The Wiis last great games-Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story, Pandora's Tower

[hypernova]

There are actually great games to finish out this console's lifespan.  They were originally not going to be released outside of Japan, but European gamers made a successful petition to bring them to their shores.  Initially, there was nothing in the works for US release, but they are starting to get them here.  Xenoblade Chronicles is already out in the states, and The Last Story (which has Hironobu Sakaguchi, an FF great) is coming out later.  Haven't heard about Pandora's Tower, but even if we aren't getting it here, thank goodness for softmodding.

I've been playing Xeno for the last week.  It is a fantastic game!  Good graphics (for the Wii), decent soundtrack.  We also have the option to play with the original Japanese voices (with subtitles, of course).  Gameplay is great fun, too.  It seems a little daunting at first, but learning battle strategy is part of the fun.

Before playing,  I would highly suggest you update your loaders (if you're USBing it).  It would keep freezing at random points in menus after an hour or so.  Configurable is up to v70, r27 (I had r22 before) and it doesn't seem to be freezing anymore.

Do yourself a favor, and check these out!

[Dervacumen]

I checked out Xenoblade Chronicles for about 30 minutes.  My first impression was all good.  The controls are different but they work well, if not a little too automatic. My Wii shares the main TV so I probably won't get to play it much - that's what the PC is for.  If I wanted a good RPG on the Wii, this is the one for sure.  It blows everything else away IMO.

[hypernova]

It's over 90 on Metacritic.  Very rave reviews.  Haven't gotten too much luck on the chain attacks, but this game is awesome!

Mild spoiler:

Fighting some large Mechon early on invading Colony 9.  Some bigass robot looks freaking bitchin!  Can be annoying, as Reyn isn't using Wild Down to topple them (only way to really damage Mechon for now) when I've used a Break command on them.  It happens eventually though.  Just gotta keep using it.  I might change to Reyn to ensure it's used at the right time for this part.  The combat system is so fun, though, it really doesn't bother me too much.

[Howard_Casto]

Sweet! 

Now I get to dust the old gal off and take here to the ball a couple more times. 

Thanks for the update.

[Malenko]

The Wiis first great games-Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story, Pandora's Tower

FTFY

[hypernova]

The Wiis first great games-Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story, Pandora's Tower

FTFY

This joke and all variants of it have been exhausted.

Laaaaaaame.

[Malenko]

doesnt make it less true. the good to bad ratio of games on that thing is amazingly horrid. I have a wii, I'm allowed to have an honest opinion on it.

[DaveMMR]

doesnt make it less true. the good to bad ratio of games on that thing is amazingly horrid. I have a wii, I'm allowed to have an honest opinion on it.

Well yeah, if for some reason you're somehow required to play every single Wii release it'll definitely be a miserable experience. But the Wii does have more than it's fair share of enjoyable exclusives if you look past the crap the litters the used section and bargain bins.

[northerngames]

has nintendo announced their final batch of wii games that is being released and after that no moe or something?

kinda odd with thier new wii based handheld coming out to stop making wii games now 

[Howard_Casto]

The wii has the best software lineup on a nintendo console in ages.  People tend to look back with their nostalgia glasses on and overlook stellar titles on the wii because Nintendo so consistantly makes great games that we now take it for granted.

I did this on Kotaku when some idgit said the gamecube had a better lineup, so it bears repeating.

Gamecube:

1 Zelda, ....one that half of the Zelda fanbase hates (you can't coun't TP because it was literally the last game on the system and was also released on the Wii)
1 Mario.....the worst 3d Mario to date
Two Metroid Primes
Resident Evil 4
Viewtiful Joe
And umm... well those throw away titles like Mario Kart, Mario Party ect....

Wii.

Two 3d Marios
2d Mario
Two Zeldas
The only Mario Rpg worth playing
Two Metroids, with admittedly one that half of the fanbase hated.
Punch Out
House of the Dead Overkill
No More Heroes 1 & 2
The Two Resident Evil gun games.
Muramasa, The Demon Blade
Capcom vs Tsunoko

The "Wii" franchise of games (Wii Sports, ect)

And obviously I'm still leaving out a ton from both consoles, I'm just listing the games that nobody can deny were great.  

