Pros: Greatly surpasses any other console in how it is played.
Cons: Will keep you shelling out more money for additional upgrades.
The Bottom Line: Now recently dropped to $199 it is not only the most affordable console out there it is also the best for everyone of all ages to enjoy.
You could, or should I say can, call me an odd fellow. I started reviewing the Nintendo Wii over a year ago and never got around to finishing the review. I started it with the following paragraph:
“I begin my review of the Nintendo Wii by typing this introduction painstakenly using an onscreen keyboard accessing Epinions through Wii Internet Channel. So far this process which has taught me better control of the wireless remote has taken around five minutes. I think it is now time to go back to the old times and continue this review on my PC. Yet Wiipioning has been a fun exercise. As painful as that way, that is how I first decided to review my new Wii several months ago.”
Several months ago, turned into close to two years ago and now the Wii is readily available and just recently had a price decrease to $199. Gone are the days of stalking the local Target early in the morning hoping to get one, shelling out $249 and then some for additional remotes. What first began on a Sunday morning where 30 units were available and less than an hour after opening all were sold has evolved into one of the best and treasured gaming machines we could ever imagine. I’ve been a die hard Nintendo fan my whole life owning every single (yet not handheld) release Nintendo has ever created. And, each one has been a step up, well, besides the Nintendo Cube. But nonetheless, the Nintendo Wii changed the way we play and even got my wife addicted to wasting time playing video games.
I won’t bore you with all the technical specs of the Nintendo Wii, surly by now there have been enough reviews touting its processor speed, memory, and how the Wiimotes actually work (it’s not magic but it’s close). And even those have recently changed with the introduction of the Wii Motion Plus, an add on to the Wiimotes which is said to increase their function making you even more in control of the game. Plus there are microphones to use when singing along with the American Idol game, a step platform that allows you to do yoga to get “Wii fit”, a Wii Speak device to communicate with fellow gamers and the list goes on (guns, tennis rackets, steering wheels, swords, etc.) All in all this definitely was one console designed to keep you buying new things.
When you buy a Nintendo Wii you get the main console (with a stand that allows you to prop it up sideways if you want), one Wiimote (fancy way of saying a remote), a Nunchuck (an accessory that plugs into the remote that allows provides additional movement via a joystick and additional buttons), power cord, RCA video/audio cords, a receiver device with a very long cord, and the Wii Sports game which includes four games; bowling, tennis, golf, and boxing. In order to get the basic function of the Wii you will need to immediately shell out for an additional remote, an additional nunchuck, and maybe a game or two although the included basic games are quite addictive. Get ready to experience “Wii Arms” the syndrome of your arms feeling sore and tired as the Wii will get you up and moving, flinging your arms around and in some cases your entire body. There are some games that allow you to sit on the couch and snack but for the most part you will play with the remote strapped around your primary arm, your other hand will hold the nunchuck and quite often you will find yourself standing up, moving from side to side, and even walking towards your TV (just be careful not to get too close).
Setup was extremely easy. There are only two things to plug into the back of the console, the power cord, and the receiver thing (it allows the wireless remotes to work). If you bought additional accessories there are two USB slots located on the back that you can use to plug things in. I use one for our Wii Speak microphone and the other is used to charge the remotes. When you buy the unit you will have to use batteries (two AA) to power your remotes but it is strongly suggested especially if you play video games a lot to invest in a battery pack that you plug into the console to charge your remotes that way you don’t end up filling the landfills with countless used batteries. After you power the unit on for the first time you will be taken through a pretty standard setup procedure; setting the date, time, locations of the remote receiver, etc. You can then setup additional features such as a “Mii” a character that represents you on the Wii and in some games your character will make an appearance. You can configure weight, height, hair, eyes, etc. – just about anything to make it look like yourself or however you want yourself to look. Personally, mine and my wife’s are pretty dead on – we look almost exactly like our Mii’s. You can also setup the included WiFi connection which is built into the Wii if you have a wireless home network. If you don’t, you can purchase a cable to connect the Wii to your PC or router. At first, I had trouble setting this feature up as the Wii kept asking for the access code (password) that we had set on our locked home network. When we log in using our laptops we use a phrase such as “allowmein” but typing that apparently converts the phrase to a code combination consisting of letters and numbers. After some trial and error I located that code and tried to use that but still it didn’t work. In the end, the code was being told to me as “X1:X2:X3” but I had to enter it without the colons as that was causing the problem. Once I figured that out we were up and running, the Wii did an automatic update and we were playing in no time.
