This was awesome, and I would eat dog shit for Half-Life 3.

And from this time forward, I will be referring to restrooms as masturbatoriums.

I hated. Hated. The motion controls in Skyward Sword for about the first 4 hours and then it really clicked. It became fun. Now making a game shitty for the first few hours is not really forgivable, but once you really get into the game it works great.

Motion controls are something that need to be learned. They don't always work the way you think they should. If you have a brain, you shouldn't have a problem with Skyward Sword after a few hours of acclimation and the knowledge that it is not using the IR pointer.

We can worry about the future of Zelda many moons from now.

I'm a believer! Mo-con future, baby!

Yeah, I've actually found the motion controls in Skyward Sword much easier to use than in Twilight Princess. Traditional Wii controls with the IR sensor suffer from frequent "PLEASE POINT YOUR CONTROLLER AT THE SCREEN" messages, and anything that required pointing controls would become fucked if I wasn't positioned just right. With the Motion+ behavior, it doesn't matter where the tip of your Remote is pointing. If I had eyes on the back of my head, I could play the game with my back to the TV. And once you learn how to take out many of the more common enemies quickly before they can ready their guard, the whole repetitive "Simon Says" component is gone.

I have a motion controller, it's called a mouse. That's what a mouse is. It's 2D, yes, but it's also accurate as hell and relaxing to use.

Good chat, I rather enjoy these :)

I like motion controls, but that's just my opinion. Great office chat though, Jim Sterling is a great addition!

Jim, how far did you get in Skyward Sword? The motion control really came into its own after the first few hours, if you didn't get too far into I recommend yo try it again.

Okay so I realize there was some time in between this and Podtoid but it seems like Jim Sterling is everywhere. He's omnipresent.

@Jinx 01:

I completely disagree about mice being 'relaxing' to use. In fact, I think they betray that, by definition. Why? A mouse requires a desk. You have to sit at a desk -- there is nothing relaxing about that. When I play games, I like to *actually* relax, as in lounge back on my couch, controller in hand. I can do this with a Wii Remote.

I strongly disagree that motion-controlled combat broke up the flow of the game. I've played over 50 hours of Skyward Sword so far, and at some point in my playtime, combat just became second nature for me. I can plow through a group of enemies just as quickly in this game as I could in previous Zeldas. Limiting the instances of thinking about where to swing your sword to boss battles, as was suggested in the video, would make having more precise control almost pointless to begin with. I would argue, however, that not all actions need to be motion-based (swimming comes to mind), but controlling the sword worked beautifully. And the thing is, this type of one-to-one control is new. If Nintendo does indeed go with this in future installments, it will only get more and more refined in its implementation.

I now want a Jim Sterling action figure, complete with removable sunglasses, purple dildo bat and chainsword.

loving these Conrad, keep em coming and thank yall for sharing!

I like to pretend jim is being dubbed in because he is talking japanese

I very like the format of this video. Very.

@zaheer

I dunno what kind of boulder-esque monstrosity of a deskchair you use, but mine is super comfy.

Umad bro?!?

The emails where Gabe said there would be something with a 3 were confirmed fake.

@Zaheer:

I agree that that sitting back with a controller can be more relaxing. I actually play a lot of games that way on my PC with a 360 controller. But the desk has advantages. Nothing is more accurate than a mouse, and you can really appreciate the ridiculous level of detail in a game like Trine 2 or The Witcher 2 when you sit close to a big HD monitor. And some games, especially RTS's, assume you are sitting close (small text) and using a mouse. So if you like those genres, sitting at a desk is the price you pay to enjoy them.

Simon says? I'm pretty sure nearly EVERY game with melee combat has you paying attention to when the enemy is blocking/attacking or not (Skyrim for example...), Skyward Sword is the perfect evolution of Zelda combat as the enemies actually give a crap about not dying now and can be incredibly challenging (especially Hero mode). It's also rewarding given the fact that previously tough enemies can be mastered and beaten instantly once you know how.

So enemies blocking in the direction you are about to strike is unrealistic? People don't block while advancing in swordfights? This is some wierd opposite logic here.

What part of enhanced AI and incredible fidelity with regards to controlling Links sword can be considered 'regression'. A statement like that needs proper backing up.

I also disagree with the idea that having the whole game be motion controlled takes away from the experience, if the game was only SLIGHTY motion controlled like Mario Galaxy then it would just be seen as a gimmick no matter how good. Zelda succeeds because it's motion controls are so cohesive and fundamental to the entire experience. It's truly a motion controlled game which was the whole point of the Wii.

2 of the people in the video haven't played Skyward Sword and Jim doesn't sound like he's done much with it either. Truly, this is the perfect panel to talk about the game, the one game that is pretty much impossible to fully understand without playing and overcoming the learning curve.

This comment may sound a little pissy (why thank you dear, I do try), but people talking about stuff they don't understand and not even hiding it well is kinda annoying.

They don't HAVE to LIKE it, but clearly there is no balance in that conversation, it's just plain negative. How was Zelda ever going to win a GOTY (like it means a damn) fake award if people wouldn't give it a chance in the first place? Get Holmes in for the love of Hylia.

While Aonuma's word is hardly law, I for one hope the next Zelda builds on Skyward Sword's controls. I'd much rather play a Zelda with a brilliant if polarizing combat system than an outright mediocre one. Zelda has basically become a lose-lose situation (in terms of gamer appeal, not sales) with Nintendo, it's about time they made some tough decisions.


Nice video, talking is fun.

Still haven't played SkywardSword. Mainly because I'm an art major and spend most of my days standing in a studio drawing/painting. When I come home I want to sit down and let my body rest.

@themizarkshow

Shortly after I picked up Skyward Sword, I became sick. I played through the entire game while trying not to hack up a long. Needless to say, my body was not at 100%. The game's controls weren't exhaustive in the slightest.

Wonder if the Dolphin version on PC can be configured to use just a 360 controller?

Even if you're just going into a bathroom stall to pee, always close the door behind you and lock it. Apparently the open door means an "open door" to be propositioned for oral sex in Springfield, IL.

When Jim talks about Skyward Sword, you guys have to keep in mind he really has no idea that what he says doesn't apply to anything beyond the first dungeon. I actually agree with what he says. The introduction of the game and its fights are very sequential and slow. It definitely takes some time to get used to the controls but the payoff is astounding. DAT FINAL BOSS

Damn it, Conrad. You guys talked about Skyward Sword and I didn't get any input? I would've loved to butt heads with you guys (especially Sterling) over the motion control aspect.

Ah well. At any rate, I think the motion control was pretty well implemented, and not at all "Playing Simon Says" - as you progress, the earlier enemies become pretty easy to kill.

I like this

@Jinx 01

Not really. A PS3 controller works fine though. You have to map the nunchuck's tilt sensors to the DS3's. Otherwise you run out of inputs. I think one guy got it playable with a 360 controller but had to leave a few things on the keyboard.