Topic: The Problem with Wii reviewers (rant)

So I have not posted on the forums yet because I have been content just reading, but after reading some reviews on various sites I just need to rant about two (plus maybe another one or two) main problems:

1) The "Nintento just didn't go above and beyond" criticism.
As seen in the recent Wii Sports Resort review on IGN.
The argument is that Wii Sports Resort didn't go above and beyond because they did not include an online component. Seriously? Who wants to shoot arrows against an opponent that far away that they can't see? Is this really that big a deal? Would that really push this game over the edge? Honestly, why include such a useless component to a game that wouldn't really benefit from it?

2) The "why weren't online leader boards included" criticism.
As seen in many WiiWare and DsiWare games.
Seriously? Has the testosterone been pumping that much that having to prove yourself to the world would make or break a game? I keep seeing this more and more when reviewers are looking for that one extra thing to bash Nintendo (or 3rd party developers) for not adding something unnecessary. Why add dedicated servers to host a leader board for such a useless feature? Hogwash.

3) The "graphics" criticism.
It's the Wii, they went a different route, get over it.

That's all I got for now, peace.

Totally agree with you there, don't care about online play and probably never will do and as for online leaderboards, they are alright to the very small minority likely to get anywhere near the top but for most of us all it tells us is that we came 1000th but it doesn't say out of how many so it's a bit pointless.
Moving onto graphics, I think there are some amazing graphics on Gamecube games (RE4, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess) and find the over the top graphics on 360 and PS3 a bit too much.

Leaderboards I can live without -- I already know I'm not the greatest -- though if a game is focused around score attacking it is odd to not include this feature. Wii Sports Resort doesn't seem to require it though!

I thought this was going to be a rant against NL reviewers, so I'm a bit disappointed.

Leaderboards and online play are nice, but I can live without them.

I always shake my head when people ask for online features in practically every game, especially in ones where it doesn't make much sense whatsoever. As if "Ooh, it's got some trivial online feature! This game is soooo much better now!" is going rescue a shoddy game from failure.

There are only very few games for which I consider online capability a plus. Even then, I only play some random matches when I feel like it. The whole friend code system is just too much a pain to really bother with, especially when it comes to setting up a game. I have better things to do with my time.

Well, I do think friend codes are worthwhile for games using WiiSpeak like The Conduit (or where you have no choice like Monster Lab or Wii Music), but otherwise I agree. I'm not normally bothered whether or not I'm playing a stranger in Yakuman Wii, Dr. Mario or Tetris Party.

Our thread creator uses his very first post on all of Nintendo Life to... "rant." Sigh... Welcome to the forums, thexorcist. I'll go easy.

The lack of Wii Sports Resort's offering of online play is a legitimate grievance with fans of the franchise. As the best selling console game title of all time, the original Wii Sports was in a unique position to drive consumer experience and behavior. Nintendo leveraged this opportunity almost exclusively to educate and familiarize customers with the Wii remote and nunchuk, and their unique control methods they offer over the players' Mii's, which was the other aspect Nintendo was pushing with Sports. In short, it was as much a technology demonstrator and introduction to the Wii ecosystem as it was a game. Wii Sports and Nintendo can be forgiven for not utilizing any online functionality, because at that time, the infrastructure needed to support the effort was not fully developed. However, some could argue that doing so would have lit the necessary fire under their asses to get it moving and better compete with Microsoft and Sony for the market's perception, and I would tend to agree.

Fast forward to today, with Nintendo reporting more than 50 MILLION units sold through the first calendar quarter of this year, and a more robust infrastructure to support their online gaming agenda, vis-à-vis Mario Kart Wii, Brawl, and other titles both homegrown and third party. Add to that the Wii Shopping Channel, which is mostly a cash cow for Nintendo in much the same way as the App Store is for Apple. With the release of Wii Sports Resort, Nintendo found themselves once again in a unique position to influence consumer behavior on a grand scale: 50 million Wii owners. Even assuming a mere 10% attach rate would result in 5 MILLION customers, and of those, assume that only 20% don't utilize the Wii's online functionality for lack of knowledge or interest but not availability. These are extremely conservative estimates, to be sure, but nonetheless, they yield an enormous opportunity for Nintendo to drive its install base to connect to its services, and, in doing so, increase its revenues in the Shop Channel, enhance its market perception, and provide its users the extremely desirable option (not "mandate," mind you) to play online.

Not all those disappointed with the lack of online play - not so much leaderboards - are testosterone-dripping machismos looking for fame or notoriety among their own. Some of us happen to be thinking individuals who see only a positive outcome for Nintendo's allowing us to play this title with and against our families and friends long distances away. Not doing so doesn't make the game a failure, but it's one hell of a needlessly wasted opportunity.

