27th September 2009, 1:29 PM
28th September 2009, 6:26 AM
28th September 2009, 10:54 AM
If I got one of the major consoles it'd definitely be the Wii. I mean, most good X360 games are also on PC, and I have a good PC... there are a few X360 games not on PC that I want, but there are definitely more on Wii than that.
29th September 2009, 6:31 AM
That's probably true coming in new, but you'd have to be really new, like 'didn't own a Gamecube' new. There's Mario Galaxy of course, but Prime Trilogy has more Gamecube content than anything and Twilight Princess is of course a GC title. There's Radiant Dawn but it's so much like its GC incarnation you'd never notice a difference.
Obviously you have your Wii Sports titles which i'll group with Wii Fit, then you have the absolutely amazing Excitebots and Excitetrucks but the sales of Excitebots are so low I dont think anyone was able to tell that Bots is a sequel, regardless they're both brilliant. RE4 is on Cube, but most people played that on PS2 if you can believe it. You have Umbrella Chronicles but truthfully, they're so arcade-y you wont miss them - they're barely Resident Evil save for the setting and characters. Definite rentals but i'd only buy if they were discounted. There's Conduit which is a lot of fun, but if you're like me you'll be frustrated that it could have been so much better (it's nowhere near the levels of Goldeneye for instance)
Brawl? City Folk? What games would you be getting? Are you mostly interested in the VC and WiiWare? If such is the case i've got some news for you. 360 has a ton of content in both original form and updated versions you cant get anywhere but the 360, Perfect Dark Plus is going to be a good example of that. But there's also strategy and RPG's, arcade racing and the like that I know you're interested in that the Wii or PC simply doesn't have. And these games are online enabled and with local/online multiplayer even if the original version didn't have it.
When Nintendo announced the Virtual Console and WiiWare, we all envisioned what Microsoft is doing right now. Nintendo never caught up or rather, never went that direction based on whatever it is they're thinking and it saddens me deeply.
Why isn't Metroid II: Return of Samus updated and put on WiiWare? Even if it's using the Super Metroid engine or the updated Zero Mission engine, if Nintendo really wanted too, they could pull resource off Trilogy and make the skeleton of Metroid II a FPS so, you'd have to have the Trilogy disk in the Wii and download Metroid II Redux and viola! A 3-D update to Return of Samus! But even the 2-D update would be incredible. Here's something that would sell so well that Nintendo's servers wouldn't be able to keep up -- The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening on WiiWare, using the graphics engine of LttP/Minish Cap or even Phantom Hourglass! Hell, Nintendo could update it even further to include use of the Wiimote for boss battles and minigames (Secret Seashells?) using motion or pointing.
You and I both love and miss the Extreme G series from Acclaim back in the day, but lets say both MS and Nintendo decide to bring it back on the market for this hypothetical. The Wii VC release will have the original game as it was. Quite possibly, though I doubt it, even in the higher resolution version which required the upgrade of Ram. But on the 360, it would definitely look and run smoother with polished frame rates and higher resolution textures. It would also have new multiplayer options, online multiplayer especially, leaderboards, new communities to find other fans new and old to the series. Let's face it: The 360 game experience is simply better and not just by a small margin but by leaps and bounds.
Dont get me wrong, i'll never sell my Wii. I love it's Ipod-like attention to streamlining, i'm one of those people that actually checks the weather channel, reads the news, browses gaming blogs, takes part in the Check-Mii-Out contests and watches the Nintendo-Week shows and trailers before sitting down for a speedrun on RE4 in promode or attempting to get S on Gold courses in Excitebots. I use it DAILY. But I haven't downloaded a single WiiWare game and the only exception to that rule is that i'll be downloading Contra Rebirth. I have some 8bit classics, but you can imagine my disappointment when I was all set to download Starfox 64 upon its release only to find out that its framerate has been damaged and has yet to be fixed. And then... the controller issue.
