Are we really satisfied with the Wii?

Mario Kart is a great start, picking it up for the first time was a feeling of “Nintendo Magic,” the detached wheel I held in my hands felt right. ExciteBots didn’t take long to one-up it – outperforming Mario Kart by expanding the motion beyond simply turning your vehicle left and right – proving the Wii Remote to be a a fun, and in my opinion, superior alternative to joypads.   In a game like Excitebots, the motion only wheel is preferable to a real “force feedback” wheel, lending extra motions to tricks and in-race minigames.

The Pikmin update was excellent – sure, not anything you couldn’t get on a PC/mouse RTS, but it blows any competing console RTS type control scheme out of the water.  Speaking of “New Play Control” titles, the Metroid Prime Trilogy “update” stands as a great showcase of FPS type controls for the Wii, touting a a well designed, comfortable, and intuitive control scheme.

House of The Dead Overkill and Deadspace:Extraction are strong examples of experiences that wouldn’t be possible with a gamepad.  Although it’s not quite a “light gun,” with proper calibration the Wii Remote is fully capable of recreating that lovable arcade feel – and accurate enough that these games can be played without a visible cursor.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for Wii – This game is often overlooked as the “Wii version” of a big name “HD” release, and that’s a crime.  Force unleashed for Wii makes full use of the Wii remote for a pre-Motion-plus third-person sword game.  Each Wii remote action has an equal action on screen – this is no simple “waggle to press A” attack, it’s a specific sword attack for each motion. The force “push” and “choke” and other moves were also handled delightfully – and for this reason alone, I prefer it over the 360 version. Superior gameplay sadly overlooked in favor of “HD” graphics and physics performance.

Tiger Woods PGA 10 offers a home console golfing experience like no other – absolutely comparable to real golf mechanics when paired with Wii Motion plus. It literally breaks new ground. It is, without a doubt, groundbreaking in terms of golf games, and probably the best Golf videogame created to date – and the amazing control scheme that makes that possible? Only on the Wii.  Motion control creating an experience that is impossible with a regular control setup.

Ghostbusters Wii – an over the shoulder “FPS Pointer” style controlled game build specifically for the Wii – and very notable in this case, because while this is a pretty fun game on the Wii – it’s terrible on the Playstation 2 – the exact same game, without the motion-pointer control scheme. Control matters when developers actually take the time to think about it, and Ghostbusters is a shining example.

Punch-Out!! – Although the “punch left, punch right” controls are little more than a motion-button transference from the classic Punch-Out button layout, the execution is extremely satisfying – bringing a deeper experience to well crafted, gameplay focused title.

These are just from the games I can turn around and see sitting above my TV. There are more I haven’t played, and my time with RED STEEL 2 at E3 lends me high hopes. Microsoft and Sony’s recent push toward motion control says it all – “only buttons” aren’t enough, the controller is king, and we have a better way to play – the only caveat is that motion requires THOUGHT. We can’t just “tack on” motion, it has to be part of the early stages of design, building the game around how it plays. Just like with ANY quality game, HOW the game is played cannot be an afterthought.

I said it before, and I stand by it – Nintendo needs to do more to lead the way, to make more epic first party titles that actually make use of their own technology, none of this Twilight princess waggle tack on nonsense. A lot of the games I listed are third party, which kind of aides the IGN argument that Nintendo is being “lazy,” but I still feel that misses the point. Are gamers looking for the best visual experience, or the best entertainment experience? Are these things the same? My vote and experience says they are not. Consumers and developers alike need to put aside their fascination of shiny graphics, and start asking the question that really matters – what’s fun? Innovative gameplay, or innovative graphics technology? We CAN and sometimes DO have the best of both worlds, but if it had to be one or the other – would we chose better gameplay, or better graphics?

What do you think? Comment.