The difference with the DS is that it actually advanced the Gameboy in a logical direction by adding a touch screen and vastly superior graphics along with the GBA controls and a couple extra buttons. The Wii doesn't advance anything, it just adds motion control that has already been tried a million times to a Gamecube. The Wii is based entirely around a gimmick; its not just a feature of the system, the gimmick IS the system.
Well gimmick or not, the Wii has proven to be fun to many people so far. I don't know which games used motion control for Gamecube, but I admit motion control, pointing, and whatever else is in the damn Wiimote isn't exactly new. However the Wii is the first system to actually put all of these various devices together into one controller to make a new way of playing games.
Even for games that don't utilize the Wiimote much, like Zelda, I still find to be fun. The only difference in the attack system in the Wii version of Zelda to the Gamecube is that you swing the remote to attack instead of pushing the button. No special direction for attacks, no strength sensoring, nothing new. However even the simple swing on the Wiimote attack makes the Wii version of Zelda feel new and fun to me and has actually gotten me to feel like I am in the game a few times (one boss was pissing me off, so I literally started swinging harder and what not even though it wouldn't effect the swing). On a side note, I found the way you do the spin attack in Wii Zelda by spinning the nunchuck to feel a lot smoother and be more efficient than holding down a button. Don't even get me started on how much more a prefer actually aiming precise arrow shots with a remote than a analog
.
Now Zelda was a game that was originally designed for Gamecube and wasn't designed with the Wii controls in mind, so the Wii version of Zelda could've been even nicer than it was. But Zelda is one thing and games like Wii Sports is another. A game like Wii Sports is clearly designed for the Wii and really takes advantage of the Wiimote's abilities. Never before have I been able to interact with a game so well before in my life. When I play Tennis, it damn well feels like I'm playing Tennis
. I can smack a home run, swing a club on a beautiful course, or punch a silly looking guy to threads all in the comfort of my living room. What if I am too tired to play? Easy, I can still play when I sit down. This is what I especially love about a game like Wii Sports. When my body feels tired from jumping around smacking balls, I can sit down and play the games in a different, but more relaxing way. It's honestly one of the greatest video game experiences I've ever had.
And Wii Sports is just a demo title showing what the Wiimote is capable of. I can't wait until they make something like Mario Tennis for Wii where it plays like real tennis but contains stuff you could never do in real tennis, like launch turtle shells across the court and burn opponents with fireballs. From what I've read about the new Wario Ware game for Wii, it makes the best use of the Wiimote yet and really adds more fun to the system.
