Wii Surprise: Nintendo Controller Lets You Bend The Rules — To An Extent

August 18th, 2006, 20:40 Posted By: wraggster

A THQ spokesperson at Dylan's Candy Bar said she played a Wii tennis game made by Nintendo at E3. She plays tennis in real life and said she found herself adopting the proper stances as she swung the Wii remote like a racket. She got good results. But others who stood stiff and just swung their arm with minimal flair got some good results as well. Similar deviations were on display during a recent play session of Nintendo's Wii baseball game (see "GameFile: Why Australia Banned 'Reservoir Dogs'; Nintendo Wii, 'ShellShock' And More").

This kind of leeway could be good thing. However, one person's variety is another person's game-breaker. At Dylan's, the THQ Wii game "Barnyard" primarily featured third-person (third-animal, really) character-based gameplay. It also offered some bonus games. One was darts, which is supposed to be played with the Wii remote held and flicked like a dart — just not released — at the dartboard on the TV screen. The THQ producer showing the game advocated aiming with the Wii remote's laser pointer and then flicking the wrist. But a move from the elbow worked too. So did a move from the shoulder. And so did a flick in reverse, away from the dartboard, a sign of the Wii remote's limitations when it comes to distinguishing different types of motions.

Bouda cautioned again that breaking the rules won't always work on the Wii. "I found I do different things depending on what game it is," he said. "On some of them you can't fake it." He referred to a golf mode in "Barnyard." "If you don't hold it like a golf club and do the full motion you don't get the full result."

If nothing else, the visit to THQ's event proved that Wii's rules can be bent. This fall, when the system launches, players can figure out to what extent — and whether that makes the system's games the richer or the poorer for it.

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