Well here's the new Wii discussion.

Discuss! But only the Wii.

As for me, when will the Virtual Console be released, anyone?

Already out. Super Mario 64 is now up for grabs.

They've got a few games out on it now. Super Mario 64, F-Zero, Sonic etc.

They've also got some TurboGrafx games up. I think they're Bomberman and Bonks... or something.

Continuing the GameSpot-Zelda-score-debate-thing(I'll say something about it here since I'm not checking the TP topic anymore in case of spoilers): Twilight Princess is ranked on Gamerankings as the 4th best game of all time, for now. Its average ratio is 96.1%. That means that EVERYONE has given it a large score except for GameSpot.

Like I said before... if you're going to give the game a low score for reusing a formula, you should lower the game's scores over time, not just one day up and say, "THE FORMULA'S OLD'D!!". As far as I can tell, GameSpot gave Zelda GOOD scores for using the same formula.

Moving it away from the giant TP debate...
How do you think the launch has gone? Good or bad? I'd say it's been good for Nintendo so far. Now we just have to wait for new games to appear.

It's mostly good. The backlash against TP's score on GameSpot means it was a good game.

Well most of the launch games have got roughly 7.0-8.0, which is pretty good. However everyone knows that the fun games of a console will come later on.

GameSpot is ONE single gaming website. It hardly matters that it gave Twilight Princess an 8.8, as the tens of other websites, including big ones like IGN and GameInformer all gave it scores like 9.5 and 10, respectively.

That said, I was pleasantly surprised by how Madden did on Wii. It received fairly good reviews; EA, it seems, has actually put effort into creating an innovative use for the controller, and not just some gimmicky port.

'Sup. Been off for a while. Anywho, I've gotten to see it first hand at GameStop (though I'm sure many of you have as well). It's a LOT smaller than I thought.

I still haven't seen one

Typical me asking questions again.

Where can I see the realeased VC games?

And why do you guys use GameSpot? Whats wrong with IGN?

As for the launch games, CoD3 has zero multiplayer, not even fricken spilt screen. No longer buying that.
Redsteel got crapas reviews, will rent that before/if I buy.
NFS is supposed to be real short, plus got it on Ps2.

Only game I'm getting is Zelda. At launch I might just get that and some VC credit.

I hope to get LoZ:TP and Red Steel for christmas. It may have gotten bad reviews by some people, but I'll get it because it looks like a great FPS. Besides, even if it's bad, it's not like I'll be paying for it.

I haven't seen one either, though I will on the 8th of December probably, since that is the date when it will be released in Europe.

You can check the released VC games here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Virtu...orth_America%29

Nothing is wrong with IGN. I actually check IGN far more often than GameSpot, it's just that it often matters to me what score GameSpot gave a game too.

Maybe you would be interested in Rayman? It has gotten pretty good reviews.

GameSpot posted a review of Mario 64 on the VC for the Wii, so you could try GameSpot for the list of currently released VC games. Try the Nintendo site too, or any other official Nintendo site...

I use GameSpot more than IGN because they offer more free content. I also find GameSpot easier to navigate, but I actually prefer IGN's reviews more.

I don't look at reviews much. I prefer to get hands on with it first, or have some backround knowledge from other games in it's series. When I do check reviews, I usually go to IGN, but Gamespot is a good source as well.

GameSpot seems to often give games a lower score than they deserve, which sometimes can be a good thing, but I usually check IGN and even more than that PlanetGameCube(now called Nintendo World Report). I know they are Nintendo fans and that they're probably biased, but I'm a Nintendo fan too so we're speaking the same language. And I've noticed that I very often agree with almost everything they said in their reviews.

I was lucky to be 6th in line this morning at my local EB Games, which only had 8 in stock. I picked up Madden and Zelda with it.

Madden is fun, though it is a bit frustrating at first until you get used to the controls. I'm so used to button pressing for actions, that I forget to do the physical actions sometimes.

I've only played about 30 minutes of Zelda so far, but it's looking pretty good. The beginning is similar in style to previous Zelda game beginnings, so we'll have to see how it develops.

Not jealous... nope.... not at all. I wouldn't have bought Madden, though that may be down to me not being American.

I can't believe that you played Zelda for only 30 minutes! When I get it I'm sure I'll play it for at least an hour. I probably wouldn't even come here for a few days because of all the Zelda playing.

So, yeah. GameSpot reviewed The Legend of Zelda on the VC.

