One of the main arguments for the Wii is its simplicity. Point at the screen and you’re off to the races. But what happens when even those controls become too much for people? While most can handle one-handed operation, when you throw the Nunchuck in the mix, the confusion level rises.
I recently had a friend visiting my house who hasn’t really played video games since the Atari 2600 (save internet flash games). While he was able to pick up and play titles like Tiger Woods 09 and Wii Sports with no problem, MySims Kingdom and even Super Mario Galaxy posed some issues. He was just as confused, if not moreso, with the dual Wii Remote / Nunchuck combo than using an Xbox 360 or PS3 controller. To make it fair, he also played some LittleBigPlanet on the PS3 and Braid on the Xbox 360, both of which, in his words, seemed “natural” with the controller and their respective schemes.
Two major issues are what arose with the Wii Remote / Nunchuck combination. The first is the two-handed controls and the various inputs needed. Pointing at the screen while using buttons and analog sticks at the same time caused some frustration in this first-timer. There are 6 buttons between the two controllers, which isn’t much less than the competition’s 8 buttons. This leads to the second issue, which is the button placement on the Wii Remote itself. With most other controllers, you don’t have to physically move your hand to get from one set of buttons to another. With the Wii Remote, the new gamer had trouble moving back and forth from the A/B buttons and the 1/2 buttons towards the bottom of the controller.
Now, mind you, these are not issues for core and semi-regular gamers. Most people who have been playing games for a while can grasp the controller concepts without any problems, but the Wii’s target market is new and non-gamers. These are the people who haven’t touched a video game system in many years, if ever, just like my friend. While he enjoyed games that only used the Wii Remote, he got frustrated quickly when the Nunchuck came into play and said it would cause him to skip games that used it.
Has Nintendo, in an effort to simplify, actually gone the opposite direction? Have you encountered anyone have issues when using the Wii? Maybe you, yourself have been confused and haven’t admitted it yet. Let us know in the comments.
I think the massive sales to the casual crowd pretty much seals the deal on whether or not it’s actually simpler. Also, simplicity isn’t the only issue for new gamers. It also need to be intuitive and while waggle can be seriously difficult for core gamers to get their heads around, it’s really quite natural for anyone not used to a button based controller.
Also, I really doubt that very many casually focused titles will have the user hitting the A or B button and the 1 or 2 button. Only core titles will generally need to make user of the 1/2 button and core gamers should have no difficulty using them.’
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I don’t think it has as much to do with the waggle and nunchuck controls by themselves. The developers are responsible for making it work to their advantage instead of motion controls being a nuisance. Some games it just doesn’t work well for and others it is absolutely smoothless. To each their own I guess?
Alot of casual games don’t even use the nunchuk
You had your friend compare Little Big Planet and Braid (both 2D platformers with relatively simple mechanics) with Super Mario Galaxy — a 3D person platformer that utilizes the IR pointer simultaneously during gameplay? How is that making it “fair?”
I agree with your point to an extent, although I do believe, when done correctly, motion controls can be much more intuitive for people unaccustomed to playing games. Your above example, however, is a little lacking. (Maybe you should have had your friend try the latest Wario game instead?)
The Wii brings in players who are intimidated by the dual joysticks, but the real simplicity is in the software. I wrote an article on my blog that discussed this issue: adding motion controls is really just adding another button: http://www.bricemorrison.com/?p=27
[...] Are Wii Controls Really Simpler? [...]
Thanks for the points and link Brice. Good to see you on Loot-Ninja.com, I’ve read a few of your pieces. Keep on reading ours. Thanks.