A Non-Gamer’s Journey, or, Why I Love the Wii

Blogged under Industry News, Nintendo, Wii by David Berger on Monday 22 January 2007 at 1:04 pm

I played my first game of Pong on a beaten-up coin-op unit in a somewhat seedy Mexican restaurant in West Hollywood, California. I was around eight years old, and thought it was about the coolest thing I ever saw. I kept begging my parents for another quarter so I could keep playing, my burrito-and-enchilada combo plate growing cold as I tried to master moving the blip. 

They usually said no, because they noticed something that took me a few more years for me to come to terms with: I wasn't very good. It was soon apparent even to me that I lacked the fundamental hand-eye coordination needed to succeed in the world of videogames. But the fact that the loose quarters in my pocket disappeared into the slots at an alarming rate didn't deter me. When I was old enough to walk the mile or so by myself to Westwood Village (as a side note, that was when I was around nine or ten - would parents let kids that young do that today?) I'd make a beeline to the Westworld Video Arcade, around the corner from the great Fox Village movie theater. The colors, the sounds, the action was a powerful magnet to a young boy. But while my friends would post good scores and stretch their videogame allowance, my experiences usually amounted to about one minutes' worth of blind, frustrating fury. 

It was around that time I began begging my father for an Atari 2600. My dad was particularly proud of the fact that he wasn't an early adopter - my sister and I used to joke (well, at the time we weren't laughing) that we were the last family in the neighborhood to get cable, a VCR and a microwave - so he wasn't about to shell out for a videogame console. Instead, I discovered another type of videogame at the computer lab at Emerson Junior High School. A boy named Ken Kawahara (patiently) showed me how to program and play a Star Trek-style game and a horse racing game. We'd go in after school and play for a few minutes before I walked home. But, as with the coin-op games, my interest in these games far outpaced my ability to master them.

At last, when I was 14 or so, my parents broke down and got me that 2600. But by then, I was more mature and the reality of these games never seemed to quite live up to the hype. The situation wasn't helped by the fact that the last generation of 2600 games were horrendous - bad graphics, terrible gameplay, and not a whole lot of fun. I played my 2600 avidly for several months, but my interest waned and it soon lay dormant on top of the turntable in our stereo cabinet.

Then, when I was 15, I was in an automotive accident that claimed my left arm, above the elbow. I needed to focus my energies and interests on other things - videogames weren't much of a priority. But one day, not long after the accident and bored out of my mind (we were still in the "no cable" phase of my father's stubbornness) I pulled out my old 2600.

This is where you, the reader, might expect me to talk about how videogames helped my physical recovery, leading to a lifelong love of videogames that continues to this day. Cue the violins. But the hard truth is, I was physically unable to play. Even the joystick for the 2600, with its one oversized red button, required a two-handed dexterity that was impossible to replicate with one hand (try pushing a joystick down while reaching up with a finger to press the button, and you'll see what I mean.)

Videogames quickly faded from any meaningful role in my life. A couple of years later the first NES was released, with its decidedly two-handed controller (directionals on the left, buttons on the right.) Sure, I'd watch my friends play, and even take a frustrating crack at it myself now and then, but with only a passing interest.

I only started thinking about games again when two close friends of mine joined Activision in the mid-1990s. Purchasing a console was still a non-starter for me, but I began to follow the ups and downs of the industry, believing in its potential and fascinated by the technology. And when I joined IBM, I got the opportunity to think about gaming from some very different perspectives - its influence on business and society, what it means to the future of technology, and more.

But that, of course, is very different from the simple pleasure and purpose of gaming - entertainment. And as the games have grown more complex, so have the controllers - more buttons, more joysticks, more inputs to master. Sure, there've been periodic - and much appreciated - attempts by some to build one-handed controllers, but they've looked clunky and hard to use (imagine trying to play Madden on one of those.) So, from a communications standpoint, I've been in the position of talking about consoles I've never played.

When I heard about the Wii (then code-named "Revolution"), I was intrigued. A legitimate game console I could actually play? I didn't believe it could really work as well as they claimed.  But when I got my hand on it for the first time, it was a revelation. It was as if Nintendo built a console just for me.

And that's my story. Closing in on my 40th birthday, I'm playing videogames again - for the first time in more than 25 years. Sure, it's not perfect. Games also requiring the Nunchuk controller are basically non-starters for me (so much for Zelda!) And I worry that the gamemakers, so accustomed to producing titles requiring multi-button, multi-stick inputs will increasingly depend on the Nunchuk as an excuse for not taking full advantage of the immersive controller. Nonetheless, I'm playing with my kids, and I'm having fun. I'll never be a particularly good gamer - unfortunately my hand-eye coordination hasn't improved much since that very first game of Pong - but it doesn't really matter. I no longer have to wonder whether I'll be able to game tomorrow - because now, I can play today.

The Wii Sports Exercise Plan

Blogged under Industry News by David Berger on Monday 22 January 2007 at 9:30 am

Looks like I’m a bit late to this one, but it’s still worth pointing to. One man claims to have lost nine pounds and two percent of his body fat simply playing a total of 21 hours’ worth of Wii Sports in six weeks. Nintendo obviously thought about this in advance; they created a special “exercise” regimen that you can go through instead just playing one particular game.

