IS Wii Sports the best pack-in game ever?

[Texasmame]

I can't remember a time when the pack-in was as legitimately as good and fun as Wii Sports.  I guess, for the time back in the late 70's, Combat was pretty good if you had a friend to play.

NES had Super Mario, IIRC.  That was pretty good.

5200 had Super Breakout - super weak.

Which good ones am I forgetting?

[AtomSmasher]

NES had Super Mario, IIRC.  That was pretty good.

NES has Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt, which is probably my favorite pack-in of all time.  The original gameboy came with Tetris, which was also a really good pack-in.

[Zero_Hour]

Wii Sports is definitely a good one, and Combat ranks as my least favorite pack-in ever for any console I've owned.

Others:

Colecovision - Donkey Kong (Closest to the arcade you could get at the time)
Intellivision - Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack (What were they thinking?)
Atari 7800 - Pole Position II (meh)
SNES - Super Mario World
Vectrex - Minestorm (man I wanted a Vectrex back in the day!)

[danny_galaga]

  The original gameboy came with Tetris, which was also a really good pack-in.

mine had super mario land, which rocked and which i still have (although its better for my eyesight if i play it on the gp2x instead  )

[ChadTower]

Gotta say Tetris and SMB are the top... closely followed by Minestorm.

[ahofle]

I would say Wii Sports is the best ever.  Not that it's a better game than SMB or some of the others, but at least 5 other people I know went out and bought a Wii immediately after having them try Wii Sports tennis or bowling at my house.  I can't imagine a better game that could've come with the console that would appeal to such a large and varied audience.

[Texasmame]

Wii Sports is definitely a good one, and Combat ranks as my least favorite pack-in ever for any console I've owned.

Others:

Colecovision - Donkey Kong (Closest to the arcade you could get at the time)
Intellivision - Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack (What were they thinking?)
Atari 7800 - Pole Position II (meh)
SNES - Super Mario World
Vectrex - Minestorm (man I wanted a Vectrex back in the day!)

Aaah, yes - Colecovision's DK.  IIRC, that was my main reason for buying one of those.  Great pack-in.

[hulkster]

i would say super mario world is the best pack in ever.  that game is the best mario game ever made.  yep, better than mario 64.  3d, schmeedee...SMW was awesome.

[versapak]

It is an excellent pack in, in that it shows off a lot of exactly what makes the Wii great, but as far as actually being a great game, there have been better games packed in.

Mario with the NES and Tetris with the GameBoy are my 2 favorite games to have been included. They didn't really show off what the system could do, but they were themselves great games.

[Malenko]

I think SMW with SNES and Mario 64 with N64 are ranked WAYYYY up there

[ChadTower]

Mario 64 was not a pack in.

[Howard_Casto]

Super Mario/ Duck Hunt

Talk about games that people bought the system for!


This wiimania thing is nothing new to old-timers.  It's the nes all over again.  They are even recycling some of the old ideas (zapper, power pad ect) and that is a good thing!

[ChadTower]

Well, except that the power pad sucked and still does.  Zero good games for it back then.  Total missed opportunity.

[Howard_Casto]

Well the tech wasn't ready then, but it is now.  You can't make good games for a bad controller.  One could make the same analogy for their current wonder the wiimote (aka a powerglove that actually works!).

[ChadTower]

The controller is fine and is physically on par (and better than some) with the current consumer level DDR pads.  They just didn't come up with a DDR quality game for the pad. 

You could do DDR for the NES easily, though you'd have to use 8 bit music which would detract from the grandiose nature of the thing.

[Hoagie_one]

i would say super mario world is the best pack in ever.  that game is the best mario game ever made.  yep, better than mario 64.  3d, schmeedee...SMW was awesome.

If Yoshi's Island is concidered a Mario game, then I would say it is the best Mario game ever.

[Malenko]

Mario 64 was not a pack in.

My memory sucks, I thought it was, but I do recall getting the system and game (along with Pilot wings 64) the same day

This wiimania thing is nothing new to old-timers.  It's the nes all over again.  They are even recycling some of the old ideas (zapper, power pad ect) and that is a good thing!

yeah , I cant wait for the Wiipowerglove!!   


Though not a best game ever, HexicHD that came with my XBOX360 is a very fun and challenging puzzle game

[ChadTower]

IIRC the N64 didn't have a packin game.  Not upon first release, anyway.

[versapak]

IIRC the N64 didn't have a packin game.  Not upon first release, anyway.

I think they eventually had one with Donky Kong and one with one of the Pokemon games, but yeah those were long after release (and as mentioned further down were just higher priced bundles).

It has been a looooooong time since the days of a pack in title was the norm. If anything Nintendo deserves kudos, not for giving us a title that really showed off the fun of the Wii, but for just having given us one in the first place.



[EDIT]

They do still have bundles where a game and system are included in one box, but those systems are always at a cost higher than just buying the system, so I don't really count those.