Jeff (same guy who reviewed Zelda TP) gave it a 7.2. He said it doesn't hold up well to todays standards. It's 20 years old... It's not fair to give a game a low score because it's old. Would OoT still have a 10 if it were re-reviewed to "todays" standards?

Imo, yes. It's better than 90+% of games coming out these days, and I fully expect it to be a league better than TP.

Watch, the virtual console game for australia are a bit different at the moment to those in america. Mostly because america are ahead in getting theirs online (well the wii is released there but still 2 weeks away here), and also games never released in australia will not be available.

www.vooks.net has a list in the Ultimate Launch Guide of the VC games already revealed for aus.

That guy is a ****ing idiot! He obviously doesn't like Zelda, and of course the game is going to be 20 years old! That's the whole freaking point of the VirtualConsole!

To be fair he does that some aspects haven't aged well 'though that is to be expected'. He admits that he knows the game won't be of the same standard as other games.

I'm surprised that they're even giving reviews to virtual console games in the first place. The point of having that is for retro, classic gaming; obviously they can't compete with today's standards and production values.

I found that weird as well. I guess they just want people to see their opinion about older games, since they obviously couldn't do reviews on the Net when they first came out.
~1600~

Not everyone played those old games. They are reviewing it for those people.

If I pick up LoZ for the first time now, it definetly wouldn't have the same impact it had around 20 years back. That's how they review it.

Well I picked up Zelda I on Wednesday, and it had the same impact on me as when I first bought Link's Awakening DX for the GBC. It's an incredible 2d Zelda game that was well worth the money I paid for it, and I've played a good 10 hours with it now (on the second to last dungeon, level 8). I wouldn't agree with the 7.2, I'd give it an 8, because it's still a 2d Zelda game, and it's still very balanced and quite good looking (for an NES game, nothing really surpassed that level of quality NES art and color balancing). The controls feel solid on the Wii Remote, and the emulation is really really accurate, with slowdown where you'd expect it on an NES even (!!!) and flickering enemies from overlapping problems that were well known of in the original. Only letdown: no worries about dust in the cartridge.

I'm really glad I bought it though, because I never would have finished Zelda I if it had to be on my NES and if this hadn't come along.

EDIT: I like what 1up did though. They didn't grade the old games, they just said "Yes/No" on whether the download and price for the game was "Worth it". It's very simple, and very easy, because it's just a matter of whether you should or shouldn't download a game. Zelda got a yes, Donkey Kong got a no (it was said to be inferior to an arcade version), etc...

Hey thanks Neon.

Still waiting for the 7th to come around.

I played the demo for Excite Truck on friday. It's easy to get used to the controls, because it feels so much more natural than a joystick, but it's really hard to keep from crashing into things. The graphics are amazing too. The colors are vivid, and the texture and terrain are very lifelike. My overall score: 8.5/10

I also bought Final Fantasy 3 that same day. It's the first FF game I've played, but even withought ever playing any other old ones for refrence (and of course itself since it was never released in the US), it's a great remake, and I'm addicted to it. It's a lot like GS. Personally, I'd rate it a 9.5/10. Great game, but it's missing something. My rating might change once I've finished it.

I would like to ask everyone who has a Wii what the console is like. But I don't mean the games, but what the Wiimote feels like, does the console get overheated quickly, do the Wii Channels and Virtual Console work well and so on... I just need a little specific info about the console itself.

I wouldn't mind hearing some specifics as well, especially as I'm less certain if I'm going to get one than the rest of you.

I've played my Wii about 7 or 8 hours over the past few days, and have been pretty pleased with the hardware.

As has been described in all the marketing material, it is slightly larger than 3 DVD cases stacked. The console and the Wiimote and nunchuck are all made of the same white glossy plastic, which looks nice and doesn't feel too cheap. My hands tend to sweat a fair bit while playing games, and so the Wiimote and nunchuck get a bit slippery, but nothing unmanageable. I'm sure we will see some 3rd party versions with fans like we have for prior consoles.

The Wii unit itself is pretty quiet and unobtrusive. The slot-loaded CD/DVD drive works pretty well, though it was non-obvious at first which directions disks were supposed to be loaded.

The sensor bar can be placed either above or below your TV, and comes with an optional plastic stand to hold it on a flat surface if you don't want to rest it directly on your TV. I've found that the aiming isn't exactly accurate to where I'm pointing, but that might simply be a result of my setup.

