Wii General Discussion

[GT4_Rule]

Its something like Mario Party, just that its even shallower? I read some reviews on it but it seemed like a game that will capure your interest for perhaps a day or two only.

 

[Wolfe]

Its something like Mario Party, just that its even shallower?

Have you played a WarioWare game before? The minigames are thrown at you at a much quicker pace, and they're far sillier.

I read some reviews on it but it seemed like a game that will capure your interest for perhaps a day or two only.

It seems that way. I'm certainly glad I rented it.

I mean, I know the whole point of the game is to have fun playing the minigames over and over, specifically with friends, but still. There isn't enough stuff here to justify its price...and that's coming from someone who didn't regret buying the also-somewhat-lacking Excite Truck.

 

[GT4_Rule]

I think I played it once. Didn't leave an impression in me, so I don't exactly remember it.

Its certainly not something to pay $50 for. For me, it's $70.

 

[FoolKiller]

Wario Ware definitely sounds like something my wife will like, considering she will only play bowling on Wii Sports.


In other news I finally got in-depth with Madden and am somewhat addicted at this point. I dove into Franchise mode with a created team and did a fantasy draft. I took the draft like a fantasy football draft, 2 backs, 2 receivers, a quarterback, kicker, 2 tight ends and then filled out the rest of my roster. The AI does its fantasy picks as grabbing one of each position, going after the best possible. I contemplated this, but Madden favors offense over defense so I stuck to my strategy.

I wound up with Tory Holt, Keyshaun Johnson, Deion Branch, and Nate Burleson at WR. I have Steven Jackson and Marshall Faulk for my halfbacks. And Eli Manning, Steve McNair, and Phillip Rivers for QB. My tight ends were Antonio Gates and Jeramy Stevens. Finally, my kickers are Adam Vinatieri and Robbie Gould. Then I created a QB and dropped Rivers, and created a more versatile halfback (power and finesse) and moved Faulk over to fullback.

The only problem with a fantasy draft is that you don't know what players you are playing against until you play them or read through the rosters.

On the Wii Madden is much more fun as I am thrusting out stiff arms and flinging the ball. Defense is a little more difficult to master, but I am able to swat or intercept passes pretty decently now. Due to my lack of attention to defense in my draft my players don't always do like I want and I get more defensive fouls than the AI and if they get any break they will score. But it works out in the end. Last night I beat Denver in my third preseason game 92-21. Scoring becomes easy when you have four great receivers and two great backs. Any form of deep pass is nearly guaranteed as you get 5 choices. I just have to watch for the sack because of my somewhat medicore O-line, but if I can wait long enough someone ends up being open, or I can count on any of my receivers to out jump their coverage. I mean, it's practically an all-star line-up.

Anyway, I started playing Madden Friday night and haven't done anything else since. I just wish it had online play.

If you haven't tried it on the Wii and don't own it on the other systems give it a try, just be sure to do some of the instructional exercises at first.

 

[Zrow]

Wario Ware is a ton of fun if you've got a few people to play with, and don't mind looking like a total fool.

 

[FoolKiller]

Well, I was expecting to get Trauma Center from Gamefly but apparently enough people have wiis and Gamefly now for there to be short waits so I am getting Rapala Tournament Fishing. Looks like I'm going to have to bust out the captain's chair and some beer.


I am going to put my Wii online sometime this week, but I have to buy my wireless router first.

Do the routers with speedbooster actually help in a noticeable way? I only have a 1meg/sec connection (cheapest package) so I don't know if it would matter anyway.

 

[DuckRacer]

For the Wii, it really won't matter for now. All the online activity you'll be doing is downloading VC games, browsing the web, and looking at the news and weather channels.

Then again, if you plan on playing major online titles online (Super Smash Bros), you'll probably want something faster.

 

[FoolKiller]

For the Wii, it really won't matter for now. All the online activity you'll be doing is downloading VC games, browsing the web, and looking at the news and weather channels.

