GDC08: Wobbling with Wii Fit
As soon as the expo hall opened this morning, I made a beeline for Wii Fit, because what I really needed after two full days of walking was some exercise, and more standing. Luckily, there wasn't too much of a line, since Nintendo was demonstrating Brawl just a few feet away.
The second I stepped onto the board (shoes off, please!) I pretty much forgot everything. Not just what I've learned about Wii Fit and how it's played, but how to lean right. There was a bit of a learning curve before I was translating foot and body motions into desired onscreen action. It's somewhat nonintuitive, after all, to stand still on a motionless object to create motion.
%Gallery-4745%
I tried the rolling-marble game first, which is probably one of the hardest Nintendo games in years. With your leaning controlling the tilt of the level, you roll one or more balls into holes without causing a ball to fall off. If one falls, the level rapidly rotates around. It's not that precise control is impossible using balance, but that it almost feels like it requires a rewiring of my brain. In a good way.
I then did some skiing, both slalom and ski jump. For some reason, I couldn't get the leaning right to control the slalom either -- I just need practice. The ski jump, however, I got right away. First, you lean forward to the correct point, then raise up on your toes when you hit the jump. The first time, I did great. The second time, I dropped back down from the jump pose and my skier bumbled accordingly.
Finally I tried the iconic soccer game. I've seen it a million times, but for some reason I thought I was supposed to avoid the soccer balls instead of hitting them. So I did poorly. But again, that's me and not the game!
