On Friday, Play Magazine (Dave Halverson) gave me a Wii for my Birthday. It is the first of the next-gen systems that I own, and the one I was most excited about. He told me to go out and get a copy of Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. I did just that, and also grabbed Trauma Center and Call of Duty 3.
Why Zelda? I’m going to be working on the year-in-review issue of Play, and need to get a little more familiar with the game before I blindly assert that Final Fantasy 12 is the best thing I’ve played all year. I gobbled up the other two games to get acquainted with Wii’s delightful play mechanics.
Now, I haven’t played Zelda yet (I’m waiting for Jim Woods to come over), but Trauma Center and CoD3 have already been in the machine. I’ve also designed my first set of Miis (onscreen buddies), and played through a bunch of WiiSports with Darren.
The system is incredible. Five Stars, A Plus, 100 percent. Lucky Star on the board. Free dessert.
But what about the games? Trauma Center is like Operation: The Video Game. It’s a charming, melodramatic doctor simulator. You do simulated surgery on cancers and ulcers, and a hot nurse screams at you. It’s a huge amount of fun, and very novel since I never played the DS version.
The other title, Call of Duty 3, is a WWII game, focusing on the mainland battles in 1944. It’s a First Person Shooter, and game-play is handled through a combination of Wiimote and Nunchuck controller. Point the wand at the screen, and it’s like looking down the barrel of your gun.
Now, I play Halo frequently, so I’m familiar with FPS games. I mean, I was brought up on Doom, Quake, etc, and spent college playing Perfect Dark. A common complaint about FPS games is that the perspective makes people sea-sick, or just generally uneasy. I myself have never had motion sickness …
… until now. I feel completely nauseated, and just want to lie down. The delay between the Wiimote and screen action is driving my brain crazy, and my stomach is threatening to refuse breakfast. And I’m starting to panic a bit. Is it just the rushed design of COD that is giving me butterflies, or is this going to be a Wii problem for me?
Or is it possible that my breakfast was just bad?
I’m praying that this is temporary, because if the most immersive games leave me feeling sick, what am I going to do when we start wearing helmets to play?
I’m going to go drink some more water.