Why aren?t there more Elebit-type uses of the Wiimote?

[evert]

I pulled out Elebits for the first time in months to finish of the challenges, and it reminded me of what the Wii is capable of.

The game controls fantastically in my opinion, and the pulling in and out of objects works great, for the most part, especially taking into account the fact that is was an early game for the system.

A year and a half later, only Zack and Wiki seems to use the remote in a similarly deep way, and in that game the usage of the wiimote is left for short specific moments (outside of pointing, of course)

I know elebits sold poorly, but I would hope that isn?t putting of devs making more games that let you interact with the scenery like that game did.

Any news of any similar game being developed?

[abigsmurf]

Of all the movements the Wiimote can do, the towards/Away motions are the weakest. For me it doesn't measure these movements accurately and it can leave me with my arm fully outstretched.

Because of this innacuracy (don't know if it's hardware or software) and physical limitations of the player, it's hard for developers to integrate the depth of field measurements. If your arm is fully outstretched and for gameplay reasons you could die if you move the Wiimote back towards you but you need forward movement, then the player is stuck.


Until games are programmed to fully take into account the position of the wiimote at all times and these motions are more accurate, you're going to come across this problem frequently. As a result you end up with implementations like metroid prime where these motions are a gimmick of opening locks that don't penalise you if you do it wrong. All you have to do is push forward then turn, you can pull back before doing this if your arm is in a bad position.

Not sure if what I've written makes sense, if it doesn't hopefully someone with better writing skills than me can clarify it. But anyway, that's why I think movements have been restricted to turning, waving and pointing.

[Sixty]

I think it's down to a couple of reasons. Firstly, many developers apparently didn't think Wii would be a success. They didn't support it from early on and instead only jumped on board mid-2007ish once they realised it wasn't simply a gimmick that would disappear soon. With developers scrambling to catch up (and cash in) they relied on quick ports instead of original projects. Those who have committed to coming up with something Wii-specific either have only just finished their games (like Suda 51 with No More Heroes) or, since they haven't had a lot of time with the new controllers, have only used them in basic ways so far.

I honestly think the biggest problem is Nintendo themselves. They should be the ones driving remote innovation and - just like with their last consoles - making better use of Wii than anyone else, but they're heavily focused on the 'expanded audience' now, so instead of inspiring everyone else with unique uses of the remote they've made minigames and casual 'for everyone' titles the norm. Other developers see how these games sell and how easy they are to produce compared with traditional titles and it's not surprising they want some of that market as well.

It's a real shame. I was convinced we'd be seeing entirely new genres on Wii and all sorts of exciting uses of the controllers. It's tragic how things have turned out instead. There's still hope, though. WiiWare could offer exactly these types of experiences where Nintendo hasn't. If it turns into the competitive breeding ground for new ideas they hope it will we could see a dramatic increase in how the Wiimote is used.

[Big Seany]

I still think that pound for pound, Mazza Galaxy aside, Elebits is the best game on the system. And I completely agree with the sentiments of this thread.

[EJG1980]

I think the main reason would be because it's simply easier, quicker and cheaper to develop a "normal" game with basic wiimote controls tacked on.

I agree that Nintendo should be taking more of a lead too. Make games with more advanced and interesting controls AND show third party developers how they did it. It would help take away some of the risk for third parties who don't want to develop an advanced control system for their own games from scratch.

[Dogg Thang]

I think it really comes down to the games. As much as I didn't like Elebits (like looking for socks), it did use the controller really well. But the thing is - many, if not most games, don't need anything more than traditional control.

Looking at the DS with its two screens, touch screen and mic, I'd still say that most great games on the system are great in spite of the different control options rather than because of them. Ouendan is the only one I ever think of that was great and totally relied on one of those features. Others say Meteos but I think it was broken precisely because of the touch screen control.

Games are games. If someone comes up with a game that just must have Wii control, great. Otherwise I'd rather they just made the games they thought were good and used the most appropriate control system. Often games that are forced out of the control come across as little more than demos (Feel the Magic I'm looking in your direction).

But I think Metroid Prime 3 made great use of the control system and worked almost perfectly. It leads by example.