3D TV

[VT-Vincent]

Emsley,

 

I think you're being a little too hard on Nintendo. For me, their biggest disappointment was the GameCube. The GameCube had technical superiority over every console of that generation, but it was marred by a hideous design, terrible controller and the most abysmal game library to ever grace a Nintendo console (excluding the VirtualBoy). There were only a small handful of games I enjoyed on that platform and even that was a stretch.

 

On the Wii, the first party lineup has been fantastic. We've seen more quality Mario titles on the Wii than any other platform in Nintendo history. The Zelda franchise received a much needed jumpstart and virtually all of Nintendo's other franchises are doing great. The only real downsides to the Wii are it's last-generation hardware and limited 3rd party development. I've never really considered hardware to be that important and the Wii is more than powerful enough to fulfill most developers visions. The lack of serious 3rd party development is their biggest problem right now... as I mentioned, the Wii's first-party lineup is great, but the problem is that's all I'm playing. I find myself going to the 360 for most of my other gaming needs.

 

...

 

On the original topic though, I've never actually seen any modern 3D movies. I'm cautiously optimistic about this transition and I always look forward to the advancement of technology.

[ken_cinder]

Emsley,

 

I think you're being a little too hard on Nintendo. For me, their biggest disappointment was the GameCube. The GameCube had technical superiority over every console of that generation, but it was marred by a hideous design, terrible controller and the most abysmal game library to ever grace a Nintendo console (excluding the VirtualBoy). There were only a small handful of games I enjoyed on that platform and even that was a stretch.

 

On the Wii, the first party lineup has been fantastic. We've seen more quality Mario titles on the Wii than any other platform in Nintendo history. The Zelda franchise received a much needed jumpstart and virtually all of Nintendo's other franchises are doing great. The only real downsides to the Wii are it's last-generation hardware and limited 3rd party development. I've never really considered hardware to be that important and the Wii is more than powerful enough to fulfill most developers visions. The lack of serious 3rd party development is their biggest problem right now... as I mentioned, the Wii's first-party lineup is great, but the problem is that's all I'm playing. I find myself going to the 360 for most of my other gaming needs.

 

...

 

On the original topic though, I've never actually seen any modern 3D movies. I'm cautiously optimistic about this transition and I always look forward to the advancement of technology.

 

Mostly disagreement on my part there too, the Cube controller is THE most ergonomic controller I've ever used, it's Analog shoulder buttons far superior to anything to date and just feels right in my hands. My only gripe is the ridiculously small d-pad.

 

Hideous design? I disagree 200% there, there is alot crammed in that little cube...that fits well anywhere you put it, and it looks nice too, if you have a platinum one like I do. In it's generation, it was THE best looking console. The PS2 and Xbox were abominations style-wise with what sat in my entertainment center.

 

I will agree with the lack of games, but I wouldn't call it abysmal...you're reaching there, and I'm willing to bet you simply don't know most titles to be had on the system.

[emsley]

I would happily go buy a Wii tomorrow if I had a great bunch of games to pick from, call me narrow minded but only mario galaxy springs to mind along with resident evil 4 and I pawn3d that game so hard on the cube that playing with wiimote would be like me been in a wheelchair and someone busting my tires.

Im hard wired to play resi 4 through a cube pad... (of which i like a lot!)

The new monster hunter looks pretty good though.

Besides that the Wii mote, I tried it with the Wii sports and played bowling and fuck me did i have to fucking launch that wii-mote to get the ball rifling down the isle.

Call me old fashioned but I want buttons not throwing my self round the room, which i understand could be fun but have yet to play a Wii game exstensivly and get used to the controls.

 

I just haven't heard enough things about the Wii to put it in the forefront of my mind...

[emsley]

Ok while Im at it I did a quick search for Wii "top games" and come up with this quick list. (as in A+ titles that are supposed to attract a gamer)

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (not for me I Dont have any friends)

Super Mario Galaxy

Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition (Sort of want)

WarioWare: Smooth Moves (A collection of mini games) Sounds like great fun to be honest but... Where are my zeldas? My excite bike?

The Beatles: Rock Band (I never liked guitar games besides I play guitar)

Tiger woods (golf is golf)

Okami (I heard of this and its supposed to be brilliant)

No More Heroes (seems like a great game)

 

A few others are stuff like the twightlight princess (already had it on cube) metroid 3 (average attempt so i read)

And the rest is a lot of mediocre or rehashed old school games...

 

Im sure it could be a lot of fun, but with the rate of great games at a snails pace there is no way I could get a Wii for my own personal tastes at the moment.

 

For the 360 and PS3 I could give you a huge list of titles making me want to jump on ASAP, The PS3 so far for me has been a great buy and there are new games coming out for it at a fast consistent rate. (red dead redmeption joygasim!)

Of all the people I know with a Wii none of them have super Mario galaxy.... Just some lame ass cooking games or some other mixed up madness.

Give me an epic zelda

give me excite-bike/Pilotwings/a metroid that oozes super and primes greatness with wii-mote controls, give me a game where i can seriosuly swing a sword round like promised 2 years ago and decapitate someone's arms and legs.

 

With its current standing I am still only luke warm about the games I can play on the Wii and do not see a future of greatness ahead, and if the good shit does come it seems like it is been drip fed from a super tight feed.

I dont want to buy a Wii fit I dont want to draw blobs of shit on my screen i can do that with photoshop, What is miyamato doing??

Honestly I want to be able to do this:

 

My new hot girlfreind calls me: Hi, you coming round tonight?

Me: Got a cold see you in a few days.

Back to zelda!!!

