Ok, well just to save someone else the money, skip Tiger Woods. It is a port and plays like one. All the features, games, PGA Tour, face modeling options are really cool, but the SWING is terrible. And really, you've GOT to get the swing right if you're going to make a motion detecting golf game.

The swing is more about timing than your stroke. Rather than mirroring your actions with the remote the way Wii Golf does, the player starts his swing when you start moving back and completes it when you start moving froward. This means hitting a shorter shot means pulling back then pushing froward QUICKLY, not stopping short in either direction or lessening the speed/power of your stroke. It also means you have to be looking at the screen rather than down at your imaginary golf ball. In short, the swing mechanic doesn't match anything like a real shot, and it has been thus far impossible for me to hit a straight shot consistently. I finally put the game on "easy" mode, which makes every shot straight, but now it's waaay to simple- I just point and shoot and the ball goes where I want. Not much skill to it.

I'd chalk this up to- "oh well, they'll need to refine it a bit in the next version", except that Wii Golf did MUCH better with the swing. In that game it really feels like you are playing golf, even if it doesn't look much like it (and if the whole "swing to hard and you'll hook it" thing is a bit contrived). I'd say of the two, Wii Golf easily beats Tiger Woods in the playability factor, and that is just plain sad.

I hope they'll figure it out in the next version, because Golf really is a natural game for the Wii. However, in order for it to be fun it has to actually playing something like golf, not like they mapped a stick timing control system to pseudo golf motions.


In other news, SSX has held up great. I LOVE it and am still playing even after having beaten it. DEFINITELY worth the time spent learning the controls, and now that I am comfortable with them I think the whole scheme is fantastic.

Damn. Stupid BBS ate my post. Here's the gist of it:

1) thanks for the review, I think I'll rent Tiger Woods and Super Swing Golf so I can test it out for myself.

2) I find it funny that Wii Sports Golf, which has the depth of a puddle, is so much more fun than a full golf game.

3) The N really should think about expanding some of the Wii Sports games into full games of their own, perhaps making them really good budget titles.

4) I still suck at SSX. It's probably because I haven't devoted the proper playing time to get used to the basics. Board grabs are difficult for me, which is a shame because that's what I loved about past versions like Tricky. You could twist the boarder's body before the jump, so you could really snap hard into a trick immediately after getting air. I loved it, and it allowed for massive trick combos. I realize, however, that Tricky was possibly the least realistic of the SSX games (though I haven't played the first). Anyway, I'm going to have to get used to it. I'm also finding it a lot harder to unlock boards and outfits. Oh yeah, and I suck at the slalom.

Nope, still can't find a Wii for sale at retail price online. Astounding. You'd think all the scalpers trying to push them for $500 on eBay would cut their losses and stop hording them.

Do I really have to go into a store to get this? No, my lack of drive will, in turn, force me to do productive things like professional development and working on my database project.

Sorry to bring this thread back again, but I appear to be stuck in Zelda. I finally got some time to play, and I've beaten a couple dungeons. Now I'm trying to go back to the forest and get in that dungeon (I believe it will be the temple of time). The problem is that the game seems to have screwed up or something. Basically, I can't do anything. I've gone through the sacred grove (again), and beaten the skull kid (again), and he let me into the "special area" (again). Now there's nothing for me to do!

I've resorted to consulting walkthroughs on Gamefaqs, but none have helped. They all indicate that I'm supposed to go back to where I got the Master Sword, and the game will prompt me to put the sword back in the block. Well...it doesn't work. I've walked around and around that block, and nothing happens. What the hell am I doing wrong?

Sorry can't help one Zelda but I just bought punch out on the virtual console and it still rocks

Okay, this is truly frustrating. I even found a video walkthrough of this exact portion of the game, and it hasn't answered any questions. According to the video, you just walk up the block and it just lets you put the sword in. Is my game busted somehow?

I'm not sure if it's related (I'm only scanning your posts to avoid any spoilers), but there was a known bug that caused Nintendo to exchange discs if you were affected by it. Might be worth a look.

Yeah, I'd heard about that one, but I'm not at the same point in the game.

I feel like a complete idiot now, though. I figured out what the problem was. Apparently I've been playing the entire game, since getting the Master Sword, without actually equipping it. This leads to both a sense of stupidity after trying to figure out what the problem was for an hour, as well as a slight sense of pride for playing most of the game with an inferior weapon.

