Wii - Words from the developers ?

[vimes]

Read in Scott Miller's blog

Oh, and heard a LOT of negative comments about the Wii controller from developers who messed with it. Be very worried, Nintendo.

I really don't know the guy - except that he's working for 3DRealms ... but with the disappointed preview of Red Steel - mainly about how the wiimote is used, it certainly is an interesting second opinion.

[n0wak]

it certainly is an interesting second opinion.

It's an uninteresting Scott Miller opinion. I'd rather hear it from those other developers than out of this horse's mou ass.

[Oath]

Scott Miller posts retarded shit on his blog and tries to raise drama. It's a way of trolling gaming forums remotely.

Could be true, but someone else would have to say it first for it to have any weight.

[MrHoatzin]

Reading Jake's and Eurogamer's impressions, I am starting to be somewhat skeptical about the gimickiness of the first wave of games that will come out of the console myself. Now, this is nothing that I see inherently wrong with the controller, I think Nintendo is just aiming to get the obvious stuff out of the way, before they go on to more thought-out endeavours.

[elmuerte]

Spielberg liked it

[n0wak]

Spielberg liked it

But did he cry on level 17?

[Roderick]

At level 16, the pain in his tennisarm made him cry.

[baconian]

OK, some reasoned opinions at last.

I think I might just get Twilight Princess for the gamecube.

And red steel looks silly. You turn around by pointing your arm in the direction you want to walk. What yakuza would be seen dead like that. Not cool.

The problem for me is - too much effort. If I wanted to excersise, I'd join a gym. I'm a gamer, for fuck's sake. I like my inert power over these faraway worlds.

[SpiderMonkey]

Scott Miller posts retarded shit on his blog and tries to raise drama. It's a way of trolling gaming forums remotely.

I dunno that he's ever what I'd call trolling or retarded. I think it's just that his credibility is so low after failing to get DNF out of the door for nearly 10 years, that if he wasn't being controversial, no one would pay him any attention.

On this topic, I'd always seen him as similar to Mark Rein. These guys are very used to reskinning and rereleasing the same straightforward game - lots of shooting and lots of explosions. They are the ultimate same-gameplay+better-graphics developers.

It's what they like to play, so it's to be expected that they are cynical and disinterested. It's what they have built their businesses on doing, so it's to be expected that they will be the ones wielding the FUD.

OK, some reasoned opinions at last.

"Reasoned"? Are you referring to what Scott Miller said? Because that's just a one sentence gossipy FUD comment at the end of a much longer post. I'm not saying he's not right, but defining that as "reasoned" just sounds like "reasoned = what I wanted to hear".

[Twilo]

Well I can imagine getting tired with the controller pretty quick if a game was based around it like Red Steel. In general I think I'd prefer the way Zelda is going with it, in that it's used for little bits like fishing and archery, but you use the controller as a normal pad for the rest. It's still going to be a pain to set up the console and tv in the living room in such a way that I don't have to stand up or anything.

I'm mostly in it for the Megadrive emulator anyways...

[Marek]

Scott Miller made a couple of good points about marketing and branding when he started his blog but since then his posts have been very poorly thought out and off the cuff to be honest. I respect him and Broussard for being so active and outspoken in the gaming community, but I'd respect them more if they had better arguments to back up their opinions (read: if they were less full of shit most of the time).

As for the "my arm will get tired" whining, you should refer to the second section of this article. In short: a) not all games will need wild gestures when it does, it's still as easy as waving a pen around in the air ... and if that's something you can't handle, maybe you should just cocoon yourself and eat from a feeding tube because there's no hope for you left.

It's still going to be a pain to set up the console and tv in the living room in such a way that I don't have to stand up or anything.

WTF? As long as you are able to point in the direction of the screen you'll be fine. Which should be the case anyway cause you need to be able to look at the screen to play games.

Yah, the Wii controller is crap let's face it guyz.

...

[Twilo]

If my arm DOES get tired while playing on my Wii, you're the first person I'm coming after, Marek.

[Roderick]

For me it is a genuine concern, but that's because my arms are half-wrecked with RSI already anyway

[Oath]

On this topic, I'd always seen him as similar to Mark Rein. These guys are very used to reskinning and rereleasing the same straightforward game - lots of shooting and lots of explosions. They are the ultimate same-gameplay+better-graphics developers.

That's hard to say, since 3D Realms haven't really released anything in a while.

What I meant to say was more along the lines of what Marek posted. He's just clamoring for attention at this point, trying to remind folks about 3DR and DNF. When I say he's trolling, it's because of that; his statements are designed to provoke a counter-reaction, by him claiming a negative view just for the sake of it.

[Marek]

If what I have been told about RSI is true than the Wii shouldn't be an issue. It's the tiny mouse movement and keystrokes that can gob up your wrist if your arm isn't properly positioned. Moving your arm freely, and constantly making different types of movements, should in fact be better for your arm.

If my arm DOES get tired while playing on my Wii, you're the first person I'm coming after, Marek.

Fine I take personal responsibility!!!

[Roderick]

Then I'm buying two Wii's! If one Wii is good, then two will be better.

[SpiderMonkey]

Scott Miller made a couple of good points about marketing and branding when he started his blog but since then his posts have been very poorly thought out and off the cuff to be honest.

I remember the posts you're talking about and they were pretty good but tbh, if you've ever read any marketing books by Al Ries, you've already read those posts. He even lists the books on his sidebar.

(Not to say that what he said wasn't worth saying. If there's one area he has any credibility and authority in, it's marketing, as Max Payne and Prey prove.)

He's just clamoring for attention at this point, trying to remind folks about 3DR and DNF.

Indeed, agreed.

[Marek]

Yeah. His blog actually motivated me to buy a bunch of marketing books, including "Positioning" where he gets most of his stuff from.

[Oath]

Yeah. His blog actually motivated me to buy a bunch of marketing books, including "Positioning" where he gets most of his stuff from.

That book seems very interesting, but tell me, is it very abstract?

I was at a seminar at which a guy called Andy Chen, who works at a media strategy group in London called Carat, spoke and while his talk was very interesting, it was also very abstract for someone who's never looked into marketing at all before (the subject was "The Changing Communication Paradigm", which hurts just writing down).

Sort of semi-related: At the same seminar Nicole Lazzaro also spoke, about games in particular. Probably my favorite part of the day, as she talked about "The 4 Fun Keys: Designing Player Emotions in Games". I think everyone really should check out her company's page, as it is very informative. It's game design theory, and if you were at GDC 2004 you've probably seen it already, but still very interesting for really anyone.

[SpiderMonkey]

I haven't read that particular Al Ries book, but what I have read was very easy to read.

[Marek]

That book seems very interesting, but tell me, is it very abstract?

No it's the opposite. It's a book filled with only anecdotes and examples. Easy read.