Let me get this straight:
I download Mario 64.
I have a Wiimote and Nunchuck. That gives me an analog stick and dpad with 8 'face' buttons. (the N64 controller has one analog stick, 7 face buttons including the start/pause, two shoulder buttons and the Z button, but keep in mind the C-buttons were actually another dpad!) Which is exactly what the N64 controller used.
But I cant use it. Instead, I have to buy a 20 dollar peripheral controller with its only inclusion being a second analog stick which is used in exactly zero N64 games, zero SNES games, zero Sega Genesis, zero Turbographics16 games, etc you get the idea. The only system that the Wii is capable of playing that uses two analog sticks is the Gamecube backwards compatibility and Wii titles that have no motion or pointing (or as an option, ie: Brawl).
So in order to play Mario 64 on my Wii, I have to either buy a Wii Classic Controller for wireless or a Wavebird or Gamecube controller, which are only found in specialty shops or online. Nintendo could have easily made Mario 64 work with the Wiimote and Nunchuck. It's an obvious stab at marketing in the same vein as the countless ipod cables and docks that are grossly overpriced and yet needed to make the thing function properly. When did this happen to my Nintendo? When did Nintendo stop making games easily accessible? How many people want to download VC and WiiWare titles and are denied because they dont want to purchase another controller?
Starfox 64 - Imagine if Nintendo would have simply mapped the analog function of aiming the reticule to the pointer of the Wiimote and allow ship movement on the Nunchuck. Shake the Nunchuck to barrel roll, tilt it left or right to flip. Or use the Wii Sports Resort airplane mechanics (dunno if you'd tried them) It would have been amazing, it would have taken Nintendo maybe a month to implement it. It would have been a perfect example to not only showcase Nintendo's controller but to get people to flock to their download service.
Where in blinking blue blazes IS IT? What is Nintendo DOING? They're missing huge opportunities and the actual gamers, people who like video games, like specific genres of video games, the so-called 'core' audience of video games are completely ostracized and alienated by Nintendo's onlince services and Wii specific titles time and time again during this entire run of the Wii.
It saddens me to say that because I love video games, I have to get another system. It makes me angry; when I bought my Wii I thought I was getting a video game system. But 250/200 is not worth it just to play Excitebots and a handful of other games because quite simply, I am not casual, I dont like quirky mini games unless they're IN my epic adventure - I swear to God they're releasing mini games from the Final Fantasy and Zelda series as stand-alone games at full price! I could play the original Excitebike for free in Excitebike 64, and on Animal Crossing. Now it costs me 5 bucks and NOTHING'S UPDATED? REALLY NINTENDO? EXCITEBIKE STILL DOESNT HAVE MULTIPLAYER? HAHAHA?
Arg.
Thankfully there are developers supporting Wii with Red Steel 2 and Silent Hill: SM coming out, plus all the cool shit from High Voltage, but I dont know if those games really interest you.
Obviously you have your Wii Sports titles which i'll group with Wii Fit, then you have the absolutely amazing Excitebots and Excitetrucks but the sales of Excitebots are so low I dont think anyone was able to tell that Bots is a sequel, regardless they're both brilliant. RE4 is on Cube, but most people played that on PS2 if you can believe it. You have Umbrella Chronicles but truthfully, they're so arcade-y you wont miss them - they're barely Resident Evil save for the setting and characters. Definite rentals but i'd only buy if they were discounted. There's Conduit which is a lot of fun, but if you're like me you'll be frustrated that it could have been so much better (it's nowhere near the levels of Goldeneye for instance)
Brawl? City Folk? What games would you be getting? Are you mostly interested in the VC and WiiWare? If such is the case i've got some news for you. 360 has a ton of content in both original form and updated versions you cant get anywhere but the 360, Perfect Dark Plus is going to be a good example of that. But there's also strategy and RPG's, arcade racing and the like that I know you're interested in that the Wii or PC simply doesn't have. And these games are online enabled and with local/online multiplayer even if the original version didn't have it.