Then again, if you plan on playing major online titles online (Super Smash Bros), you'll probably want something faster.

But in the router, will the speedbooster make a difference?

I can always upgrade my connection speed if I need, but I just want to know about the router.


EDIT: Nevermind, got it and the Wii is updating now. I did some research on the Speedbooster routers and they basically make file transfers within teh LAN faster but not Internet connection speed. So, I saved $20 and got the basic Linksys Wireless Router.

 

[FoolKiller]

First Wii post.

And the novelty has already worn off.

 

[Zrow]

Just made pro in bowling. Yeah, baby!

Thank God for roommates with Wii.

 

[Wolfe]

First Wii post.

And the novelty has already worn off.

Hehe. Yeah. I only use the Wii to post when my PC is in use by someone else.

If it had a larger buffer for videos, the Wii could be better than a computer for browsing YouTube and Google Video, simply because the image is larger on most TVs.

 

[FoolKiller]

Just made pro in bowling. Yeah, baby!

Thank God for roommates with Wii.

Enjoy your star-studded ball. A bit of caution though, you practically have to get a 150-160 to gain any points at all, so a bad game will throw you off.

Tennis is the trickiest one in pro so far, but I haven't done much boxing. But since you have to face competitors in tennis if you play by yourself you will find yourself going against opponents with skill levels of 1200+. My current tennis skill is 1004, so one bad game will throw me off.

Although, I must say that making pro seemed kind of anti-climatic. It just seems as if someone set the difficulty to hard and that was it. I was hoping each game would have a little something neat like the bowling ball, but no. Although, you can get a blue court in tennis, but that has nothing to do with your skill level.

Hehe. Yeah. I only use the Wii to post when my PC is in use by someone else.

If it had a larger buffer for videos, the Wii could be better than a computer for browsing YouTube and Google Video, simply because the image is larger on most TVs.

Does an HDTV matter at all? I have a standard projection and I couldn't get a full web page to ever fit on the screen. I just wondered if the jump to 480p mattered with the browser.

I think it would be easier if they allow keyboards in the final version.

I didn't see a buffering problem. When I first got online and downloaded my updates things were slow and I kept getting an error, but after I switched my SSID and the channel on my router it sped up. I think one of my neighbors that has WiFi might have been interfering or something. When I first set it up it was picking up a weak signal from somewhere else. I live next to a subdivision, so it could have been anybody.

I live mainly in a rural area and thought that I could get by without having to mess with my router, but when I saw that I realized the subdivision was still too close.

But after the changes the Internet moved smoothly and my Wii had a delayed News Channel announcement this morning that connected and searched in no time, where as last night took forever. It might just be the time I was on but the pick up increased with my router changes.

Anyway, the point is that You Tube didn't get lagged any more than my hardwired PC, just an occasional half second pause on a few videos, but many loaded complete 2-3 minute videos in just a few seconds.

Like you, it still seems like something that will only be used when I need my PC but it is in use.

 

[Zrow]

Enjoy your star-studded ball. A bit of caution though, you practically have to get a 150-160 to gain any points at all, so a bad game will throw you off.

Tennis is the trickiest one in pro so far, but I haven't done much boxing. But since you have to face competitors in tennis if you play by yourself you will find yourself going against opponents with skill levels of 1200+. My current tennis skill is 1004, so one bad game will throw me off.

Although, I must say that making pro seemed kind of anti-climatic. It just seems as if someone set the difficulty to hard and that was it. I was hoping each game would have a little something neat like the bowling ball, but no. Although, you can get a blue court in tennis, but that has nothing to do with your skill level.

Neat, I didn't even notice the stars on the ball before you told me.

You weren't kidding - I had a bit of an off game bowling only a 140 once, and suddenly I'm not pro anymore. It's super addicting though - definitely my most played Wii Sport.

