Wii hits store demos! I'm Lookin at YOU Ben!

[jones]

Hehe, thanks.

Buy why isn't it anything to be worked up over? Graphics are everything, you know! I still think the GameCube is perfectly fine.

-Super

The Gamecube is still a pretty cool little system. No doubts there. I know you would get no arguments from my wife on that either. She loves her Harvest Moon game.

It's cool that you're excited about the Wii's graphics, but (more than anything) I just found it interesting that the IGN guy was all ramped up about the fact that the Wii had better graphics than a 5 year old system. It seemed like the only reason to even make a comparison was if the Wii would have had worse graphics (which it apparently does not). Now that would have been surprise. Otherwise, in my mind anyway, I just take it as a given that these new consoles will have superior graphics to all of the previous generations' consoles.

Like I said before though, I wish you luck in your quest. Let us know how it goes. Are you getting Twilight Princess at launch?

[Super Cameraman]

Me? Maybe, if I have enough money... And if they have any left.

Everyone, the Wii doesn't have the worst graphics of the next gen consoles, but the BEST graphics of the current gen consoles! Just think of it as a current gen console... Released 4 years too late!

-Super

[CronoTriggerfan]

Well Jones, I think that it's just a matter of time until the Wii's graphics get pushed to the edge, and start looking more like a "next-gen" system. I must admit, Twilight Princess does look pretty, but it's no PS3 (or even 360) graphically. Not saying graphics make the game, but they sure help. Just give the developers time to get used to the new programming aspect; I guarantee you they'll get significantly better, as all 3D systems do.

Also, I'm gonna be camping out at my local Target for my Wii, spending the night in a tent outside. I'm getting TP for sure, and Red Steel if I have enough. And should I stumble across some VERY good fortune, I may also pick up an extra Wiimote I am really excited for this!

CTFan

[sameguy]

I haven't come out and said "I think the wii sucks because it sucks get a PS3 noob". have I? (Well, aside from that last sentence ) It's just a substantial deviation from traditional gaming methods, and whenever something's too different, people may be a bit more skeptical about it. I'm not saying it's a sucky system (nobody can really judge either way just yet), I just question some of Nintendo's decisions (should've used a next-generation media format, HD support would make it more future-proof, etc...). The facts are there, just no prior experience yet.

your a person that just goes to watch a movie for the special effects ... arn't you ?... Just remember it is not the system that transcends time it is the games and the game play experience, somthing that nintendo has always dominated the market in, now dont get me wrong other systems have some good games, but lets face it.. isnt like practically everygame out there just a rip of or a re-make of one of nintendo's older games. And if you just happen to be amused with shiney things ,bright lights and sounds well then you fit right into the really narow playstation only market... one that is reserved for people that cant get past the graphics of the system.

[Indigno]

Luckily, I know the guys who work at my local gamestop, so no worries about ID's.

[benheck]

Just think Jones, there could be a WII!!!!! at the local Gamestop up the road.

Sounds like they mostly just have ExciteTruck, bleh.

-Ben

[CronoTriggerfan]

Just think Jones, there could be a WII!!!!! at the local Gamestop up the road.

Sounds like they mostly just have ExciteTruck, bleh.

-Ben

Well mine has Wii Sports, and most are supposed to be sporting Twilight Princess and Red Steel by this weekend.

CTFan

[bicostp]

your a person that just goes to watch a movie for the special effects ... arn't you ?... Just remember it is not the system that transcends time it is the games and the game play experience, somthing that nintendo has always dominated the market in, now dont get me wrong other systems have some good games, but lets face it.. isnt like practically everygame out there just a rip of or a re-make of one of nintendo's older games. And if you just happen to be amused with shiney things ,bright lights and sounds well then you fit right into the really narow playstation only market... one that is reserved for people that cant get past the graphics of the system.

Then explain to me why the Gamecube lost out to the PS2 (and Xbox?).

How many times do I have to explain that <b>I am not a console fanboy for Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, 3DO, Neo-Geo, Apple/Bandai, Atari, Coleco, or whoever the heck else makes consoles</b>?!

My judgements were based off <b>fact, not fanboyism</b>. People are attracted to fancy, shiny things. Evidence? "Pimped out" cars, motorcycles, hip-hop rappers and their jewelry, etc. If they released a very in-depth RPG with SNES graphics for the 360 and charged $50 for it, would it sell? Not a whole lot, unless it was part of a franchise or if it was full of "bounce and jiggle".

