Surviving the Wii game drought
Friday, August 24th, 2007 at 1:12pm by Mark Brezinski
Those familiar with Nintendo are also familiar with the double-edged sword of the Nintendo Seal of Approval. Sure, Nintendo’s first-party publications are usually incredible in quality, but that quality comes at a price: time. Nintendo’s big games are usually spaced incredibly far apart with little to keep us occupied in the interim. I know I’ve personally been dealing with Nintendo withdrawal lately, so I’ve decided to help ease those of you in the same situation by invoking the ghosts of gaming past and putting our misery in perspective.The worse dearth of Nintendo games I can remember was on the N64. Issues of timing began with the system itself, which suffered from repeated delays. When it was finally released, it came with untold expectations, but only featured one major title for a period of about three months, when Mario Kart 64 came out and had to tide us over for about six months until Star Fox 64. Does this ring any bells for you Wii owners? This time around we were given a Zelda entry, and then about four months later we got Paper Mario, which as been followed by a huge dearth of quality releases. History appears to be repeating itself, and we’re again sitting around with an innovative piece of hardware and hardly any games that take advantage of it.
The Wii, fortunately, has quite a few more minor titles than the N64 did. I’ve owned Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wario Ware, Super Monkey Ball, Elebits, Excite Truck, Sonic and Mario Party 8, and most of them have been quite entertaining. The problem is, none of them have had that “essential gaming experience” feel to them. The problem with most of the games that have come out are the same as those few initial N64 supplemental titles: they’re not deep enough to offer a robust gaming expereince. The simplicity of Wii Sports and Wii Play means their replay value suffers. Wario Ware, for all its mini games, is ridiculously short and gets old almost as fast. Games like Elebits and Excite Truck were surprisingly great, but also got old quickly. Mario Party 8 isn’t very much fun unless you have a full garrison of players, and even then it’s nothing revolutionary. I’d rather not drum up any bad memories by laboring over why Monkey Ball and Sonic were disappointing.
Fortunately for the Wii, it’s release library is bolstered with nostalgia. The virtual console is a great idea, and I’m thoroughly glad I now own a legal copy of Actraiser. The main problem with the virtual console is that Nintendo fans most likely haven’t stopped playing these games since they’ve been released. I wouldn’t consider myself a Nintendo fanboy specifically, but I still keep a working SNES by my television with a bundle of choice games. Even if you get a chance to snag a title you don’t own or haven’t played to death, chances are it’ll be a minor diversion at best.
Therefore, despite numerous distractions, we Nintendo veterans feel just like we did with our N64s: bored and impatient. Most people who own a Wii have been done with Zelda for quite some time now, and there hasn’t been much to keep us occupied. I know I’ve been visiting the Smash Bros. Brawl page every day, hoping the December 3rd release date will have magically changed. Sadly, it hasn’t yet.
Looking back on the N64 experience with a Wii perspective, we had a lot more quality games available now than we did then. When Mario 64 got old, all we had was Mario Kart to keep our N64 experience going for the ungodly 6-month period before Star Fox 64 saved us. Star Fox, in turn, didn’t even need to hold our attention for two months before GoldenEye bought Nintendo all the time they needed to get their game-making machine up and running. Of course there were other games along the way, but these were the major ones, and they strung us along one game at a time.
Again, this is remarkably similar to the Wii. As previously mentioned, we have Twilight Princess and Paper Mario as solid games, the Wii version of Mario 64 and Mario Kart. We know Smash Bros. is coming out in December, which will most likely buy the Wii enough time to get rolling, just as GoldenEye did for the N64.
What Wii users need is a Star Fox. Star Fox 64 came out about nine months after the N64’s release, and we’re pushing nine at the moment. As timing would have it, we’re also pushing towards the release of Metroid Prime 3. It’s coming out a bit sooner than Star Fox did, but it will have some help bridging the GoldenEye gap from the Tombraider remake and Mario Galaxy.
If the N64 was any indication, the worst is over as far as Nintendo’s release doldrums are concerned; Metroid Prime 3 represents gamers getting over the hump. From here, every Wii user should be able to look forward to a fairly consistent gaming experience into the foreseeable future. All we have to do is just make it until next Monday, and the temporal curse that is the Nintendo Seal of Approval will be broken – if only for the time-being.
August 24th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Dude, seriously, what drought? I have been playing daily since January and i can´t keep up with all the games i want. Have you played Trauma Center?Dragon Ball Z, The Godfather, Red Steel, Mario Strikers those are fun games and there are many other. Anyway, i guess is just a matter of the taste each one like, because what some people see as a drought, i see as a game overload and i just can´t keep up to date, now that will be imposible with the upcoming holiday season.
