Does anyone have a Wii?

[straydogstrut]

So I already have a PS3, but today I booted up the Wii that I got herself for Christmas (which she has never played - thank goodness that wasn't her only present* ) and I find myself quite disappointed with it!

We only have a couple of games - Mario Kart and a Zumba Fitness thing (hey, it looked like fun alright!) - and I have a few GameCube titles kicking around, so I thought I would see what downloadable games there were. It turns out there are no demos of boxed games, unlike the PS3, and only 2 WiiWare demos. The Virtual Console games are most appealing - in particular the Zelda and Donkey Kong games - but a lot require a Classic Controller it seems. I could use my GameCube controller but lounging on the couch with a wireless controller has become so satisfying

I know there are good boxed games on the Wii, and i'll pick up a Classic Controller next week simply so I can play A Link To The Past, but compared to the amount of free content on the PS3, I find myself thinking "is that it?!"

I know the Wii is more kid/family oriented (still I think the interface leaves a lot to be desired), but there's not much there to occupy my little nephew, for example, compared to the PS3. It seems like a bit of con for parents considering they'd have to reach for their wallets almost immediately.

Am I missing the obvious? Does anyone else have a Wii and how do you find it? Game recomendations would be most welcome

* I don't know if i've mentioned it round these parts but this by our very own SookieSock was her main present and has pride of place in our room

[ddq]

If you do not download Paper Mario and Super Metroid, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.

[straydogstrut]

Haha, have no fear, both are already on my list 

[Peder 🚀]

I had one, then it was given to my girlfriend's brother without neither me nor her knowing about it..

[selmiak]

MadWorld looks interesting...

[Atelier]

I grew up with a second hand GameBoy, DS, GameCube and then a Wii, but I eventually abandoned Nintendo for the Xbox instead. This was because with the Wii, I knew I was missing out on some sweet titles. I hated looking in a shop and not being able to buy good-looking games that were on every platform except the Wii. Like you say it does have a reputation as a party/fitness/kids game console. The titles available are really the only reason why I swapped. Another thing about the Wii is that it has a lot less franchises, Nintendo's own being the bulk of them.

You will never get away from all the gimmicky party titles with the Wii, because of the actual nature of the console itself. You could see the same happening after the announcement of Kinect, with more kid-orientated, fitness titles being released for the Xbox, because they are more accessible to very young and old who aren't adroit enough for controllers. But because it started as controller-input, the 360 market hasn't become saturated with these type of games, which I'm thankful for. The same goes for PS Move, but those glowing microphone controllers are just funny.

Basically it's a shame developers don't cater enough for the Wii, because Nintendo are by far the best console innovators. Xbox and PS3 are nothing special. Some of the demos I've seen of the Wii-U are incredible. But I think the Wii's image will now just be reincarnated into its successor. So I do share your disappointment, and I probably won't become a Nintendo fan again until I can be sure there's more variety of titles.

[LimpingFish]

No More Heroes I+II, Madworld, Disaster: Day of Crisis, Rygar, Zak and Wiki, House of the Dead: Overkill, and...Dead Space: Extraction. For starters.

Honestly, there's a fair number of good, non-family/fitness, titles available.

[Kweepa]

No love for Metroid Prime? :'(

[straydogstrut]

@Atelier Growing up with Sega consoles I was the exact opposite: I missed out on all the Nintendo titles like Mario, Zelda, GoldenEye and Metroid etc. It was Sonic for me It's nice to have a Wii now for those titles I missed, but it's not likely to become my main console anytime soon.

Kinnect is fantastic fun, especially after a few drinks The WiiMote was cool when it first came out - tennis is great on it - but having tried Kinnect there's no motivation for me to get a PS Move. Sony missed the boat there I feel.

If it wasn't a complete indulgence I would certainly add an XBox to my collection. Maybe some day. There are a few exclusives i'd like to try.

@LimpingFish @Selmiak Thanks for the recomendations. I've heard good things about No More Heroes.

[LimpingFish]

No love for Metroid Prime? :'(

Oh, if we're also talking about Gamecube games, then sure. Prime and Echoes are damn fine games. The Wii Metroids (Corruption and Another M) are also worth checking out.

