Why Wii Loves Spider-Man 3

Corey · 05-08-2007, 02:02 PM

You may have heard of a little movie called Spider-Man 3 being released. Nothing significant or anything. Oh no. Just one of the largest ever franchises to grace the silver screen. And with it comes the deluge of Spidey related gear, promotions and other fluff we've come to associate with the only webbed wonder bigger than the average celluloid spanning lead and twice as colourful.

All of which means the inevitable Spider-Man 3 tie-in game is upon us, allowing everyone to step into the red booties of the web-slinger and play out various scenes from the film in a timely fashion. Nothing new there.

What IS new, however, is the prospect of playing superhero with motion controls via Wii. Activision gave us the first taste with its worthy conversion of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, where you took on a wealth of characters through a well devised and extremely faithful Marvel related universe. Its careful blend of action role-playing game roots, team-based combat and comic book stylings made for something very few Marvel fans could ignore. A great little game all round, really.

But what it didn’t do was give us a true idea of how such comic book games will evolve with Wii.

Something that Spider-Man 3 makes more of.

The 2004 prequel managed to craft a sandbox style of gameplay which combined perfectly with the superhero genre. Spidey was able to swing around the city, stop crimes and engage villains in a way more novel and freedom-driven than before. Spider-Man 3 follows a similar gameplay ethic, streaming its virtual New York on the fly for you to explore where the option is given to take part in story-driven missions or just help stop a number of crimes such as taking out a gang of robbers looking to score money or fruit (yes, fruit; no one can accuse developer Vicarious Visions of not having a sense of humour).

Where Wii changes things from the rest of its movie-licensed brethren is naturally how you control the titular superhero. While there's all the expected basics, like moving via the analog stick and interacting with the A button, the real meat lies in the use of motion controls to get Spider-Man web-slinging. The Nunchuk and remote act as his left and right hands, respectively, so the Z or B button and a directional gesture fires a web out, which you can swing around with the Nunchuk or remote and release by letting go of Z/B. So you can spin web lines from both hands as you wish, to perform what a Spider-Man does best. In essence, you're doing something a bit like what every kid does in the playground -and every shameless fun loving adult- does when they're pretending to be the iconic hero. Strange to look at, yes, tricky to get the hang of, true, but more fun than merely pressing a button?

Hell yeah.

And that's the point.

Like Electronic Arts swiftly discovered with its sterling conversion of The Godfather: Blackhand Edition, taking typical button pressing actions and convincingly mapping them to motion controls changes things on a huge level (albeit, only if you get it right, which EA does). Even the most basic activities suddenly become thrilling, while more complex ones become extremely rewarding. Dual swinging in the fashion you can via the Wii controls isn't really possible in other versions of Spider-Man 3, which says a lot. Not to say it doesn’t take time to get used to this level of interaction, because it's likely to jar you until you get the swing (sorry) of it, but it's difficult to chastise Vicarious Visions for wanting to flip the script a little when so many of us have been waiting for developers to start getting adventurous with Wii's possibilities.

Combat in Spider-Man 3 is equally as physical, with flicks of the remote plus button presses to perform varying strength attacks, Nunchuk waggling for spider-sense spurred evasive manoeuvres, and using that same peripheral to rotate the camera by tilting it left or right. Once you get the relevant upgrade, you can even spin a web strand at your foe and twirl him around your head like a lasso, with the appropriate motion.

We already have punches and grabs simulated well with Wii's controls. How about slashing-claws via waggling? Creating magnetic fields that you manipulate with the remote, like an Elebits gravity gun?

It's all quite daring, but gives us an idea of how comic book titles could evolve via Wii and truly lends a unique feeling of the superheroic to the superhero genre. Not that it was lacking before, but things open up quite substantially. It must be noted that Wii's version of Spider-Man 3 is missing a few things the Xbox 360 and PlayStation3 versions have, such as certain abilities, missions and obviously a comparative drop in visuals, but ultimately it's a tantalising glimpse at how developers will be approaching games of its type on Nintendo's machine from this point on, regardless of whether Spider-Man 3 is actually great or poor.

