The Wii remote and Nunchuk
Now, time to look at the fabled Wii remote. If you were anything like me, you probably thought that Nintendo had gone off the rails with the Wii remote. It looked like one of those low-end replacement remotes and it was hard to see just how you’ll be able to control a game using something with fewer buttons than a GameCube joypad.
But, having used the remote for well over an hour in simply loads of different games, I have to say that this is just a massive leap forward for gaming… It’s almost like the first time you booted up Tomb Raider after installing that 3Dfx card… it’s simply stunning.
Click for larger imageHow you use the remote and the Nunchuk add in is purely dependant on the game you’re playing. For example, in Excite Truck, you use just the controller but hold it horizontally. You tilt it left and right to steer, use buttons 1 and 2 for braking and acceleration and tilt it back and forth for balance when you’re in the air. But load up Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and you use the Nunchuk to move and the remote for aiming and firing.
In Wii Sports, you use the remote in a variety of ways with it acting as a racquet, a baseball and golf club… even as a joystick for flying a plane! But take something like Red Steel and you use the Nunchuk for movement then use the remote for aiming and, duting the sword fighting sections, you use it like a sword, hacking and slashing at your enemy.
Click for larger imageIt helps if you imagine the remote to be the handle of whatever it is you’re holding, be it a sword, a machine gun, a robotic laser arm or a tennis racquet. All you have to do then is just use the remote as you would the sword or whatever and away you go. It’s so intuitive that you have to wonder why no-one has thought of it before. And the best thing is, all those left handed people out there can use it too as each game makes a check to see which hand you use.
Click for larger imageNow if you didn’t know already, the Nunchuk controller also features motion detection which gives you more immersion and interactivity with your games. In Metrois Prime 3 : Corruption, you’ll face some bad guys who have shields which you’ve got to get rid of before you can take them out. By holding down the ‘Z’ button on the Nunchuk, then flicking it forwards, you cast out your tractor beam and grab onto their shields… then you use the joystick to pull back and whip their shields away. To finish them off, just point the remote at them, aim and fire… the system works superbly and feels totally natural… grabbing stuff with your ‘free’ hand… it’s great!
So there you have it, Nintendo really do look like they have something very special on their hands and I have to say that all or our preconceived ideas about the Wii were just totally blown away. Its small, its portable, its easy to use and the games catalogue, which you can read about very shortly, is simply massive and above all fun. I’d even go so far as to say that the Wii is just about the most fun you can have with your clothes on and for me it’s been the high point of the show.
Check back soon for our massive playtest of Wii titles.