I hate Soda Popinski

FINALLY got a Wii. (actually, I bought it from BestBuy online in November thanks to wiitracker.com, and saved it until Christmas as a "present"). This is quite a machine.

I will post my friend code when my Wii LAN adapter comes. I'm all wired here.

Excellent! What games are you starting off with? I just started Mario Galaxy, and the gameplay is just as good as everyone is saying it is. I can't play it for more than about 45 minutes at a time, though, due to motion sickness (my problem, not the game's).

A friend just told me that the Olympics game (with Mario and Sonic) is really fun too. I might have to give that a try.

Oh, and I finally got around to beating Zelda a couple weeks ago. I'd accomplished everything but the last couple dungeons months ago (like last March), but I'd never gotten around to finishing it. If you know how to beat Ganon, though, it's really easy. I've heard that in his very last form, you can even use the fishing rod to beat him. I tried but couldn't get it to work

I'm starting with the only games I'll probably ever need:
Mario Galaxy (playing now, AMAZING!!!!)
Zelda: Twilight Princess
Paper Mario (I loved N64 PM and liked SNES Mario RPG)
GUITAR HERO III!!!!!!
maybe Metroid Prime 3

Also, found an eBay seller clearing out his Game Cube games, so I bought the ones I always wanted:
Zelda: Wind Waker
Mario Sunshine (I know, people say it's lame)
Paper Mario 2
Metroid Prime 1
may get Metroid Prime 2 if it's good like people claim

I'm set for games between these and PC games for my new machine: Half Life Orange Box (which I'd never played any of) and Far Cry. After that, I'll branch out into less familiar games for Wii and GCN. I'm a casual gamer, so I like to stick with the favorites.

Ironically, I may buy the Ogre Battle series for SNES and N64 if released to the Wii console. Those are some fun, yet slightly odd, real time strategy games.


Oh, and in Mario Galaxy, try long jumping "off" the "edge" of a two sided, nearly flat planet (like the first planet in (the first) Good Egg Galaxy. What a testament to their gravity engine!

I just got back my Wii from Nintendo after sending it in for a damaged GPU and/or graphics memory (problem looks like bad graphics RAM to me). Since I won't be setting it up again until about mid Febraury when we move to our new house, I can use this time to figure out what to play next.

I loved Zelda, but frankly I'm disappointed with most other titles available for the Wii. Though I liked the concept of the original Metroid, I don't think I'd like the current ones since I'm no fan of first-person shooters.

It's been months since I did any type of title browsing though, so I'm not even sure what's available right now. I'm just certain whatever is out there is nearly impossible to buy locally off the shelf.

My brother just got a PS3 and while its UI and the console itself look like utter (pretentious) garbage, it has some really nice titles available. Some also available for the XBOX 360 but some, like Uncharted, are exclusive.

I'm content with having bought the Wii primarily for Zelda and its sequels, but I can't see myself buying a PS3 since I'm such a casual gamer, even if it has titles that appeal greatly to me.

Games like Dance Dance Revolution and their less aerobic clones like Guitar Hero are definitely not my cup of tea. They're actually in my "loathe" class.

Anyone have any links to sites other than those belonging to IGN with a good games round-up for Wii? Hopefully something browsable by category/genre.

I'm told that the rayman game on the Wii is hilarious and fun.

Metroid Prime really isn't an FPS, Nintendo dubbed it "First Person Adventure" due to how much exploring you do vs shooting. The controls aren't like console FPSes either, and there is no reliance on precise aiming. For me, Metroid Prime was one of the first games I could point to for a classic game making the 3D jump properly.

Now Metroid Prime 3 is a bit different on the Wii for controls, and I haven't put enough time into it to really judge it either way. I can at least highly recommend picking up the first Metroid Prime and giving it a shot.

Wind Waker got slammed due to the graphics. Frankly, it was the best single player game on the Gamecube (best multiplayer being Mario Kart - but that's my preference). IMO, it only has two flaws: the long sailing distances, and the second act of the game. In the end, it's one of my favorite Zelda games.