Which should make things very interesting.

Licensed comic book games aren’t restricted to superheroes, despite them being the vast majority, but if you take a look at the ones coming up from this year onward, there are some interesting candidates on the horizon. This summer, Take-Two Interactive's Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer will be using Wii's controls to make special moves a little more tangible. For example, the Thing's overhead double fist smash attack is done by motioning the remote and Nunchuk as the craggy hero would, pulling them down to the ground. The force your character shows on screen is reflected by the force you put in. Nice idea.

With Hulk, Batman, Magneto and Wolverine movies all in the offering for the next few years, the potential to see this sort of thing become more refined and polished is really only limited by a developer's imagination and ability. We already have punches and grabs simulated well with Wii's controls. How about slashing-claws via waggling? Creating magnetic fields that you manipulate with the remote, like a Half-Life 2/Elebits gravity gun? Lobbing objects by mimicking a throw move? There's lot there to play with in every respect.

And we're only just scratching the surface.

Belmont · 05-08-2007, 04:41 PM

i have played the spider man 3 game on the wii and while most reviewers didnt like it i loved it and i cant wait to see the future of videogames for the wii... i think they mapped the controls very well. I do believe there is room for improvement but i believe they will be able to do that.....

Corey that article was very well written just to let you know

supafly · 05-08-2007, 05:33 PM

to bad the movie was shit

Shadowpunk · 05-08-2007, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by supafly

to bad the movie was shit

Umm were you like high when you were watching this movie or did you misspell and meant...
That movie was the shit!

supafly · 05-08-2007, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shadowpunk

Umm were you like high when you were watching this movie or did you misspell and meant...
That movie was the shit!

are you kidding me? the movie survived alone on good looks, but it was shit, most of the plot was made up, sandman and venom randomly team up? and peter and harry teaming up? these movies are supposed to stick to the comics and they definatley didnt do that with this film.

and what the **** was that random dancing scene, seriously

zeon9881 · 05-08-2007, 06:35 PM

...are u an idoit marvel already stated that they ARE gonna follow the comics but not accordingly to the comics released (vol 1, vol2, vol3 etc)

kingkoy · 05-08-2007, 06:38 PM

yes the movie sucked it didn't live up to my expectations and the game for wii is the same all the buildings are like lego blocks

Shadowpunk · 05-08-2007, 06:50 PM

Well sorry $10 was to much for your budget why don't you get a refund and go watch Shrek 3 or something maybe that lives up to your expectations

Mario_strikers · 05-08-2007, 07:08 PM

are you kidding me? the movie survived alone on good looks, but it was shit, most of the plot was made up, sandman and venom randomly team up? and peter and harry teaming up? these movies are supposed to stick to the comics and they definatley didnt do that with this film.

and what the **** was that random dancing scene, seriously

PUT A SPOILER YOU IDIOT.

Belmont · 05-08-2007, 07:32 PM

agreed if i hadn't seen the movie the day it came out i would have been pissed at you... but i did and i loved it i read and loved the comics but i went to see a movie and for a movie it was a good movie i could care less how well if followed the comics

Zarogan · 05-08-2007, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by supafly

are you kidding me? the movie survived alone on good looks, but it was shit, most of the plot was made up, sandman and venom randomly team up? and peter and harry teaming up? these movies are supposed to stick to the comics and they definatley didnt do that with this film.

and what the **** was that random dancing scene, seriously

I agree with you, but you should have put it as a spoiler...

Don't read this if you haven't seen the movie!

Spoiler Alert!

