Wario Ware, At A Moment's Pose
I try not to enter the debate about video game reviewing, since it tends to be long and messy, but I will say that, apart from Eurogamer's sophisticated and progressively interesting attitude to reviews, the other site I actually want to link to for reviews on GSW is The New Gamer, who just reviewed WarioWare: Smooth Moves for Wii.
I like the review's conclusion so much that I'm just going to excerpt is - but read the rest: "Smooth Moves is, moreso than the effervescent Wii Sports, a brilliant collection of ad spots for the Wii: It's a compendium of five-second-long vignettes showcasing the versatile and numerous control methods of the form baton/Wiimote. The eclectic series of Wiimote movements is a virtual showroom for just how ambitious developers can successfully work the hardware. Certainly, Smooth Moves leaves critics scratching their heads, wondering 'can developers recreate this level of fun for extended periods of time?' to which, the advertisers would obviously say "Who cares? Buy now! Supplies are limited!" and to which, I'm tempted to reply in the same manner."
"Smooth Moves is the best pitch-job for a console I've seen in some time, one that is infinitely re-playable simply because of its controller and the unique, expansive, experience it can provide, which is far more than we can say of prior WarioWare games and even most launch-window games. And while Smooth Moves can't answer whether future long-form Wii games can sustain the same amount of glee, it definitely shows that, in a gaming life where nuances, aggravations and story are excised, such boundless fun can be attained."
Comments
Wow, just read their Twilight Princess review.
Posted by: kwyjibo | March 19, 2007 1:48 PM
Excellent site, wise review. Oh, and I'm so glad I'm not the only one appreciating Eurogamer's reviews...
Posted by: gnome | March 19, 2007 2:11 PM
Always nice to read a cogent review outside the formalist paradigm of "graphics, sound, gameplay and factor X."
One thing I keep reiterating about the Wii, and which this review may or may not diverge from, is that learning to effectively use the controller must be appreciated as part of the gameplay itself. There is huge potential in this. Wii smashes the old convention that (invisible mechanics) = (good gameplay) because it goes beyond the necessarily abstracted digital input used by a gamepad. Back then having to think about this abstracted system ("I press which button now?") interrupted the fl0w of the game and the suspension of disbelief. Now the Wii control system (ideally) contributes to that suspension of disbelief; it breaks down the barrier between input and output to the extent that yes, the gameplay should still emerge naturally, but further yet that *emergent gameplay* should follow from it. A good Wii game is therefore one in which attaining a nuance in control -- and rewarding the player for such discoveries with nuanced gameplay -- is part of playing the game itself.
Dovetailed with good physics-based games in which emergent gameplay is central to the paradigm is part of why Wii is an exciting platform beyond mere gimmickry. In my mind, Nintendo kind of blew it by allowing indy developers like RagDollSoft to take this understanding over to PlayStation. Compare the emergent gameplay of N-ball to the LittleBigPlanet demos we've seen and marvel at what could have been with the physical control of the Wii.
Taken as a whole, I think this way of thinking about the Wii controller is equally as applicable to WarioWare even though no particular component of the game lasts longer than 5 seconds. In fact, by explicitly differentiated a panoply of different motions, WarioWare stands as a formalized "hold me by the hand" example of emergent gameplay (with none of the mystery!).
Posted by: Obiter | March 19, 2007 11:02 PM