Plot makes the game fun, but shininess attracts people.

You may think high definition is just frivolous eye candy now, but people thought the same when the first color televisions came out. Soon enough, high definition will become cheaper and more avalible, so more people will migrate to it, leaving the Wii and its composite video connection in the digital dust. You would think they would use S-Video or Component video for the pimary connection, but then again 640x480 will only get you so far.

That's not to say the PS3 and Xbox 360 haven't got any faults:

PS3:
- $$$$$$$$$$
- No rumble support
- They're cramming way too much stuff in a 10+ year old controller shell
- The commercials give Freddy Kreuger nightmares

360:
- Microsoft. 'Nuff said.
- You need to pay for full access to all the Xbox Live features
- Dead or Alive Volleyball. *shudders*
- Has a record of hardware failure (true to Microsoft's apparent "release it now and fix it later" approach on life).

My pick for "favorite console"? Playstation. NOT PS3, Playstation. You know, the big, grey box that came with Ridge Racer?

WOW this is off topic. Sorry, everyone. I'm just tired of people saying I'm full of excrement because I don't blindly follow their ideas of a good gaming experience.

Back to the topic at hand: (and I will state this very clearly) <b>I will try out a Wii at the store once they don't make me leave my license, keys, social security number, and left leg with the clerks.</b>

[Metroid fan]

My gamestop doesn't have one yet and it pisses me off I want to try it out once before I try it! (not to say I won't buy it if I can't try it out)

[Gamelver]

and please let it be known that more power does not simply mean better looking games, but more complex and bigger games, like Oblivion.

That is all ...(seriously, please let this not turn into an argument....of course, I didn't help, but I thought that fact should be out in the open )

I'm pretty excited for the Wii, though, mainly because I can afford it and also because of games like Smash Bros. and Zelda. Once again, that is all ...

[Triton]

i love how people are like "the wii isnt a next gen console" or "the wii has the worst gfx of this console cycle" and yet in the same breath they say "but twilight princess looks ok i guess" well guess what ITS A GAMECUBE GAME! nintendo themselves said that there were very little graphical improvements from the GC to the wii version, better shaders and filtering and bloom etc but the core graphics remain the same. the wii has a lot more graphical power that people tend to think. somewhat better than the xbox and something like 2 to 3 times the power of the gamecube. its not much compared to the ps3 and 360 but by no means is it weak. never judge a console by its release titles, the best graphics always come later in the consoles lifetime

[Sparkfist]

Well there are like 8 EB Games and GameStops around me, if I get the interest to check out what this "Wii" is like I can stop in to try it out. As for the whole ID and CC thing, I can understand the ID. That's so that whom ever tried out the Wii can't just up and drive off (legally). My guess though is that CC is on the off chance that some guy/gal will do that and they'll charge you, which we all know is illegal, much like any use of a CC without the cardholder being present.

Also the deal with the Wii as I see it is that it's turning ito another GameCube. Now I'm not going to knock the fact that the GameCube had some nice games, Soul Calibur 2 mini-tournies are fun as hell when you've been playing for 2 hours straight. The big problem the GameCube had and really Nintendo is that they're still marketing to kids and well we all grow up. If I were 5 years younger when the GameCube came out I'd be willing to buy it over an Xbox, but I was 18. If the Wii continues to have most of it's games and accessories targeted at the 15 and under crowd then it's not going to be an appealing console.

As for graphics, yeah graphics push the newer and better games in to the market. That's one of the things that made Halo and Halo2 so big, super realistic, futuristic FPS. There are also the really sad people that buy a new sports title because of silly upgrades like "Now you can see them sweat!", really eww. It should be a mix of game-play and graphics. Which the problem is that the Wii can't push true Hi-Def, which as I've mentioned is something that's going ot be standardized in little over a year, the upsampling of the graphics will not look right on LCD TVs (potentially Plasma too), and really sorry to say that being the one that's standing out from the crowd on console stats isn't a good thing when what you're sacraficing are the core of the system.

[sameguy]

My judgements were based off fact, not fanboyism. People are attracted to fancy, shiny things. Evidence? "Pimped out" cars, motorcycles, hip-hop rappers and their jewelry, etc. If they released a very in-depth RPG with SNES graphics for the 360 and charged $50 for it, would it sell? Not a whole lot, unless it was part of a franchise or if it was full of "bounce and jiggle".

Plot makes the game fun, but shininess attracts people.