Adamquest64 · 05-08-2007, 09:44 PM

Newsflash, Supafly: Movies do not usually exactly follow the same plotlines as comics. If they did, they would last eight hours. Okay, Frank Millar's movies are an exception, but remember that his stories were just one or two volumes, not the decade-sprawling amount of issues it took the Spider-Man titles to introduce Venom ,the black suit, Sandman, etc, and tell their tales.
And usually people that claim to like comics haven't actually been into comics in years. I know, because I really do still read comics, and go to the comic shop every week, and the industry isn't in the greatest shape because more and more comics fans are abandoning them to play Warcraft and crap like that.
You probably just love to diss highly anticipated movies. I'm sure you were one of those that dissed all sequels to The Matrix, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars episodes 1-3 as well.

SpaceHawg · 05-08-2007, 09:45 PM

People pay to go to the movies?

Adamquest64 · 05-08-2007, 09:47 PM

Yeah, maybe we like huge screens, stadium seating, and massive speakers instead of watching some pirated copy on some shitty pc.

zeon9881 · 05-08-2007, 09:48 PM

XD nah i don

i usally send 2 buddys into the movie theter and then make one of come back with both tickets and then i go in pay free

Adamquest64 · 05-08-2007, 09:49 PM

I'm an adult, I like paying.

Shadowpunk · 05-08-2007, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeon9881

XD nah i don

i usally send 2 buddys into the movie theter and then make one of come back with both tickets and then i go in pay free

Nice 1

if my sister didn't work at AMC and i didn't get to see it in Imax for free i would do that

Zarogan · 05-08-2007, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adamquest64

Newsflash, Supafly: Movies do not usually exactly follow the same plotlines as comics. If they did, they would last eight hours. Okay, Frank Millar's movies are an exception, but remember that his stories were just one or two volumes, not the decade-sprawling amount of issues it took the Spider-Man titles to introduce Venom ,the black suit, Sandman, etc, and tell their tales.
And usually people that claim to like comics haven't actually been into comics in years. I know, because I really do still read comics, and go to the comic shop every week, and the industry isn't in the greatest shape because more and more comics fans are abandoning them to play Warcraft and crap like that.
You probably just love to diss highly anticipated movies. I'm sure you were one of those that dissed all sequels to The Matrix, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars episodes 1-3 as well.

Actually, I liked the lord of the rings and I think episodes 1-3 of Star Wars are great =P Though I really didn't like the sequels to the matrix...
I know it doesn't have to be exactly like the comics because it would be too long, but I think in Spider-Man 3 they changed the plot way too much.

Spoiler Alert!

Wii_BrEnDo2007 · 05-09-2007, 02:10 AM

wow great artical

Projection · 05-09-2007, 11:09 AM

I heard that the Wii version hardly has any sewer levels compared to the other consoles among other things that's missing on the Wii version, what's up with that? I can understand if it affects how the controller works but it just seems like all the bad stuff happens to all the Wii games.

