Know The Rules Before Breaking Them On The Wii Controller

The versatility of the Nintendo Wii Controller (a.k.a. Wiimote) was put to the test, Tuesday, by games publisher THQ in the basement of confectionery Dylan’s Candy Bar of Manhattan‘s fancy Upper East Side.

With a by-invitation-only affair, the company allowed select journalists and kids to try out the work-in-progress versions of Wii games based on Disney‘s Carsmovie and Nickelodeon‘s Avatar: The Last Airbender,Barnyard, and Spongebob Squarepants franchises.

Many of the maneuvers seen in other companies’ previewed Wii software were also exhibited in the THQ games. A punch in a rampage mode of Spongebob results from a jostle of the Wii remote, while a quick downward swipe makes your character stomp on the ground. Then, turning the device like a steering wheel – with the Wiimote held sideways by its shorter ends – controls the Cars racing game. “One minute you’re using the [Wii remote] rampaging and hitting buildings, and the other you’re holding it like a joystick in a jet fighter,” says Ali Bouda, brand manager for kids’ games at THQ, as he surveyed the players in the room.

Meanwhile, these rules have been found to be malleable enough to a certain degree. For example, in the Cars game, holding the remote like you would the horizontal steering wheel of a city bus, rather than like the vertical wheel of a regular car, may work. However, a quick test revealed that the game only reads a twist on the vertical plane. Flipping the remote upside down and then steering would work as well, but again, only on that vertical plane, like the movement of the hands on a clock.

THQ representatives at the event said they did not advocate these alternate ways of playing Wii games. Rather, they merely offered instructions for the standard approach and even gave sufficient warning against attempts to play the games the wrong way, like trying to steer Cars with one hand: “You can’t do it. You do need to hold it like a steering wheel.”

What this activity has shown is that games can possibly break the rules concerning use of the Nintendo Wii controller. Now, whether or not these alternative ways of playing will prove to be enriching or devastating to the system will be determined when Wii is launched this fall.

Via MTV

The versatility of the Nintendo Wii Controller (a.k.a. Wiimote) was put to the test, Tuesday, by games publisher THQ in the basement of confectionery Dylan’s Candy Bar of Manhattan‘s fancy Upper East Side.

With a by-invitation-only affair, the company allowed select journalists and kids to try out the work-in-progress versions of Wii games based on Disney‘s Carsmovie and Nickelodeon‘s Avatar: The Last Airbender,Barnyard, and Spongebob Squarepants franchises.

Many of the maneuvers seen in other companies’ previewed Wii software were also exhibited in the THQ games. A punch in a rampage mode of Spongebob results from a jostle of the Wii remote, while a quick downward swipe makes your character stomp on the ground. Then, turning the device like a steering wheel – with the Wiimote held sideways by its shorter ends – controls the Cars racing game. “One minute you’re using the [Wii remote] rampaging and hitting buildings, and the other you’re holding it like a joystick in a jet fighter,” says Ali Bouda, brand manager for kids’ games at THQ, as he surveyed the players in the room.

Meanwhile, these rules have been found to be malleable enough to a certain degree. For example, in the Cars game, holding the remote like you would the horizontal steering wheel of a city bus, rather than like the vertical wheel of a regular car, may work. However, a quick test revealed that the game only reads a twist on the vertical plane. Flipping the remote upside down and then steering would work as well, but again, only on that vertical plane, like the movement of the hands on a clock.

THQ representatives at the event said they did not advocate these alternate ways of playing Wii games. Rather, they merely offered instructions for the standard approach and even gave sufficient warning against attempts to play the games the wrong way, like trying to steer Cars with one hand: “You can’t do it. You do need to hold it like a steering wheel.”

What this activity has shown is that games can possibly break the rules concerning use of the Nintendo Wii controller. Now, whether or not these alternative ways of playing will prove to be enriching or devastating to the system will be determined when Wii is launched this fall.

Via MTV