When Nintendo announced the Virtual Console and WiiWare, we all envisioned what Microsoft is doing right now. Nintendo never caught up or rather, never went that direction based on whatever it is they're thinking and it saddens me deeply.
Why isn't Metroid II: Return of Samus updated and put on WiiWare? Even if it's using the Super Metroid engine or the updated Zero Mission engine, if Nintendo really wanted too, they could pull resource off Trilogy and make the skeleton of Metroid II a FPS so, you'd have to have the Trilogy disk in the Wii and download Metroid II Redux and viola! A 3-D update to Return of Samus! But even the 2-D update would be incredible. Here's something that would sell so well that Nintendo's servers wouldn't be able to keep up -- The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening on WiiWare, using the graphics engine of LttP/Minish Cap or even Phantom Hourglass! Hell, Nintendo could update it even further to include use of the Wiimote for boss battles and minigames (Secret Seashells?) using motion or pointing.
You and I both love and miss the Extreme G series from Acclaim back in the day, but lets say both MS and Nintendo decide to bring it back on the market for this hypothetical. The Wii VC release will have the original game as it was. Quite possibly, though I doubt it, even in the higher resolution version which required the upgrade of Ram. But on the 360, it would definitely look and run smoother with polished frame rates and higher resolution textures. It would also have new multiplayer options, online multiplayer especially, leaderboards, new communities to find other fans new and old to the series. Let's face it: The 360 game experience is simply better and not just by a small margin but by leaps and bounds.
Dont get me wrong, i'll never sell my Wii. I love it's Ipod-like attention to streamlining, i'm one of those people that actually checks the weather channel, reads the news, browses gaming blogs, takes part in the Check-Mii-Out contests and watches the Nintendo-Week shows and trailers before sitting down for a speedrun on RE4 in promode or attempting to get S on Gold courses in Excitebots. I use it DAILY. But I haven't downloaded a single WiiWare game and the only exception to that rule is that i'll be downloading Contra Rebirth. I have some 8bit classics, but you can imagine my disappointment when I was all set to download Starfox 64 upon its release only to find out that its framerate has been damaged and has yet to be fixed. And then... the controller issue.
Let me get this straight:
I download Mario 64.
I have a Wiimote and Nunchuck. That gives me an analog stick and dpad with 8 'face' buttons. (the N64 controller has one analog stick, 7 face buttons including the start/pause, two shoulder buttons and the Z button, but keep in mind the C-buttons were actually another dpad!) Which is exactly what the N64 controller used.
But I cant use it. Instead, I have to buy a 20 dollar peripheral controller with its only inclusion being a second analog stick which is used in exactly zero N64 games, zero SNES games, zero Sega Genesis, zero Turbographics16 games, etc you get the idea. The only system that the Wii is capable of playing that uses two analog sticks is the Gamecube backwards compatibility and Wii titles that have no motion or pointing (or as an option, ie: Brawl).
So in order to play Mario 64 on my Wii, I have to either buy a Wii Classic Controller for wireless or a Wavebird or Gamecube controller, which are only found in specialty shops or online. Nintendo could have easily made Mario 64 work with the Wiimote and Nunchuck. It's an obvious stab at marketing in the same vein as the countless ipod cables and docks that are grossly overpriced and yet needed to make the thing function properly. When did this happen to my Nintendo? When did Nintendo stop making games easily accessible? How many people want to download VC and WiiWare titles and are denied because they dont want to purchase another controller?
Starfox 64 - Imagine if Nintendo would have simply mapped the analog function of aiming the reticule to the pointer of the Wiimote and allow ship movement on the Nunchuck. Shake the Nunchuck to barrel roll, tilt it left or right to flip. Or use the Wii Sports Resort airplane mechanics (dunno if you'd tried them) It would have been amazing, it would have taken Nintendo maybe a month to implement it. It would have been a perfect example to not only showcase Nintendo's controller but to get people to flock to their download service.
