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The Public's First Look at Wii 282

Posted by Zonk from the it's-named-what-now dept.
isaacklinger writes "Time Magazine reports how it feels to play with the Wii. Overall it's a very enthusiastic review." From the Gamespot coverage: "Grossman traveled to Nintendo's headquarters in Kyoto, Japan, and was shown the Wii by legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. The reporter was especially impressed with the Wii's controller. 'It's part laser pointer and part motion sensor, so it knows where you're aiming it, when and how fast you move it and how far it is from the TV screen ... There's a strong whiff of voodoo about it.'" Update: 05/08 16:50 GMT by Z : Ran into a registration screen when I tried for the original article, but eldavojohn had more luck than I. The original Time article is available for reading.
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The Public's First Look at Wii More

The Public's First Look at Wii

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  • The Article for the Article (Score:5, Interesting)

    by eldavojohn ( 898314 ) * <eldavojohn@noSpAM.gmail.com> on Monday May 08, 2006 @12:32PM (#15286016) Journal
    I don't really care for coverage of coverage of a device.

    For those of you who wish to read the original Time Article [time.com] I was able to read every page without a log in. Why that wasn't linked in the story, I'm not sure.

    Unlike the hollow Gamespot article, this one offers a much more thorough and deeper look into games such as:
    Video games are an unusual medium in that they carry a heavy stigma among nongamers. Not everybody likes ballet, but most nonballet fans don't accuse ballet of leading to violent crime and mental backwardness. Video games aren't so lucky. There's a sharp divide between gamers and nongamers, and the result is a market that, while large and devoted--last year video-game software and hardware brought in $27 billion--is also deeply stagnant. Its borders are sharply defined, and they're not expanding.
    And:
    Of course, hardware is only half the picture. The other half is the games themselves. "We created a task force internally at Nintendo," Iwata says, "whose objective was to come up with games that would attract people who don't play games." Last year they set out to design a game for the elderly. Amazingly, they succeeded. Brain Age is a set of electronic puzzles (including Sudoku) that purports to keep aging minds nimble. It was released for one of Nintendo's portable platforms, the Nintendo DS, last year. So far, it has sold 2 million copies, many of them to people who had never bought a game before.
    There's a lot of good original information inside that article that Gamespot doesn't seem to think is interesting.

    Frankly, I enjoy the idea of the controller changing. I feel that the industry has been plagued with bad hardware and also the fear to step away from the norm. The name and design of this system both do that ... although it may introduce a risk of failure, it sure is a breath of fresh air.

    I feel similarly about the music industry and that's why enjoy bands like the Arcade Fire that introduce instruments like the accordion with straight rock music to escape the guitar + bass + drums = band template. I like to think of myself as open-minded and I'll remain that way until I can experience the Wii first hand.

    Furthermore, I'm shocked that Slashdot had the courage to post something that wasn't only making fun of the Wii for it's name! Could it be that we're actually going to get to read about its performance and abilities instead of just griping about its poor name choice? That's outlandish!
    • "Frankly, I enjoy the idea of the controller changing."

      You got that right. The controller is completely central to gameplay, and it has undergone essentially zero changes since the PS1, and only evolutionary changes since the original NES. One or more Dpads, optional analog sticks, and 2 or more buttons.

      The controller defines what games you can play. I think we can all agree that Street Fighter 2 was a good game. But it was impossible to implement in any reasonble way on any machine except the SNES, bec
      • Well, first of all, there was a 6 button controller for the Genesis, specifically for games like SF and Mortal Kombat. I had Mortal Kombat for the GameGear. While it only had 2 buttons, the game was still playable. I think the way controllers have gone recently, cramming more and more buttons into the controller is the wrong way to go about things. We've even gotten to the point of having buttons under the analog sticks. Eventually, console gamepads will end up looking like this [alphagrips.com]. Of the current genera
      • You got that right. The controller is completely central to gameplay, and it has undergone essentially zero changes since the PS1

