Wii Play (はじめてのWii, Hajimete no Wii?, My First Wii in Japan and 처음 만나는 Wii , Ceoeum Mannaneun Wii, Wii First Meeting in South Korea) is a video game for the Wii. It is the counterpart to Wii Sports and Wii Music. It features minigames that use characters from the Mii Channel. Several of the games featured are from E³ 2006 demos such as the Duck Hunt-styled shooting demo and Table Tennis, as well as all new mini-games. A Wii Remote (without the Nunchuk attachment) comes bundled with the game in Japan, Australia, Europe and North America.
History
E³ 2006: Nintendo
A beta version of the game was first playable alongside Wii Sports at E³ 2006. However, the games were not put together in a pack-in; they were separated games meant to be tech demos. A notable example was Shooting, which was also a demo on the Nintendo Fusion Tour, which spectators thought was a full-fledged Duck Hunt sequel. Nintendo had yet to announce that the tech demos would be compiled together into a full game.
Nintendo World September 14, 2006 Event
The game was revealed together for the first time on the Nintendo World event in New York. It is here where Mii Channel functionality was confirmed to be included in the game. Also included updated versions of the games playable at E³, now closer to their finalized form.
Use of Miis
Just like Wii Sports, Wii Play uses the Wii's Mii Channel, which allows the user to create a customized avatar that can be imported into games that support the feature. In Wii Play, your Mii will appear on various games from the collection, especially Pose Mii and Find Mii.
Games
Wii Play consists of 9 games. All games are designed for 2 players, but can also be played by a single player, with a computer-controlled second player in games where it is necessary. No Nunchuks are required for any of the games; however, players can use a Nunchuk as a substitute for the D-Pad for the Tanks! game if they wish.
When Wii Play is first played, only one game is available. After completing each game (regardless of success) another game is unlocked and becomes available, until all nine games are available. In single player, points are earned in each game and the top 5 highest scores are stored. Getting high enough scores in single player awards the player bronze, silver, gold and platinum medals for that game. It also puts a message on the Wii Message Board saying which game and medal were unlocked, and gives a short tip for that game.
The Games
- Table Tennis - This game is, essentially, a game of Ping Pong, rallying back and forth by moving the Wii Remote. The Mii characters are supported, and are represented by the audience. As the game progresses, the audience grows larger. The player controls the position of their paddle with the Wii Remote pointer, no swing or hit motion is used though ball direction can be altered slightly by moving the remote left or right while hitting the ball. Bottom spin can also be added by swinging the remote down quickly before hitting the ball.
- Laser Hockey - Played like air hockey, this is a two player game where the players move the Wii Remote to deflect shots and try to score in the opponent's goal. Aiming with the Wii Remote moves the rectangular paddle around the field, while twisting the Wii Remote can angle the paddle to deflect shots in any direction. According to developers, the physics engine used to calculate the velocity and position of the shots is extremely advanced, with Shigeru Miyamoto even stating that it rivaled the Havok physics engine in its realism.
- Fishing - Players use the Wii Remote as a fishing rod, to hook specific paper fish and then yank upwards to grab them. The Wii Remote pointer is used to move the rod around, downward and upward motions sink/raise the fishing hook in and out of the water. Different points are added and subtracted depending on the fish caught. A display at the top of the screen shows which fish gives bonus points if caught, and changes every 30 seconds or so.
- Find Mii - Crowds of Mii characters will gather on the screen (standing, swimming, walking and doing other things) and the player is given certain details to look for among them. The player then must pick out the proper Miis that matches the objective. The objectives range from picking two, three, four or five Miis that are identical, to picking the fastest Mii, picking a favourite and finding them again or the odd Miis out (doing things that other Miis aren't).
- Pose Mii - A player must move his Mii to falling bubbles using the Wii Remote pointer. The player must also rotate his Mii to the correct angle of the bubble by rotating the Wii Remote. In addition to this, as the game progresses, the poses inside the bubbles change, and the player must select the correct pose (out of 3 total). When a Mii is correctly posed in a bubble, it bursts. If a bubble is not burst and it eventually falls to the floor, the game is over. In the two player game, each player has different coloured bubbles, but they may pop each other`s bubbles for extra points.
- Shooting Range - Players go through various rounds of shooting balloons, targets, clay pigeons, cans and UFOs. There are targets that have the faces of the player's Mii's which give points when the opponent's Mii is shot. Ducks drawn in the style of the ducks from Duck Hunt also occasionally fly by.
