Topic: An Aversion to "HD Gaming"

I agree with the OP. I debated this before buying my Wii ~2 years ago. The last consoles I had were an SNES and a Genesis, both of which I sold about 10 years ago. Since then I had been playing only PC games. When I suddenly decided that I wanted to get back to the console scene, I was debating which console I'd be getting and the Wii ended up as the clear winner. It just had so many more games appealing to me. I mean, I'm sure I could find a decent number of games on both PS3 and 360 that I'd enjoy, but if I had gotten one of those instead, I'm sure I'd be completely annoyed at not being able to play something like Mario Galaxy, Smash Bros, No More Heroes, Muramasa, Castlevania Rebirth, New Super Mario Bros Wii, etc. Not being able to play, say, Shadow Complex, Trine or Little Big Planet doesn't annoy me that much, on the other hand.

The design of the Wii and its games in general appeal to me very much. Of course you have to ignore the numerous crap games, but even still there are so many great ones. And before you ask, I have more third party Wii games than first party ones, even though I own almost all the Nintendo published games.

Ha ha I too love Nintendo and their motion controls. The way that you play games on Wii is revolutionary and it's for this reason that I got back into gaming in the first place. The other day we had some guests over for dinner and there was a girl who was quite a serious ping pong player ( plays for a club in the national league etc.) And my girlfriend said "you should play this Wii game" (WSR) for a laugh. Anyway this ping pong ace had seriously never played a video game in her life, but she picked up the Wii mote, started playing the table tennis game, and destroyed everyone on it (myself and other serious gamers included). That's incredible. It was so much fun and tbh I think it changed the opinions of those who didn't understand the attraction of video games, they were like "this is awesome", It made me proud to be a gamer

but he's right, cinematically Uncharted 2 is really superior... sadly, it fails in terms of gameplay

"immersive" doesn't translate into fun, or good. as i said above, metal gear 4 was one of the most boring games i've ever played, and i actually liked other games in the series. the gameplay felt like it was a diversion from the cinema scenes, it's usually other way around. you can praise that as being a bold step to making a cinematic game, but here's the problem; it's still a game. even in the best games the voice acting is still at best on par with a B movie. and another thing- movies tend to end. i tried watching the cutscenes but after seeing so much 'meh' quality acting deliver so much bland dialog i just gave up and started skipping.

the argument was that the wii wasn't supposed to be recreating the real world, so in a way you're affirming what machu said. i'm willing to give the other systems credit for being able to create hyper realistic worlds, but what do they do with that power? shooting game, shooting game, cinematic shooting game, shooting game, ect. i don't know how many really amazing, creative worlds there are to explore on those systems, because they're trying so hard to be realistic that you always exploring the same world: reality.

mario galaxy lets you jump from planet to planet in outer space, metroid lets you explore amazing alien worlds complete with their own functioning ecosystems, muramasa lets you travel through what looks like a giant hokusai carving, ect. despite the lack of power, maybe even because of it, some wii games have a lot of vision when it comes to creating an amazing world that you want to see. i have yet to see a game on the HD systems that impressed me beyond, "wow, you can see every grain of sand on that beach", or "that lighting looks pretty real".

Hmmmm...it's tough. I'm trying to decide whether I wanna have fun with this post or not. =P

Personally, I enjoy games on each system. I have fun on my PS3 and with the Wii. However, to me, Nintendo is sort of like Pixar. I really enjoy games on other systems, heck, sometimes they eat up large amounts of my time, but Nintendo games have a special magic to them that always allows me to become immersed in their games (and subsequently the worlds those games create), and I always have fun playing them. Pixar is a company that might not create enormous blockbuster hits like The Dark Knight, but they're an excellent company that puts out quality movie after quality movie. Even if I don't like all of their movies, you can tell the time they spent with the movie and the production value is great.

The Wii is my favorite system because Nintendo is my favorite company, and they certainly have more games that I'm interested in, but I have my PS3 for my online experience and my fix for some other types of games as well. =) If I had to go with one system, I think you know which one I'd pick. =D (Hint: It's Nintendo's). =P

So. for the topic creator, I hope you're able to get a Wii and play the games that you want. It'd be nice if you could keep both systems, but it's always best to go for what pleases you the most. =)

Ok. Now, I get to have some fun! MGS4 is obviously > U2 because it's far more cinematic! Can't nothin' compare to the cinematic greatness that is MGS4! MGS4 > PS3's, Wii's, 360's, Gamecube's, PS2's, PS1's, N64's, etc, entire collection of games. I mean come on. What game could possibly let you become as immersed in the world as MGS4? I care about ALL of the characters in that game, not just one or two of them. They ALL have an important plot. The world is so realistic! There's nothin' that gets me more immersed than seeing enemies that only have 4 different emotions runnin' through a battlefield shootin' each other. That's what life's all about! It's definitely somethin' Nintendo should do with Mario.