It doesn't have any FPS obviously, but why in the hell would you buy a Nintendo console if you wanted to play fps?

There's a lot of crap on the Wii, but there's a lot of crap on EVERY console.  I'll remind you the Duke Nuken Forever was released on both the 360 and ps3.

I have a wii and 360 and I'll gladly admit that my wii hasn't gotten much use the past year or so.  Prior to that though I played it waaay more than the 360 and even now I'm not really playing my 360 all that much, I'm just not playing the wii either.

ng:  

The Wii U comes out this fall/winter.  Once the new console comes out the old console dies..... no anouncment needed.

[DaveMMR]

Not really, the Wii's been a flat out turd with one exception - Wii Sports.  Just accept that you own a $300 system that can only play one exceptional game.  It's the 70s all over again.

Gamecube wasn't much better, either.

To each their own I suppose. I look at my Wii library and, with one or two exceptions (misguided gifts), they're good, solid games. "New SMB Wii" is one of my favs (let the haters hate, I missed 2D Mario). "Mario Kart Wii" even with its problems is still enjoyable. Same for "DKC Returns". I love the "Metroid Prime Trilogy" - they actually updated the old GC titles well (even if it's missing a little bit of graphical effects). And on and on and on. I, personally, have no reason to ever sell my Wii.

I will admit a couple of things though: Wii games lack "innovation".  When Super Mario Bros. and Zelda came out on the original NES, it was way different than the simple arcade gaming of the day. Then SMB3 came out and really pushed the limits of the old console. The SNES had games like "Yoshi's Island", "Donkey Kong Country" and "Starfox" that made the SNES look new again in its later days. And even with the N64 and "Super Mario 64" and "Goldeneye" - they were jaw-droppers at the time.  The only thing the Wii did with the games was add "waggle" - a feature that grew old after the umpteenth hour of "Wii Sports". This does make their library of good games as a whole still look a bit stale compared to their earlier console efforts.

And yeah, their "family-friendly" and "gaming for everyone" philosophy did invite way too much crap to the store shelves. Maybe their original "five games per year per publisher" rule wasn't such a bad idea.

Truth be told, I've been concentrating more on PS3 games and old retro games (especially Colecovision as of late for some reason).  But the Wii still gets fired up at least once or twice a week - even if it's to play "Mario Party 9" with the girlfriend or "Dr. Mario Wii" or "Skyward Sword". I definitely don't see it as a waste of money.

[hypernova]

I have a 360 and a PS2.  I have three games for the PS2, (all FF titles, including more from the PS1) and three for the 360 (CoD titles).  I've got more than a dozen I've played more than quite a bit on the Wii, with a good variety.  The Wii definitely had a good run.

Still loving this Xenoblade.  I've done lots of exploring, and heading towards Colony 6 right now on the Gaur Plain.

[Howard_Casto]

And yeah, their "family-friendly" and "gaming for everyone" philosophy did invite way too much crap to the store shelves. Maybe their original "five games per year per publisher" rule wasn't such a bad idea.

+1000

Publishers complained to death about the "Nintendo Seal of Quality" but you know what?  When it was in place shovelware was waaaay down.  I always thought that rule was more than reasonable.  Afterall, if you are a big company, your games are big and take a lot of time to make.  Could you really see Konami make more than 5 full fledged games a year?  If you are a small company, you don't have a lot of resources, and thus it would probably take a whole year to get a product out.  The only way you are releasing more than 5 is if you a churning out crap. 

I don't think the wii lacked innovation though.  There just isn't much more that can be added to gaming with the current tech out there.  I mean games are already 3d rendered, what else can be added?  I personally loved the waggle on pretty much every first party nintendo game except DKC Returns (it was horrible on that one) and punchout.  Now on the third party games it was often crap, but that's because they are third parties, and therfore not as familiar with the hardware as nintendo. 

My rule of thumb in terms of innovation is to look at what the other guys are doing and compare.  Sony blatently copied Nintendo (no suprise there) and Microsoft created a sophisticated, $150 webcam that seems to be great for pretty much everything BUT gaming. 

