WiiConnect24 Pros and Cons

The Wii is great for playing with friends and family in real life, but will it ever be good for playing across an internet connection? Will WiiConnect24 take off soon? I'm not talking about being able to check the weather, download a retro game or vote for your favorite Holiday, I'm talking about online multiplayer.

Even though there are not any online-multiplayer-capable games yet in the United States, the fact that the Wii has free online multiplayer sounds attractive. No other system has free online--alright, the Playstation 3 claims to have free online, but Six Hundred Dollars for the system?... I think you're paying for it.

There are some pros and cons about the Wii's friend code system. Gamers hope that Nintendo will ensure that all games are attached to the same friend code, for ease and to allow you to send cross-game invites. If the Wii will have the fluidity of Xbox's Gamertags with the natural consequences associated with friend codes, it would be a sure success.

What are these natural friend code consequences that I am speaking of? Let me put it this way, on the Xbox, any person with some money to spare can get online, find a game and be a jerk to all the people and then do it again and again. With the Friend Code system, you'd only be playing with people you want to play with, largely only with people you know in real life or maybe you saw their friend code on a gaming forum. If someone is mean... well, they won't have anyone to play with.

But what if there is rarely anyone to play with, even for non-jerks? The beauty of Xbox LIVE was that you could always eventually find a game through a service called "Optimatch" which matched you up with random players based on the criteria you select. Now, it's the time for finding people to play with somehow and entering long, unwieldly friend codes.

Of course, the Wii is largely popular, but I doubt that everyone who bought the Wii got it with the intention of playing online. I believe that because WiiConnect24 is free, if game manuals contain information on online play inside them (like tips on strategizing with your teammates), people would have to at least check it out.

What about GAMES? Well, a game I am getting excited about is Battalion Wars 2. I don't know a whole lot about it except for what it says on the Nintendo Wii page, including the fact that it says "Online Play" in the features. Below is a screenshot. (No, I do not have a copy of an unreleased game I found it on the Internet silly goose.)

Looks strategical.

Another game I would like to see have online multiplayer is Metriod Prime 3, but online multiplayer is not mentioned in the description of it. It was originally going to be launched with the Wii, and the release has been delayed. Because the Metroid game for the handheld Nintendo DS has online capability, we can hope that the delay is for online multiplayer capability!

I'm not sure if there are any sketchy things that would make me not want to get the game even for single player, but either way, the more online-capable games, the better! Eventually non-online games will have to compete with games that have online capability, which will hopefully lead to more online multiplayer games.

The social aspect of the Wii is what draws a lot of people into it, and hopefully there can be this same social aspect over online play.

SD's Three Nintendo Wii Games & Why

Just on the brink of having enough money, SDtektiv considers three games he wants and why.

First, there is a game that hasn't received a lot of attention, but is considered a solid launch title. I was put off a bit by Excite Truck, thinking that I'd prefer to try a more urban driving game such as Need For Speed Carbon, but after one has read reviews saying that the controlling on the new Need For Speed was sketchy, one may gravitate back to the first Wii game one ever played.

Excite Truck. This was the game I had played three times on Demo at a GameStop. I thought they might have selected this game instead of Wii Sports since you are less likely to throw your controller at the TV with "both hands on the wheel!" The driving of Excite Truck feels like driving. It's a launch title, it's a legit. It's fun and that's the point.

-SD


You will probably guess which one the second one is when I say that it is one that has recieved lots of attention and praise. Despite that, this was one that I would not have picked had you asked me a month ago. The game is Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. People who are not fans of the Wii even a wee bit sometimes finish their opinions on the Wii with "...except for Zelda. That looks awesome." A game like this might not be for everyone, as it contrasts the "Pick-up-and-party-games" that appeal to many people, as this one appears more to be a "Sit-in-a-dark-room-for-hours-for-weeks-till-you-emerge-from-the-depths-having-completed-the-game-or-in-need-of-a-strategy-guide!" I have never finished a Zelda game in my life. Of course, I haven't played that many Zelda games! (like three).

