I was in the fourth grade when Street Fighter II came out for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The one thing that game presented that many gamers take for granted these days were the special moves. It took loads of practice and patience, but within a week I was throwing fireballs and sonic booms like nobodies business. However, if there is one memory I�ll always have from Street Fighter 2, it was learning how to do Ryu and Ken�s Dragon Punch.

For what felt like months, I could never pull off the move for the life of me. I knew learning this move was essential to being a true SF player, and it was that motivation that kept me wanting to learn it. In fact, as sad as it sounds, I remember the first time I pulled off the move. I was Ken fighting against Blanka, things weren�t looking to hot and Blanka jumped in at me. I input the command, and at that moment Ken lifted off the ground and delivered a punch to Blanka that he wouldn�t soon forget. Absolutely astounded that I pulled it off, I actually paused the game and starred at Ken while he was in mid air with Blanka hurled over in pain. I wanted to really cherish the moment, just in case I was never able to pull it off again. Even with it�s steep learning curve, Street Fighter 2 was critically acclaimed and became an absolute gaming classic.

Which finally brings me to my point. For some strange reason, people keep on writing about the Wii title SSX Blur and it�s controversial controls. Eventually, these write ups go into your typical Wii bitch fest about how the motion control is half baked, unintuitive (there�s that word again) and just all together broken. I can�t disagree with those statements more. Yeah, there are plenty of awful Wii games out there with poor motion controls, but you know what? There are plenty of other games out there with traditional controls that play and handle terribly. The fact is that there aren�t many games out there that handle beautifully. The other truth is that for us gamers who have been playing games for what seems like ages, there is also a steep learning curve that accompanies some titles, SSX Blur and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess among them, and maybe some of us aren�t willing to get over that hurdle.

I won�t hang on this point long, but in the case of SSX Blur, the argument is usually the same. The motion controls for �carving� are spot on, but when it comes to those fancy uber moves, the game is considered broken. The first few hours of playing SSX Blur, I couldn�t agree more with those statements. After trying over and over again and failing to do these moves, surely the game was broken. My wife can attest to my absolute frustration, at one point I was yelling at the TV claiming the game to be �broken.� However, performing uber moves is essential to SSX, so I would try and try again. Finally, after much practice I can do uber moves when I want to with confidence. For some reason, when I think about learning these moves, I can�t help but think back to the time when I taught myself how to pull off a Dragon Punch in SF2. Street Fighter is critically acclaimed, steep learning curve at all, but in this day and age? SSX Blur is panned because of the time required to learn how to do the moves. Blur is by no means a perfect game, and it does have its share of problems, but I wouldn�t place the uber moves as the source of the problems. Are gamers simply unwilling to deal with a new type of learning curve?

One in the same?

That isn�t to say that Wii controls are perfect. Developers aren�t thinking about games in new ways. Instead, most Wii developers are too busy trying to spend time figuring out how to shoe horn traditional controls to work with the motion controller. Instead of coming up with new ways to play, they simply replace button commands with a motion command. A game like Marvel Ultimate Alliance is a tough play through because players are literally swinging the remote around like a madman. The game is basically a button masher without the buttons being mashed. Another trend that I�ve been seeing lately is the �swing-both-controllers-like-an-idiot-to-get-your-player-off-the- ground� move. Recently, SSX Blur is guilty of this one in that when your boarder falls it requires you to swing both controllers to get back on your feet. The other day I was watching a demonstration of the upcoming WWE title for Wii. When the wrestler hit the mat, the guy playing starting swinging both controllers around like an idiot to get the wrestler off the ground. Last time I checked, when I fall on the floor I don�t swing my arms around like an idiot and magically get up. This soon to be Wii control staple needs to go away now before it worms its way into countless titles.

Wii controls seem to work best when they feel as if they�ve become an extension of your hand. For example, there is a stage in Trauma Center: Second Opinion that is absolutely ridiculous, but at the same time it shows off one of the most clever ways of using the remote thus far. In an asinine set up, the stage opens with the player, a doctor, tasked with disarming a bomb. You are first tasked to open up the case of the bomb by unscrewing a handful of screws, using a scalpel of all things. To unscrew them, you simply turn the remote like you�re using a screwdriver and it works. It feels great, and for that moment the remote doesn�t feel like a controller, it feels like an actual tool. The next step, which doesn�t make any sense at all, has the player removing pegs from a meter. The idea is stupid, but removing the pegs was awesome, you just pinch them with A and B, and then pull back on the remote to remove it, and push forward to place it elsewhere. The idea of being a doctor disabling a bomb along was an awful idea, but the execution of how you perform the tasks is key, making it the most memorable stage in the game for me. In this case, the controller worked wonders in what is other wise a ridiculous scenario. Another example, fishing in Zelda was way more fun than I expected. For the duration of the game I ignored the fishing pond thinking it wasn�t worth my time. One night I decided to at least give fishing a shot, and before I knew it an hour and a half had gone by. As the player, all you�re doing is acting out the motions of what it�s like to fish, from throwing the line to reeling it in, but the thanks to really tight and clever controls things felt fantastic. I�m not recommending developers make a bunch of fishing and construction worker games, but I am recommending that they look at why these ideas succeed as opposed to waving your arms around like an ape to get a fallen game character off the ground.

Probably why you bought a Wii

Another issue that needs to be remedied is just how touchy the remote can be sometimes. I�m no coder or genius, but I�ll throw my thoughts out there regardless. Maybe there is a time where the player will go to itch their nose, and because they weren�t really paying attention, they lifted the remote and the character on screen does an action by mistake causing them to fail or mess up. Is there a way to make it so that the remote doesn�t know you�re doing an action? Maybe with some games, the developers can have the motion controls turned off unless a button is pressed that tells the game the motion controls are �on.� Say there is a Castlevania game for Wii and the whip is controlled solely with the remote in a one to one fashion (we can dream, can�t we?), meaning where ever your hand goes, the whip follows. It probably wouldn�t be a good idea to have the whip �on� at all times. Perhaps when pressing the B trigger, the game would then know that the motion sensing is �on� and the player would be free to perform whatever action they choose with the whip. When they aren�t using the whip, just assign a simple attack action to the A button and down play the use of motion controls in the game aside from the whip. Make that one element really work well and stand out, and I believe there can be a rather captivating experience. It kind of goes back to the whole �less is more� way of thinking. Just because motion controls are at our disposal doesn�t mean we need to use them all the time. An idea like this would help remedy the over compensation of the remote in some games, eliminate mindless �waggling,� (who coined that term anyway? Yikes) and at the same time it explores the �extension of your hand� philosophy.

Grey demonstrates a fake Castlevania Wii title

We still need to wait and see if game developers are up to the task of making compelling software for the console. It�s to early yet to pass any real long-term judgment on the Wii and the controller. If people are still arguing about how accurate Wii controls are in a year from now, then I would say Nintendo has a problem on their hands. There is potential in the device, lots of potential, it�s just up to some genius to figure out what to do with it.

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