Where in blinking blue blazes IS IT? What is Nintendo DOING? They're missing huge opportunities and the actual gamers, people who like video games, like specific genres of video games, the so-called 'core' audience of video games are completely ostracized and alienated by Nintendo's onlince services and Wii specific titles time and time again during this entire run of the Wii.
It saddens me to say that because I love video games, I have to get another system. It makes me angry; when I bought my Wii I thought I was getting a video game system. But 250/200 is not worth it just to play Excitebots and a handful of other games because quite simply, I am not casual, I dont like quirky mini games unless they're IN my epic adventure - I swear to God they're releasing mini games from the Final Fantasy and Zelda series as stand-alone games at full price! I could play the original Excitebike for free in Excitebike 64, and on Animal Crossing. Now it costs me 5 bucks and NOTHING'S UPDATED? REALLY NINTENDO? EXCITEBIKE STILL DOESNT HAVE MULTIPLAYER? HAHAHA?
Arg.
Thankfully there are developers supporting Wii with Red Steel 2 and Silent Hill: SM coming out, plus all the cool shit from High Voltage, but I dont know if those games really interest you.
30th September 2009, 12:00 AM
First, on the issue of adding things to roms, etc, that'd actually be a lot of work, so I fully understand not doing things like translating them, adding modes, what have you. That'd be a LOT of work. However, I of course do not at all condone their ridiculous failures to add obviously needed modes like Wiimote-as-light gun, tilt-as-dpad, etc. Emulators on the PC offer things like mouse-as-lightgun, dpad-as-tilt, etc. There's no excuse the Wii doesn't also! This is something that only requires emulator work, not rom modification -- the game doesn't know it's not getting the actual input, only the emulator... :)
Anyway though, Nintendo's games are only on Wii, not 360. That pretty much ends the discussion of which to get. Even making less games this gen than they used to, there are still more than enough must-owns for me on Wii... versus very few anywhere near that level on 360.
I mean, as I said, I just don't want those innumerable dual-stick FPSes you find on PS3 and 360. In the off chance that I actually do want an FPS, something that doesn't happen often, I'd want it on PC, where I actually don't hate the controls like I do with standard Halo-style FPS controls...
I can make some exceptions for a few N64 FPS games and Metroid Prime, but anything in the genre that's also on PC, it's better there. And FPSes are the biggest genre this generation on consoles, unfortunately.
There are also a bunch of hack-and-slash action games like the Ninja Gaiden ones, Onimusha, etc, which might be entertaining for a little while but don't interest me all that much, and certainly aren't anywhere near system sellers. I like other kinds of games more.
So on the 360, that leaves... what? Crackdown, yeah... the few shmups it has like Raiden 4 and Raiden Fighters Aces (and Geometry Wars 2 on XBLA, as well as a few more, and the promise of maybe even some Cave games upcoming, which would be amazing!), certainly, the fighting games like King of Fighters XII, Soul Calibur IV, and Dead or Alive 4 for sure (Street Fighter IV is also on PC, where it's just as good as long as you have a gamepad... though they just announced Super SFIV only for PS3 and 360 so far, so we'll see for that one)... oh, and a few RPGs and action-RPGs like Star Ocean 4, Tales of Vesperia, Infinite Undiscovery...
But when I think of that list and then compare it to what I'd want on the Wii, it's absolutely no contest in favor of the Wii.
-Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn -- my most wanted game for any system I do not own.
-Mario Galaxy - looks amazing... must have!
-Excite Truck and Excitebots -- Excite Truck I've played a bit of, extremely fun game... these two would be must-haves.
-Mario Kart Wii -- best Mario Kart since MK64!