I know I'll come off as a "Nintendo fanboy," but what games? As far as I could see, the only PS3 titles that looked any good are Ratchet and Clank and Uncharted. As far as I've seen the 360 has a far better selection of games.


At the moment, I can't really suggest any other Wii games to anybody. I must sadly agree that they've not really released any top-notch games. But that problem has two somewhat related causes:

1) It's the beginning of the product's life cycle. None of the current consoles are having or had a great start. From the outside, it looked to me like the 360 didn't really have any great games for the first six months or so.

2) Game development cycles are long, and all the third party developers thought the PS3 was going to be huge, any many didn't even look at Nintendo. Frankly, even fewer did when the Wii was unveiled. Now they're all scrambling to develop games for the number one selling console, but we won't see those games for months, if not a couple years!

Anyway, now that I've filled my fanboy quota, I'll back off Hell, I have to stick up for it. I've never owned the number one selling console before. I started with the Sega Master System, then got the Super Nintendo (which only pulled ahead very late in that generation), then the N64, then the Gamecube. Finally I bet on the right horse! (at least it appears so for now )

(admittedly spinning a bit off the Wii discussion here, but hey, it's off topic)

Both the PS3 and 360 have a good assortment of games available through their online stores. While Nintendo went the route of only offering older games through their store, The PS3 and 360 are packed with an assortment of new games for pretty cheep. The recent one I downloaded on the PS3 is Pain, an odd physics based destruction game, where you use an invulnerable human fired from a slingshot. Even fill production games are downloadable like Warhawk.

As far as released in store games on the PS3 side, you named 2 of the exclusives, and other releases I can think off recently were Folklore and Heavenly Sword. Many games are being released on both the 360 and PS3 now, like Rock Band, Guitar Hero III, Call of Duty 4, The Orange Box and so on. So in the end, if you do come down to only a PS3 or 360, pick the one that has the exclusives you want, as enough other games will come out for both.

For me, I just forgo the whole one is better then the other, and ended up with all 3 under my TV. Even 3 consoles every 5-7 years is cheeper then what it takes to keep a gaming PC up to date. Though the fanboy in me does root for Nintendo, just for proving to both Sony and Microsoft that spouting tech numbers two years in a row at E3 did them little good.

None of them are making many games I want really. For the wii all I have is zelda and I want mario galazy. For the 360 I bought viva pinata when I got it and still haven't bought a 2nd game. There are a couple that look good but when the reviews say they are mediocre it makes me not want to spend 60 dollars. The ps3 I bought for ratchet and clank and there is nothing else for it that looks interesting.

I have the most wii virtual console games and ds games their much lower price makes a difference. For Christmas I got 4000 more wii points to spend too :-) Also I mostly like platformers and jrpgs so the home consloe makers aren't making much for me.

Bruno, did you have a GameCube? If not, you could always pick from that library of games.

I simply search the Internet for "best GameCube games" or "best Wii games" and read the "Top 10" lists at all the major gaming sites. A good search keyword is "overlooked"; I've found interesting "Top 10 overlooked games" lists for N64 and GCN which have revealed some real gems (ie: Ogre Battle 64).

I wish there was a master list of games for Wii (and GCN, N64, SNES) with short descriptions and organized by category. That would really help sales (and virtual console sales) for guys like me who don't have a clue what games are out there.

Everyone keeps saying Resident Evil 4 is a "remake of a modern classic". So, is it a port of few-year-old PS2 game? Then there's Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, which may be as good. Scary stuff isn't my cup of tea; I'll take childish Mario.

And if you liked Mario 64, you'll love Mario Galaxy. It's bite sized, just like M64, broken down into 10-20 minute levels, after which you can easily save and walk away. Perfect for casual gaming.

I tried Rayman 2 for N64 and there really wasn't anything special about it. Not worth playing. Maybe the Wii version is better.

Is Mario Kart: Double Dash for GCN actually any good? Did it trump the all-time great Kart for N64? Better yet, will a Wii Kart outrank its older sibling?

When did they make it so you can buy Wii point cards using Club Nintendo points? Its 4 Club Nintendo Points = 1 Wii Point but you can only buy 1 card per day and the number of cards available seems to be limited.

Also, do you still get the Club Nintendo bonus for signing in? I can't see it any more...

Zack and Wiki is a good adventure game. Not as much fighting as Zelda but some good puzzles.