Part of me thinks this is a little hard to believe, but at the same time, I see myself working up a sweat while playing a particularly tough game of Wii tennis and I wonder…

The prodigal daughter returns

Blogged under Site news by David Berger on Wednesday 17 January 2007 at 1:17 pm

In the happiest surprise of the day, I learned that Catherine Helzerman, one of the creators of Game Tomorrow, is leaving her job at Sun to rejoin us here at IBM. Look forward to getting you back on board, Catherine!

My 72 hour Wii review

Blogged under Wii, Reviews by David Berger on Monday 1 January 2007 at 2:58 pm

So, I’ve had the Wii for 72 hours, and have played around with it (and two games: Wii Sports and Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz) enough to form some conclusions. So here goes…

Setup. Out of the box I was surprised just how small the unit is - especially compared to its next-gen brethren. Had to change my plans and set it up on my basement TV, because the widescreen TV in the family room has a beveled edge on the top and is set flush with the wall unit - both factors discouraging accurate placement of the sensor bar. Wonder how many people have had issues with that? Beyond that, cables were clearly marked and the instructions were simple to follow. Took just a few minutes to put it together.

Internet connection. The wireless connection found and connected to my home network automatically - no problems. The automatic updates took a few tries to download, but finally did. I downloaded the Opera browser and went online to see how surfing the Web worked. Web pages render a little oddly; it almost looks like screen captures of Internet pages up on the screen. You “type” in URLs by pointing the Wiimote at a virtual keyboard on the screen. It seems they can make the process easier by adding hotkeys for such common address phrases like “www” and “.com.” What’s more, there’s no address bar, nor any visible “breadcrumbing” feature in the browser, making navigation pretty confusing. To be fair, this is still a beta feature (and Nintendo says they’re going to improve it), but all in all, it’s not a particularly intuitive way to surf the Web - hard to see it replacing a computer with a keyboard.

Wiimote. Wow. What a beautiful piece of engineering. Small and comfortable in your hand, but heavy enough to create real presence. The “rumble” feature is subtle but vital; the little vibrations you get when the pointer passes over a button on the screen create tactile feedback that’s hard to describe; it enables you to really “feel” the pointer and connects you to the activity on the screen at a very deep level. Two quibbles, though: 1) it feels like the audio speaker on the Wiimote is underutilized; and 2) most of the activity seems to center on the “A” button on the top of the controller rather than the “B” button/trigger on the underside. It seems to me that “pulling a trigger” is a more natural feel that “pushing a button;” I’d prefer to see the “B” button more prominently featured in gameplay.

However, my biggest complaint about the Wiimote is that Nintendo only includes one with the game. The shortage of consoles currently extends to a shortage of Wiimotes, and just having one is very annoying, when you’d like to play against someone else. I think Nintendo should’ve packaged a second Wiimote with the console; hard to see how any customer isn’t going to need one. They could’ve done that and still kep the price point under $300 ($299?) - it would’ve been fairer to the consumer. Instead, it seems that the $250 price is a bit artificial, and I’m frustrated that I can’t get my hands on a second controller.

Mii Channel. How much fun is this? The ability to create your own “Miis” - personal avatars that appear in different games - is very cool and surprisingly detailed - not only can you choose different facial features, you can adjust their hieight, width and position on the face. My own avatar was a surprisingly good caricature of me, and my two girls (ages 8 and 6.5) had lots of fun creating their own images as well as characters for their friends. Nintendo cleverly designed it so each new “Mii” that’s created pops up during the Wii Sports games - in the crowd, as a player on the baseball team, etc. The kids love spotting the Miis they create when they’re playing.

Graphics. Bright, cleanly rendered environments predominate, but after being exposed to what’s being accomplished at the leading edge of XBox 360 and PS3 game design, you have to adjust your expectations. I haven’t experimented with some of the more elaborate worlds created for Wii games (like Red Steel or Zelda), so I’ll be interested in seeing what great designers can do to push the graphics envelope.

Wii Sports. You can see why Nintendo packaged this with the Wii; it’s really the best way to get a feel for the console. Some good attention to detail here; for example, it enables you to adjust for left-handedness (my oldest daughter’s a lefty), and the Mii on the screen is then shown as a lefty. Tennis is probably the most fun; I worked up a sweat playing best-of-five. My 6.5 year-old got a kick (punch?) out of the boxing; she plugged in the nunchuck and absolutely pummeled her opponent. Golf also works well, though at the advanced level some of the holes are so “tricked out” as to be a little silly, and occasionally the game didn’t respond accurately to the Wiimote’s putting stroke. I know the bowling’s popular, but my kids had some trouble mastering the motions needed for it. Baseball seemed to get a little repetitious. I really like the way the games automatically respond to how I get better by ratcheting up the quality of the computer opponents.

Summing up. The Wii seems to accomplish something that has been a long-sought objective of the gaming industry - to break out of the traditional “gamer” box and appeal to a much wider set of customers. That’s a major achievement in its own right. Beyond that, I’d love to see much more experimentation with what’s possible with the Wiimote. I think Nintendo’s on to something very powerful here - a new way to interact with information and activity occuring in a virtualized setting. This could have significant ramifications for how high-end simulations are constructed, and much more. But that’s another conversation. The bottom line is that the Wii is a smartly designed, well-thought-out, incredibly fun gaming system. And with that, the golf course awaits…

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