-shmups -- Ultimate Shooting Collection, Castle Shikigami 3, Blast Works, a few more. Not bad at all. Add to that Gradius Rebirth and Star Soldier R on WiiWare. (not counting the large number on VC of course, but I prefer those games on those original systems...)
-fighting games -- now here Wii doesn't quite match up, but it does have Samurai Shodown Collection (which is just as good on PS2, admittedly), SSBB, and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom coming up which might be decent... oh, and Guilty Gear X2 Accent Core Plus, which is great. There are a few more I'm not thinking of I'm sure. Admittedly though PS3/360 do win here.
-other platformers -- there aren't nearly enough, but there are a few with a bit of promise like Mushroom Men or a few others. Maybe look into the Sonic games or NiGHTS? Mega Man 9 is on all three systems of course.
-stuff good with tilt controls like Kororinpa and the like -- I remember loving Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble on the GBC, I'd love to play some of those. :)
-other racing games - I'd want Speed Zone and Speed Racer of course, no matter how good or not they are. And hopefully Wii will get an F-Zero before it dies... :(
etc.
As for futuristic racing games, yes, they're largely missing this generation, and it's very sad. I really love them, and no console this generation has much of a futuristic racing lineup worth looking at... this is all there is:
Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) (Handheld)
--
*Wipeout Pure
*Shinseiki GPX Cyber Formula VS (Japan only)
*Spinout (Europe/Australia only) (there was also a PS2 version announced, but it doesn't seem to have been released)
Wipeout Pulse (also on PS2, though Europe-only on that system, unlike this one which was released in all regions)
StateShift (Europe/Australia only)
Nintendo DS (Handheld)
--
*Speed Racer
Microsoft Xbox 360(discs)
--
Fatal Inertia
Xbox 360 Live Arcade Titles (XBLA)
--
Novadrome (mostly arena combat, but there is one checkpoint racing mode)
Nintendo Wii (discs)
--
Speed Racer (2008)
Speed Zone (called Wheelspin in Europe)
That's just sad. :(
Anyway though, Nintendo's games are only on Wii, not 360. That pretty much ends the discussion of which to get. Even making less games this gen than they used to, there are still more than enough must-owns for me on Wii... versus very few anywhere near that level on 360.
I mean, as I said, I just don't want those innumerable dual-stick FPSes you find on PS3 and 360. In the off chance that I actually do want an FPS, something that doesn't happen often, I'd want it on PC, where I actually don't hate the controls like I do with standard Halo-style FPS controls...
I can make some exceptions for a few N64 FPS games and Metroid Prime, but anything in the genre that's also on PC, it's better there. And FPSes are the biggest genre this generation on consoles, unfortunately.
There are also a bunch of hack-and-slash action games like the Ninja Gaiden ones, Onimusha, etc, which might be entertaining for a little while but don't interest me all that much, and certainly aren't anywhere near system sellers. I like other kinds of games more.
So on the 360, that leaves... what? Crackdown, yeah... the few shmups it has like Raiden 4 and Raiden Fighters Aces (and Geometry Wars 2 on XBLA, as well as a few more, and the promise of maybe even some Cave games upcoming, which would be amazing!), certainly, the fighting games like King of Fighters XII, Soul Calibur IV, and Dead or Alive 4 for sure (Street Fighter IV is also on PC, where it's just as good as long as you have a gamepad... though they just announced Super SFIV only for PS3 and 360 so far, so we'll see for that one)... oh, and a few RPGs and action-RPGs like Star Ocean 4, Tales of Vesperia, Infinite Undiscovery...
But when I think of that list and then compare it to what I'd want on the Wii, it's absolutely no contest in favor of the Wii.
-Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn -- my most wanted game for any system I do not own.
-Mario Galaxy - looks amazing... must have!
-Excite Truck and Excitebots -- Excite Truck I've played a bit of, extremely fun game... these two would be must-haves.
-Mario Kart Wii -- best Mario Kart since MK64!