I started to like the new Legend of Zelda when I tried out a demo version of it. The controls were great, it felt free, the visuals were pretty cool, and my only concern about it was if it was eerie or if it had any edgy material in it later on. But, I read a review on Plugged In Online (this place that reviews mainly movies and says precisely what good and bad stuff is in it), and it sounds like for me like there is only a little bit of stuff that might offend my conscience, but not enough to keep me from this legendary adventure game. Plus an adventure sounds like fun.
- SD

The third game is another game that would be completely unlikely for me to want, until I heard of its interactive controls. The game is Madden NFL 07. I was dead-set against sports video games. "I should go outside and play the sport for real!" But, I heard from a friend about the actions of raising your Wiimote and Nunchuck to swat down a pass and other pantomines neccessary to control the action onscreen and I was sold.

That sounds like a much different experience than I've ever had playing a sports game. Plus, my dad and my brother would like playing this game with me. Maybe my mom?

- SD

Sapadrew: "It's Mii"

Well since I saw SD's Mii I felt it would be cool to try it out too. Here is Mii!

Nintendo Wii Impressions Interview with Madden17

Phone Interview on February 21, 2007:

SDtektiv: What would you like to be known as?

Madden17

SDtektiv: How long has the Nintendo Wii been in your house?

Madden17: About a month--exactly a month actually.

What Games have you played on the Wii?

Madden17: I have played Wii Sports, Madden, and the Twilight Princess game.

What is your overall impression of the Nintendo Wii?

I love it. It's nice. It's my favorite gaming system I've played... because you have a lot of freedom when you play it. You know, with the dual hand-set controllers.

Have you noticed any bugs or glitches with it?

Not yet. I'm sure if more games come out there'll probably be some because that's what happens with every game system.

So there's no bugs in the console itself that you've noticed?

Nope.

What games do you like best that you've played and why?

Madden is fun because it gets you involved physically. That's the same with Wii Sports.

Last Question. Is there something about the Wii that you think is cool that might be overlooked by the press?

Probably the quality of the games because they're great games, and the press just focuses on the motion-sensing technology.

Thank you for your time Madden17! It looks like it turned out good!
If anyone else would like to be interviewed about the Wii or if you have any comments about the story you can leave a comment!

Online Mii Editor, SD Mii Version!

I thought it was pretty cool and others might too. This is like the Halo 2 Emblem Generator of the Wii world. It is the Mii Editor, a work in progress(?) by senocular. Here is the closest thing to a picture of me you'll ever get from me online. Here's Mii, except with a mustache, a Foo Man Chu to be exact.

SD: the Mii Edition

Maybe Sapadrew could make one of himself too!

My Apologies

[UPDATED: February 28, 2007 (see bottom of post)]

Today, a former member of this blog was removed for posting a link to a violent video. This video was unoriginal and was likely to have been found somewhere and then regurgitated onto this page. The post and the member have both been removed and I apologize to anyone who viewed the video by accident. Understand that I have friends and family in real life from school and church who view this web page, and the video was unacceptable.

I apologize and want to establish that it went against everything that REPriiSENT is about. REPriiSENT is about creating original and fun articles about the Nintendo Wii, it is not about just surfing YouTube and then posting a sick and twisted video. I understand that our reputation might be tarnished forever, but the remaining members of REPriiSENT will strive to obtain whatever trust was lost, and I understand that it might be years before that trust is regained.

I'm sorry. From now on I'll only allow people that I know really well to join this blog.

-SDtektiv (Feb 15th 2007)

Recently, i posted a video of, well, a bad video. I would like to truly apologize to ANYONE that saw it and was offended. I am sorry, and i hope you all can forgive me

-Face Head (Feb 28th 2007)

Nintendo Wii Palooza February 17th Update

At one time I thought that the Nintendo Wii could be a nice alternative to the Xbox 360. Now, after playing both at friends' houses and Demos at video game stores, the Xbox 360 would be a nice alternative to the Nintendo Wii.

