Nintendo Wii

[anarky]

You got Band Hero drums with Beatles Rock Band? They're compatible, but not 100% perfect. The Guitar Hero/Band Hero drums are a bit problematic, too, anyway, at least on the Wii. I can see your complaint about having to buy the WiiMotes in addition to the instruments; I didn't have that problem, but we already four remotes. (The best way to get extra remotes, I found, is to wait until some store runs a "buy one, get one half off" sale and buy two copies of Wii Play, which costs the same as the remote and comes with one, then get rid of the extra Wii Play on eBay. But I digress.)

An awful lot of the games, especially third-party games, either don't use the motion controls at all or use them very poorly, some so badly you simply can't get over the flawed controls enough to actually play the game. When it's done well, though, like in the Wii Sports games or Zelda or Mario... pretty much any Nintendo-made game and a handful of third-party games, it can be pretty amazing. There is a pretty serious problem, though, I think as a result of this being the first Nintendo system in ages to be the most popular console on the market, with third-party developers rushing all sorts of shit to market, compounded by Nintendo seeming to exercise far less quality control on licensees than they have in the past.

I can definitely see why you didn't dig it, though, based on what you said.

On another note, I'd read some pretty glowing reviews lately about a game called Deadly Creatures. I'd seen a shitload of copies on sale at Best Buy before Christmas, and thought the concept was cool (play as a scorpion or tarantula and battle through the desert), but passed since, well, it's a third-party game I hadn't heard anything about at the time. Turns out, it won all sorts of awards prior to and just after its release last February, is only on the Wii, and went OOP sometime in the second half of 2009. And it's becoming impossible to find of late. I found another copy at TRU today on their cheap games rack and picked it up, as well as De Blob (which was only five bucks, putting it in the "cheap as a rental" category); both from THQ, which makes me wonder if they went out of business or something. I'll post my thoughts within the next couple of days and let y'all know if they're worth finding prior to them completely vanishing. (Anarky Jr is pretty enamored of Lego Rock Band of late, though, so that's where a lot of my Wii time goes right now.)

[Slicker]

Vyn is probably more correct on the retail prices but I think I bought the Wii off of eBay for a Christmas present for my little brother so I think I paid more. The real complaint though was the fact about the Wiimotes. I thought it was pretty ridiculous that you would HAVE to have 4 Wiimotes to play as the whole band. Seeing as I bought the Wii for my brother and just for him he had not need for 4 Wiimotes so he didn't have them. I was home on leave and just wanted to rock out and had NO problem buying Beatles Rock Band and the instruments but the extra cost of 3 additional Wiimotes was really over the top. Thankfully one of his friends had extras that we could use.

[anarky]

Nah, dude, I totally see where you're coming from. Like I said, if I didn't have four WiiMotes already, I'd have been pissed. I'm guessing the guys who make Rock Band and Guitar Hero were trying to cheap out on the production, like vyn said.

Do they require multiple controllers on other systems? I really don't know.

[Slicker]

On all of the other systems it's wireless. I've heard that Rock Band for the Wii is wireless as well but for some reason Band Hero requires a controller per instrument. I'd only played Rock Band on the XBox so I guess I just figured all of the systems had wireless.

[Snigtad Flornbi]

BONER GOT A WEE 4 KRISMAS, WE MAID FUN OF HIM BE CUZ HE PLAYES WITH HIS WEE. BUTT HE GOT A GAYM, CALLED. IMAGINE PARTEY BABIEZ, WE PLAID IT, IT WAS ACTULY FUN, U PLAY AS A BABEY + U CAN SAY, HAY BABY GO, AND FUK THAT UTHER BABIE + THEY DOO, WE LAFFED ARE ASS OFF BUT THEN 1 OF THE DUDES FROM HANSEN I THANK IT WAS THE GAYE KID WHO WUZ THE DRUMAR HE WAS AT THE DOR AND TOLED BONER WHY DON'T U TAEK A SEET, BUT BONER SAYED FAG U R AT MY HAUSE, U WOOD HAVE 2 TAKE A SETE BUT U CAN NOT HAEV MINE, U R A FAGG, BUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRN!!!!

[anarky]

Fuck you, Sniggy.

One thing that does disappoint me greatly: I'd really hoped that one of the system updates would've included more features for Miis, maybe more hairdos (a mohawk is notably missing), the ability to use nonstandard colors (can't make Joker without green hair), or even to just omit features like the mouth altogether.

[vynsane]

One thing that does disappoint me greatly: I'd really hoped that one of the system updates would've included more features for Miis, maybe more hairdos (a mohawk is notably missing), the ability to use nonstandard colors (can't make Joker without green hair), or even to just omit features like the mouth altogether.

yeah, it's one thing i think everyone keeps expecting in a new update, but never changes.

also, unrelated: netflix on-demand on wii. most of you know that by now, but still... freakin' sweet, regardless of the selection of on-demand movies

[Snigtad Flornbi]

I FOCKIN HAT MAREO CART WII!!! I AM PRETEY GOOD AT IT BUT NOT THE BEST, WE PLAY IT AT BONER'S HAUS WITH HIS DAD, I AM ALLWAYS KING BOOB EVEN THO HE DOES NOT HAVEA NIPEL HE IS CALED KING BOOB 4 SUM REASAN. I HAT HOW HIS DAD ALL WAYS THROSE A FUCKIN BLEW SHELL AT THE END + BEETS ME, SPECIALY SINCE HE SAYS THE GAME MANUEL SAYS THE WINNER BUTTFUCKS THE LOSERS. HE WILL NOT SHO ME THE MANUEL BUT WHY WOOD HE LIE A BOUT THAT? GOD DAM I HAVE TO WIN SUM DAY I AM SICK OF THIS SHIT + MY BUT IS SOR.

[anarky]

So, is King Boob all pale because he spends all his time in a bra?

Snigtad, if Nintendo were to find out you were playing multiplayer without the assabuse rule, they'd send Mario to cornhole you himself. So it's a good thing Boner's dad follows all the rules.

[Ran]

Review for Transformers: Cybertron Adventure
http://wii.ign.com/articles/110/1102595p1.html

Basically is says the XBox360 and PS3 versions are good and the Wii version sucks. And that Peter Cullen's voiceover is the best part of the Wii version.

[Rollo Tomassi]

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is officially fun. It has the Rollo stamp of approval.

[Ran]

Yesterday, I got Punch Out packaged with a Wii nunchuk for $16 at Target. Got to love Target's crazy clearance deals.

[anarky]

Got Batman: The Brave & the Bold and Transformers: The War for Cybertron Adventures (really, why change the name to remove the word "War" on the Wii version only, when it's not really a kiddie game?) for my birthday. Played a little Batman last night. It's a really cool game, an old-style 2D side-scroller. I'd read an interview that there were all sorts of Easter eggs hidden from earlier Batman incarnations; I noticed a statue of Allan Scott, some graffiti that said "Harley [hearts] her puddin'," and that the mayor was the same mayor as TAS.

Trouble is, I can tell this game is going to be rather easy, and there doesn't appear to be any other play mode or adjustable difficulty, so it's not going to have a tremendous amount of replay value.

[Rollo Tomassi]

A couple months ago our new kitten was running full speed behind the TV and got wrapped up in the sensor bar's fragile little cord which pulled the whole thing down. After that it didn't work. So I went out to buy a replacement and find out they don't sell them. You can buy 'wireless' sensor bars, but I really don't feel like popping AAs in yet another controller every 30 days. So basically I've had a useless Wii in my house for the last four months.

[Diabolical]

I've been slowly saving for a new system for a while now.

And now that I'm over the $200 mark, I've decided I'd rather get a PS3. Looking at the three current systems, the Wii has the fewest games I'd want to buy, which leads me to think I won't use it very much after the newness wears off.

One of the big differences between the PS3 and 360 was, as much as I hate to say it, Blu-Ray. Both the PS3 and 360 have most of the same games, so I decided considered the other features.
From what I've been able to understand, the PS3 is the superior machine, despite it's slow start. And with Blu-Ray slowly phasing out DVD, I figure if I'm going to get one it might as well be able to do more than play games.
And even though I rarely ever played games online with my PS2, there is no way I'll pay to do so. Fuck X-Box Live.