August 24th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
You know, I have said a very similar thing about the Virtual Console. Most of the glory of it is killed by the fact that I still have the original systems connected directly below the Wii. The only one I dont have (as it no longer works) is an NES and that is what 70% of my VC purchases have been, games I want a working copy of again…Though there are a couple of releases I was always curious about that I might have missed before (Paper Mario, Dragon’s Curse, Kid Icarus most prominent of those) But Strikers is actually holding my attention like Sakuragi said. It is a good game, with a reasonable online system, its more like my new Mariokart…until Mariokart Wii comes out that it…
August 24th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
Add to that the fact that a lot of us actually own a DS an, at least, another console, and there is no such thing as a Drought.
I’m currently playing the following:
GBA Micro: River City Ransom and Final Fantasy V
DS: Puzzle Quest, Metroid Prime Hunters, Big Brain Academy and Izuna
PS2: Rogue Galaxy
Wii: Trauma Center, Wi Sports and Wario ware (also, Chicken Little with my 8 year old sister).
VC: Actraiser, Donkey kong Country 2, Military Maddness (second round of campaigns)
I’m 28, about to get married and I have a job. For me, total Play-time is not what it used to be 2 or 3 years ago. I’m lucky if I can get an hour or two a day to play.
No matter how “hardcore” you are, if you actually have a LIFE, there is no drought.
August 24th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
Even if the Wii games that have come out so far are not your cup ‘o tea, there is always the DS!
I also feel a game overload, but that is because of all the quality titles that have come out this year for the DS…
August 24th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
@EdEN:
“No matter how “hardcore” you are, if you actually have a LIFE, there is no drought.”
You hit the nail
August 24th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
Geez, what a whiny post. Plenty of good games to play for the average person. If Nintendo released all the games you want to play when you want them, they would need to put a new zelda, mario, metroid, Fzero, mario cart, starfox, SSB, Mario Party and whatever else out every year, and then you would complain that there are to many sequels! If you want to experience a REAL drought, go look at the PS3.
This post just proves that there is NO pleasing some people.
August 24th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
Eden’s last sentence is Truth.com
August 24th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
Yeah I’m in agreement with most of the above posts. I’m actually in game overload trying to complete some of my titles before the next set hits. With Metroid next week I don’t know when I’ll be able to finish everything I want to play.
August 24th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Welcome to Infendo, Mark B!
August 24th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
i agree with many here……far from a drought. at the moment i’m playing strikers, still playing wii sports from time to time, still working on RE4, trauma center, red steel, super paper mario, elebits. i have beaten zelda already at least. i’m having a hard time trying to find the time for all, especially with the DS around. i’m still working on phoenix wright 2, etrian odyssey, sim city DS, picross DS, clubhouse games, children of mana, final fantasy 3. and i’m still trying to find enough money for heroes of mana, and transformers DS, and also myst which should be coming out soon, as well as phantom hourglass, arkanoid and contra 4. i don’t get this thing about a drought. metroid prime 3 is just around the corner, then you got battalion wars, endless ocean, nba live 08, fire emblem, zack and wiki, samurai katana, and mysims all coming out relatively shortly. then there’s super smash and galaxy by the end of the year. what drought are we talking about here??!!
August 24th, 2007 at 2:20 pm
and i totally forgot to mention all the virtual console games i have. that in itself is another beast as far as time and money are involved.
August 24th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
Thanks, David. Glad to be here!
I’m actually new to getting feedback on an article, so it’s nice to know people actually read what I write.
The main reason I wrote this article was to reassure those who felt the same as I did, namely that there weren’t a lot of particularly engrossing games for the Wii. I also thought it was interesting that my N64 deja vu was reflected in release dates. If you’re totally satisfied with your Wii gaming experience, then this article most likely isn’t for you.
I chose to leave the DS and other systems out of it because I wanted to focus on the Wii gaming experience exclusively. I do understand other systems exist, and that if you own them, you will most likely own games for them as well. The reason I haven’t played a few of the games mentioned, specifically Trauma Center and RE4, is because I own them on the DS and GC already. The other reasons I chose not to include other consoles are because I don’t currently own them and because this is a Nintendo blog. Also, as I mentioned in the article, I’m in the happy position of already owning a large majority of VC games for their original systems.
For those of you who feel overloaded with games, feel free to post comments about which ones you’re currently playing. For those who do have other consoles, how much of your time gaming would you say you spend on the Wii? I am genuinely curious to read any such feedback.
