The Wii Abyss: Deca Sports
article by Toby Jones
I've spent my time as a Wii owner watching cheaply produced drivel sell millions of copies while innovative and original games struggle, and I've decided that in order to understand this, I must experience it first-hand. What are these "casual" games that are so popular? Do they have some hidden value that I'm not privy to? What secrets do they hold? It is time to stare into the abyss.
Today I had my first case of "Wii arm" in about two years, and I did not like it one bit. This happened while playing Deca Sports, an inexplicably popular derivative of Wii Sports released by Hudson last year. To be honest I was expecting an unplayable, sloppy piece of garbage, and to the game's credit that is not what I got. Instead, it turned out to merely be mindless and dull. When a game makes Wii Sports look imaginative, you know there's a bit of a problem.
Wii Sports is really the key thing to keep in mind here, as Deca apes it in pretty much every imaginable way. The most glaring example of this is the characters, which are evidently the unfortunate remnants of a failed attempt by Hudson to get the rights to use Miis. There is a complete negligence toward anything even remotely resembling creativity here, something that is especially depressing when one considers that Hudson is actually a pretty good game developer. The thought that game designers who might otherwise be creative and talented spent time making this is a troubling thing indeed.
The game offers each of its titular "deca" of sports from the beginning. They range from reasonably fun (Archery) to unbearable (Kart Racing). All are extremely shallow- the controls are all basic waggle movements and they offer nothing more than what you see of them during your first play. When a game makes Wii Sports look deep, you know there's a.... well, you get the idea.
Deca Sports was originally released as a value title for $30, but in this situation the word "value" is really a misnomer. It may be cheaper than a $50 game, but a cunning consumer could easily get two or more far superior games for that sum of money. The price is now down to $20, but my statement still stands.
Overall, though, I'm really of two minds when it comes to this product. It seems completely innocuous- a fairly inexpensive and competently made wagglesports game. It's not really "for" me, so why rag on it? I'm trying not to be too harsh, but my bitterness and resentment about the Wii's genuinely great offerings garnering such poor sales makes such a thing nigh-impossible. If Deca Sports had never been released, would the under-appreciated gems of the Wii have sold any more copies? Probably not. Man, I feel so empty now.
Is it worth playing at all? The short answer is no. It would seem that most gamers, like myself, were too busy attending to their endless backlog of genuinely interesting games to notice Deca Sports in the first place. The was no reason for us to play it then, and even less reason now. If you're simply a mother or father who knows nothing about games and hopes to entertain your children... well, pick up Wii Sports Resort.
Why did it sell so well? Deca Sports seems to have been created with the intention of being an unofficial sequel (or "compliment", according to Hudson) to Wii Sports, and at the end of the day it does a serviceable job. There was no Wii Sports 2 at the time of its release, so I suppose it filled a gap deep in the hearts of consumers. Why it rose above the other anonymous wagglesports games like a phoenix from the ashes, though, may remain a mystery.
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I've spent my time as a Wii owner watching cheaply produced drivel sell millions of copies while innovative and original games struggle, and I've decided that in order to understand this, I must experience it first-hand. What are these "casual" games that are so popular? Do they have some hidden value that I'm not privy to? What secrets do they hold? It is time to stare into the abyss.
Today I had my first case of "Wii arm" in about two years, and I did not like it one bit. This happened while playing Deca Sports, an inexplicably popular derivative of Wii Sports released by Hudson last year. To be honest I was expecting an unplayable, sloppy piece of garbage, and to the game's credit that is not what I got. Instead, it turned out to merely be mindless and dull. When a game makes Wii Sports look imaginative, you know there's a bit of a problem.
Wii Sports is really the key thing to keep in mind here, as Deca apes it in pretty much every imaginable way. The most glaring example of this is the characters, which are evidently the unfortunate remnants of a failed attempt by Hudson to get the rights to use Miis. There is a complete negligence toward anything even remotely resembling creativity here, something that is especially depressing when one considers that Hudson is actually a pretty good game developer. The thought that game designers who might otherwise be creative and talented spent time making this is a troubling thing indeed.
The game offers each of its titular "deca" of sports from the beginning. They range from reasonably fun (Archery) to unbearable (Kart Racing). All are extremely shallow- the controls are all basic waggle movements and they offer nothing more than what you see of them during your first play. When a game makes Wii Sports look deep, you know there's a.... well, you get the idea.
Deca Sports was originally released as a value title for $30, but in this situation the word "value" is really a misnomer. It may be cheaper than a $50 game, but a cunning consumer could easily get two or more far superior games for that sum of money. The price is now down to $20, but my statement still stands.
Overall, though, I'm really of two minds when it comes to this product. It seems completely innocuous- a fairly inexpensive and competently made wagglesports game. It's not really "for" me, so why rag on it? I'm trying not to be too harsh, but my bitterness and resentment about the Wii's genuinely great offerings garnering such poor sales makes such a thing nigh-impossible. If Deca Sports had never been released, would the under-appreciated gems of the Wii have sold any more copies? Probably not. Man, I feel so empty now.
Is it worth playing at all? The short answer is no. It would seem that most gamers, like myself, were too busy attending to their endless backlog of genuinely interesting games to notice Deca Sports in the first place. The was no reason for us to play it then, and even less reason now. If you're simply a mother or father who knows nothing about games and hopes to entertain your children... well, pick up Wii Sports Resort.
Why did it sell so well? Deca Sports seems to have been created with the intention of being an unofficial sequel (or "compliment", according to Hudson) to Wii Sports, and at the end of the day it does a serviceable job. There was no Wii Sports 2 at the time of its release, so I suppose it filled a gap deep in the hearts of consumers. Why it rose above the other anonymous wagglesports games like a phoenix from the ashes, though, may remain a mystery.
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Share and Discuss on Facebook