I actually think boxing is fun, contrary to the stuff I've read. It's not perfect, but it's a fun way to waste some time beating the snot out of another armless Mii midget. Honestly I think they're all fun, and get exponentially more fun with other people.

 

[DuckRacer]

Does an HDTV matter at all? I have a standard projection and I couldn't get a full web page to ever fit on the screen. I just wondered if the jump to 480p mattered with the browser.

...I don't think so. Things of course would be sharper and clearer, but I doubt it'd make the browser fit your screen.

 

[Wolfe]

Does an HDTV matter at all? I have a standard projection and I couldn't get a full web page to ever fit on the screen. I just wondered if the jump to 480p mattered with the browser.

You mean with the page being too big? Yeah, as Duck said, I don't think it's any different on a big TV.

I didn't see a buffering problem...You Tube didn't get lagged any more than my hardwired PC...

That's not what I was talking about...

...just an occasional half second pause on a few videos...

...that is.

"Larger buffer," not "quicker buffering"... Subtle difference.

I believe the occasional pauses are caused by the browser not using memory properly, filling up its buffer and pausing momentarily to catch up with itself.

 

[FoolKiller]

...I don't think so. Things of course would be sharper and clearer, but I doubt it'd make the browser fit your screen.

You mean with the page being too big? Yeah, as Duck said, I don't think it's any different on a big TV.

Yeah, doing a bit of research I see that now. I was thinking 480p might have a large enough resolution to fit a Web site, but no. It would take at least 780p to meet current common Web resolution standards, so it just won't happen on the Wii.

That's not what I was talking about...

Sorry, I was mixing my concepts....

...that is.

....but you got my meaning, even if it was wrong.

"Larger buffer," not "quicker buffering"... Subtle difference.

I believe the occasional pauses are caused by the browser not using memory properly, filling up its buffer and pausing momentarily to catch up with itself.

Last night I would pause some videos to let them completely load before playing them but still got occasional pauses. Nothing was slow to download but processing and outputting it seemed to occasionally give it a small struggle.




Speaking of pausing, has anyone had any weird issues on games? I was playing Madden and I ran in for a touchdown, but the screen just kept looking at my player in the endzone and nothing I did would make it go back to the play screen. He just stood there and the screen just looked at him. All I could do was pause. I even tried calling a timeout from teh pause menu to see if that would help. The referee blew his whistle and the timeout box appeared at the bottom, but the screen still wouldn't move. I could see the play clock in the background as it counted down to zero for my PAT and the penalty box appeared at the bottom of the screen. I could even hear the referee when he announced the penalty. Eventually all I could do was tell it to save and exit the game. When I reloaded it loaded straight into the play menu for my PAT and the game went on without a glitch after that (unless you count the interception).

It was just weird because it wasn't frozen in the typical sense but it wasn't going anywhere either.

 

[Zrow]

I think that's just a Madden issue - it's happened to me before on the 360.

 

[FoolKiller]

I think that's just a Madden issue - it's happened to me before on the 360.

A bug this old is still in the game? Well, I guess that eliminates the "Madden '07 is just Madden '06 with Wii controls" review I read online. Now the question is: Did EA know and not care or do they just not play their own games?

I guess I will have to deal with it while I patiently wait for NFL 2K10.

 

[Zrow]

Hah, is that when EA's NFL license runs out?

I definitely agree that a game like that should be more polished. And if you can't do that in the given timeframe, which always seems to be the case, DON'T pump one out every year. We've got the network technology to keep the rosters updated, so that's not an excuse anymore.

Not that this would ever happen, because EA makes a ton off them.

 

[FoolKiller]

Has anyone used a PNY SD card for their Wii? They have them on sale at Best Buy and the price is good enough to make me think about getting it, but Nintendo makes it sound as if only BD&A cards will work.

I'm 99% positive that pretty much any SD card will work and thewhole BD&A thing is because they are licensed, but I just wanted to check and see before I spent some money.