You may think high definition is just frivolous eye candy now, but people thought the same when the first color televisions came out. Soon enough, high definition will become cheaper and more avalible, so more people will migrate to it, leaving the Wii and its composite video connection in the digital dust. You would think they would use S-Video or Component video for the pimary connection, but then again 640x480 will only get you so far.

That's not to say the PS3 and Xbox 360 haven't got any faults:

PS3:
- $$$$$$$$$$
- No rumble support
- They're cramming way too much stuff in a 10+ year old controller shell
- The commercials give Freddy Kreuger nightmares

360:
- Microsoft. 'Nuff said.
- You need to pay for full access to all the Xbox Live features
- Dead or Alive Volleyball. *shudders*
- Has a record of hardware failure (true to Microsoft's apparent "release it now and fix it later" approach on life).

My pick for "favorite console"? Playstation. NOT PS3, Playstation. You know, the big, grey box that came with Ridge Racer?

WOW this is off topic. Sorry, everyone. I'm just tired of people saying I'm full of excrement because I don't blindly follow their ideas of a good gaming experience.

Back to the topic at hand: (and I will state this very clearly) I will try out a Wii at the store once they don't make me leave my license, keys, social security number, and left leg with the clerks.

There you go, was it so hard to bash anything other than nintendo, and just a little side note game cube lost due to poor, poor, poor marketing. It did not have anything to do with quality.And... dude cmon we all know that eventually people will be moving on to HD telivision sets that is not the argument at hand, and buddy people are buying nes games for well over 50$ granted their not for a 360 but that was not the point I was trying to make, you knew that to, you just thought that giving an extream example would sway my opinion, well it hasnt. It has been the games that keep the console alive as well as a good marketing stratagy, a man of your intelligence should have realized that by now, you even said yourself " shininess attracts people ". Well with that statement should hint you off to their not just selling a console to you and to me, their selling it to people that have no idea what HD or a composite video connection, even is. Now the market strategy for the wii, now I feel I have to fill you in on this because I obviosly feel that you have been corupted by the views of the ignorant, is that they are a second system, somthing that people would buy secondarily, now granted at first I didnt think this would work either , but two of my friends, who are total playstation fanatics, are buying a wii as well as a playstation because it is cheap and does have some good games, right there, stop, freeze frame, right there is nintendo's strategy at work . no I am not questioning you on the stats for the playstation. I am simply commenting on innovativeness, and its new markating stratagy, now I will agree with you on that the playstation is a better system when it was up against a game cube. but now up against a wii when people have both system but are constantly being bombarded with the much cheaper and just as fun wii games, they will eventually forgett about the other system that costs them a great deal more. Now to tell you the truth I like game systems and all and i know a lot about them but I am not the biggest gamer out there, what I do tend to admire is their makers and their ingenious ideas on how to sell their system. And last, make sure you hear the therory behind my logic befor you call me a fanboy. I think we are all grown up enough to stop name calling.

[JAY]

On the other hand, bicostp, the sales for the PS2 ran laps around those of the Xbox and the Gamecube, and multi-platform games sold the best on the PS2, despite it being the worst graphically of the three. While some of the PS2's success may have come from its riding on the Playstation's laurels, it still shows that graphics aren't a major concern, as long as the variance between the different systems isn't significantly apparent. So it does seem pretty frivolous to argue about one system's graphical superiority over another since such an argument didn't do any good for the Xbox or Gamecube, as their sales figures show.

Like Gamelver had mentioned, what is important about a system's hardware also deals with its capabilities in regards to performance, and I think that would be something to worry about. While RE4 had to be toned down for the PS2, it wasn't too game-altering. But if a game for the 360 or PS3 is being brought to the Wii, say Oblivion for example, and segments of the game had to be cut out and the view/rendering distance had to be significantly reduced, then I would understand why hardware could become an issue.

As far as the controller goes, if it somehow does turn out to be a flop, then they could just stop making games that use it and switch over to using the Gamecube controller only.

Sparkfist, the conversion from analog to digital broadcast isn't going to be that big of a deal:

Roughly 20% of viewers receive analog broadcasts over the air, and will be affected by the analog shutoff. The majority of TV watchers will not be affected. The 80% of television viewers that use cable or satellite television will not be immediately impacted.

Of the one-fifth of the population that this will actually affect, none of them are required to buy new televisions, since they can just get a digital tuner instead (although some may buy new TVs).

[atari2600a]

It's on now!