        Sometimes things are just plain fine for awile and don't really need any adjusting. The bicycle has had the same design for at least the last 50 years. Would you be willing to try one from a company that decided to be "innovative" and rotate the handlebars 180 degrees?
        • hand a dualshock to someone who hasn't played a lot of videogames and ask them to play Halo. It's incredibly awkward. You only think it's ok because you're used to it.
        • Actually, the classic diamond frame bicycle came into being in the 1890s or so. Since then we have developed many different kinds of recumbent bicycle which are on totally different layouts. Some use handlebars in front of the rider, while some are under the seat. Some of them even put the pedals above the level of the hips, for aerodynamics reasons. So, no, you're wrong. The bicycle has changed, and significantly, in the last fifty years.

    • Re:The Article for the Article (Score:5, Insightful)

      by DingerX ( 847589 ) on Monday May 08, 2006 @01:09PM (#15286329) Journal
      Bah, "courage to post something that wasn't only making fun of the Wii for its name"? Huh? There are enough rabid Nintendo fans around here that they couldn't let a Time article escape.

      And yeah, the article is well written and full of smart observations. One of my favorites:
      "[Wii] was unimaginable for them," Iwata says. "And because it was unimaginable, they could not say that they wanted it. If you are simply listening to requests from the customer, you can satisfy their needs, but you can never surprise them. Sony and Microsoft make daily-necessity kinds of things. They have to listen to the needs of the customers and try to comply with their requests. That kind of approach has been deeply ingrained in their minds."

      I don't agree with Iwata on many things, but customers don't give you your vision. You present it to them, and they either buy it or they don't.

      • Re:The Article for the Article (Score:5, Insightful)

        by dpilot ( 134227 ) on Monday May 08, 2006 @02:49PM (#15287279) Homepage Journal
        Usually customers tell you their wants, not their needs.

        Finding what the customer wants, really isn't that hard, despite the troubles some companies have at doing it.

        Divining what the customer needs, as opposed to what he wants, is on a higher plane. It's all the more difficult because of the temptation to convince yourself that the customer really needs (as opposed to what he wants) just happens to be what you're ready to supply.

        Finally, there's figuring out what the customer will need or want - let's face it, what the customer is ready to repeatedly plunk down $$$ for, when the customer doesn't currently realize that for himself and isn't asking.
        • Its worse than that. Usually, customers tell you the solution that they (mostly, but not always, incorrectly) assume would be the best way for you to solve what they think their needs are. Divining their true needs is really half of the core of product design; fulfilling those needs would be the other half.

          Good product design, that is.

          Think of the iPod. Before its release, if you asked people what they needed, they might talk about different folder layouts, or better search interfaces, or whatever. Appl
    • Furthermore, I'm shocked that Slashdot had the courage to post something that wasn't only making fun of the Wii for it's name! Could it be that we're actually going to get to read about its performance and abilities instead of just griping about its poor name choice? That's outlandish!
      Indeed. I, for one, think we should stop teasing reporters about waving their Wiis around.

  • -1 Obvious Joke (Score:5, Funny)

    by rAiNsT0rm ( 877553 ) on Monday May 08, 2006 @12:34PM (#15286031) Homepage
    "Time Magazine reports how it feels to play with the Wii. Overall it's a very enthusiastic review."

  • My predictions. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by GundamFan ( 848341 ) on Monday May 08, 2006 @12:41PM (#15286108)
    It will be cheap to produce, have enough power to run games slightly more advanced than the Gamecube, those games will include a number of rehashed titles and the controler design is going to lead to an endless stream of "optional" attachments (somtimes bundled) to even play a big chunk of the new titles.

    I don't mean to sound negative but I don't see Nintendo changing it's stripes any time soon...

