Read Mii! Read Mii!!!1

CE · Post by CE » Thu Sep 14, 2006 10:05 am

Wii US page is up.

Hmm....

Nintendo's really got the Apple style down. The off-white color with blue neon just screams out "iPod". And if that doesn't convince you, just look at the controller packaging. I guess that's to be expected; Nintendo's always been good at taking other company's ideas and integrating them into their own.

The avatar idea is interesting, though the name is awful. Come on, "Mii"? Did Wii Riiwii have to use ii everiiwhere? I still think Revolution is a better name, but whatever. Personalization is one of the easiest ways to get the player more emotionally involved in a game, and a emotional involvement is KEY to making compelling game experiences.

Does anyone know -- how will Mii creation work? Is it gonna be like Magical Pentel?

Discuss.

M.C.Dillinger · Post by **M.C.Dillinger** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 10:50 am

Does anyone know -- how will Mii creation work? Is it gonna be like Magical Pentel?

Check it out<Here.

CE · Post by CE » Thu Sep 14, 2006 3:12 pm

Disapointing. I was hoping that they would use a more flexible system, like in Magical Pentel. Sure, playing online would just be playing against a bunch of penises and boobies, but that's the internet for you.

Wooduck51 · Post by **Wooduck51** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 3:37 pm

Nintendo's always been good at taking other company's ideas and integrating them into their own.

Kinda like Sony and the Plagiarize-stations, just with more tact.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 4:24 pm

What's this rumor I hear about the Wii being region free? Any truth to that, or should I return to my fantasy world?

Brazillian Cara · Post by **Brazillian Cara** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 4:31 pm

Apparently, all first-party games are region free. And more: the other games can also be, depending of the company's choice. So yep, you might get happy this time.

Post by **Esrever** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 4:48 pm

Especially since it's basically guaranteed that any 3rd party company making a Japan-only game will probably choose to avoid region locking. After all, why discourage extra sales from importers?

I'm somewhat mixed about all this Wii business today. The console itself essentially priced pretty much where I was hoping it would be ($210), only it is now tied to an additional forced purchase of the $40 Wii sports game.

Oh wait... I mean the console is $250, with a "free" copy of Wii Sports. My mistake.

Still, I'm not going to complain about something like that. It's still pretty cheap for a full console with free online service. And $40 per remote is basically what I expected. The only thing that strikes me as unfairly priced is the $20 nunchuk attachments. I know that you get one with the console, and I know that almost none of the multiplayer titles announced so far actually use the nunchuk, but it still feels wroooong to me.

I'd be buying one on launch day if Metroid Prime 3 hadn't been delayed... or if I liked Zelda games. I'll probably pick one up next year when Samus and Mario show up.

(And those really awesome looking deep-sea-diving, wii music and giant domino games.)

Brazillian Cara · Post by **Brazillian Cara** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 8:08 pm

I think I'll wait 'till there's a game I'm actually interested in packaged. And there's a good chance it's Pokemon BE or Smash Bros.

Plorpus III · Post by **Plorpus III** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 12:33 am

What's Magical Pentel?
Do you mean Magic Pengel? If so, I don't think Nintendo wants people drawing giant bouncing penises as their avatars.

CE · Post by CE » Sun Sep 17, 2006 8:55 pm

Esrever wrote:I'm somewhat mixed about all this Wii business today. The console itself essentially priced pretty much where I was hoping it would be ($210), only it is now tied to an additional forced purchase of the $40 Wii sports game.

Oh wait... I mean the console is $250, with a "free" copy of Wii Sports. My mistake.

Oh, come on. Of all the things to complain about, you're complaining about getting a free pack-in game? I miss them pack-in games!

Post by **Esrever** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 10:19 pm

Er, that's exactly my point. It isn't free. The Japanese Wii package, which doesn't include a pack-in game, is only $210.

Post by **Segaholic2** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 10:21 pm

Have they confirmed that the Wii remotes will be sold in multiple colors or not? Considering how they're touting personal customization as such a big feature, it would be ludicrous to offer it in only iWhite.

Locit · Post by **Locit** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 10:34 pm

Esrever wrote: After all, why discourage extra sales from importers?

Sadly, the region free-edness of the Wii was all just a big mix up. How they got "region free" and "not region free" confused is beyond me, but it's still a letdown.

CE · Post by CE » Mon Sep 18, 2006 9:17 am

Oh wow; I looked at <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2006/09/15/the-o ... eed/">this chart</a> and I see what Esrever is talking about. Nintendo is completely ignoring foreign exchange rates. The Wii is priced at <insert monetary symbol here>250 in all regions, making everything cheapest in Japan and most expensive in Europe.