At first I was unsure about the Nintendo Wii because of the weird controlling scheme, but then I tried it out. After a try of it, I was hooked. The money I was saving up for a 360 with was now going to go towards a Nintendo Wii.

In the meantime, I decided to start a blog about the Nintendo Wii, this one. And my dream was in a sea of fanatic Nintendo websites peppered with ads and run by people more interested in making a few dollars than just writing, that there would be a blog run by a team of people who love writing and the Wii, who would make original articles instead of always linking to Nintendo and not just providing the general news that you can find in many places.

Sapadrew joined and he was all for it, and he's a very valuable member because he owns a Nintendo Wii; he sees what it is like to own one.

I became too eager for members to join, because I let a third member named FaceHead join. I remembered him from forums, but I didn't actually know him. It was a mistake on my part to let someone I didn't know to join, and I'm sorry because I know that by chances at least one person saw the video he linked to.

I removed FaceHead from the group and I forgive him, because maybe I wasn't clear enough on the rules and I was way too eager to let someone I didn't know join. It was wrong for him to post that, but it was wrong for me to let him join.

I didn't think that he do would what he did. Because of what happened I was tempted to entirely shut down REPriiSENT, because I can't stand thinking of how there is someone who was hurt by it. Our reputation could be ruined, but I hope that it isn't.

I am hoping that anyone who accidentally saw it would email me so that I could apologize, but I'm afraid that the video was so bad and I know that I would not give anyone a second chance for showing it.

But now, I am saving up money for the Wii. I have $230, and I am getting close. (awkward segue) Almost there!

And I know this is off-topic but I've had Xbox LIVE for a year and all I have to say is "You don't need Xbox LIVE, it's $50 to play with racist strangers and occasionally someone nice. Just have Xbox LAN parties every month instead, they're great fun."

Another "great" ending to an article by SDtektiv!

Blurb about Wii Demos

Demos are great. They give consumers the ability to try out the video game without having to pay for anything. They also give me the ability to play the Nintendo Wii for free! (Until I can save up enough money of course). But now, demos seem to be more complicated for some reason. So here's a short blurb/guide to Wii demos.

First, know where to look. The only places that I know that have Wii demos are either Wii events such as there were at the Monster Jam truck rallies and currently the Burton Tour, and the video game store GameStop. Now here's the important part, be sure to choose a GameStop that is separate from the Mall when going to demo. I say this for a few reasons. At both you will have to wait in line with people who are buying things in order to just rent out a controller. I don't know why. There's less chance that you'll have to wait in a longer line if you go to a GameStop that is not in a mall.



Also, there is one less ring of fire to jump through at a separate GameStop; at both you are required to trade a Driver's Liscense (they accepted my permit so that works too) as collateral since the Controllers are free-roaming and of high-value. But at the one at the mall, you have to also turn in a Credit Card. (You get your cards back when you return the Wii controllers).

There might not be any sort of sign or signal announcing how you can try out the Wii, but if you ask the people at the counter if you can rent a Wii Controller, if it is a GameStop they'll let you.

Related Post of the Past: Wii Kiosks Unnecessarily Complicated


I've visited the GameStop just to play a demo about four times in the past three months. Recently, they have a Legend of Zelda demo. Before, I wasn't sure if I was all that interested in the game, but I played the demo and I had a lot of fun! My only concern is if there is a lot of witchcraft in it or not.

Here's a link to the "Try Wii" section of Nintendo.Wii.Com where you can find various places to try a Wii demo: http://wii.nintendo.com/trywii_index_en.jsp

REPriiSENT! Comic 6!

This issue of the Comic is a commentary. At one time I would one who would say that a First-Person View game on the Wii could only be weird.

You could click on the comic to view it full-size, or I suppose you could squint really hard to read the text!

Originally, I was going to write an article about this, but I thought that a comic could make more sense. I guess we'll find out soon enough!

CVG members on Xbox LIVE and WiiConnect24

Reporting from the forum! the segment where we take a question to a forum and report the answers. The forum and the question (and therefore, the answers) are different every time!

