Fusion Tour: New York City

By John Lansing / Wednesday, 04 October 2006

Fusion Tour: New York City The Nintendo Fusion Tour stopped by the Nintendo World Store in New York City on October 3 with playable Wii available. The Wiire sent Podcast Editor Leonardo Pugliese to the location for hands-on time with the system. The following is an account of Pugliese's experience playing Wii for the first time. ARRIVING AT NINTENDO WORLD STORE Today at 3 p.m. EST I took the local train into the city and made my way to the Nintendo World Store. While there I was able to get my pre-order in for the Wii, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Excite Truck. Just for future reference, I will be back at the store covering the launch for the site on November 19. When first arriving at the store, I headed straight to the main counter in order to set my pre-order in stone. In case anyone wasn't aware, the Nintendo World Store is offering pre-orders on the Wii for $50; games are $10 dollars. Of course, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Excite Truck are the only two games they are taking pre-orders for at this time. If you live in the New York City area and wish to pre-order, I suggest you do so as soon as possible, for this is the second time they've opened up pre-orders and the window of opportunity will probably close soon. Wii's behind glass, but not for much longer Moving along to Wii impressions, I was one of the staff members not able to attend E3 2006 so this was my first hands-on with the console. As such, I was able to test out a few software builds farther along than those my associates played in May. On the first floor they had Metroid Prime 3, but the line was very long and already closed to new entries, so we'll come back to that later. Another line awaited on the second floor for players eager to test drive Excite Truck, and thankfully it moved quickly. EXCITE TRUCK IMPRESSIONS Soon enough I found myself playing Excite Truck, which is actually one of my most anticipated games for the Wii. I picked a map with the Wii Remote and the game began. The controls for Excite Truck are quite simple: hold the controller sideways, turning left or right for corresponding directions, use D-pad for turbo, "2" to accelerate, and I assume "1" is break/reverse, though I never had a need to use the latter button. Put your Wiivy to the levy I would say the learning curve for Excite Truck is a little higher than a game like Wii Sports, for example, which I'll discuss more later on. As for Excite Truck, the main concern is adjusting to slight movements. With the sensitivity settings provided (I expect you'll be able to alter the setting in the final game), you had to make sure not to turn too much or risk sending your vehicle too far left or right. After the first lap I essentially had the controls down (excluding a few accidental boosts) and gained on the other computer racers. The speed felt good, as did the boosts and air times, with plenty of course obstacles keeping the race engaging. The graphics were nice, with pretty detailed car models, excellent draw distance and some flashly blur effects. Overall it's clear the visuals are of much higher quality than most Gamecube games, but noticeably behind the Xbox 360. If you like racing games, then I would say Excite Truck is a worthy introduction to the genre on Wii. If you're not that much of a racer, a rent might at least be in order. Impression Video(s): Excite Truck Demonstration (Open in new tab/window) {page} WII SPORTS IMPRESSIONS Next up was Wii Tennis, one of those games you simply have to play to understand how much fun it can be. Standing in front of the screen, Wii Remote in-hand, even serving the ball can pull you into the moment. Being my first experience with Wii, I initially swung the Wii Remote very fast and hard, as if it were a real racket. I expect many new Wii owners to do the same, so Nintendo made the right choice including a controller strap in the retail box. As for controller sensitivity in Wii Tennis, the fact that the game recognized curve balls surprised me most. When swinging, a slight time delay would occur before my on-screen avatar mimicked my movement, but it seemed negligible. Everything else felt smooth. Graphically this game is just like all the Wii sport titles - a pleasing, yet simplistic visual style is used, which works well a compilation game intended as an introduction to Wii gameplay. Speaking of which, Wii Tennis, and Wii Sports in general, thrives in multiplayer, so I highly suggest inviting a few friends over for a couple of rounds, especially if those friends own the console and have Mii avatars made, since those can be used in Wii Sports. Wii Sports = Entertained People Finally, I got hands-on time with Wii Bowling, the newest addition to the Wii Sports package. Being a bowler myself, I can say the setup workes well, as throwing the ball felt perfectly normal and intuitive to me. After adjusting your angle down the lane and your distance from the left or right side, you hold down the B button and begin your throw. To release the ball you let go of the B button. If you curve the Wii Remote, the ball will react accordingly. The learning curve for this game, like Wii Tennis, is minimal, though that can vary for each person. For me, someone used to throwing heavy balls, it was difficult at first learning to slow down my swings, resulting in a few missed pockets and balls curving across the lane into the left gutter. Wii Bowling should be a good game for one or two people. With Wii Sports it's probably best with more players, but bowling doesnt necessarily need human interaction to be enjoyable. Impression Video(s): Wii Tennis Demonstration (Open in new tab/window) Wii Bowling Demonstration (Open in new tab/window) {page} NOW FOR A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING On the floor, WarioWare: Smooth Moves and Wii Play were also playable. Here is also a close-up pic of the Wii sensor bar. At only approximately 20 cm in length, it's quite small. Most players shouldn't have any problems finding a place above or below their televisions for the bar. Here are also a few up-close shots of the controller, Nunchuck and the Wii itself. At 6 p.m. EST Nintendo started closing down the stations and I headed back to the first floor to check on the progress of the Metroid Prime 3 line. Remember that when I went upstairs over an hour earlier they had just closed down the line for the game to new people. The last person in that line was just then playing Corruption. While I didn't play Metroid Prime 3, I did get a chance to view the Nunchuck up close, which as you can see in the picture above is small, but plenty comfortable to hold. As for the Wii Remote, it's very small, very sleek, and very comfortable, not to mention leightweight but just heavy enough to feel you're moving it around. The design of the B button underneath is very creative, as it curves in towards the user, which prevents your finger from falling off of the button while in use. As most readers know by now, the Wii console itself is small, but in person seems even smaller. With pre-order made and Wii played, I walked out of the Nintendo World Store with much confidence in Nintendo and its next-gen console, especially seeing the enjoyment in players' faces as they took Wii for a spin. November 19th is just around the corner, and after today I know I'll be ready for the Wii. Will Wii all be? Most likely not, but for the brave fun will be had in trying something fresh.