[shmokes]

Gamecube:

1 Zelda, ....one that half of the Zelda fanbase hates (you can't coun't TP because it was literally the last game on the system and was also released on the Wii)
1 Mario.....the worst 3d Mario to date
Two Metroid Primes
Resident Evil 4
Viewtiful Joe
And umm... well those throw away titles like Mario Kart, Mario Party ect....

I know you think I single you out for disagreement, but I hope you understand that I actually hold you in rather high regard. I'm just a disagreeable person in general.  

I strongly disagree with your decision to discount Twilight Princess as a Gamecube game. The game was originally developed and completed for Gamecube and only at the last minute was it delayed six months so that it could become a launch title to flesh out the Wii's extremely weak launch lineup. Nintendo used that time tack on motion controls for the Wii. Nothing else was added. The graphics were not updated to take advantage of the Wii's greater processing power. Thus, the Gamecube version looks and sounds identical to the Wii version, but more importantly the Gamecube version plays much better because Nintendo made the boneheaded decision at the last minute to disable the user's ability to turn waggle off and instead map the sword to the A button (a feature the Wii version had just a couple months earlier at Spaceworld). To my mind, a game that was developed from the ground up for the Gamecube, and moreover is best played on the Gamecube, is a Gamecube game, not a Wii game.

As for the rest of the library, I think there are some extremely notable omissions from your list. I hope you're not including Mario Tennis in your list of throw away titles. It was excellent. Beyond Good and Evil was beyond excellent. Gamecube was also the only place to get the incomparable Ikaruga (Obviously the Dreamcast should be treated as a thing that never existed). As for FPS, Gamecube did have TimeSplitters 2, which is the sequel to Goldeneye in all but name. Great game. I'm not embarrassed to admit that Animal Crossing was spectacular. Killer 7 was a great game and unlike anything ever. Paper Mario--great. Rogue Leader was great and remains one of the best Star Wars games ever made. Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes was excellent--maybe you don't want to count it because most of it was a remake of the original on PSX, but the updated graphics were welcome and there really was a lot of new content. There was also a little phenomenon called Super Smash Brothers and, while I've never actually played a Pikmin game, I am under the impression that they're supposedly very good. Eternal Darkness was fantastic. There were even some good RPGs with the Baten Kaitos games, Skies of Arcadia and Tales of Symphonia.

The Gamecube's library wasn't really that terrible.

[knave]

Both Pikmen titles were very fun as is Animal Crossing. I played AC with my kids more than any other game.

[Malenko]

Gamecube was also the only place to get the incomparable Ikaruga (Obviously the Dreamcast should be treated as a thing that never existed)

While I disagree that the Dreamcast should be treated as if it never existing (since mine is still hooked up and played regularly) you seem to omit the fact Ikaruga was also released on XBOX Live in April of 2008.

There were at least 1 or 2 good wrestling games on the gamecube and my nephews LOVED the Naruto games.

[shmokes]

you seem to omit the fact Ikaruga was also released on XBOX Live in April of 2008.

I didn't know that. That's pretty cool. But it utterly does not count. It wasn't released on Xbox Live until more than 5 years after its release on Gamecube--i.e., more than a year after Nintendo had moved on and released the Wii. Not counting Dreamcast, it's safe to say that Gamecube was the only place to get Ikaruga, even taking into account that five years down the road the game would become available on another platform.

What I mean by not counting the Dreamcast is that, for all intents and purposes, Ikaruga could be considered a system exclusive, since there were only three notable competitors in that generation, Sony, MS, and Nintendo. Sega's console, while actually pretty great, had very little market impact.

[Malenko]

I didn't know that. That's pretty cool. But it utterly does not count. It wasn't released on Xbox Live until more than 5 years after its release on Gamecube--i.e., more than a year after Nintendo had moved on and released the Wii. Not counting Dreamcast, it's safe to say that Gamecube was the only place to get Ikaruga, even taking into account that five years down the road the game would become available on another platform.

What I mean by not counting the Dreamcast is that, for all intents and purposes, Ikaruga could be considered a system exclusive, since there were only three notable competitors in that generation, Sony, MS, and Nintendo. Sega's console, while actually pretty great, had very little market impact.

well if you DQ 2 of the 3 platforms the game was released on, then yes, its a GC exclusive......