Christian Video Gaming is primarily an Xbox LIVE community. So, it was hard to think of a question for Xbox LIVE gamers that would apply to the Nintendo Wii scene:

From what you've seen with Xbox LIVE, in what ways do you think WiiConnect24 needs to be different and the same, and why?

Snuffaluff:
The same: It's hard to say how it should be the same since xbox live is different with every game. I really think that all of live should be as simple as it is in Halo2. Being able to hook up with your friends in a party and then join a server is great fun and I don't see that in any other games. You have to hunt down your friends and then try to find them over and over again after every game. So, how should Wii do things the same... I'm not sure really.

Different: They should have dedicated servers so that there isn't a host advantage, and they can be monitored better. They should try to make it easy to use and easy to find and play with your friends. **as a side note, I'm by far not a computer savvy person. I really don't know if dedicated servers would be better or not. I know the cost would be outrageous.


wyoming:
Nintendo is at times an entirely different ball game than Microsoft. They've been around gaming [console] a lot longer, and have a much larger library of games that are small enough to be offered as a downloadable item. In order for WiiConnect24 to succeed, they need to offer as many of their NES, SNES, N64, and GB[A] as possible for download. They need to modify some of these games so that they are playable with co-op and multiplayer over the WiiConnect service (MarioKart!). They need to start producing more games that are online enabled so that people won't just use the service to download and check the weather. Similar to MS, they may need to offer two tiers of the service, with the purchased tier offering things like dedicated servers.

Those are my views on the service...it seems like they're off to a good start with it.

Thanks guys! (for your very thorough answers!)

Christian Video Gaming's motto is: "an online Christian gaming community which provides a place for Christians to have a fun gaming environment as well as meet and play with other Christians." And here's a link to their forum too!

Nintencast Members on Connecting to WiiConnect24

Reporting from the forums is a segment where we visit different gaming forums with a question and post some of their answers. Today's forum is the forum of Nintencast, whose slogan is "Bringing you the latest news in the Nintendo Wii and DS World".

There seems to be three methods to connecting to WiiConnect24: a wireless router, Nintendo Wi-fi USB connector through the computer, or the Wii LAN adapter using an ethernet connection.

Which connecting method are you using or planning to use to connect to WiiConnect24 and why that method?

tux_do: I plan on using a wireless router, mostly because it's what I use for my ds

A-Zar: wireless router because it is the best way. i use it for both ds and wii. and [because] i use it for my laptop.

Liam616: i use my home wireless router, but its a different one to the one i use for my ds

THE TWILIGHT PRINCE: I have a Wireless router and it works fine :)

Nintencast features a Podcast and news, reviews, and of course, a forum for fans to mingle in and for me to put a question into. It's been in the links section on this blog for awhile, and they've recently updated their front page, so you should check it out!

Finding Your Way Around the Site

This post is about various things such as what is on the website, and a bunch of cool things on it that might not be obvious.

This is really cool. Next to the "[B]" at the very top of this blog, is a place where you can type in something you want to search for on this blog. For example, if you wanted to view all the comics on one page, you could search for "Comic."

In the center of the bar is the word "Next Blog", it will take you to a random website that runs on Blogger, I have no control over where this will take you so I don't recommend clicking on it.

In the sidebar to the right of the posts you will find a list of the authors of REPriiSENT. Clicking on one of the names will take you to a search page where you will find the titles of all the stories by that author in a random order!

Below the list of authors is a link about how to join our team, and below that are the categories, Rhythms, that articles fall under. Here is a story about what each Rhythm represents.

Below the Rhythms will be the three most recent comments... sort of. The Recent Comments seem to update themselves every time a new blog post is made. So, what the Recent Comments will tend to show are the three most recent comments except for the comments made on the most recent post.

Next, the Archives. You can "drill-down" the Archives and view every post ever made individually, by month, or by year should you choose to do so.

That's it!

SSX Blur

I'm so excited! My favorite X-treme sports game is coming to the Wii! This long-time Snowboarding game has a new look and very very cool controls that add the the Wii experience. You can watch a video of it Here .




I really can't wait for it!