Hooking up the WiFi connection also gives you access to additional games that you can buy that at one time were only playable if you had the old Nintendo systems (or an emulator on your PC). I immediately downloaded all of my old favorites including Mario Kart, Mario World, Super Mario Brothers, the original Mario game (both console and arcade versions), Street Fighter, and a few others I cannot remember at the moment. I also downloaded the Opera based Wii Internet Browser to surf the web using my Wii. It has some limits, it doesn’t do Flash or Java very well. I tried to use it to access my Yahoo Fantasy Football SportsTracker but it errors out and crashes. You can also download additional “channels” little mini-programs that include such things as chat rooms, voting, news, etc.
Speaking of channels, the Wii has an onscreen menu area where your games that you have downloaded and other features exist. These are called channels and you can click on them to access which ever you want. The Wii has a limited amount of onboard memory although you can purchase an additional flash card to insert in to gain additional storage space. There is a drawback to the flash card you can only save certain games on there and you cannot play the game from this saved location. You will have to transfer the game from the flash back into the main memory of the Wii in order to play. If you get yourself to this point however, the reason you are putting things onto this flash drive is that you have filled up the main memory. So in order to transfer a game you will have to first transfer another game off the main memory into the flash memory before you transfer the game from the flash memory back to the main memory. It would have been far easier if you could play the game directly off the flash memory but you cannot. And some games simply will not transfer to the flash drive so this too can cause a problem. If you end up filling your main channels with several games that you cannot transfer (you don’t know if you can’t until you try) then your stuck in a dilemma. You will have to delete a game first before you can transfer.
Learning to play a game is fairly easy. As is in Nintendo tradition almost every game has helpful hints that pop up during the game especially in the beginning. Almost as annoying as I think her or its name was Navi in Zelda: Ocarnia of Time but at least the “hey” is absent. Also if you hold the remote wrong it will show you how best to hold it and overall you get really used to it especially the sports games that mostly use just the main Wiimote. Once you get into the other games that require a nunchuck or any other additional attachment you will have to coordinate both your arms movement in order to get past the next level. When playing your old games you can purchase (yes I know more money) a classic controller that plugs into the Wiimote (keeping you more wireless than the original console but yet there still is a wire) or you can plug up to four Nintendo Cube remotes into the side of the console. A part of me wished that they could have also put inputs for remotes from the Nintendo 64, Super Nintendo, or even the original Nintendo as those remotes are somewhere in the house collecting dust. I find it a bit hard to play the old games because my brain remembers which button does what but the classic controller nor the Cube controllers have the buttons in the same place that my brain remembers. I will have to retrain myself but after years upon years of playing games with a certain controller it gets a little frustrating
Overall, the Nintendo Wii is a great home video game console. I’m not sad I didn’t wait but with the recent price drop it has become even more affordable. And, this is one console that just about anyone will love to play, your kids, your parents, your grandparents, and yes, even you. Sure, it has some limits. It cannot play DVD’s or Blu-ray and you do sacrifice Hi-Def graphics and spoken words are less than in other games but just the way you play the games stands out and up from any other console out there on the market. The saddest thing about owning a Nintendo Wii is I don’t know where Nintendo will go next. Not only is the Wii the best it quite possibly is the crowning moment for Nintendo. Maybe they will create wearable fabric that mimics your movement or a headpiece/glasses that have built in video screens, or maybe even a cord that you insert into the USB plug embedded into your skull. