Nintendo Wii
On Saturday, December 30, 2006, I got the itch to buy a Nintendo Wii. I read about the demand for the Wii, and decided to see if I could pick one up to play during New Year's Eve. Saturday morning, I called about every Target and GameCrazy in the area, and they were all sold out. When I asked when to expect a new shipment, one salesperson even said that February may be the earliest that they will be available in stores. By that time I had given up. Credit goes to my wife, who decided to call FYE because of a gift certificate for that store that I had received for Christmas. The second store she called said they had a few in stock, but that they were sold in bundles, requiring us to buy two games with the console. Not a problem, because we would eventually buy a few games anyway.
We drove downtown, bought the console, and brought it home. It took just a few minutes to set up. We turned it on, and a setup screen asked a couple of questions (the current date and time, etc.) before displaying the menu. The main menu consists of a grid of "Channels", aka programs. In other words, the first channel plays the disc in the drive, another channel displays the current weather, and another is the online service for downloading games. After connecting it to my wireless network, I went online. It asked me if I would like to update, to which I said yes. I'm not sure why, but it took about 20 minutes to download and install the software update. Once the update completed, my family and I played the included game, Wii Sports.
I'll have to say, I've never used a controller like the Wii controller. It's wireless, motion and speed sensitive, has tilt sensors (twisting it sideways turns the cursor on the screen), and lets you point and select buttons on the screen. The menus are fairly simple, three or four buttons, and each is highlighted as the cursor moves over the button. Playing the sports games is where the fun lies. My youngest daughter, three years old, likes to play tennis and baseball because her swinging of the controller affects what happens on the screen. It's easier for her to use the Wii controller than our larger Xbox 360 controllers.
It appears that finding extra Wii controllers is about as hard as finding the Wii itself. After picking up the Wii, I stopped at four stores on the way home, but they were all sold out. My guess is that after picking up Wiis for Christmas, Wii games and accessories were the next fastest selling items the week following Christmas.
I enjoyed playing the sports games, especially boxing. After boxing for about 30 minutes, I was ready for a break. Bowling with the controller is about as good as you can get with a simulation, I have a bad habit of spinning my wrist with a real bowling ball just before I release, causing an unintended hook to the left, and only knocking down three or four pins. I'll bet that practice with the Wii could improve my bowling average the next time I visit the lanes.
I will admit that we played the Wii for a couple of days, but by Monday we were back to playing Disney Pixar Cars on the Xbox 360 (a game that we're trying to finish). The Wii was fun to play and to watch others play, but the sports games got old playing by yourself against the computer. Picking up an extra controller and Super Mario Galaxy when they become available should make the system more entertaining and compelling.
Am I glad I bought it? Yes. Why? Because it is entertaining both to play and to watch others play. After you get used to the controller, you become immersed in the game. Everyone else watching has a hard time waiting for their turn.
Will the Wii become the dominant gaming system in our house? Not in the near future. Why? Well, there are a few reasons. First, we're trying to complete a couple of the Xbox 360 games that we currently own. Second, we just got a couple of new games for the 360 for Christmas that we've been waiting to play. Third, we can't play two at a time on the Wii until we pick up another controller.
How does the online experience compare to that of the Xbox 360? The Wii has a browser, and an online store. You can browse the web (typing in an address is fairly easy, thanks to the controller that behaves a lot like a computer mouse), but text is usually too small and requires you to zoom in. The web browser does support Adobe Flash, so now I can watch YouTube videos on my TV. The online service has a handful of original Nintendo and Super Nintendo games available for download (each costs $5+, I'll wait for Donkey Kong Country, one of my all-time favorite Super Nintendo games). This compares to Xbox's Live Arcade service, although each Xbox Live Arcade title has a trial version. Downloadable TV shows, movies and game demos are available from Xbox Live, but not Nintendo. Navigating Nintendo's online service is more cumbersome, because lists of items are contained in what I would call frames, with a scroll bar and small navigation buttons on the right-hand side. Xbox Live doesn't display a scroll bar, instead, it displays a count of how many items are in the list and allows you to use different buttons to navigate up and down the list.
Overall, it will be interesting to see what games become available and which ones I end up buying. I think that as we buy more games for the Wii, we will spend more time playing both the 360 and the Wii more than we will spend watching TV or movies. I read somewhere that Nintendo's goal with the Wii is to make playing games as commonplace as watching TV or movies. In our house, because we watch so little TV, the Wii's competition will be the 360.
If you own an Wii or have a question, please post below. Thanks.
Update 2/3/2007:
We found an extra Wii Remote, but it took about a week and a half of calling around. In some ways it was harder to find this extra controller than it was to find the Wii console. With the extra controller and participant, Wii Sports is a blast.
WarioWare Smooth Moves: what a great party game. We had some relatives over last night, and besides 15 minutes with Wii Sports, we played Smooth Moves the rest of the night. Everyone who came played a round or two, from my 3-year old to those of us over thirty. I highly recommend it either for purchase or rental for your next party.
Update 2/21/2007:
Donkey Kong Country became available for download on the Wii Virtual Console on Monday, 2/19. On my way home that evening, I picked up a WaveBird wireless Game Cube controller and a 2000 point Wii card. The transaction was simple. DKC cost 800 points, took about 10 minutes to download, and looks and plays just like I remember it when it was first published back in 1994. The Wii Virtual Console even one-ups my previous experience on the SNES: my kids and I can sit across the room and play the game with the WaveBird wireless controller.
