What should Wii do differently this year?
Thursday, January 8th, 2009 at 12:27pm by Blake
“If I can change, and you can change, everybody can change!” — Rocky IV
Wii went bananzors in 2008, as it did in 2006 and 2007 before. But while popular, some traditional gamers still grumble over what they percieve as a lack of core games, the ones that feel like the games we’ve been playing since at least the mid-’90s, and in some cases, the ’80s.
In response, GamePro has listed 10 New Year’s Resolutions for Nintendo. To name a few: Get more Western developers making Wii games, Don’t be afraid to let Mario and Zelda take a rest, Stop ignoring complaints, Keep ignoring the haters, and Streamline the Wi-Fi Connection.
What do you recommend?
January 8th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
I’d like to see the Wii developers focus more on “native-Wii” games like Boom Blox, Excite Truck and Wii Sports instead of trying to jam traditional games with a new control. Games like Tomb Raider, MLB 2k, and NBA Live are better off on other systems. Games for the Wii need to be completely reinvented just like any game that going to work well on the Iphone.
In short, the Wii shouldn’t be afraid to be itself.
January 8th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
I’d like to see a good online game (In the US anyway). Monster Hunter G, while old, I could get back into that online community, wished I lived in Japan; anyway, I want a good online game (non FPS).
January 8th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Personally I think that not all Wii games need to take advantage of the Wii remote’s functions. While those functions are very innovative and can be fun, some games just don’t need them right now. For example, the Splinter Cell Double Agent on the Wii is a good game, however the camera is controlled by the IR sensors. So in order to keep the camera steady the Wii remote needs to be pointed at the center of the screen, if you move it in any other direction the camera starts to move and can hurt how you are playing the game. On the other hand, games like Mario Kart benefit from the Wii remote’s technology because it gives the a different feel of how to play the game.
One of the few games that I have found to actually have a good combination of the Wii remote’s functions as well as traditional type game play (just sitting back and pressing buttons) is Twilight Princess. There are points where you can use the Wii remote’s functions (like aiming with your bow) but it doesn’t interfere with the game play.
I think both Nintendo and other developers need to keep this in mind and realize that not all games need to utilize every function the Wii has to offer because they are just going to end up with a complex annoying game.
January 8th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
@Cory
The Conduit is supposed to be a great online game for the Wii. Check it out if you haven’t heard about it yet.
January 8th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Yeah I remember, and I’m going to pick it up, I just would like to see a non FPS online game (although Mario Kart wii is still being played every once in a while)
January 8th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
“Get more Western developers making Wii games”
Easier said than done. Nintendo’s provided the simplest and most standard development environment, the lowest cost development platform, the widest market demographics, the largest and fastest growing install base, the only platform with strength in all three territories, the least additional development requirements (trophies, resolution upscaling req.s etc.), the most flexible online options, the most flexible (and opportunable) controller interface, the lowest royalty fees, the least xenophobic audience and the most remaining consumer cash (after purchase of the platform). What more could they reasonably do to attract 3rd parties?
More pertinently, how do the other two attract Western 3rd parties?
I’ll tell you how:
1. A PC derived development environment
2. Pandying to devs at their every whim and desire
3. Having oodles of power for their most fantasised least efficient haemoglobin shaders
4. Not being those kiddie anti-core Nintendo arseholes
5. Giving them money
For Nintendo, 1. is impossible, 3 is impossible, 4 is impossible by definition, 2 is cost in-effective, against both Nintendo’s ethos and more or less failed for them with the Gamecube, and 5 is anticompetitive to the point of bordering illegality.
January 8th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
I would really like Nintendo to focus on the perception that the Wii is unfriendly for third parties. Big name developers don’t want to compete with Nintendo software, so publishers throw out shovelware to try and make a quick buck. An oversimplification, but basically that’s the bottom line.
I keep hearing about how innovative Nintendo is, so here’s what I think is an innovative idea. Loan out some of the amazing talent you have at Nintendo, the Mario and Zelda team, and countless others, to other developers for a period of time.
Nintendo is rolling in cash, dominating the market, and still somehow struggling to get good third party games on the system. The trend is changing, but far too slowly in my opinion. Loan out some talent, free of charge even, to Western devs and they would most likely jump at the chance to make games for the system. Imagine Zelda team members working with Bioware.
I would like to see Nintendo shore up this great foundation (45mil+ install base) with great games, instead of trying to build something huge but flimsy, that cant be supported without the help of third parties.
January 8th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
More Layton in the U.S. and you won’t hear a peep from me for the rest of the year.
January 8th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Yeah, I’m totally with Paul on this one, except that Layton is a DS title!