05-08-2007, 02:02 PM	#1
Corey Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 47 Friends: 0	Why Wii Loves Spider-Man 3 You may have heard of a little movie called Spider-Man 3 being released. Nothing significant or anything. Oh no. Just one of the largest ever franchises to grace the silver screen. And with it comes the deluge of Spidey related gear, promotions and other fluff we've come to associate with the only webbed wonder bigger than the average celluloid spanning lead and twice as colourful. All of which means the inevitable Spider-Man 3 tie-in game is upon us, allowing everyone to step into the red booties of the web-slinger and play out various scenes from the film in a timely fashion. Nothing new there. What IS new, however, is the prospect of playing superhero with motion controls via Wii. Activision gave us the first taste with its worthy conversion of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, where you took on a wealth of characters through a well devised and extremely faithful Marvel related universe. Its careful blend of action role-playing game roots, team-based combat and comic book stylings made for something very few Marvel fans could ignore. A great little game all round, really. But what it didn’t do was give us a true idea of how such comic book games will evolve with Wii. Something that Spider-Man 3 makes more of. The 2004 prequel managed to craft a sandbox style of gameplay which combined perfectly with the superhero genre. Spidey was able to swing around the city, stop crimes and engage villains in a way more novel and freedom-driven than before. Spider-Man 3 follows a similar gameplay ethic, streaming its virtual New York on the fly for you to explore where the option is given to take part in story-driven missions or just help stop a number of crimes such as taking out a gang of robbers looking to score money or fruit (yes, fruit; no one can accuse developer Vicarious Visions of not having a sense of humour). Where Wii changes things from the rest of its movie-licensed brethren is naturally how you control the titular superhero. While there's all the expected basics, like moving via the analog stick and interacting with the A button, the real meat lies in the use of motion controls to get Spider-Man web-slinging. The Nunchuk and remote act as his left and right hands, respectively, so the Z or B button and a directional gesture fires a web out, which you can swing around with the Nunchuk or remote and release by letting go of Z/B. So you can spin web lines from both hands as you wish, to perform what a Spider-Man does best. In essence, you're doing something a bit like what every kid does in the playground -and every shameless fun loving adult- does when they're pretending to be the iconic hero. Strange to look at, yes, tricky to get the hang of, true, but more fun than merely pressing a button? Hell yeah. And that's the point. Like Electronic Arts swiftly discovered with its sterling conversion of The Godfather: Blackhand Edition, taking typical button pressing actions and convincingly mapping them to motion controls changes things on a huge level (albeit, only if you get it right, which EA does). Even the most basic activities suddenly become thrilling, while more complex ones become extremely rewarding. Dual swinging in the fashion you can via the Wii controls isn't really possible in other versions of Spider-Man 3, which says a lot. Not to say it doesn’t take time to get used to this level of interaction, because it's likely to jar you until you get the swing (sorry) of it, but it's difficult to chastise Vicarious Visions for wanting to flip the script a little when so many of us have been waiting for developers to start getting adventurous with Wii's possibilities. Combat in Spider-Man 3 is equally as physical, with flicks of the remote plus button presses to perform varying strength attacks, Nunchuk waggling for spider-sense spurred evasive manoeuvres, and using that same peripheral to rotate the camera by tilting it left or right. Once you get the relevant upgrade, you can even spin a web strand at your foe and twirl him around your head like a lasso, with the appropriate motion. We already have punches and grabs simulated well with Wii's controls. How about slashing-claws via waggling? Creating magnetic fields that you manipulate with the remote, like an Elebits gravity gun? It's all quite daring, but gives us an idea of how comic book titles could evolve via Wii and truly lends a unique feeling of the superheroic to the superhero genre. Not that it was lacking before, but things open up quite substantially. It must be noted that Wii's version of Spider-Man 3 is missing a few things the Xbox 360 and PlayStation3 versions have, such as certain abilities, missions and obviously a comparative drop in visuals, but ultimately it's a tantalising glimpse at how developers will be approaching games of its type on Nintendo's machine from this point on, regardless of whether Spider-Man 3 is actually great or poor. Which should make things very interesting. Licensed comic book games aren’t restricted to superheroes, despite them being the vast majority, but if you take a look at the ones coming up from this year onward, there are some interesting candidates on the horizon. This summer, Take-Two Interactive's Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer will be using Wii's controls to make special moves a little more tangible. For example, the Thing's overhead double fist smash attack is done by motioning the remote and Nunchuk as the craggy hero would, pulling them down to the ground. The force your character shows on screen is reflected by the force you put in. Nice idea. With Hulk, Batman, Magneto and Wolverine movies all in the offering for the next few years, the potential to see this sort of thing become more refined and polished is really only limited by a developer's imagination and ability. We already have punches and grabs simulated well with Wii's controls. How about slashing-claws via waggling? Creating magnetic fields that you manipulate with the remote, like a Half-Life 2/Elebits gravity gun? Lobbing objects by mimicking a throw move? There's lot there to play with in every respect. And we're only just scratching the surface.