    You know what? Wii (we) are all going to gobble it up this time just like the last two systems.
    • Yeah, I'm not crazy about the whole optional attachments thing (since they tend to be undersupported...like the Sony multitaps) but I don't regret being mostly a Nintendo fanboy for the last two generations at all, but maybe that's just because of my bias towards multiplayer games...
      • That is really my point. The "fanboys" will be happy and Nintendo will expand there market, I just don't see them inovating in the game department which is what really has me worried. I don't think it will be as bad as selling the exact same game (Wave Race had no substantial new content) on a next-gen system (the download service should prevent that) but untill the games are on the shelves we won't know.
        • Well, "Eye Toy" and Katamari Damacy are the only things I've said to myself "damn...Nintendo should have had that", given their attempt to reach out to beyond the choir.

          And now with the controllers, there's obviously a load of potential there. Will it be fun? Too tiring? Gimmicky? THATS the $64,000 question
  • Kinda dumb to link a Gamespot article about the Time article, rather than the Time article itself, if you ask me.

    http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1 191861,00.html [time.com]

  • A couple weeks later... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Synesthesiatic ( 679680 ) on Monday May 08, 2006 @12:48PM (#15286154) Homepage
    Am I the only initial detractor who's actually getting used to the name? At first I thought it was awful, but it's sort of growing on me. And now that the press has gotten over the cheap jokes it looks like they're starting to take the device seriously as well. It may not be the best name in history, but now I don't think that the name is bad enough to sink the console, at least.
    • I'm getting used to it. I'd have to, to own one (which I will). It's liking it that I refuse to do.
      • Nobody has to like it, everbody's just gonna call it 'Nintendo' anyway:

        "Looks like Billy is playing something on the Nintendo."

        What it appears Nintendo is aiming for is to abstract themselves away from the standardized video game console moniker. I think that was their goal for years. I know too many people that called their NES, SNES, gamecube, and even their DS simply as Nintendo. Few people called their Dreamcast or Genesis their 'Sega,' and almost nobody calls their PS1 or PS2 their 'Sony.' .

        I real

    • Re:A couple weeks later... (Score:5, Funny)

      by b1t r0t ( 216468 ) on Monday May 08, 2006 @12:55PM (#15286203)
      I deal with it by calling it the "Wii-volution".
    • "...but it's sort of growing on me."

      The jokes practically write themselves :)
    • I'm getting used to it, but you know, it makes it difficult for me to enthusiastically talk to my friends about the system. I anticipate the eye-rolling and dismissive snorts every time I think to say something like "Hey, have you heard about Nintendo's Wii?" or "Nintendo is unveiling the Wii on Tuesday!"

      I know it the name is supposed to appeal to the non-hardcore gaming population, but all of my coworkers (who own video game consoles, but I would not call any of them really hardcore gamers) think the na

    • Re:A couple weeks later... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by forkazoo ( 138186 ) <<wrosecrans> <at> <gmail.com>> on Monday May 08, 2006 @01:14PM (#15286377) Homepage
      Am I the only initial detractor who's actually getting used to the name? At first I thought it was awful, but it's sort of growing on me. And now that the press has gotten over the cheap jokes it looks like they're starting to take the device seriously as well. It may not be the best name in history, but now I don't think that the name is bad enough to sink the console, at least.

      Now, you aren't the only one. I think it may turn out to have been a brilliant name for Nintendo. They get a *massive* media blitz covering the name, without having to actually do anything. Very shortly, everybody gets bored of the one or two jokes that are possible in the local language, but has still heard the name a lot. So, because they hard the name so much during the initial name-calling, people just get used to the name.

      I do think that parents will still feel a bit silly, when they go into the store to ask for a Wii. But, I'm not sure that silly is bad. You get a Wii, feel a bit silly, and then get some game where purple migit puppy aliens dance in tune to your swinging a remote around or something. You feel a bit silly playing the game, just like you did buying the Wii. So much of the industry is so focused on being uber-Hardcore that a little bit of feeling silly in some key markets may be very good for Nintendo.
      • I do think that parents will still feel a bit silly, when they go into the store to ask for a Wii. But, I'm not sure that silly is bad.

