Video Games!

[erika]

I was never much into them, until I started playing Wii. Most recently, I've been obsessed with Endless Ocean, which is a simulated deep-sea diving/scuba game.

It's so relaxing to just dive around different parts of this fictional tropical sea and look at the different fish, etc. Eventually the game gives you different dolphins to train and dive with and you can meet seals and other land creatures. You can dive into caves and do night-diving to see whales and stuff like that. Very cool.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endless_Ocean

I like this game, the Raving Rabbids game and the sports.

Does anyone have any other recommendations for Wii games? I'm not interested in Zelda or Mario games because... well I dunno... I'm just not that into them. The 3D environments can be too distracting for me. I've seen some flying simulators that look cool and a few driving games I might be interested in. Any feedback is appreciated

Oh, and my boyfriend just got an xbox 360 so I'd be open to exploring games on that system too. (We're getting Rock Band!)

[God Stewart]

Erika,

There's a game called Wario Party, or something like that, that is killer. It's a bunch of three second mini games where you have to figure out what the goal is and solve it— lightning fast. I stayed up until 4 am playing it, which is late for me because I'm old(er-ish). It's going to be completely different than the diving game but it's great to play with friends.

[God Stewart]

After further research, Wario Ware, is the actual name.

[emdasher]

I'm curious about this Endless Ocean game. As an actual scuba diver who hates dealing with all the equipment and domineering divemasters, I wonder how this game compares as an alternative.

Can you get the bends from ascending too fast?

[Sarah]

I know a couple of commercial divers, and they've told me some none too rosy tales.  I'd warrant a game called Endless Ocean based on their work would be the opposite of peaceful. 

[erika]

I know a couple of commercial divers, and they've told me some none too rosy tales.  I'd warrant a game called Endless Ocean based on their work would be the opposite of peaceful. 

Right. It's a very pretty and peaceful game that's not meant to be 100% realistic. There's no predator vs pray, and it doesn't take that much skill to really do anything in the game... you just have to have patience and a yearning to explore around their fake ocean. I mean, you can pet sharks and whales, so it's not like they're trying to be that true-to-life with it.

At first you can't dive down deep, but the longer you play the game, the more equipment you get. Eventually you can dive at night and into deeper areas like "The Abyss" and into these cool crystal cave things that have different kinds of squid and other fish that glow in the dark. I also just found a shipwrecked boat and airplane. It was pretty neat.

[scotttsss]

As an actual scuba diver who hates dealing with all the equipment and domineering divemasters..

TexasEric, you've cracked open a door into a world I know nothing about.  I'm dying to hear some domineering divemaster stories. 

[Gagneaux]

Hey Erika,
You might want to try your hand at a couple Mario games. I like Super Paper Mario and Super Mario Galaxy.

[Stupornaut]

I like No More Heroes, though your enjoyment of that game might entirely depend on if you like games that are completely ridiculous bats-hit insane and noisy and (cartoon) gory and overall basically the midpoint between a Kurosawa film and Jackass. The only other Wii games I have are Super Mario Galaxy, MLB Power Pros and Resident Evil 4, which more or less covers all my nerd bases save driving games (and most of the ones I'm interested in are on 360).

[emdasher]

It'd be sweet if this scuba game had missions where you had to pocket pieces of coral and then escape your divemaster trying to throw you in jail for reef vandalism. Maybe like a Grand Theft Auto-style underwater adventure game.

Scraps: Perhaps "domineering" is the wrong term, but I'm always a little taken aback when a divemaster accosts me on a dive and starts furiously adjusting all of my equipment, with an expression on his face as though I've just shot a member of his family. I guess when your mouth is wrapped around an air supply and your eyes are magnified through the glass of the dive mask, your facial expressions are kind of limited to either furious or surprised.

[Gilly]

Wario Ware is tons of fun if you have people over a lot. I have a friend who entertains a lot and he has the Wii set up in the basement on a projection screen. It's hilarious watching people play that game and it's really fun to play as well. I don't know if Wario Ware would be that fun without a bunch of people playing though. Actually, that's my fear about buying a Wii. How many of the games are really fun if you're playing them alone? It seems like there are only a few.

[senorcorazon]

My fiancee just got me a Wii (best future-wife ever) and I have a fun time with Cooking Mama. It's kind of clunky in some ways but that makes it a little endearing. Only good for 15 minutes spurts, though. Same thing With WiiPlay, aka "Hey, do you need to buy another Wii remote? Why not chip in $10 more and get a bunch of minigames?"

I hear the surgery games are pretty nuts.

In regards to games that are fun to play alone -- I think it's the same as other systems; if you could waste a whole night playing Resident Evil or Madden or something else on an old system, pretty much the same holds true.

[erika]

Wario Ware is tons of fun if you have people over a lot. I have a friend who entertains a lot and he has the Wii set up in the basement on a projection screen. It's hilarious watching people play that game and it's really fun to play as well.

Man, I've played that game -- it's crazy! It's like Nintendo on Speed. I was really bad at it but by the time I was done I was cracking up so bad I couldn't breathe.

I don't play the regular mario games, partially because I'm not that good at them and they're not my type of game, but also because holding the controller like that (side by side, using your thumb to go in different directions, etc) actually hurts my hand/wrist. It seems like I have a really bad case of carpal tunnel turndrome but only when I play some video games. I type all day for my job and never have a problem, but if I have to use a regular controller like that it causes me a lot of pain. Bah.

This game is very very cool. Greg was playing it on xbox last night:

WARNING This is very bloody and gory.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyfc7f0Z3wU[/youtube]

[Martin]

I must get that Endless Ocean game. It looks fantastic. I was planning on getting a Wii anyway...

But these days I generally I try to stay away from video games - I love them to bits(!) but they take up so much time.

[erika]

We rented an Xbox this weekend (Greg's is broken) and I played Rock Band til 5AM last night.

That game is way too much fun for any rational person. No one should do karaoke/guitar hero for 7 hours straight. It HAS to be unhealthy.