05-08-2007, 06:38 PM	#7
kingkoy WiiOwner Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Toronto Posts: 94 Friends: 0 0384-8118-0272-6054	yes the movie sucked it didn't live up to my expectations and the game for wii is the same all the buildings are like lego blocks __________________ Wii:0384 8118 0272 6054 Name:Kingkoy PM or leave comment if added

05-08-2007, 07:08 PM	#9
Mario_strikers WiiChat Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 79 Friends: 0	are you kidding me? the movie survived alone on good looks, but it was shit, most of the plot was made up, sandman and venom randomly team up? and peter and harry teaming up? these movies are supposed to stick to the comics and they definatley didnt do that with this film. and what the **** was that random dancing scene, seriously PUT A SPOILER YOU IDIOT. __________________ I Own : Twilight Princess, Exite Truck, Super Paper Mario, Call Of Duty 3 And Your Mom

05-09-2007, 02:10 AM	#19
Wii_BrEnDo2007 PM TO JOIN TETRIS CLUB Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Scotland,portglasgow Posts: 2,820 Friends: 1	wow great artical __________________ PS3 PSN: GTRacer1967 if you dont play gran turismo 5 P...you suck at life

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05-08-2007, 04:41 PM	#2
Belmont WiiChat Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Murray Kentucky Posts: 461 Friends: 0 8288-8038-4521-3885	i have played the spider man 3 game on the wii and while most reviewers didnt like it i loved it and i cant wait to see the future of videogames for the wii... i think they mapped the controls very well. I do believe there is room for improvement but i believe they will be able to do that..... Corey that article was very well written just to let you know

05-08-2007, 05:33 PM	#3
supafly wii60 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Ontario CANADA Posts: 95 Friends: 0 7866-5231-9763-6567	to bad the movie was shit

05-08-2007, 06:50 PM	#8
Shadowpunk WiiChat Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 241 Friends: 0	Well sorry $10 was to much for your budget why don't you get a refund and go watch Shrek 3 or something maybe that lives up to your expectations

05-08-2007, 07:32 PM	#10
Belmont WiiChat Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Murray Kentucky Posts: 461 Friends: 0 8288-8038-4521-3885	agreed if i hadn't seen the movie the day it came out i would have been pissed at you... but i did and i loved it i read and loved the comics but i went to see a movie and for a movie it was a good movie i could care less how well if followed the comics

05-08-2007, 09:44 PM	#12
Adamquest64 WiiChat Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 581 Friends: 0	Newsflash, Supafly: Movies do not usually exactly follow the same plotlines as comics. If they did, they would last eight hours. Okay, Frank Millar's movies are an exception, but remember that his stories were just one or two volumes, not the decade-sprawling amount of issues it took the Spider-Man titles to introduce Venom ,the black suit, Sandman, etc, and tell their tales. And usually people that claim to like comics haven't actually been into comics in years. I know, because I really do still read comics, and go to the comic shop every week, and the industry isn't in the greatest shape because more and more comics fans are abandoning them to play Warcraft and crap like that. You probably just love to diss highly anticipated movies. I'm sure you were one of those that dissed all sequels to The Matrix, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars episodes 1-3 as well.

05-08-2007, 09:45 PM	#13
SpaceHawg WiiChat Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: B.C. Canada Posts: 38 Friends: 0 0090-8105-5399-0889	People pay to go to the movies?

05-08-2007, 09:47 PM	#14
Adamquest64 WiiChat Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 581 Friends: 0	Yeah, maybe we like huge screens, stadium seating, and massive speakers instead of watching some pirated copy on some shitty pc.

05-08-2007, 09:49 PM	#16
Adamquest64 WiiChat Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 581 Friends: 0	I'm an adult, I like paying.

05-09-2007, 11:09 AM	#20
Projection WiiChat Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bedford, England Posts: 238 Friends: 0 2857-0920-1773-7331	I heard that the Wii version hardly has any sewer levels compared to the other consoles among other things that's missing on the Wii version, what's up with that? I can understand if it affects how the controller works but it just seems like all the bad stuff happens to all the Wii games.

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