can easily be 4 or 5 feet away from the TV and probably normally play about 3 feet away. Unless your room is like the size of a closet and you and the TV barely fit in there I don't see why it would be a problem.
 
To be honest you really have to practice with excitetruck before the controls really set in. When I first hopped on I was crashing all over the place, but after two or three races I started getting it.
 
Hmm, mixed reviews like I would have expected. I haven't gotten a chance to try out the Wii yet but I figured ExciteTruck would be my last choice when picking a title to demo the Wiimote.

I've recently gone back and forth on whether or not I'm getting a Wii, I have my pre-order in at WM.com but I sometimes feel apprehensive about getting one with the fear of it just not being something that pleases me. See, I've been a PC gamer ever since the death of the SNES. I've been playing games like FEAR, Half-Life 2, and more recently Company of Heroes and the Supreme Commander beta. These games are all great fun with superb graphics, physics, and gameplay. I know that the Wii will most likely never be able to offer games of that level so I'm stuck deciding if the 'new way to play' is worth my dollar.

Are there any other PC gamers here without consoles that are considering a Wii? How are you justifying it?
 
honestly, i would wait 6-8 months before getting a wii.. .. because i kind of see it like the DS launch, where the first couple batches of games were kinda "gimicky" like "oo we got a touch screen gameplay and two screens" whereas now you can really see great and innovative gameplay that isn't that gimicky.. i mean how it seems to me right now, that Wii sports and Excitetruck are like "ooo you can swing and play tennis and ooo you can steer and drive a car" but thats it.. no depth outside of the gimmick.

I mean the DS is finally starting to get some really good games (i think it really started when super princess peach/NSMB came out. ) so wait 6 months pick up zelda and a few other games when they finally get the thing down and people start supporting it..

but thats just how i buy systems and right now i'm interested more in the DS/GBA games i missed on then next gen consoles.
 
[quote name='urzishra14']honestly, i would wait 6-8 months before getting a wii.. .. because i kind of see it like the DS launch, where the first couple batches of games were kinda "gimicky" like "oo we got a touch screen gameplay and two screens" whereas now you can really see great and innovative gameplay that isn't that gimicky.. i mean how it seems to me right now, that Wii sports and Excitetruck are like "ooo you can swing and play tennis and ooo you can steer and drive a car" but thats it.. no depth outside of the gimmick.

I mean the DS is finally starting to get some really good games (i think it really started when super princess peach/NSMB came out. ) so wait 6 months pick up zelda and a few other games when they finally get the thing down and people start supporting it..

but thats just how i buy systems and right now i'm interested more in the DS/GBA games i missed on then next gen consoles.[/quote]
It would certainly be fair to do that, and what I normally do with systems. But doing so also causes you to drown in an unending backlog of games, so either way, you run into trouble ;)
 
[quote name='urzishra14']honestly, i would wait 6-8 months before getting a wii.. .. because i kind of see it like the DS launch, where the first couple batches of games were kinda "gimicky" like "oo we got a touch screen gameplay and two screens" whereas now you can really see great and innovative gameplay that isn't that gimicky.. i mean how it seems to me right now, that Wii sports and Excitetruck are like "ooo you can swing and play tennis and ooo you can steer and drive a car" but thats it.. no depth outside of the gimmick. [/quote]
In the case of Wii Sports that's the idea: a simple game that'll introduce you to how the controller works and what it's capable of. It really wouldn't be a good idea for Nintendo to release their system with no first-party games that took advantage of this new technology they're pushing so hard for.
 
[quote name='urzishra14']honestly, i would wait 6-8 months before getting a wii.. .. because i kind of see it like the DS launch, where the first couple batches of games were kinda "gimicky" like "oo we got a touch screen gameplay and two screens" whereas now you can really see great and innovative gameplay that isn't that gimicky.. i mean how it seems to me right now, that Wii sports and Excitetruck are like "ooo you can swing and play tennis and ooo you can steer and drive a car" but thats it.. no depth outside of the gimmick.

I mean the DS is finally starting to get some really good games (i think it really started when super princess peach/NSMB came out. ) so wait 6 months pick up zelda and a few other games when they finally get the thing down and people start supporting it..

but thats just how i buy systems and right now i'm interested more in the DS/GBA games i missed on then next gen consoles.[/quote]

I'd say EVERYONE should have a Wii by the time Brawl comes out. ;)
 
i think driving games will rule with the wii wheel. make it more fun at least! excite truck seems ok, i'm going to rent it.

T. Foolery
 
Ok, I'm confused. ExciteTruck doesn't use the sensor bar. It only uses the accelerometers in the Wiimote. There is nothing you do in ExciteTruck that requires you to point the Wiimote at the screen, unless picking the menu options uses "pointing."

I'm not doubting that you were having control problems, but it couldn't have been an issue with the sensor bar if the problems were during the game. The Wiimote uses Bluetooth for wireless and I don't see how it wouldn't work whether you are standing 6 inches or 6 feet away.

Games that require the sensor bar are a different story.
 
[quote name='lebowsky']Ok, I'm confused. ExciteTruck doesn't use the sensor bar. It only uses the accelerometers in the Wiimote. There is nothing you do in ExciteTruck that requires you to point the Wiimote at the screen, unless picking the menu options uses "pointing."

I'm not doubting that you were having control problems, but it couldn't have been an issue with the sensor bar if the problems were during the game. The Wiimote uses Bluetooth for wireless and I don't see how it wouldn't work whether you are standing 6 inches or 6 feet away.

Games that require the sensor bar are a different story.[/quote]

An excellent point. I'm guessing the problems occurred during menu selection (assuming that uses the pointer).
 
