Nintendo Wii: Kikizo's Definitive Review
Two months on, Kikizo brings together Nintendo's number one fans to deliver this comprehensive, unbiased review of Wii - and we're not shy about saying what we mean.
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Revolution in Backwards Compatibility?
The idea was for Wii to be "capable of downloading virtually any Nintendo console game ever created". But is Wii any more compelling than grey emulation on the PC when it comes down to it?
"A friend told me, 'some games should just stay in the past' - and he's right."
Marwan Elgamal |
Carl: I recently bought Sega Genesis Collection for the PS2. 28 fantastic Sega games on one disc, presented in widescreen progressive scan, with interviews and bonus features. 28 games for under 20 bucks, with extras! 28 Sega Genesis games via Nintendo's Virtual Console would cost approximately three thousand US dollars. It's not like we haven't all bought these games already! And while I hate to state the following at the risk of upsetting Nintendo's grateful, here goes. For Christmas, Sony released Gran Turismo HD, the complete tech demo game with a handful of unlockable cars, Time Trial and Drift Mode, fully customisable with online rankings, for free via download to all PS3 owners. For Christmas, Nintendo released the original Super Mario Bros. for download via its Virtual Console -- for $5.00. This is a game that I can safely say everyone reading this article has purchased multiple copies of, a game that should have been available via Virtual Console at launch. And for five bucks!? For $5.00 I want a plastic product with chips and a circuit board that I can keep with me long after the Wii is dead. Simplistic games more than twenty years old should cost 99 cents or less.
Daniella: I'm a cheapskate, so I'd love it if the games were cheaper, but as it stands it's not too bad. There isn't that much to choose from yet, but new games get added all the time so eventually there will be more choice - its just hard waiting for the stuff you really want.
Marwan: The Virtual Console is a great idea and I'm glad we'll be able to play some great games from the past again, but what I'm not looking forward to is seeing games on the Virtual Console such as Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time. I mean, Super Mario 64 came out on the N64, an amazing game, fair enough, re-released again on the DS, alright, cool game now on the move, but it's getting re-re-released on the Virtual Console? Why? Fair enough, giving people the chance to play this game if they already haven't is all well and good, but I just don't want to see games that have been milked out already coming back again. A friend told me, 'some games should just stay in the past' - and he's right. Ocarina of Time was an amazing game when it was first released, but I've battered this game about eight times in my life and I'm sick of it, and really don't want to play it again. It's been re-released twice on the GameCube and now it's going to come onto the Wii soon. Wow, let it R.I.P please. Let it die a legend.
"Some of the emulated games are just plain toilet."
Adam Doree |
As much as I don't mind the prices of games on the Virtual Console, it's still daylight robbery. I mean 800 points for a Mega Drive game? Which is about £6 worth of points? Can't you get the original cart for almost half of that these days? But I guess it's a fair price to pay in some ways because it beats an emulator. Emulators simply don't emulate the same experience. It isn't the same, so I give the Virtual Console thumbs up for at least putting a control pad in my hand!
Adam: Let me just chip in here and say that on the contrary, some of the emulated games are just plain toilet. Witness Sonic 1 and its music at about half the proper speed. PAL-only issue? Don't know, don't care. Fix this nonsense!
Marwan: The only other thing I'm disappointed with that didn't make it onto the Virtual Console was original Game Boy games. I remember growing up playing some sweet games which I'd love to have another go on such as Blaster Master Boy, but it simply doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon. But I'm really looking forward to playing the games I never got a chance to play before.
"This mess with multiple controllers is unforgivable in the day and age of convergence "
Sharan Dev Jain |
Sharan: Currently with such a small variety of games available I've mostly avoided the Virtual Console. But the thing that I don't like about it is the variety of different controllers you need to play everything. Out of the box, the Wii remote is suited only for NES and some Mega Drive titles available. For pretty much everything else you need a GameCube controller, or the classic controller for some future TurboGrafx or Mega Drive games. This means that you're tied down to messy controller wires, or an ugly dongle if you choose to use the wireless WaveBird controller. This is extremely odd considering the classic controller features all the buttons found on the GameCube controller. On top of this N64 Virtual Console games no longer rumble. This was an evolutionary feature Nintendo introduced back when that console was released.
This mess with multiple controllers is unforgivable in the day and age of convergence - especially considering that all these controllers do not come with the main product.
Adam: I like the classic controller - it's beautiful - but why the hell can't it be wireless in its own right instead of connecting to the Wii remote?
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