I guess since we're using market impact to rate merit of a release:

In its first week (2003/1/13–19), the Gamecube version of Ikaruga debuted at number 20. It sold about 6,916 units. By the next week, it dropped off the chart.

that should DQ it from being a GC game. Looks like it never came out at all other than the arcades.

[shmokes]

My eyes . . .

[danny_galaga]

It doesn't have any FPS obviously, but why in the hell would you buy a Nintendo console if you wanted to play fps?

Are 'Call of Duty' and 'Goldeneye' not FPS?

[hypernova]

It doesn't have any FPS obviously, but why in the hell would you buy a Nintendo console if you wanted to play fps?

Are 'Call of Duty' and 'Goldeneye' not FPS?

Nobody plays the Wii for FPS, so for CoD, hell no.  You could make the argument for Goldeneye, but it's a "remake" that isn't actually a remake.

[Malenko]

Nobody plays the Wii for FPS, so for CoD, hell no.  You could make the argument for Goldeneye, but it's a "remake" that isn't actually a remake.

Conduit?

[danny_galaga]

It doesn't have any FPS obviously, but why in the hell would you buy a Nintendo console if you wanted to play fps?

Are 'Call of Duty' and 'Goldeneye' not FPS?

Nobody plays the Wii for FPS, so for CoD, hell no.  You could make the argument for Goldeneye, but it's a "remake" that isn't actually a remake.

The statement was

It doesn't have any FPS obviously

which is untrue. I actually play COD on the Wii (it's heaps more fun than tapping on a keyboard), and so do plenny others otherwise it would be pretty lonely multiplayer experience 

Also, does Goldeneye being a remake render it not a FPS? I'm confused, is it not a shooter, viewed in the First Person perspective?

Also, as Malenko mentioned- Conduit.

[hypernova]

As a FPS console, the Wii is simply a terrible option is all I'm saying.  It has some technically, but most people have 360s and PS3s for FPS.  You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who bought a Wii to play the genre exclusively.  I personally did buy a 360 exclusively for FPSs.

Metroid Prime 3 is technically a FPS, too, if we're splitting hairs.

[northerngames]

Battle Rage: Mech Conflict
Brothers in Arms: D-Day
Brothers in Arms: Double Time
Call of Duty 3
Call of Duty 5: World at War
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Conduit 2
Far Cry: Vengeance
GoldenEye 007
Medal of Honor Heroes 2
Medal of Honor Vanguard
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Metroid Prime Trilogy
Red Steel 2
The Conduit
The Grinder


not a huge lineup but a few must play exclusive's.

I use the classic controller so it feel's the same as the 360 to me.

my sight's are off a foot on my setup so no gun setup's for me becuase it just dont work no matter what I do. it's like playing on a rigged carnival/fair air gun aiming at your targer but your hitting your buddy's two targets next to you 

[danny_galaga]

As a FPS console, the Wii is simply a terrible option is all I'm saying.  It has some technically, but most people have 360s and PS3s for FPS.  You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who bought a Wii to play the genre exclusively.  I personally did buy a 360 exclusively for FPSs.

Metroid Prime 3 is technically a FPS, too, if we're splitting hairs.

That is a clearer statement, which can't be refuted. I myself bought a Wii purely on the strength of MadWorld (which isn't a FPS). Until then I hadn't even entertained the idea of buying a modern console. My favourite FPS is still Goldeneye on the N64.

Northerngames, I play COD on the Wii with sights. I never really aim down the barrel with the gun peripheral, it's more like a pointer. Still is more fun for me than the traditional methods of FPS (gamepad or keyboard). Fun is what it's about for me, some people take it too seriously. Having said that I was yelling at the screen last night as I was getting pawned, knowing I'm probably being caned by kids  

[northerngames]

yeah I shoot from the hip when I use a gun attachment lol

[hypernova]

Battle Rage: Mech Conflict
Brothers in Arms: D-Day
Brothers in Arms: Double Time
Call of Duty 3
Call of Duty 5: World at War
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Conduit 2
Far Cry: Vengeance
GoldenEye 007
Medal of Honor Heroes 2
Medal of Honor Vanguard
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Metroid Prime Trilogy
Red Steel 2
The Conduit
The Grinder


not a huge lineup but a few must play exclusives.