I don't understand why Nintendo chose Excite Truck either. Wii Sports or something more controller-central would have been more effective IMO.
 
[quote name='guessed']An excellent point. I'm guessing the problems occurred during menu selection (assuming that uses the pointer).[/QUOTE]

The menu selection does indeed use the sensor bar.
 
If any of you guys are in Manhattan, I just got back from the Nintendo World Store and they have Wii's setup all over the store. I mainly noticed Wiisports, but they may have had other games setup as well.

I played Wiisports tennis and bowling. Theres an employee next to each system that helps you out with everything so I dunno about calibration and all that, but I stood about 10 feet back from a 42" lcd and it played fine. I didnt notice any lag in response or anything. Both games seemed pretty simplistic, but I understand that thats designed into the game, and not a limitation of the Wiimote.

I didnt see any of the wiimotes with the nunchukc attachment tho, I was looking forward to using that part too, but I guess you dont need it for Wii sports.
 
[quote name='Puffa469']I didnt see any of the wiimotes with the nunchukc attachment tho, I was looking forward to using that part too, but I guess you dont need it for Wii sports.[/quote]

You do for boxing, but I guess they weren't demoing that?
 
[quote name='lebowsky']Ok, I'm confused. ExciteTruck doesn't use the sensor bar. It only uses the accelerometers in the Wiimote. There is nothing you do in ExciteTruck that requires you to point the Wiimote at the screen, unless picking the menu options uses "pointing."

I'm not doubting that you were having control problems, but it couldn't have been an issue with the sensor bar if the problems were during the game. The Wiimote uses Bluetooth for wireless and I don't see how it wouldn't work whether you are standing 6 inches or 6 feet away.

Games that require the sensor bar are a different story.[/QUOTE]

Before the game started you use a user interface, with a grid of options. You point the Wii controler like a remote, moving a hand icon on the "ExciteTruck" logo. I measured it to be sure, you have to be at least 50 inches away (in this setup) , otherwise the hand icon flashed on and off.
 
[quote name='DesertEagleXIX']Before the game started you use a user interface, with a grid of options. You point the Wii controler like a remote, moving a hand icon on the "ExciteTruck" logo. I measured it to be sure, you have to be at least 50 inches away (in this setup) , otherwise the hand icon flashed on and off.[/quote]

Ok, but your original post didn't specify that it was the menu screen you were having problems with, it sounded like problems with the game itself.

It makes sense that being too close to the sensor bar will cause problems.
 
I just got back from my local EB, where I tried out Excitetruck for a few 2 player courses with a friend.

The tilting is very sensitive - there's no flailing about playing this game, which is a good thing. Two player mode had a little draw in of terrain, which was lame, but this was versus mode. I'm going to be going back periodically to play more, and I'll see about single player mode then.

As for the "50 inches" bit... I was standing a little over arm's length from the screen, trying out pointing from the hip, the chest, and with my arm extended towards the screen and the cursor was working fine from each of these. The sensor bar was clearly mounted right beneath the tv screen.

The game does not use the pointer at all. Menu selection is done with the d-pad.
 
[quote name='Giygas']I just got back from my local EB, where I tried out Excitetruck for a few 2 player courses with a friend.

The tilting is very sensitive - there's no flailing about playing this game, which is a good thing. Two player mode had a little draw in of terrain, which was lame, but this was versus mode. I'm going to be going back periodically to play more, and I'll see about single player mode then.

As for the "50 inches" bit... I was standing a little over arm's length from the screen, trying out pointing from the hip, the chest, and with my arm extended towards the screen and the cursor was working fine from each of these. The sensor bar was clearly mounted right beneath the tv screen.

The game does not use the pointer at all. Menu selection is done with the d-pad.[/quote]

QFT.

The motion controls were enjoyable, I definitely got more into it than if I were just using analog sticks.

I also noticed that Versus mode didn't seem to run at a smooth 60fps. Of course, the composite hookup didn't help much.
 
[quote name='Giygas']As for the "50 inches" bit... I was standing a little over arm's length from the screen, trying out pointing from the hip, the chest, and with my arm extended towards the screen and the cursor was working fine from each of these. The sensor bar was clearly mounted right beneath the tv screen.[/quote]

I'm glad to know that the OPs problem stemmed from something other than a hardward error. I think everyone can breath a sigh of relief upon reading this.
 
I tried it out today. Stood about 2-2.5 feet away from the screen and using the pointer for creating a Mii and tilting the controller for Excitetruck worked fine.

On a side note, my 8 year old sister beat me (time-wise) on the very first bronze track. It's the first time she ever beat me in anything (that I didn't let her win of course.)





*Update* Played her again the next day in head to head and won 3-0.
 
Also, the game has a good assortment of tracks. There are a number of countries you can race in and each country has three locatons to race in.

Suprisingly, the controller didn't rumble much during playtime. But when we explored the Wii Menu, it does rumble slightly everytime you pass over a selectable channel, like how Warioware Twisted gives feedback in menus.

The speaker is tinny, but I feel with correct volume adjustment between the wiimote and the tv, it will sound just fine.
 
[quote name='fldash']
Are there any other PC gamers here without consoles that are considering a Wii? How are you justifying it?[/QUOTE]

Fun games to play is all you need to justify it. YOur cost is spread over 5 years worth of games. Let's say maybe you pick up 30 games in that 5 years. That means the console adds less than $10to the cost of each game.

Anyway like anything else if you don't think you'll like then don't buy in. If you're poor wait. If you're worried there's always Ebay. ;)

I"ll probably splurge a little bit at launch to monkey around with the controller. I want to see the possibilities in action. Of course launch titles probably aren't going to be the best demonstration of that. We'll see. Maybe I'll rent alot and only buy 1 or 2 games.
 
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