What can be said about the Wii? A lot really. So many reviews and if you have not noticed they are mostly really good. So here is one more. And yes its mostly good.
We had basically given up on our quest for a Wii and decided we would invest in the PS3 as our first next gen game console. When we walked into our local EB Games intent on dropping the chunk of change, I joking asked, as I always do, "Any chance a Wii is laying around here?" The usual answer was "no way." But this time he said "I have one left. They came in a 1/2 hour ago." I bought it right away. The PS3 will have to wait.
As I said my review is mostly positive so lets start with what little negative there is.
Availability. As my opening implies and we all should know by now this is really a serious issue. My wife and I have been trying for months to get our hands on a Wii with no success. Sure we could have paid $100 to $600 more than list price to get one online but Im not that sort of person. The reason Im on Epinions is to find the best deals on the best stuff, not to pay more for something just because I want it now. After all the hype is over and the Wii's are fully available everywhere those who paid way too much are going to feel a little cheated. My advice, wait until you can find one at list price. No higher. Why? On to negative number two, sort of.
Number two. Turn the Wii on, get through the setup and on to your first game and you will find that the graphics are really way down there. Is this a negative? Well sort of but only if you paid Xbox 360 or worse PS3 prices for Wii graphics. Yes they are a generation back. I would say with my non-expert eye that they look about on par with my PS2 give or take. In Nintendo's defense they never promised next gen graphics. The Wii was all about the controls. Yes we will get to those controls in a moment.
Negative number three. Not a deal buster but one worth mentioning. Maybe its just the way things are going to be from now on in the gaming world but there sure is a whole lot of setup going on with the Wii. Im not talking about plugging it into the TV or anything it's the start up setup Im talking about. Plugging it in took less time than taking it out of the box. But setting up all the configurations took almost an hour. Seriously. Setting regions, dates, times. Getting it networked into my wireless. Setting up configs for the remotes. It just seemed to take forever before my wife and I could just sit, ok stand, and play our first game. Sure making Mii's is fun (more later) but what we really wanted was to play this long sought after system. Im guessing this is just the future of game consoles and I should just get used to it but that "new toy rush" was definitely starting to run out by the time we finely got to throw Wii sports onto the screen.
Negative number four, also a positive. The pain. Now maybe I am the negative here not the Wii. OK it is me I admit it. Im way out of shape. At 38 years old with a desk job and gaming habit I just don’t get the exercise I used to. The Wii is changing that big time. The morning after the first day of playing I felt like I had been beat down and tossed out. After doing the Wii age test I was dismayed to see I was 66! Do I really want a gaming console reminding me Im getting old? You bet I do. The Wii is just that fun and if I get myself in a bit of better shape because of it great. Now Im not saying you're going to get a "Bowflex body" or anything but the Wii can be a workout of sorts. For us older desk jockeys it may well be all the workout we're going to get. A note to the parents. Just because their moving does not mean its OK for your kids to do nothing but play video games. Kick them outside every now and then. Besides you're going to want some Wii time too. But man does this thing hurt.
Negative number five I blame America not Nintendo. Those annoying Wii warning screens. Every thing you do, every game you play, they just have to remind you to wear the Wii Strap. Setting aside that games like Wario Ware where you are going to be passing the Wii remote from person to person really fast make it impossible to use, its just plain silly. These warnings are nothing more than the repercussions of the sue happy America. Why would you loose your grip on the Wii remote and somehow bust your TV? Are you telling me that when you play real tennis or golf that you’re heaving your racket and clubs around the place. Will we need Tennis straps on all rackets soon? Remind me never to play anything with you no grip folks. If you are one of these people with a bit less grip than is required to toss a ball in the correct direction please don't sue Nintendo instead go get the many fashionable rubber sure grip covers for your Wii remote. Yeash. Sorry about that but those warning pop up just annoy me.
Last negative and maybe the only real complaint. Only one Wii remote and nunchuck. I will get into the gaming experience in a moment and detail why this is a really big negative but for now understand this. The Wii is really fun to play but it does not come into its own as the pinnacle of gaming fun until you get a group of friends over and just make fools of yourselves. Nintendo should really just take a small hit and give you two sets of the Wii remote and nunchuck right from the start. I promise you will buy more soon.
So on to the positive. Man this thing is fun. Serious fun. Wii sports comes with the console and it should be the first game you put in but before you do you’re going to have to make some Mii's. At least one but if you're playing Wii by yourself all the time you’re missing the best part about it. So make a Mii or two or 50. Mii’s are cute, very cute representatives of you in the Wii gaming world. "Avatars" seems to be the gamers term of choice. The wife and I spent some time working on our first Mii's and its worth the time. You're going to be using your Mii as your character in many of the games you play on the Wii. Having a Mii that looks very much like an overly cute version of yourself is just going to make the game that much more fun. So take a moment and think cute. The more Mii's the better.
Once your Mii is ready pop in Wii sports. You will be asked to select your Mii. You will be warned to use your Wii Strap. You may be given some advice about taking a break. And a few more pop ups will hit you. If you were smart and bought two Wii remotes and have a friend with you, highly recommended, then you will have to quickly register the second remote as well. Now pick your game. I recommend baseball first if you have a friend and bowling if you're alone. Now's where all that waiting pays off. Im going to assume you have a friend and go on from there.