August 24th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
I mostly cycle between consoles and handhelds depending on how much time I have for videogames.
The GB Micro and DS see the most play because I can just use them for 10-20 minutes and get back to other matters (the Sleep Mode in the DS is the greatest gift to gamers). Wii play sessions can be anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours depending on the game and, again, the time available. A quick VC fix, thanks to the state-save option, is great. The PS2 gets played when I have cycled by the other handhelds and the Wii since a game like Rogue Galaxy needs at least a 1 hour session due to the placement of the Save Points in the game and the increased fight-rate (it is an RPG after all).
I’m practically a Videogames Museum since I own a lot of consoles (Atari, NES, SNES, N64, PSX, Dreamcast, GC, PS2, Wii and I’m looking forward to buying an X360 once the new 65 nm chip is in place) and Nintendo handhelds (GB Color, GBA, GBA SP, GBM and 2 DS Lite) and it IS weird for me to NOT sit down for, at least, a 3 hour gaming session every day as I ussed to do a few years back with all those systems.
And finally, the following games are sitting at my room waiting for a chance to be played:
GB Micro: Eragon, Boktai 2 and Scurge:Hive
DS Lite: Age of Empires, Final Fantasy III, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, Phoenix Wright 2.
PS2: Sega Genesis Collection, God of War 2 and MSG 3.
GC: Odama (haven’t finished it yet) and Resident Evil 2 (got it new for $10).
Wii: Super Paper Mario, Twilight Princess (waiting to buy a 40″ LCD TV to do the game justice), Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition (own the GC copy but got this one dirt cheap AND new).
And when I realize I have Metroid Prime 3, Super Mario GAlaxy, Smash Bros, Batallion Wars 2, Fire Emblem, Endless Ocean, Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, Guitar Hero III and so many more games JUST for the Wii and not counting the DS Lite (Phantom Hourglass, Phoenix Wright 3, Etrian Oddisey, Chibi Robo, just to name a few) or the PS2 (Persona, Odin Sphere, Growlanser)… well, how many hours does a day have?
Maybe I’ll get a chance to catch up by March 2008 if I use my sick-days wisely…
August 24th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
Well, for the “drough” i got gamefly, and for me lasted 2 months. When strikers came, my drough was over.
From now on, you have at LEAST 1 must buy game per month.
September- You’ll still be playing MP3, Batallion Wars 2 (late sept?)
October- Still playing BW2, Manhunt 2(Oct 31)
November- Still playing manhunt 2, Mario Galaxy(nov 12)
December- Brawl of course (dec 3)
Im missing bigs like zack & wiki, Resident evil, geometry wars, soul calibur, rayman rabbin rabbits 2, Final Fantasy, FIFA/ NBAL 08 and NIGHTS which release dates i dont know. It’s an awesome list for upcoming 07 Wii titles, which is where my money will be heading!
August 24th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
My opinion
Nintendo is the uncontested leader so far this gen.
PS2 was the uncontested leader last gen.
It would be unthinkable for 3rd parties to pass over PS2 last gen, and so PS2 had a vast number of games from all walks of life and all levels of quality popping up even early in the cycle.
Wii does not have this, despite the market and demand being equal (or greater).
Why?
It’s certainly not Nintendo’s fault. They provided a system with lower graphics developement requirements, low dev kit costs, the easiest development platforms, new opportunities for game design and new markets to hit.
Who’s fault is this?
Fanboys
Fanboys running big games companies, who have a hangup about ‘abandoning’ the hardcore and focusing on the ‘youth oriented’ Wii demographics.
August 24th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
@ Mark:
First of all let me welcome you to Infendo.
Great job on keeping all Nintendo related and Wii focused, as there recently was a little problem about not giving Nintendo news/giving other system’s news by a certain writer/podcast guy.
Anyway, while i do disagree with you and already stated why in my previous post, it’s good to see you stated your reasons and justified your thinking, and even though many of the commenters state that this is not true for them, those reasons make your point valid.
Keep up the good job, and have a nice day!
August 24th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
@ Elmer:
Actually no. It’s the 3rd party companies’ fault… of course, they are not to blame.
If they would’ve known the Wii would be such a great console, AAA developer teams would’ve worked on it from the start. We didnt see such dev teams working on them till the Wii was actually out, and that’s why great 3rd party games havent came out. They will though, and pretty soon… maybe not AAA games YET, but still darn good games(see my list of games in the 1st comment of mine in this article).
August 24th, 2007 at 9:25 pm
What drought? There are more games I want than I can afford. Some gamers are just way to picky for their own good. If you think there is a drought, its you, not the games. I’ll admit there is a major shortage of RPGs on the Wii, which I really hope to see change soon, but if thats all you like, then you need to expand your gaming a little.
August 24th, 2007 at 9:35 pm
Also, I’ll say it again, because it doesn’t get said nearly enough, Excite Truck was fracking fantastic.
Right now, I’m playing strikers too much to do much else, but I really had a blast with Trauma Center (way better than on the DS), Elebits, Wario Ware, Twilight Princess, Wii Sports, Super Paper Mario, and Wii Play (I could play Tanks and ping pong forever). I even had a good time with Red Steel. I can’t believe the coming lineup though, as much as I’ve enjoyed the games so far, the games coming this fall look 10 times better.
August 25th, 2007 at 12:32 am
Well done Used cisco. As many of us expresed earilier, is not the game, but the gamer. Some are being way too picky and that is not really helping them or the Wii. Anyway, good to see an improvement in the 2nd batch for both 1st and 3rd party games… too bad i cant buy them all.
(On a side note) are you mike in strikers? Or did you deleted me from your friends list?
August 25th, 2007 at 12:53 am
Buy third party games.
August 25th, 2007 at 8:45 am
@droop,
Yes, I’m now mike on strikers and I have every intention of passing your score today, so watch out!
btw, your win/loss record is very impressive. I’m jealous!
August 25th, 2007 at 9:51 am
My patience for third parties officially runs-out at the end of the year. As far as the “We didn’t see the Wii’s success coming” excuse, I think that this time frame is more than generous.
It’s now plainly obvious that Nintendo will be THE industry leader for the next few years, and should hardheaded developers still refuse for whatever idiotic reasons, I’ll have no pity for them when they Clover themselves (i.e., drown in red ink).
August 25th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
@hylianTom,
I’m inclined to agree with you, but realistically, ask yourself WHEN it became “plainly obvious that Nintendo will be THE industry leader”.
You specifically use the word “now”. Assuming you mean this month, then we shouldn’t expect to see a slough of third party games for about a year, or a little less if they hurry.
Basically, what I’m saying is that while I agree with you, you really need to give 3rd parties about a year from the date that Nintendo became market leader, in order to give them time, most games take about a year to develop.
And if you look at the last TEN YEARS, Nintendo has not been so good for third parties. This mentality will not reverse itself overnight, even if the Wii kicks ass like it has been.
August 25th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
@ Droop.
Nope.
Nintendo definitely demonstrated potential for new kinds of low cost and interesting development at Tokyo Game Show 2005. Devs didn’t listen. The writing was seriously on the wall at E3 2006 when everyone attending PS3/360 and were stunned by Wii. Devs didn’t listen. Nintendo has now been dominating consistently in every region in the world since 2006. Devs haven’t listened. At E3 2007, after Microsoft announced 1billion dollar quarterly losses, and Sony announced emergency price cuts, what did devs show us for Wii? Fuck all.
It’s not just a thin lineup for Wii from 3rd parties. It’s a thin lineup going forwards. Seriously ask yourself what the major publishers have coming more than two months from now and you’ll be shocked and insulted at their stupidity.
EA: My Sims Wii. I guess they still think we’re 4. Rock Band? Nope. Not confirmed. Nothing new or exclusive after that. Nothing next year.
Activision: COD4? Nope. Guitar Hero at PS3 prices. Nothing new or exclusive. Nothing next year.
Atari: Another Dragon Ball. Generally thin.
Konami: Pro Evo, 6 months late and ported from PS2. Otherwise nothing.
Capcom: After Zak and Wiki (a budget title) and a remake of a remake of a remake of a remake that is RE:UC, nothing. Both this year, nothing next year. Fuck all.
Any FPS Dev: Total ignorance.
Take Two: surprising crap remake of Table Tennis + supprising release of Manhunt. Quite good support actually. Nothing for next year, and nothing original or exculsive.
Ubisoft: The best so far, with Rayman games, and (an unannounced) Red Steel 2.
Eidos: Remake of a remake of Tomb Raider. This year. Nothing planned.
Sega: Nights is good. We’re also getting a PS2 port of another Sonic Racers game, and a port of a second tier arcade shooter. Nothing next year. It took Nintendo’s influence to make the Olympic game.
SquareEnix: Best of the bunch. FF:CC, chocobo games and others I’m sure.
Not only have they got nothing, they’ve got nothing planned either. Not only should they have realised already, they should have realised a year ago.
They didn’t put minimal investment into Wii, they put ZERO investment into Wii. They mostly put ZERO investment in until E3 2007, and for all we know, most are still spending nothing on Wii. What was it we just heard about EA?