        Most non-gamer parents feel silly asking for a PlayStation. Imagine a parent trying to get their kid [em]-eNCHANT-aRM. All games are ridiculous to those who don't play.

    • Am I the only initial detractor who's actually getting used to the name? At first I thought it was awful, but it's sort of growing on me.

      As someone's sig recently remarked, asking us programmers to name a console/flagship app is about as intelligent as asking the marketing guys to program it.

      It sounded ridiculous to me, too. But I think they might know what they're doing.

      Generally, people get used to absolutely ridiculous names. I'm reminded of a Boondocks strip, where Huey calls up Puff Daddy's studio an

    • The name sounds terrible for portuguese-speaking people.

      That's for the people who say that "people from everywhere can say wii naturally" or such non-sense. No Portuguese word starts with that sound.
    • Every time I hear the name Wii, I think of this [threebrain.com] (possibly NWS, for pictures of gonads and strife).

  • I hate console games... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by dlc3007 ( 570880 ) on Monday May 08, 2006 @12:49PM (#15286158)
    ... and I'm probably going to run out and get this one. I have no idea how much I'll actually play it, but it looks too interesting to pass up.

  • Aerobics (Score:3, Insightful)

    by obsidian.ten ( 944782 ) on Monday May 08, 2006 @12:49PM (#15286159)
    Is anyone else worried that this system will just be too darn aerobic? It's not that I'm against moving around, but is that what we want from a video game system? The time article mentions that the reporter had to take off his jacket to play the system, and numerous E3 technicians have commented on the aerobic natures of the games playable at the expo. Why break down a barrier with the controller, only to raise another one by making people move around to play a game?

    • Re:Aerobics (Score:5, Insightful)

      by oahazmatt ( 868057 ) on Monday May 08, 2006 @12:58PM (#15286230) Journal
      Why break down a barrier with the controller, only to raise another one by making people move around to play a game?

      It's called "exercise". If Nintendo creates a really interesting video game that little Bobby exerts himself on, drops a few unnecessary pounds and increases his cardio-vascular system, how is this a bad thing? This is not raising another barrier, but adding another challenge to a game. Instead of finding the blue key, the player has to burn another 5 calories.

      Don't get me wrong, I'm sure one or two children will throw fits and go back to their "easier" consoles that don't require more than a flipping of a thumb, but the Dance Dance Revolution crowd alone has proved that there is a following for this time of system, and that children have a natural energy the Wii can assist in depleting before bedtime.
      • Actually, when I first heard about this new controller my first tought was: "How long until somebody with a disability sues for discrimination".

        Of course, I tend to have a fatalist outlook sometimes.
      • If Nintendo creates a really interesting video game that little Bobby exerts himself on, drops a few unnecessary pounds and increases his cardio-vascular system, how is this a bad thing?

        Because Billy, Tommy, and Frankie might not take to it. Nintendo's whole opinion on the matter seems to be "If you like it so far, just wait and see what else we can do!. If not, fuck you."

        We've actually done studies in this country that show people will sometimes resign themselves to a so-so tv show if the remote con
    • The DDR games don't seem to have suffered from being "too darn aerobic".

  • Wii will work.. (Score:5, Informative)

    by saboola ( 655522 ) on Monday May 08, 2006 @01:08PM (#15286317)
    Just this weekend I introduced my young niece to Mario Kart. The first thing she tried to do was move the controller around in the air to drive. It's the most natural form of control, and I think people will realise that once again when it launches in the fall. I am really looking forward to it.
    • But the other end of the stick is that people can adapt to any type of control scheme. I was playing Mario Kart Double Dash on the weekend, and just for kicks I fliped my controller around so that the stick was in my right hand, and upside down, and the buttons were under my left thumb. I only did a couple races this way, but I still didn't do that bad. I imagine with the right practice, I could probably get to the point where I could beat the game like this.
    • Except when you:

      1) drop it, causing the car to do something completely unintentional
      2) shift position (I often change from sitting up/lying down multiple times during a gaming session)
      3) have trouble initially calibrating it (anyone who's ever played a space combat sim knows about "shopping cart wheel syndrome")
      4) damage it (it may prove to be useless if you can't turn off the motion-sensor) 5) try to play in motion (isn't a big selling point of GB that you can play in the car/on a plane?)
      • 1) Can happen with a "standard" controller.
        2) Got to give you that one, though I usually move in the breaks, like cut scenes, and not during gameplay.
        3) No one knows what you are going to have to do to calibrate it, if anything. So this one is on hold.
        4) Can happen with a "standard" contoller.
        5) The Wii isn't a portable device, so you should never be in motion. And if you are, then assumably the sensors and tv will be as well, at the same rate, making it all relative, or more to the point, irrelevant.
      • 5) try to play in motion (isn't a big selling point of GB that you can play in the car/on a plane?)

        *blink blink* Ummm.... I'd be more worried about hooking up the power and video input cables on a car or plane than the motion of the controller.
      • Geeze buddy its a game. When you drop a wired controller what does it do laying there that is intended? Have you passed boards or cleared levels by dropping a wired controller?

        Inquiring minds want to know....

      • Re:Wii will work.. (Score:5, Interesting)

        by MobileTatsu-NJG ( 946591 ) on Monday May 08, 2006 @02:58PM (#15287352)
        "1) drop it, causing the car to do something completely unintentional"

        To be fair, no controller can escape this fate. Heck, one of my peeves about the PS2 is that the shoulder buttons control which chapter you're on when watching a DVD. More than once, the controller fell, landed on the shoulder buttons, and completely screwed up what I was watching.

        "2) shift position (I often change from sitting up/lying down multiple times during a gaming session)"

        E3 may tell a different story tomorrow, but from what I've read so far this will not be a problem. Granted, if you're using the remote to point at the screen, that probably will not change. As for positional data, though, it's fairly clear they're using a gestural system (not unlike Opera or FireFox's scheme) to perform movement. A sword swing, for example, wouldn't require that you use an arc of the same distance every time. It's probably just looking at the pitch of the remote to work out if you're swinging or not. To put it a little more simply: I don't think the system is looking at exact spatial distances to work out your movement. You'll probably be able to twirl the remote in between your fingers to get a similar result. (At least this is what reivewers who have tried the controller have stated.)

        "3) have trouble initially calibrating it (anyone who's ever played a space combat sim knows about "shopping cart wheel syndrome")"

        Mixed feelings on this one. On the one hand, I can see this exact problem happening just as you've described it. On the other hand, I cannot imagine it being that big of problem. Let's say you 'calibrate' it by pointing the remote at a cursor on the screen three times. Okay, no prob. From then on, when you point at the screen, you see a cursor indicating where it's aiming. At that point, you're not trying to align the remote, but rather you're gesturing for where the cursor should go. In that sense, you could miscalibrate the controller, but it doesn't seem that likely that it'd be the sort of problem that plagues everybody.

        "4) damage it (it may prove to be useless if you can't turn off the motion-sensor)"

        Erm, you can damage any controller. Lose one button on the PS2 and you're boned. I'll concede, though, that a replacement controller/sensor will likely cost more than a PS2 controller.

        "5) try to play in motion (isn't a big selling point of GB that you can play in the car/on a plane?)"

        Huh? GB vs. Wii? I'm genuinely confused by this point. There's no mention of playing this system on a plane or in the car. But, I'll take it at face value: The remote is being measured relative to the sensor. The nunchuck uses an acellerometer that would probably be affected by the car turning, but that should be just about it. (Except for the bumping...) I dunno that I'd want to play this system in a moving vehicle. I'll grant you that.
      • 5) try to play in motion (isn't a big selling point of GB that you can play in the car/on a plane?)