True, and some of them have looked somewhat interesting to me (though not the ones you mentioned). I don't tend to put a lot of weight on downloadable games, though, when comparing the consoles. But it's true, that's something Nintendo hasn't done. And now hasn't Microsoft opened up a slew of old XBox games for download? That's a good move. Lastly, isn't Nintendo adding a downloadable games channel for original titles? I think that's coming down the line...


This is definitely the criteria I use. It was a no-brainer for me, though (as it was for many of those posting in this thread): if the Wii will have Mario and Zelda, I'm going with that It really is a preference thing. I know people who own the PS3 that have no interest in the Nintendo franchise characters, so it's just not their thing.

(isn't Guitar Hero III on the Wii too)




And those lists will almost always include two of my favorite games of all time: Beyond Good and Evil, and Eternal Darkness (both for the GC). Both have some of the most fun gameplay and original storytelling that I've seen in video games.



You could check out AllGame.com.


No no no! The PS2 game was a port of the Gamecube game, which most people agree was the best example of what could be done with the Gamecube hardware. It was out for many many months before it hit the PS2 (and didn't have much graphical improvement, I might add). The reason people are touting the Wii version so much is that, while a port, it has a whole different feel to it now that you're able to aim with the remote. It's still a third-person perspective, but now you have more control.


Well, you might be surprised that it's a completely different type of game. Rayman 2 was a 3D platformer. Raving Rabbids is a series of minigames, like Wario Ware. I started playing it with a friend (it's not co-op, we just traded off between minigames), and had a lot of fun (and a lot of laughs - it's pretty funny).


Yes. Yes and No. Impossible to tell.

Double Dash took some getting used to, but it was a real technical step up, which made gameplay much more fluid. Basically, if you ever played the original Mario Kart, go play that again. That's what it's like to play Mario Kart 64 after playing Double Dash for a long time. The old game was insanely fun at the time, but surprisingly the technical improvements make it hard to go back. Hell, some of the most fun I've ever had with video games was playing battle mode on Mario Kart for the SNES with my best friend. But now I play the game and I'm a little spoiled.

I will say, though, that the battle mode on the N64 version is better than Double Dash.

I finished Uncharted during my Christmas break. The only way to describe it was 'incredible'. They did an amazing job with not just the graphics, but the atmosphere and especially the story. I enjoyed it so much that I took the time to watch the bonus videos, such as the making of the game. That is pretty much unheard of for me to do (when one of my friends heard that, she went out and got Uncharted that day).

I'm currently playing Rachet and Clank: TOD. Its the first Rachet and Clank game I've played, so the humor has impressed me so far. The graphics are nice also.

I do agree the XMB sucks. Even though I've had the system since Aug, I didn't even realize it had a 'friends' setup until one of my friends tolk me to add her as a friend so we could play Rock Band together. Overall, it just seems a lot less intuitive than the 360 setup.

One observation that I did make a couple days ago was that our (as in own) PS3 library is now roughly the same size as our 360 library. My roommate pointed out that a few 360 games were lent out, so the 360 still holds an advantage. My Gamecube and Wii libraries dwarf them both, though

I finally got my Wii LAN adapter. I don't have wireless because I don't feel like securing it, so I've hardwired instead.

Updated Wii friend code list:

l0ser 3936 1790 6273 8490
Dignan 2346 2852 4904 8562
drakino 3248 5534 2295 4054
msaeger 7010 4111 2461 3022
ricin 3313 8584 0068 9980
adavidw 6940 1103 2809 4388
loren 1042 3358 6234 5595
visuvius 6427 6579 1576 5804
BAKup 1866 9499 5376 9057
hybrid8 8513 0580 4643 5279
taym 1601 4701 0635 3562
wfaulk 8079 8810 6672 8054
tman 0559 1159 3698 8856 <-- UK Wii
FireFox31 7720 5423 9299 1644

My Wii was replaced under Warranty recently so I'll no doubt have a new code. I wasn't planning on hooking it up again until after I move sometime in February, but I probably should to make sure it's working fine instead of potentially wasting valuable warranty time.

A few Wii thoughts I've been gathering:

Why is my Wii hotter when powered off then when powered on? It has an ethernet adapter, and "powered off" is really the orange lit active standby.