Finally, the Wiimote and nunchuck feel pretty solid and are a near ideal weight. The buttons feel good, no complaints there. My only real gripe with the controllers so far is that it is hard to use all the buttons on the Wiimote without completely shifting your hand grip. Granted, most games don't require use of the (1) or (2) buttons for anything other than menus, but it is still a tad annoying IMO.

If anyone has any specific details they'd like to know about, I'd be more than happy to let you know my experience.

Ahh, it's a shame that I have to wait until mid-December to get my Wii.

That said, I've read in previews that the Nun-chuck's accelerometer (sp?) isn't as accurate as the main remote's. Is this true? For example, is doing spin attacks in Zelda relatively responsive?

Also, have you tried out GameCube games on the Wii? Do they run well?

Thanks for the info Max. I've got a few more questions though.
Have you made a Mii yet? If you have, is it fun to do? Are there enough options to make many different faces or does it feel limited?
Also, when playing WiiSports, is the swinging of the Wiimote responsive enough or does it have some lag?

JUst for those of you who want to keep your wii points heres a trick:
after registrating, and inputing the wii points card number into the field, CHANGE some of the characters.
By doing so you will save your wii points. Cool eh?

I haven't noticed any lag with regards to either the Wiimote or the nunchuck. Both have responded almost instantly, though some games may introduce some intentional lag to insure that they properly recognize actions.

I've opened the Mii creation screen, but didn't really spend much time with it. From a brief glance at it though, there appears to be a ton of ways to customize it, so I don't think there will be too many duplicates. Definitely enough to be creative and unique.

I have not tried playing any GC games on it yet, mostly because I don't have a wireless GC controller and the Wii is too far from my couch to use a wired controller. But maybe I'll do some experimentation this weekend.

According to IGN Wii, Wii sold through its shipment of 600,000 units. Also, Zelda was (of course) the top selling Wii game, selling through some 454,000 in just the past week.

That's a pretty impressive amount. Obviously you expect a well known series like Zelda to sell quickly but still.

I have yet another question: What is the Wiimote speaker like? Can its quality be changed in any way through some options? I've read that it is pretty bad, and that's a big dissapointment.

From my own limited experience with the Wii, it gets the job done. It's definitely not perfect, the sound can sound distorted, but I guess it would have cost Nintendo a lot more to include a decent speaker. When it's in the "background", it supplements your game nicely, but if you pay attention to it, then yes, the sound quality does leave a bit to be desired.

Echoing what GL said, I was a bit disappointed with the speaker. As stated in virtually every review I've read, it is quite tinny. I found the default volume to be way too loud, at least in Zelda, so I lowered it down a bit so I couldn't hear the quality issues as much. It isn't a huge deal, but it can distract you from the fun a bit if that kind of thing bothers you.

Some games use it well. Wii sports makes a small chime in your remote each time it's your turn to step up to bat/swing/roll/serve/etc. Super Monkey Ball however, tries to put normal game sounds in it, and it can be a pain. Only the simplest, smallest, quickest sounds should be included IMO. I found the second lowest volume setting works well for me. So, just like everything else about the console, it really depends on whether it gets used well or not.

I still have not touched nor seen a Wii. I guess I need to get out more. But from what I hear, the control issues don't seem to be an issue.

I did hear about the speaker thing, and I didn't expect that to be great. Since the gaming speaker originated with Mario Party 6, I don't expect it to be a big part of games to come on the Wii.

They aren't released till next week in Europe. I've played one at some game event here in the Netherlands and since then, I haven't been too enthusiasitic about the console. It felt more like duck shooting (the game where you shot ducks with a game gun thing) then an addition to your arm.

http://www.wiihaveaproblem.com/
Looks like a jokey site for Wii related comedy. That first incident on there must be pretty annoying.

If I had broken that t.v., I would have to work the rest of my life to pay it off....and I would have my wii taken away.

Eww, a guy was awake for five days waiting in line and was all sweaty and saying stuff like "Hell yeah!"

Something really makes me not want to play online now.

Sucks the wrist strap isn't tough enough. But hey, if you keep reading you'll see a story where the guy contacts the Nintendo customer support about it. At least Nintendo's customer support is responsive.

I like that the Wii is small, but I wish that they could've boosted the hardware to something a bit more recent, even if it would mean the Wii would be bigger. If this console's going to last Nintendo a couple of years, it should be a bit more... next gen?

You have GOT to be kidding me.

Read this article from IGN... some surprising revelations indeed about the Wii and its sensor bar.