Matt C. finds Wii Sports “problematic”

Nintendo is pushing Wii Sports as one of their finer examples of the “new direction” Nintendo is taking the gaming industry with the Wii. But IGN’s Matt Casamassina is not so sure. To quote him: “I’m not entirely convinced that these mini sports outings work as well as Nintendo hopes, prays and maybe even believes they do.” And it was worth putting a blog post in Club IGN.

Why? For a game that’s supposed to demonstrate the finer qualities of the Wiimote, the controls in Wii Sports have been weighed by Matt and found loopy. The tennis controls are not as accurate as advertised: sometimes he swings the racket left, the ball goes to the right. You don’t have to “throw” the Wiimote to throw a fastball in baseball, Matt just flicks his wrist. The wrist-flicking sometimes throws an even faster fastball than the full-shoulder throw.

The only exception, claims Matt, is bowling. There the controls work just like real life. Rotate the wrist to throw a curve or a hook, unlike in baseball where you don’t rotate your wrist to throw a curve (use the d-pad). Throw the Wiimote like a bowling ball (he didn’t say it, but the implication is that wrist-flicking won’t work).

Perhaps the IGN editor’s being a wee bit harsh in judging the game. You will note that he didn’t make any mention of golf or bowling. And perhaps the controls were nerfed a bit, since, well, Peter Molyneux did have a point when he said that players can’t stand around all day swinging their arms around. And Wii Sports is a freebie, Matt admits, so he can’t complain much.

Still, “Many of these new gameplay experiences that the Big N trumpets as loud as it can are, in practice, unproven at the very least and broken at the very worst.” Matt, as of the blog post, is in Seattle, and is getting cozy with Twilight Princess. That should hopefully lift his spirits.

Nintendo is pushing Wii Sports as one of their finer examples of the “new direction” Nintendo is taking the gaming industry with the Wii. But IGN’s Matt Casamassina is not so sure. To quote him: “I’m not entirely convinced that these mini sports outings work as well as Nintendo hopes, prays and maybe even believes they do.” And it was worth putting a blog post in Club IGN.

Why? For a game that’s supposed to demonstrate the finer qualities of the Wiimote, the controls in Wii Sports have been weighed by Matt and found loopy. The tennis controls are not as accurate as advertised: sometimes he swings the racket left, the ball goes to the right. You don’t have to “throw” the Wiimote to throw a fastball in baseball, Matt just flicks his wrist. The wrist-flicking sometimes throws an even faster fastball than the full-shoulder throw.

The only exception, claims Matt, is bowling. There the controls work just like real life. Rotate the wrist to throw a curve or a hook, unlike in baseball where you don’t rotate your wrist to throw a curve (use the d-pad). Throw the Wiimote like a bowling ball (he didn’t say it, but the implication is that wrist-flicking won’t work).

Perhaps the IGN editor’s being a wee bit harsh in judging the game. You will note that he didn’t make any mention of golf or bowling. And perhaps the controls were nerfed a bit, since, well, Peter Molyneux did have a point when he said that players can’t stand around all day swinging their arms around. And Wii Sports is a freebie, Matt admits, so he can’t complain much.

Still, “Many of these new gameplay experiences that the Big N trumpets as loud as it can are, in practice, unproven at the very least and broken at the very worst.” Matt, as of the blog post, is in Seattle, and is getting cozy with Twilight Princess. That should hopefully lift his spirits.