thecrikster wrote:

The reason I never bought the Wii was precisely because it was lacking in big name titles such as GTA4. Mind you the DVD player on my xbox is still knackered, so I have to fix that before I even consider getting the kinnect doodad. I'm still quite wary that the whole "motion sensor" experience is fundamentally defined by how well/badly written the actual game is. I've heard some horror stories (Wii included).

Well yeah it doesn't have as many of the big third party titles, but Nintendo has a lot of their own franchises going as well. And since it's the same company designing the software and the hardware, their Wii games tend to be smarter about incorporating the motion technology and not just tacking it on as an afterthought. I've only played a few titles so far (like the Mario ones, which are excellent), and they're definitely less gimmicky than what I've seen Microsoft and Sony hyping up. Even the "let's appeal to casual gamers" titles like "Wii Fit" (which, let's face it, is the real reason they won this particular console war) are pretty entertaining for what they are, and make good party games even if none of the guests are gamers.

MrLuck is probably right about "Brutal Legend." It's definitely a flawed title, I just have a lot of loyalty to Double Fine due to "Psychonauts" and Tim Schafer's old Lucasarts games. And I do really like the visual design, even more impressive that they built a more-or-less open world based on that look. I like its sense of humor too, though as you progress it kind of vanishes in place of dumb generic serious plot. I've made it to the final boss but haven't felt like defeating him because the plot turned so braindead (even moreso than the story in "Bayonetta," which is really saying something).

I can definitely see the load time gripes with "Bayonetta," though I didn't install it and don't know if that makes a difference. Personally I'm pretty patient as a gamer so the fact that you have to wait a few seconds to access the item menu isn't a dealbreaker for me.