Reposted from my work blog:

When it comes to ports, the Wii is usually looked at as getting the short end of the stick. It has no HD, so it won't get the downloadable content that the same game on the PS3 or the XBox 360 will, and as far as graphics go, it's just not as powerful as its competitors.

So, when faced with a game that's coming out for all three systems, is there a reason to go with the seemingly inferior Wii version? I mean besides, "I don't have a PS3 or 360."

Obviously, the answer's going to be different depending on which game you're talking about. Some of the games are more or less identical except for some tweaks to the controls to take advantage of the motion controls, while others are going to be vastly different experiences.

So, in this case, let's talk about Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. The game came out for just about everything, and as has been noted, the first thing anyone does when they grab the Wii Remote is pretend it's a lightsaber anyway, so the game's a natural pick for the Wii.

This, unfortunately, is one of the games where the technical difference is rather noticeable, both in regard to graphics, and the physics engine. The bigger consoles got the touted "Ronin" physics engine which, among other things, would allow the games to realistically model every shard of broken glass that you created. The Wii, quite simply, couldn't handle it, so has a more standard physics engine with preset reactions for broken items.

The Wii version also lacked some other aspects of its bigger brothers; for one, the protagonist's droid Proxy has a habit of attacking its master, including a big boss fight, in the PS3 and 360 versions, while this just doesn't show up in the Wii version. There's also a sequence in the other versions where Starkiller has to bring down a Star Destroyer that was turned into a cutscene for the Wii, but from all accounts that sequence was so badly programmed that the Wii players got the better end of the bargain.

So, for all these shortcomings, what does the Wii version have going for it? For starters, however it looks, it's still a fun game, with some good set pieces, and by mid game it definitely gives you the feeling of being a near unstoppable Jedi badass.

I also liked how the Force powers worked through the nunchuck's motion controls. There's a nice, visceral feeling of thrusting the controller forward to send enemies flying with a Force push that is absent when you're doing the same thing with a controller. Swinging the lightsaber was fun too, even if you do risk tennis-elbow and the detection's a little spotty.

And I for one don't mind the lack of the super-advanced physics engine, because frankly I wasn't going to be looking to see if every shard of glass fell in a realistic fashion. I'm more concerned with the fact that I can throw Stormtroopers at eachother and zap them with lightning. That's all I really asked for in any version of the game, and the Wii version delivers on that front.