Properly Calibrated

A blog about food, drink, and video games by Cameron Daigle.

← Next Post
Previous Post →
Information Contact
RSS is fixed! Yay!

It’s, Like, Better Than Real Bowling

Have you tried the bowling training in Wii Sports?

There are 3 tiers of training: clearing splits (no fun), “spin control” (bowl around obstacles to hit single pins; very fun), and something I believe is called “power throws”. We’re here to talk about the latter.

In “power throws”, you bowl once against a standard 10-pin “rack” (or whatever the term is). Then another row of pins is added, and you bowl against a 15-pin rack. Then another pin is added … you get it.

Eventually you’re hurling yourself across the living room, attempting to squeak out just a little more power in order to demolish a sea of bowling pins — the last level maxes out at 91 pins.

This is beautiful. It’s exactly what I want to do in sports simulation games, whether it’s Wii Bowling or Tiger Woods. I love the extra modes that just barely warp reality into a wouldn’t-it-be-cool-if scenarios.

I want a bowling lane that is a sloped embankment. I want to bowl underneath a windmill, putt-putt style. I want to hit my drive over a river of lava. I want to play baseball on an absurdly narrow field, or one with rolling hills. I want to play tennis on a 3-on-3 wide court.

I’m just saying.

Jun. 17, 2009
Contribute Your Viewpoint