House of Mario
Have a Party by Brian Murdoch
T
he lights are low and the music is pumping. There is just me on the dance floor, surrounded by the music. Then I start to realise the crowd of people that are feeling the same way and dance alongside me, but in the distance… is that a light? Is that a TV screen? What do those four people have in their hands? When we talk about the genre that most Wii games can fall into - Wii Party Titles - we mean a small gathering of people at one’s home; around 3 to 10 people. This is when players take turns, or even four playing at the same time in a fun, competitive game. The games just seem to draw you in and players don’t mind doing things that they don’t normally do in front of others, almost like some form of hypnosis. Why does the Wii come through as a general party console? Other consoles offer multiplayer… why are they not considered party consoles? There are a few reasons, but here are the main ones. The Wii is very user-friendly. All the programs and procedures that are developed and created for the mass population need to be user-friendly, or they will not be used. With the Wii’s point and click feature and generally basic controls it seems like a simple extension to your arm. The most complicated operation that needs to be explained to a new user is where the “B” button is. The ‘humiliation’ is not that bad, as long as everyone is humiliated in the same way. Even when players need to
take turns in the game to make their bodies move in the funniest ways, they are comforted by the fact that they will sit down afterwards and laugh at the next person doing it. Laughter is commonly associated with Wii multiplayer game play. If you’re the only four plonkers at a LAN waving your arms to Rabbids dancing, or if it’s playing We Cheer in front of your family, there will be laughter. It is closely associated with the humiliation, but the only memories that remain are that of having loads of fun and not necessarily the things that you did. Some of my favourite Wii Party titles are Let’s Tap, Just Dance, and Mario Kart. Mario Kart is the all-time classic kart racing game. It is very easy to get into and the power-ups in the race give even the beginners a chance to win. Just Dance, at face value, does not look like anything impressive but once players let loose and try to follow the dance moves they will get into party mode. Let’s Tap is truly an original and unique game for the Wii. It is played by placing the controllers on a box that the player taps.
The remote senses the vibrations. Yes, the Wii remote is that sensitive. At first players will not understand what is going on, but after the first few stages of running man they will get very competitive and start tapping too hard (which makes the man jump) giving others the opportunity to run ahead. If you have tried speed walking, you’ll understand the restraint needed to play the game. The best thing is to pull out older games and relearn them with newer players, make mistakes and (in my case let them win a bit) so that they can enjoy it as well. So open the chips, invite some friends over and get some new Wii Party games. g
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