[VT-Vincent]

Mostly disagreement on my part there too, the Cube controller is THE most ergonomic controller I've ever used, it's Analog shoulder buttons far superior to anything to date and just feels right in my hands. My only gripe is the ridiculously small d-pad.

 

Hideous design? I disagree 200% there, there is alot crammed in that little cube...that fits well anywhere you put it, and it looks nice too, if you have a platinum one like I do. In it's generation, it was THE best looking console. The PS2 and Xbox were abominations style-wise with what sat in my entertainment center.

 

I will agree with the lack of games, but I wouldn't call it abysmal...you're reaching there, and I'm willing to bet you simply don't know most titles to be had on the system.

 

In terms of functionality, the cube's design wasn't bad. It was well cooled and as you said, it fit a lot of hardware into a tight space. My problems with it's design are mostly aesthetic. The original purple color made it look like a toy and the handle on the back seemed completely pointless. My entertainment center consists of game consoles almost exclusively and the cube (particularly with the Gameboy player) is awkwardly tall. I actually had to re-adjust my shelving just to accommodate opening the drive door.

 

I also beg to differ on the controller... I found it to be quite small and the D-pad is completely unusable. The face buttons on the controller were also awkwardly shaped. It worked for many of the first party games that were designed with it in mind, but many games are built around a standard diamond layout for the face buttons. While the cube's controller could emulate that layout, it was far from comfortable.

 

Lastly, on the topic of games - I don't deny there are some good titles on the cube, some I still play till this day but it just seemed like the first party support Nintendo consoles are known for was missing. To make matters worse, a lot of the first party titles on the system felt half-hearted at best (Sunshine, Double Dash, Thousand-Year Bore, etc.)

 

...

 

I agree that the Wii has a lot of crap on it, it was an unfortunate result of Nintendo's casual gaming push combined with the Wiimote. On the bright side though, if you're willing to sift through it, you'll find some of the finest games made in the last decade. One thing Nintendo could do to help their case is reel in developers like Ubisoft that produce games like their Imagine series. It's unbelievable how much shelf space they manage to take up with that crap. Even if they don't stop them from releasing them, they could at least cap it at only two or three per year to keep the clutter down.

[Agozer]

Might as well jump into this Nintendo conversation...

 

As far as the GameCube goes, the it had its system-sellers but those games were by large developed by Nintendo's in-house studios. True 3rd party support was piss poor, save for a very few exceptions. Another Mario game? Check. Another Pokemon game? Check? More Zelda? Definitely. Nintendo is notorious for recycling their "hits" ad nauseam thanks to the existing fanbase.

 

I've never really liked how the GameCube looked aesthetically - too boxy and toy-like + the original color scheme The GC controller, while definitely ergonomic, is otherwise a design nightmare for me. Along with the much-lambasted D-pad, the placement of the buttons pretty awkward, and I've never liked how the triggers feel.

 

Nintendo definitely gets props for introducing gaming to the casual audience with the Wii, but seeing the game library consist of game trash like Imagine Party Babies and its ilk makes me all the more concerned that even with the Virtual Console, Nintendo has completely sidestepped hardcore gamers and what they want from a gaming console. Then there's the seemingly endless parade of Wii ports of older games with motion controls tacked on for good measure, just because "Motion controls make the experience far better and justify charging full price for an old game". Like with the GameCube, some 3rd party efforts come out of the woodwork and turn out great (Dead Space: Extraction, MadWorld, etc.), but aren't nearly enough to cause much change in the otherwise extremely homogeneous game library.

[Krosigrim]

Yea but can it do 3D?

[The-Ice-Man]

I never liked Nintendo. I was always a Sega guy, and then Microsoft when Sega decided to ruin my life and not make any more consoles. It's only after I started getting properly into emulation that I've really played anything Nintendo. It's only looking back through emulation that I can see that the NES and SNES were actually quite awesome. I didn't know that the SNES was technically superior to the Mega Drive coz I never had one. But the N64 still failed compared to PSX and Saturn, purely coz it was cartridge based and just couldn't fit the same amount of content as the CDs on PSX and Saturn could, that and a shitty controller. Gamecube, on par mainly with the Xbox technically, apart from bad controller and games list. There are only a handful of games on the Gamecube that I really wanted to play, or more to the point, wanted to be ported to Xbox. Resi 1, Resi 0 and The Twin Snakes. The Wii, can seriously kiss my arse. Games that look like I could have made better 3D models myself in Milkshape? No thanks. Shaking a stick around? No thanks. The only thing I like about the Wii is the design of the console itself. It's size and look is much nicer than the 360 or PS3.

 

As for 3D, if they can make it so you don't need glasses, and I can actually see it, it's fine by me. But the price had better drop to the same as a regular TV, or I'll never buy it.

[emsley]

I think everyone is in agreement that great games on the wii for the hardcore are pretty much dried up.

 

I always thought the first party games on the cube like Vinnie said about sunshine were defently missing something.

Maybe when this Wii casual stuff dies down nintendo will come crawling back to its hardcore.

[Krosigrim]

Did you just say SNES controllers suck? Your nuts. SNES controllers are some of the best. In no particular order except Playstations first of course... Playstation, SNES, Sega-6 button & Saturn all had the tightest controls plain and simple. Im referring to Fighting games as example. With those controls in my hands, any error was on my part. 360 controls... horrible.

 

So... Bill Gates is interested in 3D and Sony is also looking into it. Im sure the next systems will be 3D capable (superior 3D) but what of this in the near future? I wonder if/when/what the first real 3D capable game will be. Capcom released a 3D version of RE5 but when will this start to take root?

[The-Ice-Man]

Did you just say SNES controllers suck?

Who me? No. I said N64 and Gamecube ones do.