Nintendo Wii, the best game console ever.

Permalink: 11/25/2006 04:08:00 PM | << Back Home

So earlier this week I camped out for 8 hours at Walmart to get the Nintendo Wii. I would have pre-ordered it but I was on an airplane at the time. :)

Game List: Zelda (haven't played it yet, it's under the xmas tree so I can finish Windwaker first), Red Steel, and Excite Truck. (plus Wii Sports)

The system was really easy to setup and I was delighted to find it had built-in Wifi, with full support for security. (WPA/WPA2/WEP/etc.) Getting used to the "Wiimote" at first was challenging, and even more so was finding the best place to sit so that the controller would read accurately in such games as Red Steel, ...speaking of which...

I was a little surprised to find that there's only support for Progressive Scan, not High-Def. Unlike the PS2, the Gamecube's progressive scan was a huge improvement over standard "Composite" video, so I'm hoping the Wii's will be as well. (I'm highly suspicious over the similarities between the GC and Wii hardware at this point... did they change much?)

Red Steel
-- Rating: Awesome in small doses, boring for the addictive gamer.
-- Baseline: Yakuza-esque Japanese mafia first-person shooter. Full use of the Wiimote and "nunchuck".

Learning to play this game is extremely frustrating, especially if you're new to the Wii. However, it is definitely worth purchasing if you can be patient. (I've really enjoyed playing it.)

Excite Truck
-- Rating: Basically a party game, there's no real point in playing it solo.
-- Baseline: Use the Wiimote (no nunchuck) sideways as a steering wheel and drift/race fourwheelers out in various challenging open-roads.

Easy to learn, really fun to play. Very competitive with power-ups as you drive, huge jumps, and points for drifting/crashing/etc.

Wii Sports
-- Rating: It's free with the console, so that's cool. The games are Tennis (awesome), Baseball (pretty bad), Golf (awesome), Bowling (decent), and Boxing (pretty good).
-- Baseline: A collection of sports with which you can play virtually using the Wiimote. Nunchuck needed for Boxing only.

Some of the games have a bit of a learning curve, but overall Wii Sports is understandable to most. Even my parents enjoyed playing it. I applaud Nintendo for including this for us!



My XBox needed a Wii sticker:

Labels: nintendo wii