derek.haines
Smash Ace
We've had over a year and a half now as Wii owners to evaluate what generally works and what doesn't work, and, while much as been made of the Wii's revolutionary motion controls, I think the list pretty much looks something like this:
Doesn't Work: Waggle
Works: IR Pointing
Hopefully Nintendo's next console will make the gyroscopic motion sensor more accurate, because for the most part it's dreadfully bad right now. Waggle doesn't have to be a bad thing, though. I think Mario Galaxy did it pretty well with mapping the spin jump move to controller shake, and even Zelda's sword-swinging mechanic wasn't terrible (it could've benefited from more calibration, though). Most developers, however, seem content to just replace what should be done with a button-press with an inaccurate waggle move. I'd rather know that I could do the task 100% of the time by pressing a button than have it be hit-and-miss with a controller shake. Non-waggle uses of the motion and tilt sensor have seemed solid, but those are few and far between (Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz and Mercury Meltdown Revolution). I wouldn't be against seeing more of the type, however.
IR aiming has been a different story entirely. It's made FPSs on the Wii completely intuitive and insanely accurate. Most people seem to regard them as second only to a mouse-and-keyboard setup, and far ahead of the dual-joystick setup that has been rocked up until this point. I'd go so far as to say that they are indeed superior because of the inclusion of the nunchuck, but I'm not likely to be heavily joined in that opinion.
Third-person games have benefited as well, with games like Death Jr. including IR aiming to great success--hell, it all started with a Disney Chicken Little game that made people take notice of IR's potential. True, it's not all good in IR-land. Getting the sensor bar and Wiimote to play nice isn't always the easiest of tasks, but it's a small price to pay for what seems to be a huge evolution in console gaming.
What's your opinion on the Wii's motion controls?
Doesn't Work: Waggle
Works: IR Pointing
Hopefully Nintendo's next console will make the gyroscopic motion sensor more accurate, because for the most part it's dreadfully bad right now. Waggle doesn't have to be a bad thing, though. I think Mario Galaxy did it pretty well with mapping the spin jump move to controller shake, and even Zelda's sword-swinging mechanic wasn't terrible (it could've benefited from more calibration, though). Most developers, however, seem content to just replace what should be done with a button-press with an inaccurate waggle move. I'd rather know that I could do the task 100% of the time by pressing a button than have it be hit-and-miss with a controller shake. Non-waggle uses of the motion and tilt sensor have seemed solid, but those are few and far between (Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz and Mercury Meltdown Revolution). I wouldn't be against seeing more of the type, however.
IR aiming has been a different story entirely. It's made FPSs on the Wii completely intuitive and insanely accurate. Most people seem to regard them as second only to a mouse-and-keyboard setup, and far ahead of the dual-joystick setup that has been rocked up until this point. I'd go so far as to say that they are indeed superior because of the inclusion of the nunchuck, but I'm not likely to be heavily joined in that opinion.
Third-person games have benefited as well, with games like Death Jr. including IR aiming to great success--hell, it all started with a Disney Chicken Little game that made people take notice of IR's potential. True, it's not all good in IR-land. Getting the sensor bar and Wiimote to play nice isn't always the easiest of tasks, but it's a small price to pay for what seems to be a huge evolution in console gaming.What's your opinion on the Wii's motion controls?
