Thursday, August 27, 2009

Wii Mountain Resort

This is the message that I sent to Nintendo, about my brainstorm for a Wii Game.

Hello, Wii Designers,

I am Matthew Nesteroff, and I will be turning 13 this September. I have had lots of fun with your recent release, Wii Sports Resort. I especially liked the Swordplay Showdown and Dogfight games, and I have come up with a few stunts that I enjoy performing in Island Flyover. My favorite thing about Island Flyover is that I can fly the plane through the various tunnels in the Island. Using B to cut the engine allows me to attain speeds that my stunts would not work without. In my opinion, it is a perfectly designed game. My cousins, Dylan, who is currently 11, and Anna, who just recently turned 7, have also loved the Wii Sports Resort.

I was considering what would be an enjoyable add-on to your most recent Wii game release, the Wii Sports Resort game, when I came up with an idea for the Wii Mountain Resort, a separate island, only a short plane ride west of Wuhu Island. The Wii mountain Resort consists of two snow-covered islands, the main island, Eisey Island (Icy) being several times larger than Eiscaite (Ice skate) Island. Some distinguishing features include a large mountain on Eisey Island, an alpine lake located on Eiscaite Island, a large town and a few mountain villages on Eisey Island, most of the ice sports on Eiscaite Island, a private island to which some of the minor sports could move to, and a small round island with a very tall spire, on which the player can unlock a statue of their mii. This statue will appear on the top of the spire. Here are the sports that I think would be best for this expansion:

1) Skiing, in four different levels of difficulty--- beginner, intermediate, expert, and freestyle. The higher the difficulty level, the longer the run down the mountain, and the steeper the slopes. Also, intermediate should include moguls, and expert should include a few jumps and halfpipes. Freestyle will be for having fun, and should include several grinding rails, halfpipes, jumps, and a slalom course.

2) Snowboarding, with the same conditions, only on a different side of the mountain, and more frequent jumps. Snowboarding freestyle should be in the same area with Skiing freestyle.

3) Ice skating, with races and figure-skating, located on Eiscaite Island.

4) Innertubing and bobsledding. Both go on a winding path down the mountain, with the objective being to get down the mountain as fast as possible, without falling of the ledge on the right. In innertubing, the player controls the only person in the innertube. In bobsledding, the player should control at least three people, working as a team to steer the bobsled.

5) Snowmobile races, with the course going around Eisey island. I am not sure whether to include a snowball gun that could be used to temporarily knock out other players, but it is a possibility. If it is included, then I think you should definitely include it in two- and four- player. If it is a team race, then the snowball gun should be mounted on the back, and should rotate 360 degrees. The point of this will be so that the players can decide if they want to be gunner, or in a separate snowmobile.

6) Ice fishing, sort of like the fishing in Wii Play, but the harder the difficulty, then the less fish there are. Located on Eiscaite Island.

7) Snowball fight, where the player's mii, dressed in winter attire, can run around throwing snowballs at other miis. I think that it would work best if the more opposing miis get hit by a snowball thrown by the player's mii, the more points are given to that mii. But if the player's mii gets hit, then points are taken away. I think that the controls should be Nunchuck Joystick, to run around, C to duck, Z to make a snowball, B to throw the snowball, and Wii remote to aim. It would be nice if there were walls and buildings for the player to take cover behind. Also, I think there should be a cheat, where a person could just hold down Z and B, for automatic fire, though if that is used, then they'd get less points for hitting a computer-generated mii with automatic fire than with single-shot style. I think that the automatic firing style should NOT be included in the instructions. Located on Eisey Island, on the western edge of the town.

8) Swimming, located in a resort hotel on Eisey Island, where the player could swim laps, compete in a swim race, and play water polo.

9) Ice tunneling, located just outside of the main town on Eisey Island. The player should be able to tunnel as long as they want, and can build igloos above the surface. Also, the player could choose whether or not the tunnel-and-igloo house could be used as a snowball fight course. I think the controls would work best in this format: Wii remote points in the direction the player wants to dig/place ice brick, A to dig, B to fill, and the Nunchuck joystick to move.

10) Snowman building contest, located on Eisey Island, with the point being to build the most detailed snowman before the time runs out. Levels of difficulty should beginner, intermediate, and expert. I thought it would be cool if the player could either choose to knock the snowman down with snowballs after they are done, or save it and place it somewhere in or around their house. I think that A should roll up the ball, B to drop ball, Wii remote to point ball/ice saw, and 1 to use the ice saw. I think that when the ball is picked up, it should have a shadow on the ground to help the player with perspective.

11) Curling, for between 1 and 4 players. Located on Eiscaite Island

12) Ice hockey, for 1 to 2 players, with either team play, or Vs. In both, the player can choose which position they want to play before the game starts, but cannot change position. However, they can move wherever they want. Located on Eiscaite Island.

13) Alpine lake diving, located on Eiscaite Island, with the player diving as deep as they can go. The deeper the mii dives, then the harder it is to control. Don't drown, and don't ascend too fast!

14) Polar bear chase and Invasion survival. Polar bear chase has the player run around Eisey island being chased by a polar bear. The player should have five hearts. Lumps in the snow should appear frequently. When they do appear, then the player should run towards the lump of snow and press Z to pick up the lumps and form it into as many snowballs as they can. The mii will automatically form the snow lump into snowballs. Snowballs should always be the same size, but larger snow lumps will give the player more snowballs. When the player has a snowball/snow lump in their hand, they should not be able pick up other snow lumps. A to turn around, Wii remote to aim, B to throw snowball, Nunchuck joystick to run. When facing forward, the player will have to avoid running into trees and falling off cliffs. If the player runs into a tree, then the mii will be stunned, the polar bear will catch up, and will swipe at the mii, removing a heart. If the player falls off a cliff, then two hearts will be removed. When turned around, then targets will appear on different parts of the polar bear. The mii will not hit any trees or fall of any cliffs when turned around. Instead, the mii should automatically avoid these hazards. I think the targets should disappear after a little bit.
In invasion survival, it is almost the exact same situation. Instead of running around the island, the player should run around the main town on Eisey Island. There will be a horde of polar bears attacking, each should have to take three hits to be defeated. I think the last polar bear should not chase the mii, rather the player should attack the last polar bear. The last polar bear should have a shield strapped to its paw, and should occasionally block the player's snowballs, and should make lunges toward the mii. Also, in higher difficulty levels, there should be more polar bears, and the targets should disappear more quickly.

15) Coffee-drinking contest, located on Eisey Island, in a café. The player should have to withstand more caffeine than other miis. The player and the opposing mii will have three hearts, and if any coffee is spilled, then the player or mii will lose a heart. I think the controls should be A to take a cup, B to drink, 1 to control the shaking, and 2 to set the cup down. I think that only the 1 button has to be held down.

16) Lastly, snowshoeing. The player will have to hike up the winding path to the top, and at certain spots, will have to smile for the camera. At the top, the Mii will join up with the other miis on the hike and take a picture, with a beautiful view of the mountain village, Wuhu island, and Wedge Island in the distance. Also, I think the player should be able to unlock a flag with their mii's face on it. This flag should stand behind the miis at the top of the mountain.

As these are all just rough draft ideas, then please feel free to elaborate or modify these ideas. Since I think this game would work best as an expansion pack, then I think that some of the games from Wii Sports resort should be included, such as Island flyover and dogfight, so the players can get to know the island better.

Thanks a lot for listening!
Matthew Nesteroff