-273: Wii Party Follow-up

Wii Party Follow-up

The most popular Wii game at the party this weekend seemed to be Wii Sports. Only the baseball sub-game seemed not to generate much interest. Most people seemed to enjoy Excite Truck as well. Rayman didn't have many of the mini-games unlocked, and most were unimpressed with the options available. (Why do party games require you to play the single player mode to unlock the games? It kills what otherwise might have been a popular game.) No one was particularly impressed with Red Steel and Zelda, being a single-player game, wasn't tried.

All things considered, these results don't exactly surprise me. Zelda remains my top Wii game. Excite Truck seems to be the dark horse game of this platform. I don't think anyone was expecting it to be as much fun as it turned out to be. Wii Sports effectively and conclusively persuades new users how much fun the Wii's interface can be. For that reason, Wii Play, a companion piece to Wii Sports, is near the top of my '07 games list.

Posted by on 11 December 2006 at 12:11 PM

Comments

Are we getting Wii Play in the US? I thought that was a Japan/Australia only release? Do you own all of the games listed or were some brought over for the party? I'd be curious to hear your take on Red Steel, as the internet consensus seems to be that it had potential but was executed poorly.

Posted by Chris Hill Festival on 11 December 2006 - 6:21 PM

You are right that the rest of the world is getting Wii Play now, but Wii Play will be bundled with Wii Remotes here in the States in early '07.

Also, since you asked about Red Steel: I haven't spent any time playing the single player mode, but I was totally unimpressed with the split-screen multi-player. It doesn't let you choose different weapon sets, it doesn't let you play with bots, and it only has a few levels. It feels like an afterthought. That said, the controls feel fairly natural, so I'm still withholding final judgment until I've dived in to the core of the game. But certainly as a multi-player game it was disappointing.

Posted by david on 12 December 2006 - 10:53 AM

The Red Steel multiplayer was indeed terrible. However, as a proof-of-concept for the Wii-style of FPS gameplay, I think it worked. Who knows what the first must-have FPS on the system will be, but I'm sure by the end of 2007, someone will have gotten it right.

Posted by michael on 12 December 2006 - 4:31 PM

Interesting. It's good to hear that the control mechanism is natural, as most of the bad pre-release reviews I'd read complained mostly about the controls. I'm not a big FPS fan in general, but if there were a good one for the Wii I would be tempted to buy it, even more so if it supported online multiplayer so that I could take you on from across the state.

Posted by Chris Hill Festival on 12 December 2006 - 6:55 PM

Well, I don't think we're supposed to see any online stuff until '07, but I too would like a decent fps with multi-player support. I'll keep you posted if I find anything that fits the bill.

Posted by david on 15 December 2006 - 9:46 AM

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Well, I don't think we're supposed to see any online stuff until '07, but I too would like a decent fps with multi-player support. I'll keep you posted if I find anything that fits the bill. Interesting. It's good to hear that the control mechanism is natural, as most of the bad pre-release reviews I'd read complained mostly about the controls. I'm not a big FPS fan in general, but if there were a good one for the Wii I would be tempted to buy it, even more so if it supported online multiplayer so that I could take you on from across the state. The Red Steel multiplayer was indeed terrible. However, as a proof-of-concept for the Wii-style of FPS gameplay, I think it worked. Who knows what the first must-have FPS on the system will be, but I'm sure by the end of 2007, someone will have gotten it right. You are right that the rest of the world is getting Wii Play now, but Wii Play will be bundled with Wii Remotes here in the States in early '07. Also, since you asked about Red Steel: I haven't spent any time playing the single player mode, but I was totally unimpressed with the split-screen multi-player. It doesn't let you choose different weapon sets, it doesn't let you play with bots, and it only has a few levels. It feels like an afterthought. That said, the controls feel fairly natural, so I'm still withholding final judgment until I've dived in to the core of the game. But certainly as a multi-player game it was disappointing. Are we getting Wii Play in the US? I thought that was a Japan/Australia only release? Do you own all of the games listed or were some brought over for the party? I'd be curious to hear your take on Red Steel, as the internet consensus seems to be that it had potential but was executed poorly.
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