Nerd Mentality

The For-Real Deal

Posted October 22nd 2006 by J Edison Thomas.

With Wii launching in exactly one month, the gaming community is bubbling with a cocktail of excitement and curiosity, eagerness and anxiety. It's hard to remember, or even imagine, a console launch sparking such massive interest in the face of doubts in such number and variety that it's difficult to distinguish the general opinion toward the launch from that of an imminent as-of-yet friendly alien invasion.

For being so near to our living rooms in calendar time, the console has, in many ways, still retained its nearly-trademarked air of mystery. For each tidbit of information that Nintendo has revealed, new questions and concerns pop up, like numerous hydra heads spawning from each slit throat. Even folks so enamored with the Wii that they'd camp out in a line just to pre-order don't seem capable of articulating just why they want it. Maybe Nintendo wasn't just blowing smoke with its "Playing is believing!" all-in-one question-dodging campaign.

One of the more popular concerns, and the only I feel motivated to write about at the moment, is that for all the grandeur of full-motion control, it's just not going to be worth it if playing the games makes your arms tired. I feel a wave of despair every time I hear this concept voiced or read it on the Internet, because it would seem that developers are already scared shitless that our lazy populace will forsake their efforts, however laborous and fruitful they may be, due to the danger of sore wrists.

I can't help but wonder if these people have never heard of the popular Eye Toy; the virtual juggernaut that is Dance Dance Revolution; the arcade staple of the light gun rail shooter genre. Games that make you have to catch your breath, make you sweat, make you experience pain to play. People love these games, but they fear the Herculean task of holding a remote so light it's hard to believe it contains actual science and hardware.

In scouring my brain for a relevant case, it is only the light gun rail shooter genre that has produced significant muscle discomfort for me. But you know what? It's okay. Because unlike DS Phat-related hand cramping, it's pain that comes in direct reaction to my actions in the game. The harder I press on, the more it hurts. And to me, in some weird way, that makes it even more rewarding. When not backing down against hordes of zombies means more than just keeping your aim steady and your eyes open, but actually fighting against real physical pain that gets stronger the more your enemies continue the assault.

You're talking immersion. All of you. All I hear is how the Wii will not simply add a novelty to gaming, not only provide a fun new way to play, but that it will actually "put you in the game". So, why this dissonance? Isn't it – in a way – total bullshit that everyone wants to feel what it's "really like" to hack a sword into their enemy, but not if it makes them tired after awhile? Not if you have to experience what the actual muscle strain would be to pull off the same action in reality?

To me, I'd imagine busting through a dungeon crawling with enemies, doing battle with a monstrous boss, and coming out clean on the other end would be much more of an achievement if it actually made you sweat, huff, and left you sore and tired. I'm not a testosterone-charged gymrat or anything – I look like I could blow away in a strong breeze and rarely get more active than taking stairs – but maybe that's why I'd appreciate an instance where I could really throw myself into the shoes of my character and experience the adventure like they do, blood, sweat, tears and all.

To me, the Wii's biggest threat is on-the-fence syndrome. Using the new control system just to simulate what can already be done on buttons because it's too much of a departure to commit to new genres, for instance. And this, in my view, is just another example of it. If you're looking for immersion, then you have to go all the way. Half-assing it to the point that you're losing the whole point of a system that translates real life motion into virtual actions makes the entire "Revolution" a waste of time.

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