        I love WarioWare Twisted (the one with gyroscope that senses rotation). It's so fun that I play it while driving. As long as the roads are wide and and free of other cars I always win!!! - although I once got pulled over for excessive swerving.
      • 1) drop it, causing the car to do something completely unintentional

        "Hey, Bob, chuck me the controller, I want a go!" "Sure, here..." "Gottit... uh, Bob, how do I get Link's head out of his ass?"

  • how far it is from the TV screen... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by pubjames ( 468013 ) on Monday May 08, 2006 @01:14PM (#15286379)
    I can understand how motion sensors can tell the angle of tilt of the controller, but would someone explain to me how the controller knows "how far it is from the TV screen"?

    Or does it know how far it is away from the console? I can understand that - perhaps the controller gives out a signal that the console can detect, for instance.

  • we've all been there (Score:5, Insightful)

    by dlc3007 ( 570880 ) on Monday May 08, 2006 @01:39PM (#15286629)
    You know you've done it. You've sitting in front of your computer or console, playing a driving sim. Without thinking, you find yourself leaning into a turn as you try to hold your line.
    You're playing a FPS when suddenly, a zombie/mutant/demon/something jumps from around the corner. You instinctively duck in your chair as you jerk your char out of the way and unload a few shots.
    Potentially, Nintendo has created the most intuitive, natural interface with a video game since the joystick. Well, at least it is the first new video game interface since the joystick.
    Personally, I hate console games. I get bored after minutes of play and haven't purchased one since the NES (yes, the first one). Even so, I think I'll likely be getting one of these. I'm not crazy enough to camp for one, but I can see buying one. Interesting interface > same crap with better resolution.
    • You're playing a FPS when suddenly, a zombie/mutant/demon/something jumps from around the corner. You instinctively duck in your chair as you jerk your char out of the way and unload a few shots.

      The character you're playing will do what your hands do, not what your body does. In fact, most people who instinctively duck, tend to also instinctively raise their hands to defend themselves. The character on the screen will do the opposite of ducking.

      Of course, this is all in theory and we'll never know if it's m

  • Next-Generation Gameplay (Score:4, Insightful)

    by The_Real_Quaid ( 892126 ) on Monday May 08, 2006 @01:43PM (#15286682) Homepage
    Wii is the only true next-generation system, as it is the only one with a controller that allows next-generation gameplay. The other systems have lots of power but it is wasted on last-generation gameplay.

    Wii also offers last-gen gameplay in the form of the classic download service, but for new games it's time to move on to next-gen gameplay.

    The best part of the Time article:

    It's a remarkable experience. Instead of passively playing the games, with the new controller you physically perform them. You act them out. It's almost like theater: the fourth wall between game and player dissolves. The sense of immersion-the illusion that you, personally, are projected into the game world-is powerful. And there's an instant party atmosphere in the room. One advantage of the new controller is that it not only is fun, it looks fun. When you play with an old-style controller, you look like a loser, a blank-eyed joystick fondler. But when you're jumping around and shaking your hulamaker, everybody's having a good time.

    After getting a tate of next-generation gameplay, everything else seems old and busted.

    You don't want to be a blank-eyed joystick fondler, do you?

  • Wii and violence (Score:3, Funny)

    by scolby ( 838499 ) on Monday May 08, 2006 @01:53PM (#15286763) Journal
    So how long before Jack Thompson jumps on Wii? After all, swinging the control to fight with a sword seems like a much easier way to learn violent behavior than just pushing buttons. And just think how much more intuitive the Hot Coffe mod would've been with this thing...

