|
Saturday 26 January, 2008
Gamelog Entry # 2
Gameplay:
During the second hour of game play we decided to switch to a different game, boxing. I would love to be modest in this category, but when it comes to boxing, I’m unbeatable (at least when it comes to my family and friends). My sister told me she had been practicing but there was no difference from the old outcomes. After 30 minutes of pure boxing I had won every match. Boxing is the most interesting out of all the sports because it doesn’t boast 1:1 Wii-mote and player functionality, in other words there is a delay in the time you throw a punch and when the game character throws a punch. For this reason a lot of my friends don’t like it, but I feel it just adds to the strategy, which may be why I am better than them in this game. My sister tended to often just throw wild punches and maybe only half of them actually registered, as for my tactics; I just blocked, looked for an opening and knocked her out with easy combos.
For the second half hour of gaming we played my sister’s favorite game, tennis. Although this is one of my least favorite games due to the lack of control of one’s character, I thought I owed it to her because she played with me. This game is very simple, the Miis move on their own and you, the player, just swing the Wii-mote at the time the ball approaches you. I happened to miss the ball a lot during this game. I’m not sure if the boxing delay threw me off, but I felt as if there is not very good connectivity with the Wii-mote for tennis.
Design:
The most noteworthy design factor to Wii Sports is the Wii-mote functionality. Every game utilizes a different motion control scheme to play the game. Of course all the movements are reenactments of the actual motion used in the sport. Although motion control is an awesome addition with clearly new game play opportunity, there are still some bugs in the controls that can make a game very frustrating. Golf for instance is a game I spend very little time with due to the factor of its control. The game looks great but in my opinion Nintendo ruined it by limiting the amount of power the player can hit the ball. I feel that they should have developed the game so that if the player twisted their wrist the ball would either slice or hook, but they penalize the player for hitting the ball too hard, which is far from realistic. However, games like bowling and baseball are great when it comes to the motion controls, I feel that they are very sensitive and they really get me into the game.
The design of Wii Sports really makes me think of the game Pong. I see a resemblance between the two because both are very simple games that are easy to learn and play, they have the spectator and social factor and they were both showcases for a new video game idea. Going into more detail, the Wii Sports games have a five-minute learning curve at most and really allow players with no experience to pick up a controller and play. The game boasts an amazingly addicting multiplayer mode that really hooks the people playing and watching into the game. This is due to how players interact with the games, people see someone throwing a bowling ball and putting spin on the ball and spectators are just amazed, especially if the spectator hasn’t had a lot of video game experience. The game Wii Sports doesn’t feel like a demo but it really is, it was a sign to both gamers and developers showing what the Wii’s controls could do and by making this game, it really set high standards for the Wii.
|
