Hi guys! I finally had the privilege of trying out the Wii last night at my local internet gaming cafe and let me tell you, I don't think I ever had this much fun playing a game console in years!
First off, the system. I had no idea it was so small!
It's just big enough to fit into your lunchbox!
Next, the games. The games I had the privilege of trying out were Wii Sports, Dragonball Z: Tenkaichi Budokai 2, and Trauma Center: Second Opinion.
Wii Sports - first game I tried out. After I had one of my friends create a "Mii" for me to use in the game, I was all set to go.
The game I wanted to try out the most was bowling. At first, the controls on the Wiimote took a little getting used to but after a couple of minutes of figuring out the routine, I was ready to play. The controls were fantastic! The wind-up, the follow through, the tilt, and the physics involved really made you feel that you were playing a game of bowling!
For the first few rounds, I could only get a few pins down, but by the eighth and ninth round, I was doing strikes and splits! Before I knew it, my rounds were over and I had to give the Wiimote to someone else to try out. I didn't have time to try out the other sports games as I really wanted to test out Dragonball Z next.
Dragonball Z: Tenkaichi Budokai 2 - second game on the list. I have to admit that the controls were pretty tough to master at first since there is a lot of characters with a
lot of different moves and a LOT of different movements of the Wiimote to use. I decided to go with Piccolo and Goku for my trial. I went into practice mode and started practicing my Kamehameha wave that Goku uses. It was pretty tricky at first since I needed to use the nunchuk part of the controller and needed to hold down both the Z and B buttons to get it right as well as having the cursor on the screen at the same time. After a bit of practice, I got it. Man, does it feel euphoric to kick ass while simulating the fighter moves!
Next up, I tried Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon (or Makankosappo for you purists
). Same deal only with Z and B while putting the controller near my forehead and spreading it out to simulate the "feel" of the attack. The game will take a
lot to get used to and may kill the whole fighting aspect when all you want to do is get straight to the ass kicking but once you get the moves down, boy will you have fun!
Trauma Center: Second Opinion - third and final game on the list. This game was a lot more easier to control than Budokai Tenkaichi but still a little tougher than Wii sports. Trauma Center involves using the Wiimote to perform careful surgery. I got to play through the first few missions (didn't get to the mission with the defiliberator though...really wanted to try it
) and had to press the button sequences and adjust the Wiimote in accordance to how you use the different tools in your arsnenal. For instance, the A and B buttons had to be pressed simultaneously to get the "feel" of forceps while you needed to hold the A button down and carefully curve the Wiimote while following a straight line as if you're using a scalpel to perform an incision. Now, I've played the DS version and both games are similar in scenario whereas the Wii version has a few new twists thrown in. It all took a little getting used to but after going through the tutorial, I had a lot of fun. It really makes you feel like a surgeon performing operations!
And with that, I had my Wii experience. Forget the PS3 and XBox 360, I now know what system I'm getting for Christmas!
Michael, I've read your complaints about the whole "fakeness" of the games for Neo-Geo and I agree with you wholeheartedly. Hell, this goes all the way back to '92 I believe with Mortal Kombat for the SNES. Now, in the arcades, Mortal Kombat 1 had all the blood and decapitations. For the SNES version, Nintendo had to remove all the decapitations and replace the blood with sweat so that they can please their "family principles" with the game. I remember being confused at first then getting pretty pissed off that Nintendo did this back then. To add insult to injury, on the back of the SNES box of the port, they showed an actual arcade cabinet machine of MK1 and had the nerve to call it like it was based on the popular arcade. Ha! The arcade game was popular because of the blood and decapitations! It sold because it was
controversial! Yet Nintendo thought that people would still buy into the censored POS that they put out. Yet, the Sega Genesis version allowed you to put the blood and guts back in through a special code. Before you can say FATALITY, every kid in the nation figured out the code and bought a Genesis just for the blood and to spite Nintendo and that version outsold the SNES version 3:1. Eventually, the whole "principles" concept fell flat on its ass with Nintendo and they were forced to appeal to the hardcore gamer just to stay afloat in the console wars. With the addition of ESRB ratings, it made it even easier for them.
I'm also aware of Jojo being censored in America with Dio pouring "water" and drinking "white wine" instead of "blood". It was stupid and made no sense when you saw Dio pouring "water" on his fallen opponents.
As for Neo-Geo being censored here, it
is stupid. I mean you're talking about a system which has Mai Shiranui as one of its most popular characters...and we know what she's got!
P.S. Mike, tell your son he rocks for me!