More games like Boom Blox, Excite Truck and Wii Sports would be great, just not more sequels to them (though I will play the sequels).
Speaking of sequels, I’m happy to see that Rock Band 3 won’t be out in 2009. What about Mario Party 9, though .. with WiiSpeak and WiFi? That would be sweet.
Final Verdict: WiiWare will carry the Wii in 2009.
January 8th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
@ Attilio
I totally agree with what you said. As much as I do enjoy using the Wii controller in some games, there are other games that just don’t need it, and are actually made worse by using it. For example, we have Marvel Ultimate Alliance for the Wii. It’s not a bad game when you play it using the buttons, but when you try to use the Wii control for special moves, it just becomes to tedious.
I think Nintendo needs to focus on making some games that are very much Wii control sensitive (games that call for that kind of control), and other games that are more traditionally controlled. It’s almost like they are afraid to go the traditional route because the system is so based around the controllers.
January 8th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
All I want to see from Nintendo is:
1. Voice chat to make an appearance in more online games.
2. An Internet Channel update that upgrades Flash support. (There were rumors about this late last year, but they seem to have died down.)
3. An improved storage solution. I don’t need a lot of space, but 512MB just isn’t enough. Upping SD card access speeds is a good start, but not a real answer for running out of space on my Wii. (Sadly, I don’t think Nintendo will fix this issue.)
More good games, including some real “AAA” quality efforts, from third-party developers would also be nice — but that’s up to the third-party devs. So far they haven’t done much to impress me.
January 9th, 2009 at 7:34 am
support 3rd parties fully, and encourage them to bring new genres in.
January 9th, 2009 at 9:19 am
@Joshdad
Definitely! I played marvel also, I did not use the wii remote features once, I just sat there pushing the buttons. To be honest I like the idea of being able to “choose”. Perhaps that is something that developers should look into and possible have it as an option in the game settings, to either just sit back and press buttons or to use the wii remote’s features as well as pressing buttons.
@ejamer
Yeah we definitely need better storage, especially for people who download a lot of games from the shop channel.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:23 am
Friend Codes.
I know five people who have Wii consoles yet I only know one of their ‘friend codes’. And that is only because my son asked their son for it.
I am 41 years old and I am not about to call up my peers and ask them to be my friend. I don’t think I could walk them through the process of finding the code, either.
My wife is on ‘Facebook’ and she has explainded their ‘friend’ process to me and it seems much more ‘friendly’.
You search their directory for friends and then you send them a ‘friend’ request. They can either accept or refuse depending on if they know the individual requesting.
It seems straightforward and effective. I don’t know how it stops spamming of the directory but she isn’t getting any unwanted requests (other than a few from people she does know but wishes she didn’t!).
The whole friend code thing has kept me from using any such online functionality. In fact, I couldn’t find my own friend code. My son had to go searching for it. We found it only by opening up a ‘new mail’ in the Wii Calendar.
Surely it must be somewhere else?
January 9th, 2009 at 11:50 am
@ blue
I like your idea a lot. It would be so much easier if Nintendo had the same kind of friend system that Facebook has, but I don’t think it’s going to happen for this reason.
I think Nintendo has set themselves a really high standard for trying to protect younger kids. I think they use the system they have to keep kids as safe as they think is possible. With the facebook system any kid could easily accept any request sent at them from anybody (whether they know them or not). There’s not really a whole lot of security there. I think facebook caters to more of an adult / older teen group, and the security is provided by the actual user (do I know this person, do I want to add them). I think Nintendo feels like many of it’s users are younger kids who don’t have that same kind of discernment, and could easily get themselves in “trouble” with such an easy to accept system.
I don’t know if I agree with this philosophy because of the aggravation of having to go through so much trouble to add a single friend, but it does seem to be a much more “secure” system for kids.
Maybe they could add some kind of option of turning a facebook like system on or off. So if you have younger kids, you could lock out such a system, but if you have older kids (or no kids), you could add friends much easier.
BTW, I can relate to you. I’m about the same age, my wife loves facebook, and occasionally I have to ask my son to explain something about the Wii to me.
January 11th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
best prices on wii
http://newtreasuresonline.com
January 12th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
I Think Wii Should Offer Expansion Packs
I Downloaded Mario Kart 64, Why Can’t Mario Kart Wii Use This As An Expansion Pack I Don’t Know But It Would Be Cool
But Like Alot Of Other Games (Super Mario Bros. Series) Have Alot Of Things In Common If They Were To Make Other Games In The Series To Be Expansion Packs That Could Save Alot Of Room On The Wii