[ThreeOhFour]

Get the Metroid Prime Trilogy, honestly, absolutely amazing (and MobyGames says Steve McCrea worked on them, which is pretty dang amazing  ), listen to LimpingFish and get at least No More Heroes and Dead Space Extraction.

As for my own recommendations, I'd say at least consider Deadly Creatures, Okami (unless you played it on PS2), Another Code: R (it's very slow but it's an adventure game) and... erm... Rabbids Go Home . I enjoyed Fragil Dreams, but you need to be pretty patient with it at points because it does get pretty annoying in places, so it's a hard one to reccomend.

[LimpingFish]

Deadly Creatures...Another Code: R...

Billy Bob Thornton and Dennis Hopper! I totally forgot about that. Pretty good game, too.  Another Code: R is one of the few original adventures for the Wii (along with the criminally overlooked Zak and Wiki), and while it's not Cing's best work, I'd agree that it's still worth checking out.

Trauma Center, Sega and Sonic Racing (yeah, really!), Sin and Punishment, Chibi Robo, the Resident Evil ports...there's a fat list of good to excellent games I could type out.

Never understood the Wii hate.

[ThreeOhFour]

Oh man Trauma Centre was great until I sucked so hard at surgery because dang that game gets tough.

I liked Zack and Wiki but haven't finished it yet. Oh, and I can't believe I forgot this but get on the online store and get the LostWinds games. They're overpriced, but bloody lovely anyway!

As for Wii hate, it's probably people that haven't bought any of the interesting games for it that think it sucks. I remember CalinLeafshade trying to tease me about playing Wii instead of a "real" console while I was playing through the Conduit but I was too busy enjoying the game to even worry about it

[Kweepa]

Oh man Trauma Centre was great until I sucked so hard at surgery because dang that game gets tough.

I liked Zack and Wiki but haven't finished it yet.

I had exactly the same experiences with these games.
I loved Zack and Wiki but the loading times were painful!

[R4L]

I love my Wii. Of course I hacked it with LetterBomb so now it's even better. I can play emulators of NES, SNES, Genesis, GBA, GBC, Pc Engine, N64, PSX.... You name it it pretty much has it. Not to mention you can get ScummVM on it too.

And of course there's the USB loaders and Wii isos... you get the picture.

Also, Resident Evil Archives is a nice set to get if you're into those, as well as RE4 Wii Edition. Sure they're ports, but still excellent games. And the Metroid Prime Trilogy. The first two play so much better with the Wii controls. The newest Donkey Kong Country game is awesome as well.

[Snake]

For the love of CJ get on Mario Kart and add me to your list (2923-0773-5294)! WE SHALL PLAY! Besides Colin Lumpnuts, I haven't played with any other AGSer! To be honest, I think Calin let me win because he felt bad he was playing against an American and we only played that ONE TIME

I just started a show on YouTube called, The Mario Kart Wii Woohoo! Show, two episodes in at the moment.

Play with me

Please. Nobody else does :'(

[straydogstrut]

Thanks for the recommendations folks!

I came across Another Code: R while doing research for one of my modules and filed it away as a future purchase

Play with me

Please. Nobody else does :'(

Awww! Haha, i'll consider it. I need to get in some practice first as i've only played it once before at Uni and my friends kept winning because they knew all the shortcuts!

[veryweirdguy]

I can't believe Super Mario Galaxy (1 & 2) have not been mentioned yet. Absolutely the best examples of 3D platforming available. If you like Link to the Past, you should check out Skyward Sword as well (just reaching the end of that myself, it's wonderful!) Oh oh and Kirby's Epic Yarn is the cutest thing ever, get  that if you love 2D platforming or excellent visual design.

It's worth going through a "25 best Gamecube games" list or something as well, that had a lot of good stuff.

[Noctambulo]

Well, I'm planning to buy a console  I'm very interested in a xbx 360 with kinect, but I would like to hear your impressions

[Paul Franzen]

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is one of my favorite things ever to happen to multiplayer gaming, if nobody's mentioned it yet.