Speakin' of Mario, that's another thing. Mario > any mascot that Sony or Microsoft could ever dream of coming up with. No game offers the insane amounts of fun that Mario games offer, and Mario does it without resorting to something stupidly over-kiddified or resorting to using adult humor to keep gamers interested. Mario games are something for everybody! Something that Sony and Microsoft could never imitate.

Zelda's mythology/history > any other story driven game period. There's nothing that could ever hope to match the scope of a Zelda game, due to it's vast history of Hyrule and it's varied residents and descendants of ancient important people. Ganondorf provides more of a threat than that retard in U2. All that guy wants is power. Ganondorf wants it, gets it, keeps it, and uses it to control the world. Sometimes he's successful, sometimes it takes him a while. But he sticks with it and gets it done.

Metroid was a Halo killer before that concept was even on the table. This is the absolute best sci-fi/FPS/FPA/Side-scrolling game out there, and there's nothing that could come close in comparison. Play Metroid Trilogy and see how your hours stack up compared to other games. This game offers a story and history that is possibly second only to Zelda, and may even surpass Zelda for some. The enemies are an actual threat in this game, not just to the character Samus Aran, but to the universe as a whole. You never feel as if you're just fighting for yourself in this game, but fighting in order to stop an intergalactic threat!

I haven't even touched Fire Emblem yet, but I don't think I need to defend that game. It'll kick your butt sideways and keep you comin' back for more. The story is different from one to the next, but gives a narrative better than any RPG could ever hope to do! Each character has their own strengths and weaknesses and no-one is expendable. There are no generic army units on your team, and the bosses always have a personality, something that other RPGs and games cannot boast about.

Oh shoot. I agreed with everything but this part. Halo and Metroid are not the same kind of game. Halo is a FPS with its focus on the multiplayer. Metroid Prime, which are the only games in the series that are in first person, is a FPA that doesn't even have multiplayer (with the exception of one of them). I don't know why they are compared so much. It can't come close to comparison because they can't be compared.

O.K, a few thing here: First, the story in Zelda isn't that great. It's a generic fantasy story with some character that moves the game along.

Second, comparing Metroid and Halo is pointless, because as has already been mentioned, they aren't the same type of game. You want a high energy, frenetic shooter with a great multiplayer element? That's Halo. You want a slower FPS with more emphasis on exploration, puzzle and acquiring new gear? That's Metroid Prime.

Trevor_Fox I agree with pretty much everything you said except your sarcastic remarks about MGS4, which I'm not ashamed to admit brought a tear to my eye (the end of the game not your derogatory comments). I like games and I like movies, so what's the problem in combining the two? That game has the best graphics and the best direction ever seen in a video game and doesn't deserve to be hated on.

Go find a friend with an HDTV.
Find a sporting event that you can watch on the TV.
Flip it back and forth between the SD broadcast and the HD broadcast. There is a huge difference.

Or just watch any movie in Blu Ray on an HDTV.

HD, aside of being able to provide more immerive games, might be simply a technical must. LKS is a good example, there are many small details what with current lo resolution cannot be appreciated at all unless you are quite close to them. I can think on many many many excellent PC games that simply would not be able to be played in anything lower than 1024x768 because of the same reason, small objects, texts or details that you need to identify and iterate with. With lo-res what you see in all these cases is a bunch of unidentifiable coloured pixels. But well, this is Nintendo, all of us must be quite happy having characters with 4 feet radious heads with 1feet radious eyes, no way to miss who is who this way ...

Oh, I forgot to add. A Boy and His Blob? Best 2D puzzle platformer ever!!! It even has a hug button! =D Who doesn't love a game with a hug button?!

(For any who may not have noticed. Most of my comment past the part where I said I'd have some fun, is not meant to be taken seriously. I may have a few points within that, but I was being silly. =P)

i can understand what he means. i got familiar with a few HD games on a SD set, and when i first saw what they looked like when actually in HD i was disappointed; so many people have mocked the wii for lacking high def visuals but in the end they often make a marginal improvement only. yes, of course there is an instant improvement, and it'd obviously be better for all games to have those resolutions, but sometimes the difference isn't as important as you're led to believe.

that said, i think the emulator shots are amazing and i definitely hope the next nintendo will upscale wii games so that mario galaxy will actually look like that.

Ah, don't let it bother you. I was havin' some fun after all. =) I love Metal Gear. It's one of the reasons I bought a PS3. But, it's extremely easy to make fun of. I was being serious when I said I cared about the characters. All of them. Except maybe Raiden. Okay, okay. I care about Raiden, but he's at the bottom of the list compared to the other characters.