Does the Classic Controller hurt anyone else's hands? I can only play 10 minutes of Renegade before I need a break. Something very odd about that controller. If only the Wii USB port could accept USB-modded original NES controllers (and SNES and N64).

Are video games getting easier as the years go on? Mario Galaxy, I love, but there are so many 1UPs and opportunities to save that it's not a real challenge. Thinking back 20 years, I honestly never beat Super Mario Brothers for NES. The time and stamina required to get through the whole game in one sitting (and without loosing all of your lives? was there a Continue option?) was just overwhelming. I love being able to play Mario Galaxy for 20 minutes, save, and turn it off, but what happened to the challenge?

Does Zelda: Twilight Princess for Wii look much worse than Zelda: Wind Waker for Game Cube? I played TP for 5 hours before switching to WW for 6 months. The TP graphics looked all jagged and gnarled, while WW were so smooth (sure, cell shading helps). WW always impressed me when distant objects came into focus as you approached them; very well done. TP looks like my monitor is on the fritz.

I wish the Game Cube part of Wii could be accessed with the GCN controller, ithout using the Wiimote. I've still got a few GCN games to finish before switching to their Wii sequels.

Rock Band for Wii? Does Wii have the hardware capacity to process all those inputs? Seriously, vocal pitch recognition is bad ass on the XBox.

Seems like Game Cube was the pinnacle of excess, specifically in game music. Wii is the antithesis, absolute simplicity, again specifically in game music. I defy anyone to whistle the songs of GCN Paper Mario, and many sounds in Wind Waker were more complex than taxes. Ok, so those are the only two GCN games I've played so far.

Still no Mii's in my Mii Parade even though I added everyone's console number to my address book or something.

Wii Ware is great! I can't wait for the Strong Bad Game!!!!!!!

Updated Wii friend code list:

l0ser 3936 1790 6273 8490
Dignan 2346 2852 4904 8562
drakino 3248 5534 2295 4054
msaeger 7010 4111 2461 3022
ricin 3313 8584 0068 9980
adavidw 6940 1103 2809 4388
loren 1042 3358 6234 5595
visuvius 6427 6579 1576 5804
BAKup 1866 9499 5376 9057
hybrid8 8513 0580 4643 5279
taym 1601 4701 0635 3562
wfaulk 8079 8810 6672 8054
tman 0559 1159 3698 8856 <-- UK Wii
FireFox31 7720 5423 9299 1644
'sein 1389 3277 4651 6779 <-- UK Wii

So, yes I got a Wii last month too. Boom Blox is a simple but very fun game, totally recommend it - it has that nice mini game quality of a game you can pick up and play for 10 minutes.

Doesn't really hurt, but I don't like the shape. I love how a few people have modded the controller so that the chord comes out the top (as it should). My main complaint, though, is that there's no way to change the button mapping. A related complaint is that for some unknown reason, the button mapping in Super Mario World is different than the original game! Why on earth would they do that? The new mapping is terrible!


I think that's just that particular game. I agree that there's no challenge to it (aside from some insane levels - have you seen the one with the purple coins?), and I think they essentially should have removed the concept of "lives" in the game entirely. I don't think I ever once ran out of lives, and that's with never even taking the ones Peach mailed me. Between the excessive amount the levels offer you, and the always available 1up under the stairs in the main station, I never needed them.


But TP looks so brown^H^H^H^H^Hreal! I'm one of the minority that loved the hell out of WW, despite its flaws (an eternity spent sailing, and a second act that fizzles). It's one of the best looking games I've ever played. I think you're right in the idea that WW gets a big advantage from cell shading. I think there's a lot of cheating that can be done on the graphics while at the same time there's a lot of cool visuals that can be achieved. I think this story pretty much sums up what I think of the art direction in Twilight Princess.


Um...I'm not sure what you mean... The Wii can understand 4 motion-sensing wiimotes with 4 motion-sensing nunchucks attached to them. Why would drums, two guitars and a mic be too much? I would think they'd be easier for the Wii to handle. Aren't they essentially MIDI controllers?


I can see your point, though sometimes the music of the various Wii channels gets into my head and won't let go.


Weird...I'll make sure I've added you later. Are you sure you provided us with the correct number?


If you haven't, definitely download Lost Winds. It's short but I love it.