darksnowman Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 Inspired by an editorial I read last night before bed. We are all well accustomed to the waggle-era the Wii has ushered in. Normally when people refer to waggle, it is with negative connotations. We know all about the games and occasions where waggle and motion controls have been poorly implemented, but surely on the flip side of that, there have been times when its been done well...? In the article I linked, it talks about de Blob and de Blob 2. In the sequel they have added a button press to jump but removed waggle to attack. Personally, I didn't mind flicking the remote to jump in de Blob, any time it didn't work I felt it was primarily my fault for mistiming it or whatever. Waggling to attack (or slamming the remote downwards was how I did it) felt pretty meaty and satisfying to me. A flick up to jump, a downwards swipe to flatten baddies - it worked for me. Personally, I can't imagine that replacing either of these with a button press is beneficial. Twilight Princess was the first game to give us an idea how a classic series could use motion controls. We didn't get the fabled one to one sword control we expected but know what? I wholeheartedly enjoyed the waggle sword controls and for me, it was a worthy replacement of the tried and tested button mashing. I remember loving the underwater boss fight, it didn't matter that the Wiimote and Link weren't in perfect tandem because that was ME right there clinging on for dear life and beating that boss to a pulp. A while after finishing TP I was playing OoT on the Gamecube disc, picking up a file I'd already started. Know what? When I ran into the grass I didn't know what to do to cut it. Honestly! I shook the Gamecube controller and really had to think about what to do instead! Those two instances spoke volumes to me. Thirdly, the other week we were playing one of the older Mario Karts. MK 64 I think this was, cos it wasn't Double Dash!!. When going off a ramp I flicked the controller... and... no trick. No nothing. Force of habit maybe, but... it shows how ingrained the flicking from MK Wii has become in me. What are the times for you that waggle has actually worked and enhanced gameplay? What would you miss if it was a button press once again? The floor is yours. And you, yes you, do you really think I made this thread to start a flamewar? No of course I didn't, so move along.
Fused King Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 (edited) Metroid Prime 3: The Grappling Beam was incredibly satisfying to me, in particular killing some beasties flying in the air which you'd have to pull to death with that beam You mentioned Twilight Princess and Mario Kart Wii and I wholeheartedly agree! Also really liked the leveling of your Bike in Excitebike for WiiWare. I must say that even some of the waggle in Mario Party 8 gave me some sort of satisfaction:) And let us be honest here: Waggling your Wii-mote gives you that tingly feeling you get just like when you've taken a great shit. Your body rewards you for waggle:laughing: Edited March 8, 2011 by Fused King
Dog-amoto Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 Mario Galaxy - shake to spin. Works great! I love doing a ridiculously long jump, coming up a little short, then shaking to just about make it. Luigi's purple coins, though hard as T-rex shit, was amazingly fun
darksnowman Posted March 8, 2011 Author Posted March 8, 2011 Metroid Prime 3: The Grappling Beam was incredibly satisfying to me, in particular killing some beasties flying in the air which you'd have to pull to death with that beam The controls in Prime 3 were great, seriously. Now thats enough positivity from me towards the Metroid series. Moving on... Mario Galaxy - shake to spin. Works great! I love doing a ridiculously long jump, coming up a little short, then shaking to just about make it. Luigi's purple coins, though hard as T-rex shit, was amazingly fun So true. Where waggle is required, normally a wee swat of the Wiimote is all it takes. I found it satisfying in the Galaxy games to run up to baddies and spin attack them with a solitary flick of the remote. Do people (such as critics!) really run up to Goombas and start flapping in a flustered panic? A simple little motion is all it takes.
Beverage Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 Foozball games when I work so hard towards the opposing team's net and swinging my arms like I'm playing baseball and polting the ball satisfyingly in the B.O.T.N
killer kirby Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 Why do I have this feeling that this thread is not going to end well.
Cube Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 Excite Truck is a game that simply wouldn't work on any other console. The controls are part of what makes it so much fun. Thirdly, the other week we were playing one of the older Mario Karts. MK 64 I think this was, cos it wasn't Double Dash!!. When going off a ramp I flicked the controller... and... no trick. No nothing. Force of habit maybe, but... it shows how ingrained the flicking from MK Wii has become in me. I completely forgot the trick system even existed in Mario Kart Wii by the time I got round to playing it, so I don't think I ever pulled one off when I had the game. Is it similar to Sega All Stars Racing? Edit: I thought that some of the switches in Metroid Prime 3 felt great to use.
mcj metroid Posted March 9, 2011 Posted March 9, 2011 I'm not the biggest fan of waggle. I can give you far more examples of it not working rather than it working. It worked very well with Super mario galaxy games like warioware Nintendo usually did it very well. EVeryone else was usually very hit and miss.
Ronnie Posted March 9, 2011 Posted March 9, 2011 Loved it in Galaxy and Excite Truck, thought it was ok in Twilight Princess and Mario Kart, HATED it in Wario: Shake Dimension or whatever it's called.
david.dakota Posted March 9, 2011 Posted March 9, 2011 Its all down to how its implemented; and as a general rule of thumb, anything more than a flick (of course, a combination seperate flicks are allowed) or a graceful gesture is overkill. It all comes down to precision. If a game requires you to shake the remote like you're vigorously masturbating, then, well, quite frankly I'd actually rather masturbate. But moving a remote gracefully through the air makes perfect sense; its more precise and intuitive than mimicking the movement with an analogue stick. Its all down to precision; it needs to be a controlled movement, rather than a spasm. Yes, there are a few examples of where shake-a-roo works - like Dead Space Extraction or RE4 - these moments are forgiveable as brief distractions to the bulk of the game (and arguably, make a some contextual sense), but these are simply not great example of motion control. There are a few great examples of motion above, but i'd like to endorse one more - do try it if you can. Years before Motion+, SSX Blur proved to be one of the best examples of gesture control on the Wii system; its graceful and, while unforgiving at times, pretty easy to learn.
Konfucius Posted March 9, 2011 Posted March 9, 2011 I found the grenade throwing mechanic very satisfying in Red Steel. Depending on how you moved the nun-chuck you would roll the grenades on the floor or throw them and I think the force was proportional to the accelaration too.
Pit-Jr Posted March 9, 2011 Posted March 9, 2011 Does pointing, pushing, pulling and twisting count as waggle? If so, i liked those things in Twilight Princess and Prime 3. Navigating TP's inventory with the Wii remote felt so much better than in the past. I also enjoyed Gladiator in Sports Champions
Recommended Posts