Most of what you've listed (CoD, MoH, Far Cry, BiA) were designed for the major consoles, and redone to accommodate the Wii's limited power, sometimes with a different subtitle (like CoD Reflex for the original CoD 4: MW).  Goldeneye is one exception, where they just upped the visuals for the release on the majors (which came long after the Wii's release).

Goldeneye 64 will always hold a special place in my heart as well, danny!

[shmokes]

Your just splitting hairs. An FPS doesn't cease to be an FPS for lack of exclusivity.

[danny_galaga]

Back on topic, Xenoblade does look awesome, and I've only heard good things about it. I've enjoyed Monster Hunter Tri asa well. Must get back into that. Problem with those games is before you know it, it's midnight!

[hypernova]

There are apparently hundreds of side quests in Xenoblade, and I've done nearly all of them so far.  In Makna Forest right now.  I have no clue how far I actually am, other than where I am on the Bionis.

[danny_galaga]

Another thing. I am wary of buying any more games that are not 100% fun without online connection. Mainly because I know that ten years from now, I might want to give something a blast for a bit of auld lang syne. Of course the servers would be long gone. So, is Xenoblade Chronicles a full game experience without internet? Monster Hunter is quite an epic game on its own, but there are some levels that are online. That means ten years from now, there'll be no playing those levels.

[SithMaster]

Back on topic, Xenoblade does look awesome, and I've only heard good things about it. I've enjoyed Monster Hunter Tri asa well. Must get back into that. Problem with those games is before you know it, it's midnight!

I'm tempted to try getting a hunt scheduled but the lag would probably be insane considering east coast US to Australia.  Probably impossible since the game might have region specific lobbies that you can only join maybe.  That and Gobul still refuses to hand out lantern+ and just thinking about getting rathalos rubies makes me want to never load the game again.

Don't worry the American following will make custom servers if they even get taken down (I'm pretty sure they made ps2 servers to replace the official ones).  As far as xenoblade goes its all singleplayer according to wikipedia.

[hypernova]

Xenoblade is all offline.

[hypernova]

I've finished Xenoblade.

I clocked in over 180 hours.  I missed about 6 or so of the 480 quests (time sensitive ones).  Defeated all 155 or so unique monsters, including the superbosses over level 100.  For an RPG, you actually have to level up quite high for the end than what I'm used to.  Final Fantasy's usually had a recommended level of around 60 or so.  This one you want to be around 80.  I kept a file at level 81 so it wouldn't be a cakewalk my first time.  Fortunately, leveling up on this game isn't too difficult.  You'll be 99 before you max out all your abilities and skills.

[SithMaster]

I've finished Xenoblade.

I clocked in over 180 hours.  I missed about 6 or so of the 480 quests (time sensitive ones).  Defeated all 155 or so unique monsters, including the superbosses over level 100.  For an RPG, you actually have to level up quite high for the end than what I'm used to.  Final Fantasy's usually had a recommended level of around 60 or so.  This one you want to be around 80.  I kept a file at level 81 so it wouldn't be a cakewalk my first time.  Fortunately, leveling up on this game isn't too difficult.  You'll be 99 before you max out all your abilities and skills.

I just found out about The Last Story's multiplayer modes so I feel like maybe getting it and Xenoblade at some point.  The thought of having to change batteries makes me not want to bother though so I'm curious if you used rechargeable (dock or double a) or stuck with normal batteries.

[hypernova]

Good job, hypernova.  When do you start playing Real Life: Quest for a Girlfriend?

I completed that quest nearly 14 years ago.  I'm still reaping the benefits, too!  Quite the ironic quote from the guy who's sig is a double entendre about pinball and the lack of sex!

From the time stamp on the initial post, that's about 5 months worth.  I generally don't play anything else when I'm focused on one game, save for some CoD Blops on a few rare nights, though it was really rare during that stint.

Changing batteries, SithMaster?  I can't tell if you're being serious or not.  Just get some rechargeable Energizer or Duracells.  That's what we've always done.

[SithMaster]

Somewhat serious in that I was curious what most people (wii users) use for convenience/longevity or if others have experienced uneven battery drain with certain batteries being more affected than others.  Oh well.