-shmups -- Ultimate Shooting Collection, Castle Shikigami 3, Blast Works, a few more. Not bad at all. Add to that Gradius Rebirth and Star Soldier R on WiiWare. (not counting the large number on VC of course, but I prefer those games on those original systems...)
-fighting games -- now here Wii doesn't quite match up, but it does have Samurai Shodown Collection (which is just as good on PS2, admittedly), SSBB, and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom coming up which might be decent... oh, and Guilty Gear X2 Accent Core Plus, which is great. There are a few more I'm not thinking of I'm sure. Admittedly though PS3/360 do win here.
-other platformers -- there aren't nearly enough, but there are a few with a bit of promise like Mushroom Men or a few others. Maybe look into the Sonic games or NiGHTS? Mega Man 9 is on all three systems of course.
-stuff good with tilt controls like Kororinpa and the like -- I remember loving Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble on the GBC, I'd love to play some of those. :)
-other racing games - I'd want Speed Zone and Speed Racer of course, no matter how good or not they are. And hopefully Wii will get an F-Zero before it dies... :(
etc.
As for futuristic racing games, yes, they're largely missing this generation, and it's very sad. I really love them, and no console this generation has much of a futuristic racing lineup worth looking at... this is all there is:
Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) (Handheld)
--
*Wipeout Pure
*Shinseiki GPX Cyber Formula VS (Japan only)
*Spinout (Europe/Australia only) (there was also a PS2 version announced, but it doesn't seem to have been released)
Wipeout Pulse (also on PS2, though Europe-only on that system, unlike this one which was released in all regions)
StateShift (Europe/Australia only)
Nintendo DS (Handheld)
--
*Speed Racer
Microsoft Xbox 360(discs)
--
Fatal Inertia
Xbox 360 Live Arcade Titles (XBLA)
--
Novadrome (mostly arena combat, but there is one checkpoint racing mode)
Nintendo Wii (discs)
--
Speed Racer (2008)
Speed Zone (called Wheelspin in Europe)
That's just sad. :(
14th October 2009, 8:38 AM
It is. No mention of F-Zero for Wii either. But the sales of Excitebots are so low, Nintendo probably isn't scrambling to get a new racing game out the door (unless Mario's in it).
14th October 2009, 11:25 AM
... Um, the Wii Virtual Console and PS3 disc and PSN segments of that list was somehow missing...
Wii Virtual Console Titles (VC)
--
F-Zero (SNES)
F-Zero X (N64)
Moto Roader (TG16)
PS3 (disc games)
--
None
PS3 Playstation Network downloadable titles (PSN)
--
*Wipeout HD
*Wipeout HD Fury (expansion pack for the above
Fatal Inertia EX
Also, the stars mean exclusive titles.
The PS3's the clear winner here, really. Wipeout HD may not have any new tracks (all of its tracks come from the PSP games), but it looks completely awesome. Still, that's just one game... and the system has only one other. Last gen there were so many futuristic racing games, and the gen before that too! What happened? :(
And yeah, where in the world is F-Zero? Sure you can play the three older ones on Wii, the first two on VC and the third in Gamecube mode, but that's not the same as making a new one...
Wii Virtual Console Titles (VC)
--
F-Zero (SNES)
F-Zero X (N64)
Moto Roader (TG16)
PS3 (disc games)
--
None
PS3 Playstation Network downloadable titles (PSN)
--
*Wipeout HD
*Wipeout HD Fury (expansion pack for the above
Fatal Inertia EX
Also, the stars mean exclusive titles.
The PS3's the clear winner here, really. Wipeout HD may not have any new tracks (all of its tracks come from the PSP games), but it looks completely awesome. Still, that's just one game... and the system has only one other. Last gen there were so many futuristic racing games, and the gen before that too! What happened? :(
And yeah, where in the world is F-Zero? Sure you can play the three older ones on Wii, the first two on VC and the third in Gamecube mode, but that's not the same as making a new one...