I know plenty of Japanese companies keep secrets, but Wetsern devs generally show off their goods, which in this case is close to nothing (even worse for DS).
Pretending that Wii and 2008 don’t exist do no favors for anyone.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. Devs had three baskets. They put all their eggs in two of them and none in the third. No one sensible does that.
August 25th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
“Devs had three baskets. They put all their eggs in two of them and none in the third. No one sensible does that.”
Actually, EVERY major devloper has done that for 2 generations and it was a very successful strategy. Things are changing now, these large companies took 10 years to get this narrow mindset, they’re not going to come out of it in a year. Your post is so wrong on so many levels, I can’t even being to break it down. Suffice it to say, half the games you blow off, look pretty good. Remake or not, a bit late or not, its support. To degrade it the way you do, only vindicates the third parties in not supporting Wii. Wii fans sound like cry babies, “give me your AAA title now, or give me nothing!” is what your post amounts to.
You also ignore a laundry list of games coming out in the next 6 months. Why are you so angry? Things are looking up. I’m really excited for the future of the wii and third party support is a big part of it.
August 25th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
I think that there are maybe better games coming for DS and Wii than elmer knows. After all, day and date with a brand new Zelda game on DS we have the first Ninteno Ninja Gaiden game since NES. A pretty fair looking guitar sim or two, at least two solid RPGs and that is just the DS. For Wii, we do have Zak and Wiki, (which btw seems a little deeper than a budget game), Manhunt 2, RE:UC, Nights, and Dewy’s adventure. If none of those sound promising to you, then just buy one of the eighty Nintendo made games coming out this year.
August 25th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
Clearly that is the case, here are some examples of third party support.
Blitz: The League
Dewy’s Adventure—-EXCLUSIVE
Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party—-EXCLUSIVE—ONLINE
Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire—-EXCLUSIVE
Spider-Man: Friend or Foe
Bleach: Shattered Blade
FIFA Soccer 08——ONLINE
Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground
Brothers in Arms: Double Time
Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure—-EXCLUSIVE
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock—–ONLINE
Need for Speed ProStreet
Manhunt 2——-NEXT GEN EXCLUSIVE
Geometry Wars: Galaxies——EXCLUSIVE—ONLINE
Harvest Moon Heroes
Medal of Honor Heroes 2——-Console EXCLUSIVE—–ONLINE
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
Cruis’n——-EXCLUSIVE
NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams—–EXCLUSIVE
Nitrobike—-EXCLUSIVE——ONLINE
Rayman Raving Rabbids 2——EXCLUSIVE
Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles——EXCLUSIVE
Smartypants——-EXCLUSIVE (I think(
Soulcalibur Legends——–EXCLUSIVE
Bully: Scholarship Edition
Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis
Star Trek: Conquest——-NEXT GEN EXCLUSIVE
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary——Lots of extra content on Wii
Cranium Kabookii
Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity
And this doesn’t even include the no-name dev houses.
Sure, there are some ports and remakes, but you know what, you’ll find ports and remakes on the other consoles as well. Most of these are from major devs, all here in the next few months. Several will include free online modes. This may not be UTLIMATE third party support, but considering the stuff we got on cube and N64, and we’re only 9 months in on the Wii, this is a DRAMATIC improvement and it only gets better going into 2008.
We have word that Crytek is likely working on a Wii game. A bleeding edge dev like that is unheard of on a Nintendo console. Look at games like Guitar Hero, and DDR, 2 MAJOR franchises that essentially ignored the cube. Games like Madden and Fifa reworked for Wii control with full online modes. Franchises like Pro Evo Soccer on Wii, never showed up on gamecube, not even a shoddy port 6 months late. No, we are seeing DRASTIC improvement in third party support, we need to give some credit and welcome those third parties, particularly those who go to the trouble to make a solid product worthy of the platform, and those who try new things in an effort to differentiate themselves so we don’t just get more of the same that they are pumping out on the other consoles.
August 25th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
I think the best solution is to support (financially) the third parties that went out of their way to make a ground-up quality Wii games (Konami, I am looking at elebits here) and hope they continue to make ground up games that utilize Wii’s stronger aspects…hopefully then we get an Okami 2 with a well implemented Celestial Brush.
August 26th, 2007 at 2:08 am
Man, if i listened to some of you guys I would be pretty depressed for buying the Wii…
August 26th, 2007 at 7:11 am
Hang on a bit.
I’m replying, but am busy for a while.
August 26th, 2007 at 8:38 am
oops edit to my way above post, I forgot about the SNES Ninja Gaiden 1-3 remakes or whatever