  • Nintendo gets it (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Vesuvias ( 584893 ) on Monday May 08, 2006 @02:09PM (#15286903)
    But the name Wii not wii-thstanding, Nintendo has grasped two important notions that have eluded its competitors. The first is, Don't listen to your customers. The hard-core gaming community is extremely vocal--they blog a lot--but if Nintendo kept listening to them, hard-core gamers would be the only audience it ever had. "[Wii] was unimaginable for them," Iwata says. "And because it was unimaginable, they could not say that they wanted it. If you are simply listening to requests from the customer, you can satisfy their needs, but you can never surprise them. Sony and Microsoft make daily-necessity kinds of things. They have to listen to the needs of the customers and try to comply with their requests. That kind of approach has been deeply ingrained in their minds."


    Finally a company gets it. Do not listen to the hardcore audience as they have absolutly no basis in reality (they have likely spent more time in virtual reality than actual reality for last couple years). Hardcore gamers spend so much time playing games they really can't think outside of the "these games are too short and too easy for my leet skillz" box. Games do not need to be harder to play or interface with. Games just need to be fun. Swinging a virtual sword, pump faking a virtual football and swating a virtual fly all seem like fun to me. I will gladly trade the hardcore "games are not fun unless you WORK for the accomplishment" attitude for this "new" idea of having fun while I acutally "play" a video game.

    Ves

    • Don't listen to your customers.

      Actually, that's not quite right either. The real lesson is 'Don't let customer run your company.' You ALWAYS listen to the customer. You don't always act on what they say.

      Sadly, I am one of those they didn't listen to. (Sadly for me, not them.) I now have to eat crow and admit I was wrong. I grow interested in the idea of this controller day by day. My original thought was 'wtf are they thinking?' Now we know. They were thinking 'Games should be fun.'

      The light

  • Controller Debate (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Krystlih ( 543841 ) on Monday May 08, 2006 @03:45PM (#15287728)
    To those who are skeptical about the controller changing must not have been involved with games too long. I remember the first time I was shown the 'wasd' keyboard layout. This seemed awkward to me considering I had been playing with the arrow keys for so long. However when an arrow key guy came across a wasd+mouse combo he didnt stand a chance. I got to see and participate in this standard changing the face of first person shooters. Now it has become a standard and everyone knows no different (save a few non-gamers). But I see the same thing coming with the Wii controller. If it is done properly in 5 years we all might be wondering how we played games with a standard controller (at least certain type of games).

  • I'd buy that! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Milton Waddams ( 739213 ) on Monday May 08, 2006 @04:45PM (#15288176)
    I'm not much of a gamer. I find that new games look great but they're annoying to play because the controls seem to be so hard. I always liked Nintendo. I have a NES and a SNES. I got a playstation 2 now and I hardly ever play it. Even games like Grand Theft Auto leave me feeling frustrated. When I sit down to play a game, I want to be able to play it straight away. I want to play it for maybe an hour and then do something else. I spend enough time in front of a computer, trying to figure things out with college stuff that I don't want to do it when I'm trying to relax.

    The wand thing sounds a little strange but it sounds fun too. If I get another console, I'll probably get a Wii instead of a PS3 or GameCube. Computer games that are fun! Who'd have thunk it?

  • Hold on a second! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Phantasmo ( 586700 ) on Monday May 08, 2006 @04:45PM (#15288184)
    From the article: in the vastly profitable home-entertainment-console market, Nintendo's GameCube sits an ignominious third, behind both Sony's PlayStation 2 and even upstart Microsoft

    It's a great article, but the Gamecube is only placing third in North America... it runs second to the PS2 in terms of worldwide sales, and I believe that Nintendo makes waaaay more money than the Xbox or Playstation divisions. The author could have done a little more research before hand...

  • TIME scans (Score:4, Interesting)

    by dereklam ( 621517 ) on Monday May 08, 2006 @05:36PM (#15288569)
    A scan of the article pictures can be found here:

    http://www.infendo.com/uploaded_images/timescans-7 27882.jpg [infendo.com]

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday May 08, 2006 @06:25PM (#15288876)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

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The Tao is like a glob pattern: used but never used up. It is like the extern void: filled with infinite possibilities.

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