Buying the Game Cube controller also opens a new door: we can now rent and buy Game Cube games and play them on the Wii. With the new controller, we'll probably rent or buy more games for the Game Cube than the Wii, because 1) Game Cube games are cheaper, 2) there are hundreds of Game Cube games available, and 3) Super Mario Galaxy is probably the next Wii game purchase that we will make.
We drove downtown, bought the console, and brought it home. It took just a few minutes to set up. We turned it on, and a setup screen asked a couple of questions (the current date and time, etc.) before displaying the menu. The main menu consists of a grid of "Channels", aka programs. In other words, the first channel plays the disc in the drive, another channel displays the current weather, and another is the online service for downloading games. After connecting it to my wireless network, I went online. It asked me if I would like to update, to which I said yes. I'm not sure why, but it took about 20 minutes to download and install the software update. Once the update completed, my family and I played the included game, Wii Sports.
I'll have to say, I've never used a controller like the Wii controller. It's wireless, motion and speed sensitive, has tilt sensors (twisting it sideways turns the cursor on the screen), and lets you point and select buttons on the screen. The menus are fairly simple, three or four buttons, and each is highlighted as the cursor moves over the button. Playing the sports games is where the fun lies. My youngest daughter, three years old, likes to play tennis and baseball because her swinging of the controller affects what happens on the screen. It's easier for her to use the Wii controller than our larger Xbox 360 controllers.
It appears that finding extra Wii controllers is about as hard as finding the Wii itself. After picking up the Wii, I stopped at four stores on the way home, but they were all sold out. My guess is that after picking up Wiis for Christmas, Wii games and accessories were the next fastest selling items the week following Christmas.
I enjoyed playing the sports games, especially boxing. After boxing for about 30 minutes, I was ready for a break. Bowling with the controller is about as good as you can get with a simulation, I have a bad habit of spinning my wrist with a real bowling ball just before I release, causing an unintended hook to the left, and only knocking down three or four pins. I'll bet that practice with the Wii could improve my bowling average the next time I visit the lanes.
I will admit that we played the Wii for a couple of days, but by Monday we were back to playing Disney Pixar Cars on the Xbox 360 (a game that we're trying to finish). The Wii was fun to play and to watch others play, but the sports games got old playing by yourself against the computer. Picking up an extra controller and Super Mario Galaxy when they become available should make the system more entertaining and compelling.
Am I glad I bought it? Yes. Why? Because it is entertaining both to play and to watch others play. After you get used to the controller, you become immersed in the game. Everyone else watching has a hard time waiting for their turn.
Will the Wii become the dominant gaming system in our house? Not in the near future. Why? Well, there are a few reasons. First, we're trying to complete a couple of the Xbox 360 games that we currently own. Second, we just got a couple of new games for the 360 for Christmas that we've been waiting to play. Third, we can't play two at a time on the Wii until we pick up another controller.
How does the online experience compare to that of the Xbox 360? The Wii has a browser, and an online store. You can browse the web (typing in an address is fairly easy, thanks to the controller that behaves a lot like a computer mouse), but text is usually too small and requires you to zoom in. The web browser does support Adobe Flash, so now I can watch YouTube videos on my TV. The online service has a handful of original Nintendo and Super Nintendo games available for download (each costs $5+, I'll wait for Donkey Kong Country, one of my all-time favorite Super Nintendo games). This compares to Xbox's Live Arcade service, although each Xbox Live Arcade title has a trial version. Downloadable TV shows, movies and game demos are available from Xbox Live, but not Nintendo. Navigating Nintendo's online service is more cumbersome, because lists of items are contained in what I would call frames, with a scroll bar and small navigation buttons on the right-hand side. Xbox Live doesn't display a scroll bar, instead, it displays a count of how many items are in the list and allows you to use different buttons to navigate up and down the list.
Overall, it will be interesting to see what games become available and which ones I end up buying. I think that as we buy more games for the Wii, we will spend more time playing both the 360 and the Wii more than we will spend watching TV or movies. I read somewhere that Nintendo's goal with the Wii is to make playing games as commonplace as watching TV or movies. In our house, because we watch so little TV, the Wii's competition will be the 360.
If you own an Wii or have a question, please post below. Thanks.
Update 2/3/2007:
We found an extra Wii Remote, but it took about a week and a half of calling around. In some ways it was harder to find this extra controller than it was to find the Wii console. With the extra controller and participant, Wii Sports is a blast.
WarioWare Smooth Moves: what a great party game. We had some relatives over last night, and besides 15 minutes with Wii Sports, we played Smooth Moves the rest of the night. Everyone who came played a round or two, from my 3-year old to those of us over thirty. I highly recommend it either for purchase or rental for your next party.
Update 2/21/2007:
Donkey Kong Country became available for download on the Wii Virtual Console on Monday, 2/19. On my way home that evening, I picked up a WaveBird wireless Game Cube controller and a 2000 point Wii card. The transaction was simple. DKC cost 800 points, took about 10 minutes to download, and looks and plays just like I remember it when it was first published back in 1994. The Wii Virtual Console even one-ups my previous experience on the SNES: my kids and I can sit across the room and play the game with the WaveBird wireless controller.
Buying the Game Cube controller also opens a new door: we can now rent and buy Game Cube games and play them on the Wii. With the new controller, we'll probably rent or buy more games for the Game Cube than the Wii, because 1) Game Cube games are cheaper, 2) there are hundreds of Game Cube games available, and 3) Super Mario Galaxy is probably the next Wii game purchase that we will make.
posted by Kevin at
1/01/2007 08:36:00 PM
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