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Wii message board vs. Wii whiteboard
The message on the screen above took about a minute and a half to input using the on-screen keyboard and Wii remote, not including the few seconds it took to pick up the controller and access the message post function. The message written on the actual Wii took roughly a minute to write, and that's including about 40 seconds spent searching for a white board marker (not to worry fanboys... it washes off with a damp paper towel).The message on the screen requires Billy to turn on the Wii, pick up the controller and click through to the message in "today's posts" before being readable. The message on the actual Wii/whiteboard is readable as soon as Billy walks in the room.Nintendo, remind us again how the Wii message board is "somewhere where the family can easily share and exchange ideas."
Improving one's self in Wii Sports: Bowling
Joystiq's own Kyle Orland sat down with the Wii and looked to test out the learning curve. In choosing Wii Sports: Bowling, he looked to see if Nintendo's motion-control scheme was as intuitive and easy to use as the company had marketed. So how does one accomplish this? By playing a lot of Wii. Going through natural motions and even trying to "trick" the game, Kyle's results were as follows: Game 1: Having trouble letting go of the "B" button in mid-swing. The result is a late throw that ends up dribbling down the lane for a few pins. Score: 110 Game 2: Better with the timing, but the ball has a natural curve at the end that makes most shots miss the mark just barely. Score: 116 Game 3: Consciously focusing on keeping the ball straight. Throwing it at less than full power seems to help. Score: 146 Game 4: Confident in the straight game, I focus on adding some spin to the end of the shot. Most shots end up too turning too much or too little. Score: 145 Game 5: Working off a surprise strike from game 5, I decide to try a standard first shot for all ten frames -- full power, straight on from the right edge with maximum leftward spin. I get two strikes but miss a few easy spares. Score: 147 Game 6: I try shooting with an approach from the extreme left side, angled towards the center with a slight spin. No strikes, but I pick up the spare on all but one frame. Score: 166 Game 7: No set strategy -- I pick shots based on flights of fancy. Pick up eight spares and two splits. Score: 159 Game 8: Arm is getting a little tired from 140+ straight throws without a break, so I try to fool the system by sitting down and just flicking my wrist. The results are disastrous. Score: 111 So what did Kyle find? He found that over these 8 games, in slightly adjusting his movements, he actually got better at the game. Also, trying to trick the game by flicking the Wiimote fast did little to improve his score. So what does this mean? Well, if you're good at bowling in real life, you'll probably be good in Wii Sports: Bowling.
Climbing the learning curve with Wii Sports Bowling
Since Nintendo announced the motion sensitive control scheme for the Wii, there has been a lot of debate over how easy the new controller would be to learn and use well. Would the natural motions be completely intuitive, as Nintendo claimed, or would swinging an arm actually end up being harder than pushing a few buttons. Now that we actually have a Wii console in our grasps, we decided to find out how our skills with the controller developed over a few games of Wii Sports: Bowling. Read on to see how quickly our skills developed.
First look: Excite Truck
Ever since we received our Wii, everyone has been dying to play that Zelda game. It's left us little time to take trucks, of the most exciting variety, out for a spin. After running through the first set of races and unlocking the silver series, we have overall good impressions of the game. Visually, it looks good. No pop-up present that we can determine and the sense of speed is really spot-on. We currently have 3 vehicles at our disposal. A dune buggy-like vehicle is our personal favorite, mainly for its incredibly light weight (which helps us bust some amazing drifts and big air). Upon completing courses, we're rewarded for our efforts with a grade. The learning curve is rather small for this also, as upon completing our first race, we received a grade of F and, only 2 short races following, we were receiving A's and S's with relative ease.Keep an eye out here for more impressions on the game as we progress and check after the break for some more pictures.
Posting messages on the Wii
Upon setting up the Wii, our first goal was to establish Internet access and download a ton of VC games check out the WIiConnect 24 service. Problem is, Nintendo hasn't turned on their servers yet, so while our Wii can find an access point, it can't connect to Nintendo and download the update already available for it. So, the next best thing is checking out some of the functionality of the console and this is where the video, embedded into the post after the break, comes in. Watch as Kyle Orland and myself check out how to post messages onto the Wii.
Goats in and fish on! Our time with Zelda part 1
While Kyle's observations and documentation are spot-on for how we felt late last night as we slowly chipped away at the large, granite stone that is The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, we feel we must talk a little bit more about what we've seen in the game. Kyle's humorous documentations were spot-on, however we must say there were plenty more and our ealry impressions, being around 4 hours into the game, are very good.Note: Spoilers ahead
Twilight Princess Diary: Part 1 [update 1]
It's currently 1:45 AM eastern time, and I'm here in Philly with Joystiq's Vlad Cole (currently asleep) and Chris Grant and Nintendo Wii Fanboy's David Hinkle, blazing through The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess as quick as our tired little hands will let us. We'll have fuller impressions when we're done, but for now we thought we'd share some of the random quotes and ideas that have been flying around the room as we play. We'll do our best to explain the context behind each entry, but for some of these, you probably just had to be there...*WARNING: Some minor plot spoilers ahead*
Wii en la casa de Joystiq [update 14]
A Wii touched town in Center City, Philadelphia earlier this morning. We'll spare you the silly unboxing ritual and instead provide some immediate reactions to the console that Nintendo hopes will fly off the shelves and into homes this holiday season. Click "continue" below for our thoughts on the fresh-out-of-the-box Wii experience.