I agree with the Topic Poster. Wii Reviewers are just...stupid. I usually agree with IGN and Nintendo Life, though.

You're argument is a lengthy one, but not terribly well thought out. You forget that pretty much every single game in Wii Sports Resort is turn based (which would be really boring online), with the exception of sword fighting. The thing is, if there was any lag whatsoever, it just wouldn't work, because the enjoyment of that game relies on the responsivness of the Motion+

The only game I've ever been dissapointed with the lack of online leaderboards was Punch-Out!!, but it's so much fun that it's hard to complain. Also, Youtube-ing your best time is much more satisfying than some random list of Mii's and numbers.

You must mean every single game except sword fighting, table tennis, dogfighting, and all the water sports. I might be forgetting one or two. Also, I'm pretty sure Tiger Woods has online, doesn't it? Taking turns online does not appeal to me, but it does to some.

About lag, if you're saying it is okay for Nintendo not to put online in their games because they suck at making online games, that's just passing the buck to a different department of the same company. They really should offer better online support. I play plenty action games on PS3 without lag. It's not impossible.

Oh, Kid... really? These games are turn based in real life, and that doesn't prevent people from enjoying them. These are not FPS deathmatch or racing type games, but they are just as entertaining - if not more so - to many people. And probably the same type of people who don't take advantage of the Wii's online functionality, thus INCREASING the penetration rate in the most desireable demographic. Well thought out, indeed.

EDIT: ...and I won't go into the technical aspects, because as Adam points out, that's kinda ridiculous... sorry.
EDIT 2: That's the second time I've been accused here of not thinking through something. Note to my friends here - I may not always be right, but you can't accuse me of not thinking something through with impunity.
EDIT 3: Actually, I may always be right.

My main grievance with the reviews that prompted my above criticisms is the fact that the Wii is pretty much a living room console, and most users buy it with such in mind. The Wii really shines when it is you and a bunch of your friends sitting around in a living room (or basement or what-have-you) having a grand ol' time. I think online connectivity takes a bit of the spark out of the whole Wii experience... but that may just be me.

I think all in all I just get a little sick of the excuse "I want to play this with people around the world" and "I want to look at my numbers versus everyone elses." Just a thought, and as you can see, I am not the only one who has it. But it is also a matter of taste and opinion.

@Vendetta - I stand behind my choice in first thread creation rather than "Hi all, I'm new, lolz" or "I love this game" or "Help I'm stuck". But thanks for "going easy on [me]" I guess, apparently your power over communication must be daunting.

As long as the game is fun, graphics don't matter.
I don't really like leaderboards. Too many hackers getting 99999999999999999999999999999999999 points.
Online play is a big boost, but doesn't matter much to me.

Exorcist, that's fine and dandy if that's all the Wii is good for, being a so-called living room console, but if Nintendo didn't want it to appeal beyond that kind of crowd, they wouldn't have built internet connectivity into the system in the first place. Plus, online play does have value to these same users. Haven't you seen their Animal Crossing commercials? Nintendo claims they want people playing their console online and in the living room, and I think it's a worthy goal if they tried a bit more.

Obviously the system is bought by a lot of people who don't play it in the living room, either, but alone in the bedroom or basement. Even if they aren't the majority, they still have the right to voice their opinions, and review sites are mainly catering to this crowd. The average reader of IGN or whatever general game review site (not Nintendo-specific) probably cares a great deal about online play, so it'd be dishonest of the reviewer not to report on this

If Nintendo truly wants to appeal to all audiences, I see no reason every first-party game shouldn't be online -- it's not like they don't have the resources. I mean, this is possibly their biggest game, the sequel to the best selling Wii game! There's no doubt that there would be a significant online user base from day one.

I've personally thumbed my nose at online for a long time and ignored it in reviews, but as someone about to move to another city where I'll be super busy, I'd like nothing more than to be able to take what was previously a living room console and play table tennis with my sister or friend online, perhaps even using Wii Speak (if Nintendo remembers how it works). Oh well.

@Vendetta

You've got to be kidding me. Asking for online play in Wii Sports Resort is absolutely absurd; all I can say is that I'm so very glad Nintendo doesn't get distracted by ideas of that sort which point in the exact opposite direction from the goals of the software.

Just like the first Wii Sports, it's a social game, and by that I mean local multiplayer. The entire Wii Sports phenomenon has always been about getting people together in your living room to enjoy a uniquely active and intuitive type of gaming that anyone can join and compete in. That's what made it the best selling console game of all time. That's exactly what the sequel is focusing on, while also showcasing the improved motion tech in the same way that the original game showcased the basic Wii remote functionality.

