Do games that utilize the Wii Fit Balance Board place themseleves ahead of every other game on the market? Are we going to see a surge in the amount of games that use the Balance Board periphial as a means to seling the product? Or are games genuinely going to use the Balance Board to help make their audience fitter...
It's a line drawn in the sand.
When do we believe that a game is better suited with the Balance Board, and when do we believe that a game is only using the Balance Board as a tacked on sales pitch. What really defines a Wii Fit Balance Board Game???
Let me take a shot in the dark.
A game that utilizes the Wii Fit Balance Board must:
A) Exhibit some type of exercise motion within the confines of it's game design... not a game design decision that rests solely on the use of the Wii Fit Board.
bad example: Dr. Mario comes out and allows players to plug in their Wii Fit board. Instead of pressing a button to shift the alignment of a pill... they now can use their feet... This is a lame marketing pitch to use the Wii Fit as an extra form of interaction.
good example: Wii Ski. A great free form game that allows the user to play with the Wii Fit board in a casual way.
B) Provide depth for the hardcore user, and create an easy 1:1 ratio of movement for the casual user...
So far the games that have been announced to utilize the Wii Fit Board are casual experiences, drawing apon the market established with Wii Fit owners... but.
Where's the love for the Hardcore users, who buy Wii Fit so their GF's can lose a few pounds, and hoping that a Metroid, or Mario comes out that really takes the Balance Board to the next level....
You gotta believe that Nintendo, even though Wii Fit is marketed towards a new audience.. the board itself presents new and exciting opportunities for game developers to immerse that hardcore market... I really hope we don't see a flood of Wii Exercise style games on Wii ware.. and can actually dream of the day we play Paperboy Wii where the bike hardly moves unless we pedal our feet.....
even that seems like a tacked on use of the board...
So what really drives the need to use the board in a normal game type situation? Lets jockey around a few rules...
Rule 1) Game must function without the use of the Wii Fit Board. (Weird rule, but if you a developer is really going to build a game.. they need it to be played by an audience who isn't guaranteed to have a Wii Fit Board.
Rule 2) Playing SAID game with the Wii Fit Board is acknowledged, and rewarded appropriately. Playing Mario Kart with the Wii Wheel long enough, earns you the golden Steering Wheel... why not playing Tetris long enough with the Wii Fit board earn you the golden tetris block? If the user uses the Wii Fit board more than the other control schemes for a game they should be rewarded. If it's Wii Fit Points, a golden icon, etc... getting players out of their seats and standing on the Wii Fit board should be sought after.
Rule 3) Feedback on the success of exercise. I don't care what game I'm playing.. be it GTA or Soul Calibur with the Wii Fit board... I want to know how many calories I've burned in the play session. Having a unified output dialog for users to acknolwedge how hard they've worked.. would benefit the game in a great deal.
If I play cooking mama, and need to sitr the pot with shifting weight on the Wii Fit board.. .after I'm done... I want to know how many calories I've burned.. Just so my next trip to the beer store can be justified...
I don't think we should impose too many rules apon developers who incorporate the Wii Fit board into their games... I, and hopefully everyone who reads this post, can agree that we don't wanna see the Wii Fit Board used as a corney marketing pitch/ gimmick, to produce more sales...
So basically... how long untill we hear about Madden 2009 using the Wii Fit Board??
I know Skate It has already been anounced to feature the board... I actually hope this game can pull it off (the videos showing the Wii-mote controls, made it look awful). How sweet would it be to do a toe drag and heel drag to pull off tricks for Skate? Sweet. But I curse the day that Madden use the Wii Fit board to simulate the first step off the line...
What you're forgetting is that hardcore gamers generally don't want to use the wii balance board. They wan't to control it with their controller just like they've always done. They aren't exactly accepting of change, look how they reacted to Jim's proposed sex change for example. Also, they are fat. Every one.
But seriously. five or six more games will use the balance board (i can tell you they won't be targeted towards the hardcore, why waste the development money and risk backlash?). Then it will sit under the tv cabinet and gather dust.
You could quite possibly be right. Hardcore gamers will always use the control scheme that gives the most concise controller inputs...
But, I think this is where Rule #2 comes in.
Example: Shiggy releases a Mario game that uses the Wii Fit board to move and jump their character. Hardcore players want to do a speed run on W1-1.
One player does a wicked run using the Wii Fit board and posts 10 seconds. The second player does an even better speed run using the controller, classic style, in 7 seconds... the second players speed run is ultimately better...
If the game acknowledge the use of the Wii Fit Board in hardcore situations then two different speed run categories can be created - With Wii Fit Board, without Wii Fit Board...
Opening up new avenues for hardcore gaming in speed run situations, by segregating scores into different categories based on controller schemes.
Also..
The way Mario Kart Wii handles matchmaking versus which controller scheme is being used is extremely smart, and would need to be carried through with any competitive multiplayer games using the Wii Fit Board.
Wii Fit Board players get matched up against other Wii Fit Board players, creating an equal playing field. This is almost a no brainer, but I'd hate to see a game where if I was playing with the Wii Fit board they were putting me up against people playing with a Gamecube controller.
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What you're forgetting is that hardcore gamers generally don't want to use the wii balance board. They wan't to control it with their controller just like they've always done. They aren't exactly accepting of change, look how they reacted to Jim's proposed sex change for example. Also, they are fat. Every one.
But seriously. five or six more games will use the balance board (i can tell you they won't be targeted towards the hardcore, why waste the development money and risk backlash?). Then it will sit under the tv cabinet and gather dust.
I let R.O.B. use my bongos on the balance board, but only if he has his power glove on.
Here's to keeping fingers crossed for another Jet Grind Radio.
I just want to see a new Police 911-esque game already.
If Nintendo makes a Punch Out Wii that uses the board I will forgive them of all the other crap that is going to end up using the board badly.
@ ToiletDuck
You could quite possibly be right. Hardcore gamers will always use the control scheme that gives the most concise controller inputs...
But, I think this is where Rule #2 comes in.
Example: Shiggy releases a Mario game that uses the Wii Fit board to move and jump their character. Hardcore players want to do a speed run on W1-1.
One player does a wicked run using the Wii Fit board and posts 10 seconds. The second player does an even better speed run using the controller, classic style, in 7 seconds... the second players speed run is ultimately better...
If the game acknowledge the use of the Wii Fit Board in hardcore situations then two different speed run categories can be created - With Wii Fit Board, without Wii Fit Board...
Opening up new avenues for hardcore gaming in speed run situations, by segregating scores into different categories based on controller schemes.
Also..
The way Mario Kart Wii handles matchmaking versus which controller scheme is being used is extremely smart, and would need to be carried through with any competitive multiplayer games using the Wii Fit Board.
Wii Fit Board players get matched up against other Wii Fit Board players, creating an equal playing field. This is almost a no brainer, but I'd hate to see a game where if I was playing with the Wii Fit board they were putting me up against people playing with a Gamecube controller.