Delightful.

James McGeachie · Post by **James McGeachie** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 9:40 am

I don't think the choice of Wii sports as a pack in is a good idea. There's a lot of people out there who're going to instantly be turned off by the graphical style. In theory I guess it's a good way to get the message out right way that Wii is about new gaming experiences and the focus isn't on visuals at all but this is the type of game that could have people writing the console off at first glance, at least in the West.

I was really looking forward to the Wii a while back but lately it seems the majority of new news disappoints me somewhat. Ã‚Â£179 is a good deal more than I was expecting to have to pay.

Post by **Crazy Penguin** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 2:06 pm

Is there a "normal" controller yet? How are you supposed to play SNES games?

Post by **big_smile** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 2:19 pm

The classic controller, which looks like a Snes controller with PS2 style analogue sticks, will be available for Ã‚Â£14 in the UK.

Post by **Crazy Penguin** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 3:01 pm

That looks adequate enough. Hopefully there'll be a Saturn controller somewhere down the line though. Every console needs a Saturn controller.

Sniffnoy · Post by **Sniffnoy** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 3:57 pm

I think the real question is, where's the Z button?

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 4:41 pm

Sadly, the region free-edness of the Wii was all just a big mix up. How they got "region free" and "not region free" confused is beyond me, but it's still a letdown.

Alright, I'll be in my fantasy world if anybody needs me.

Actually, though, isn't the 360 technically region free? Publishers still work it in through the software, so apparently it's still more of a concern on the business end than people like me would think.

I actually think Wii sports looks kind of cool in an 8-bit sort of way, like back when you could release a baseball game and just call it "Baseball". Though I'm sure it'll just end up being equivalent to some Xavix nonsense.

Dash · Post by **Dash** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 6:36 pm

Esrever wrote: I'm somewhat mixed about all this Wii business today. The console itself essentially priced pretty much where I was hoping it would be ($210), only it is now tied to an additional forced purchase of the $40 Wii sports game.

Oh wait... I mean the console is $250, with a "free" copy of Wii Sports. My mistake.

Hey.

It doesn't say "free";P At least they're being honest.

Anywho, I'm pretty psyched. I planned on spending $250 for the console so I'm okay with the price, especially since it has some neat multimedia features I wasn't expecting(games tapping into the weather channel could be pretty interesting too). Region lock is kind of a downer though. Why bother?

The Mii thing is suprisingly robust for making such simple models. It'll be awesome to have caricatures of all my friends on there. Sure, there could always be more stuff in it(like more clothing options) but considering Iwata seems so keen on online updates I wouldn't be surprised if we see a Mii 2.0 eventually.

Launch is still looking pretty good to me. Zelda's a given, Excite Truck looks fun, and I may get Red Steel now that the game is starting to shape up. There's also Rayman... but I don't know anymore. The mini games look like good fun, but I was really hoping for some platforming action too. I'll be pissed if the other versions of Rabbids are great platformers that the Wii version missed out on because it "didn't take advantage of the controller". I suppose I'll rent it, along with Madden 07. I normally don't care about football games, but the gesture controls make this one sound worthwhile.

Oh, and speaking of football...fucking YES.

BTW anyone hear about the Sam & Max Wii thing? Apparently they're in talks with Nintendo already. Ought to be a good start for VC indy games if it all works out. And besides, "episodic" content on Wii "Channels" just feels so right.

jenkins · Post by **jenkins** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 8:16 am

Sounds good and all, but it's too far in the future right now...Diamond and Pearl, on the other hand, ought to be hitting shelves within two weeks. And the region (Shinou, I believe) is based on Hokkaido. Yeah, I'm revved.

James McGeachie · Post by **James McGeachie** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 10:50 am

Too far in the future? 2 months doesn't exactly feel like an eternity to me, hell it'll be out long before any English language version of those Pokemon games at least.

jenkins · Post by **jenkins** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 1:39 pm

No, no...they'll be out in America in 2 weeks.

Unless the article heading was just poorly written...hmm...

Sniffnoy · Post by **Sniffnoy** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 1:49 pm

Crazy Penguin wrote:That looks adequate enough. Hopefully there'll be a Saturn controller somewhere down the line though. Every console needs a Saturn controller.

Come to think of it, the controller would need 6 buttons for N64 games, unless it intends to use that second thumbstick for C buttons, which wouldn't really make sense when each C button does something completely different, or worse yet in something like Smash Bros., where the direction doesn't matter at all.