Tennis on the original game wouldn't be the same if you couldn't be in the room with your opponent, standing there in front of the screen and facing off with sometimes panicked motions and saves. Bowling, while pretty fun with the right group of people in local multiplayer, would be ridiculous online. Boxing is too frantic to work with even a the lowest lag you can get. The same surely goes for the new game. In fact, even if, for some unfathomable reason, Nintendo decided to waste time creating an online infrastructure for this game, lag would destroy it. It simply isn't possible to play these kinds of games over the web fluently enough to make it work--there is always some lag online, and, while it isn't a big deal in a FPS, fighting, or action / arcade game, so long as it is very low, here you'd notice lag that you'd never be able to perceive on any other type of game, where you're watching someone's ping pong paddle move in real time according to their minute motions or facing off with swords in near 1:1.

What's more: you're suggesting that it would be a way to get people online who don't have a clue about the Wii's online functionality? That would just make matters ten times worse; there's no better way to guarantee that they get turned off by the Wii's online service and never use it again. Most of the people you're talking about are very unlikely to have a perfectly fast internet connection or to even comprehend the issue of lag in games, so they'll take their system online, with their kid downloading torrents from his computer in backroom or on a DSL service that is slow, and they'll judge the results they see very harshly, when they try to play one of these games and it seems fundamentally broken.

The bottom line, however, isn't really in the technical issues, it's just the fact that online play makes absolutely no sense for a Wii Sports title. That's only a hair more rational than asking for online play for Wii Fit, so you can see the other person's balance meter as you do yoga in synch. This series simply isn't about that kind of thing, and they'd be making a fundamental mistake if they focused even an hour of development time on it.

Some points I do agree with that were brought up in this thread however:

• If Nintendo chooses to give a game online capabilities, they should go all out and do it right instead of half-assing it.
• Some games lend themselves quite nicely to online play.
• Sometimes developer resources are better spent elsewhere.

I guess no one is enjoying Grand Slam Tennis or Virtua Tennis online with their motion pluses right now then since they can't see their opponents' faces.

There's only been one game. You can't deduce a trend from that. Wii Sports doesn't have to be offline-only just because it once was.

So some online newcomers would be turned off by the experience and wouldn't use it again. If they weren't using it before and then decide not to use it again, it's not like Nintendo lost a customer since they weren't using it before.

I mean, it's not like anyone has to play online. I'd love to, and I see nothing wrong with someone wanting to play a game online just because it doesn't appeal to someone else or that some users wouldn't know how to use it.

No, Warioswoods. I'm not kidding you. Why is asking for O/L functionality in WSR "absurd?" Not for any of the points you state. A game's "socialness" is only enhanced, not diminished by O/L multiplayer. Having such would never prevent you from enjoying it locally with other players in the exact same way as if it didn't.

If you understood me to mean that online multiplayer should come at the cost of local multiplayer quality, then I apologise for not stating my objection to that very clearly.

Regarding lag, I respectfully submit that in this generation of consoles, and the maturity of online gaming, this has largely been addressed to the general satisfaction of most players. If (forgive me) "hard core" gamers playing FPS's or racers or RTS's where a microsecond's lag can alter the outcome of a deathmatch, race, or campaign, then I think (again, my regrets) "casual" Wii Sports Resort players will be more than accomodating to any comparable lag.

And about Nintendo's lost opportunity to convert customers to online users and purchasers, the issues you state are self-correcting. If someone has an insufficient connection to download game from the Wii Shop Channel, then they're not likely to play games online. If they have a sufficient connection, then they're ripe for the picking.

The game itself is not a failure for its lack of online multiplayer functionality, just as the local multiplayer would not have been a failure had they chose to offer the same functionality online. But on a business level, there is simply no question that Nintendo failed to convert on this opportunity.

@Adam: "If Nintendo still remembers how it works." Bingo.

I've been fairly satisfied with the debate thus far so I won't bore everyone with a long response, but how exactly did "on a business level, there is simply no question that Nintendo failed to convert on this opportunity." I don't see adding online multiplayer to (as an example) WiiSports Resort would have increased Nintendo's profit at all. Sure, that may (see: very small chance) be the tipping point for some perspective buyer, but I doubt it will effect sales at all. I think the time/money they saved (albeit small) by not including online multiplayer outweighs the 1 or 2 people who will pass on it because they can't play online.

The theory is that more users would connect online for Resort than would have before, since many of our presumed prospective buyers have not connected to the internet through their Wii yet. If they like it, this can lead to wanting to buy more online games. It can also lead to perusing the shop channel and downloading games.

Whether this would happen or not, I don't know, but it's not like Nintendo doesn't have the resources to put all their games online if they wanted to, so it seems like an easy opportunity.