WII

MIGS 2006: Playing Wii Sports and Excite Truck

By Katie . November 13, 2006 . 12:18pm

Feeling invigorated after the morning’s exciting start, the audience poured from the room in a steady stream towards the ongoing attraction, the Expo. Technical demos, like the Matrox three-point surround-screen setup, and information booths for the likes of the Moby Games database project were spread out in the front half of the room, while a partial wall hid the real treasure trove behind – the free lunchboxes!

No wait. The Wii stations!

Masses were congregated around the four Wii displays lining the right wall, vying to play Excite Truck, Wario Ware: Smooth Moves, Wii Sports, or the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Thankfully, Montreal is a civilized city and order reigned over the teeming crowd, so it was just a matter of time before even those as small and meek as I would get a turn. But stragglers had a better chance at the four adjacent DS Lite stations, where Club House Games, Mario Kart DS, and two copies of Star Fox ran, enlarged on LCD screens. Some of these games are obviously old hat by now, but for the stools alone it was worth a short session – it was some of the neatest seating I’ve ever encountered. Although they were hard plastic, some kind of pressurization made them feel like air cushions.

A nice, momentary relief when your legs are shot from Wii Sports Boxing.

Yes, your legs are what hurt most after Wii Boxing. That’s because, if you’re playing in true fighting form, you’ll be ducking, deking, and defending against blows from head to foot, looking for that unguarded opening to land your own knockout punch, as the Wii picks up your every flinch with near-perfect precision. The Wiimote and Nunchuck are so light and fitted in your hands that even the feeblest nerd arms won’t be tired out after the bell (although, pull on a tank and trunks – you will get sweaty). Only once did I have a problem when the connecting cord entangled my press badge, but only Mr. T would really wear anything that long around his neck while playing this game.

This was by far the showstopper not only amongst Wii Sports but all other displays, attracting throngs of spectators and hopefuls with every bout in a real-life ringside. Playing against one of the staff members as boxer blue, my ego turned heavyweight with comments like, “she must have been a young boxer in a past life!” and “she’s really thrashing you, man!” (and because they were in French, it was, like, way more cultured, too.) No matter how stupid I must have looked as I took a game starring Lego man look-alikes way too seriously, I walked out a champion of the virtual circuit – and I can’t wait for more.

My own personal favourite, however, is Excite Truck.

You wouldn’t think the Wii remote could make a good steering wheel, but think again. Turned on its side, that wily white wonder makes hitting the road – quite literally, with all the colossal jumps in each of its globe-trotting tracks – a sheer delight. Gas and boosts are in the right place at each end so your thumbs will never be far, and the best part is catching huge air and nailing a perfect landing by tilting the controller forward and back. Stars awarded for your skillful handling help refill your boost meter, but carelessness with the nitro – much like its NES namesake – will see your temperature gauge going into the red zone and smoke billowing blackly from under the hood.

Pumping out a totally fitting hard rock soundtrack to boot, Excite truck is on a crazy-fast path to becoming one of the best games of the Wii launch.

More to come!