 

[DuckRacer]

Has anyone used a PNY SD card for their Wii? They have them on sale at Best Buy and the price is good enough to make me think about getting it, but Nintendo makes it sound as if only BD&A cards will work.

I'm 99% positive that pretty much any SD card will work and thewhole BD&A thing is because they are licensed, but I just wanted to check and see before I spent some money.

...Well, I used my Sandisk SD card straight from my digital camera, and it works.

 

[Wolfe]

I nabbed a 2GB PNY SD card and a USB card reader to transfer files to/from my PC for about $57 at Best Buy back in November.

Works like a charm -- I can listen to whatever mp3s I want in Excite Truck, and I have a handful of random JPEGs I can play with in the Photo Channel. And they don't have to be photos.

 

[FoolKiller]

Thanks, guys. I just wanted to be sure. 👍

 

[Wolfe]

Post #352 was a Wii Internet Channel post, and upon using it again, I began thinking about what the browser really needed, more than anything else.

- Tabs
- Clipboard and a copy/cut/paste function
- URL bar
- Media player(?)

What would be on your short lists for Wii Browser features? Has anyone heard anything new on the Internet Channel front?

 

[Vasco]

I just got my wireless router up and running today, and the Wii internet channel seems good so far, it has great promise. The news channel is really great, I will definitely be using it regularly.

Of course the best thing is now I can get some VC games for some good ole 64 multiplayer!

 

[FoolKiller]

Post #352 was a Wii Internet Channel post, and upon using it again, I began thinking about what the browser really needed, more than anything else.

- Tabs
- Clipboard and a copy/cut/paste function
- URL bar
- Media player(?)

What would be on your short lists for Wii Browser features? Has anyone heard anything new on the Internet Channel front?

Tabs definitely. I don't know how many times I thought to click a link when I would normally have opened in a new window/tab and and debated whether it was worth leaving my current page.

URL bar would be nice, but not necessary.

A way to save files? If I see a pic that I think would be funny to post here or send to a friend I can't.

Keyboard/mouse ability.

I also agree on media player. The only video I can get to work is You Tube.

Then fix whatever causes me to lock up (is this just me?) when it is trying to load an image. This might just be mainly through Yahoo! because it is typically if a friend sends me a link to their Flickr account or attaches an image into an email. It just freezes up and I have to reset the system. It isn't every time either. It has happened just trying to load an image for an ad on my Yahoo! email page. It did do it once on Google Images as well.

At least it plays some online games.



I have a question about the browser. The way I understood Nintendo's release about the browser was that the full version would be out in spring and would be free, but it would cost 500 points if you got it after June. I have heard other sites talk about it like everyone will have to pay 500 points in June just to keep using it. Which is it?


EDIT:
I played Contra III: Alien Wars for the first time last night. Was that game always so hard? Or did I just become the suck after all these years? Still fun as hell though.

 

[Casio]

I had my first experience on a Wii last night, I must say, it was quite fun, but I think it's really something that I would only use with a bunch of friends, probably not just sitting at home by myself. Admittedly I only played Wii Sports.

But I must ask, why is everything backwards for people who play left handed like me? For example in Golf, I had to swing in the opposite direction of the TV.

 

[DuckRacer]

But I must ask, why is everything backwards for people who play left handed like me? For example in Golf, I had to swing in the opposite direction of the TV.

When you select a Mii to use it should ask you what dexterity you are.

 

[Casio]

When you select a Mii to use it should ask you what dexterity you are.

I meant more specifically the action. When I did bowling left handed, it did it exactly the same as a right hander would, just bowling normally towards the TV. However, the golf swing, which is more or less the same as a bowl, had to be done backwards?

Also we were just kinda swapping every couple of minutes so the right hand players got preference.

 

[Wolfe]

I have a question about the browser. The way I understood Nintendo's release about the browser was that the full version would be out in spring and would be free, but it would cost 500 points if you got it after June.

That's the version I know. At this point, I'd trust it.