[torcer]

Wii Sports is one SUPERB pack in game, but I’ll have to go with Combat for the Atari 2600 because at the time there just wasn’t anything like it at home, and I got so much use out of it. Wii Sports has a serious claim on the Title though.

[Howard_Casto]

The controller is fine and is physically on par (and better than some) with the current consumer level DDR pads.  They just didn't come up with a DDR quality game for the pad. 

You could do DDR for the NES easily, though you'd have to use 8 bit music which would detract from the grandiose nature of the thing.

And thus the tech wasn't ready yet!  I wasn't referring as much to the controllers rather the limitations of consoles at the time.  The powerglove, for example is a 3D gaming device, but at the time all the games were 2d.

[ChadTower]

You could do DDR on an NES.  I'm thinking the hardware was as ready as it needed to be, the concept just wasn't there yet.  The concept isn't part of the technology.

[Green Giant]

Sounds like a consensus that Nintendo packs in the best free games of anyone, ever.

[SNAAKE]

snes donkey kong country = best pack-in game EVER !

 

[Texasmame]

Though not a best game ever, HexicHD that came with my XBOX360 is a very fun and challenging puzzle game

Speaking of which, I downloaded the free 360 game "Geometry Wars" or something like that - very, very sharp looking and fun.  Robotronish.

[Malenko]

geometry wars is free now? drats I paid like $4 for it, lol.  they have a simple side shooter for free on XBOX Live! called Aegis wing, its nothing spectacular, but its worth the cost.

[ChadTower]

Sounds like a consensus that Nintendo packs in the best free games of anyone, ever.

BEST conclusion possible.

[DaveMMR]

snes donkey kong country = best pack-in game EVER !

 

If we're not only counting original pack-ins (and not pack-ins later on in a system's life to boost sales - and that includes Sonic The Hedgehog, with apologies to Altered Beast), then I would still disagree.  When they started packing in SMW with SM All Stars (all on one cart), well that was the best! 

Forget about if Wii Sports is the best, one of the best or whatever.  I'm actually more astonished that a new system in this current generation come with a pack-in at all.  For the first time in a very long time, you can spend the bare minimum at the store for the latest system and still be able to enjoy it without any immediate additional investment.  Now if they can start coming with more than one controller again like they used to...

[DaveJ-UK]

Wii sports is a genuine freebie, I think that's what makes it so great. None of the Nintendo's previous consoles shipped with a free game on release, perhaps with the exception of the Game Boy by the time it made it to the UK.

[shardian]

Wii sports is a genuine freebie, I think that's what makes it so great. None of the Nintendo's previous consoles shipped with a free game on release, perhaps with the exception of the Game Boy by the time it made it to the UK.

My gameboy didn't come with a pack-in. What a rip!

[Guaranos]

My NES came with Duck Hunt and Gyromite.  Therefore, I vote for Wii Sports.

[DaveMMR]

My NES came with Duck Hunt and Gyromite.  Therefore, I vote for Wii Sports.

Ah don't complain!  You also got a robot to do all your evil bidding.... or at least move gyros. 

[Guaranos]

My NES came with Duck Hunt and Gyromite.  Therefore, I vote for Wii Sports.

Ah don't complain!  You also got a robot to do all your evil bidding.... or at least move gyros. 

Alas, my gyroscopic plan for world domination was foiled when my Robotic Operating "Buddy" turned out to have plans of his own.  He was actually allied with an evil sleepwalking professor and assisted him in escaping the prison I built to hold him.

[DaveMMR]

My NES came with Duck Hunt and Gyromite.  Therefore, I vote for Wii Sports.

Ah don't complain!  You also got a robot to do all your evil bidding.... or at least move gyros. 

Alas, my gyroscopic plan for world domination was foiled when my Robotic Operating "Buddy" turned out to have plans of his own.  He was actually allied with an evil sleepwalking professor and assisted him in escaping the prison I built to hold him.

Yeah, that's when Nintendo's PR was in the toilet since the professor used the hardware from Stack-Up to aid the robot's escape.  You should have crushed him under the red pillar when you had a chance. 

[rhoelsch]

As far as old consoles go, if memory serves, the Intellivision, (some years after Poker & Blackjack) started packing Astrosmash in, and the Intellivision II came with Burgertime... 2 of arguably the best pre-NES console games of the period.... but perhaps not the best pack-ins of all time... although the GB w/ Tetris just goes together like peas an' carrots, you gotta admit

[DaveMMR]

As far as old consoles go, if memory serves, the Intellivision, (some years after Poker & Blackjack) started packing Astrosmash in, and the Intellivision II came with Burgertime... 2 of arguably the best pre-NES console games of the period.... but perhaps not the best pack-ins of all time... although the GB w/ Tetris just goes together like peas an' carrots, you gotta admit

Durn!  Forgot about the Tetris/Gameboy combo.  That wins. 

[shmokes]

Don't forget Solitaire and Minesweeper!