Your mega cute Mii's will take the field. One of you will be pitching on the right side of the split screen the other will be hitting on the left. After a short warm up/tutorial let the arms start flailing. The Wii remote is surprisingly accurate and sensitive. Pitching will recognize a fast pitch over a slow one with a fare amount of reliability. Just hold the remote in your fist and fling your arm forward. Not much to it really. Curves and screwball pitches are easy to master quickly with the push of the button. Before you know it you will be throwing them like a pro. Batting is not so easy. Timing is everything here and get ready for a lot of foul balls and strikeouts. Its likely the first few innings will be no hitters. But after a few tries and maybe a run through the practice levels you will get the hang of it. Sure you just need to hold the remote just like you would a bat but making the connection with that 90 mph pitch will take some practice. But this is not a review of Wii Sports so I wont detail this any more. The point is that some actions with the Wii remotes are simple others take time to master but all are intuitive. And that's the thing with the Wii. Its just plain intuitive. You do what you would do in real life. Well you would if you were in the habit of swinging a full grown cow on a chain above your head. Yea some of these games get a little weird.
Remember to stand clear and lock up the cat. The Wii is as I said not the most high end system when it comes to graphics and raw power. But it is tops with the good old user interface. Gone are the days of sitting on your butt mashing buttons and eating Doritos between bosses. The Wii demands you stand at attention. Even if attention means holding the remote above your head while doing squat thrusts. Yes you will find yourself in hilarious positions doing absurd things just to accomplish a ridiculous task on the screen. This is why it is so important to have a friend or two or 15 to invite over. With all the trouble getting their hands on a Wii, you should have no problem getting them to stop by. The hilarity does not stop with just the players either. Those who are only watching will find your gyrations and convulsions gut busting as well. Friends, friends, friends. I cant stress this enough. Having the gang over for a night of Wii will be the 2000's version of the 70's fondue and lava lamp staring parties.
Clear the furniture and make room for your friends. Back in the Marines we would line up and put out one arm to the shoulder of the next guy to make sure we were properly spaced out in formation. This is not a bad idea for Wii playing either. Give your buddy some space or suffer a Wii remote blow to the head as he smashes that Rabid Rabbit on the head with a toilet plunger. Weirdness abounds in the Wii world. Your going to be swinging those arms a lot and with your focus on the TV in front of you its really easy to give your partner a bump or two on the head.
I may have mentioned that there is some weirdness going on with the Wii. Wii Sports is little more than a demo of the Wii's basic abilities but it would be worth buying even if it was not included with the console. The regular gaming modes are fantastic fun but getting into the training is just plain bizarre. Bowling at an ever growing number of pins leaves you hurling your whole body towards the screen in a futile effort to knock down 90 bowling pins with one hit. Bobbing a weaving as your personal trainer chucks balls at your head in the boxing game is a particular side splitter. Yes holding the Wii remote and nunchuck up in front of you raises the mit covered hands of your Mii in front of you boxing style. A full body tilt will make your Mii dodge a weave like Mohamed Ali. But those balls come faster and faster until "Poink!" you take one to the head. Its that "poink" that really cracked us up. Very cartoony. Its really is like living a cartoon and who hasn't wanted to at one time or another?
But sooner or later you're going to want to try your hand at a more involved game. There are many to choose from but so far the two best party games I have found are Rayman Raving Rabbids and Wario Ware Smooth Moves. Both of these are musts in your gaming library. Both are fun alone but sickenly hysterical with a few friends about. Raving Rabbids lets you each have a remote as you fire plungers play a little whack-a-mole style game and slam porta potty doors on mega maniacal uber-cut bunnies. Wario Ware as mentioned briefly requires you use one remote for all player, passing it from player to player frantically as you pick giant noses, answer the phone and generally act foolishly en masse. Sometimes the short mini game tasks are so ridiculous that you fail simply because you’re laughing to hard to complete it. This does seem to be the direction that the Wii will be going. At least I hope so. The multi player party games are what the Wii was born to revel in.
Don't discount the single player games. Se have played Rayman Raving Rabbids in single player and this is still a whole lot of fun. Stepping up to Zelda: A Link to the Past the Wii's controllers are wonderfully intuitive. Movements are smooth and reactive. The Wii remote and nunchuck are both utilized well. Pushing forward moves your horse faster. Swords are swung and shields are raised in a natural manner. You can even buy a Zelda shield and sward attachment for the remote and nunchuck. Silly but heck the Wii game play is kinda silly. In an incredibly fun sort of way. This will be the key to all games on the Wii. Can the game developers learn to utilize the Wii's controls to their fullest? Not just rehashing the controls of past games and merchandizing gimmicky attachments for the Wii remote.
An example of where the game makers are still not up to speed is with Resident Evil 4 for the Wii. Yes it's a great game and I would give it 4 out of 5 stars if this was a game review. But its not. The fact is that the game simply does not really grab the Wii spirit in full. Yes, a quick slash of the remote will slash your zombified opponent. And the point the remote and shoot is rather gun like. But the special moves are still button based and moving around is simply old school joystick style. Even the few moments where some action requires a rapid flailing back and forth of the remote feels like a cheap imitation of button mashing. The Wii can sense so much more range of movement and I really want to believe the game designers can and will push it to its full potential. Party games aside If the developers don't reach for new and innovative ways to utilize the Wii's unique interface the Wii may find itself collecting dust rather than being your preferred game console for a few years to come.
Wrapping up. The Wii is fun. More fun than I have had with a gaming consol since I first plugged in my Pong as a kid. Nintendo seemed to know they could not go head to head with Sony or Microsoft in the power house category this time around and opted to think sideways. Sideways is where you will be moving and twisting as you break down and let go of all inhibitions. If you’re a self conscious individual maybe this is not the console for you. If you’re a tech head that needs the hottest graphics and strongest game engine around pass by this one. But if your like me and so many of us out there that are looking for something that's just plain fun to do on a Friday night, well hunt one of these Wii's and let yourself go. Just keep a lot of Motrin on hand for the next day.
By the way did I mention how weird some of these games are?
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