- Billiards - Players play 9 Ball Billiards like traditional pool games. Players line up their shot in both an overhead 2D and behind-the-ball style 3D viewpoints. They may aim for contact on the cue ball at any point to add spin or bounce or a different angle. They pull the cue stick (Wii Remote) backwards, then hit it forward to launch the ball.
- Charge!- The player rides a cow by holding the Wii Remote sideways, and topples scarecrows to score points. The player can increase speed, decrease speed, as well as jump during this game. A time bonus is added to the scarecrow score, where one second is equivalent to one point.
- Tanks! - This game uses the Nunchuk attachment (or Wii Remote D-pad) to move a tank about the screen. The player aims on a target and fires shells. Shells can rebound off walls once. Mines can also be placed that destroy all tanks within a certain radius. The aim of the game is to destroy enemy tanks while avoiding being destroyed yourself. Initially there are only 20 missions (stages) but after achieving a gold medal by completing these missions, 100 missions with new types of enemy tanks become available. In the multiplayer mode both players attempt to gain the most kills at the same time as trying to get through the missions; this makes the game more of a team based rivalry, both helping each other yet competing against each other at the same time. As a player progresses more types of enemy tank are revealed, enemy tanks gain new abilities such as being able to fire rockets, lay mines, fire off more than one shot at a time, have multi-bounce fast rockets or even become invisible.
Reception
Critical reaction to the game has been average, with the game receiving an aggregate score of 58% on Metacritic. The reviewers at Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game varying scores of 6.0, 4.5 and 5.0, stating that whilst "anybody can play it, including grandma", "you'll probably be bored in minutes". games™ gave the game a more scathing reaction, scoring it 3/10 stating that "Even the games that do work break down due to a combination of being extremely bland or too repetitive", and even that the strongest game, Shooting, "loses its charm as soon as you realize the targets follow a similar path every time you play". IGN Australia were more positive in their reaction, awarding the game 8.3/10, saying that it was "effectively being sold at AU$10 on top of the cost of a wiimote" and that "as a training game, it succeeds completely". Official Nintendo Magazine also praised the game and gave it 91/100, describing the games as "surprisingly addictive" as well as citing the value of supplying an additional Wii Remote. The game has sold well worldwide, with over one million copies sold in Japan alone.
Retail
Retail wise the game has done very well, becoming one of the best selling games on the Wii.
UK
Top 40 Entertainment Software (All Prices)
Source: Chart-Track UK archive
| Week | Week Ending | Last Week | Change | This Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | December 09, 2006 | New | 9 | |
| 2 | December 16, 2006 | 9 | Down | 30 |
| 3 | December 23, 2006 | 30 | Down | 36 |
| 4 | December 30, 2006 | 36 | Off chart | |
| 5 | January 06, 2007 | Off chart | ||
| 6 | January 13, 2007 | New | 19 | |
| 7 | January 20, 2007 | 19 | Up | 11 |
| 8 | January 27, 2007 | 11 | Up | 4 |
| 9 | February 03, 2007 | 4 | Down | 7 |
| 10 | February 10, 2007 | 7 | Down | 27 |
| 11 | February 17, 2007 | 27 | Down | 31 |
| 12 | February 24, 2007 | 31 | Off chart | |
| 13 | March 03, 2007 | Off chart | ||
| 14 | March 10, 2007 | New | 17 | |
| 15 | March 17, 2007 | 17 | New | 16 |
| 16 | March 24, 2007 | 16 | Down | 31 |
| 17 | March 31, 2007 | 31 | Off chart | |
| 18 | April 7, 2007 | New | 36 | |
| 19 | April 14, 2007 | 36 | Up | 21 |
| 20 | April 21, 2007 | 21 | Up | 3 |
| 21 | April 28, 2007 | 3 | Down | 4 |
| 22 | May 05, 2007 | 4 | Up | 2 |
| 23 | May 12, 2007 | 2 | Down | 3 |
| 24 | May 19, 2007 | 3 | Down | 4 |
| 26 | May 26, 2007 | 4 | Down | 6 |
| 27 | June 02, 2007 | 6 | None | 6 |
| 28 | June 09, 2007 | 6 | Up | 5 |
| 29 | June 16, 2007 | 5 | None | 5 |
| 30 | June 23, 2007 | 5 | None | 5 |
| 31 | June 30, 2007 | 5 | Down | 10 |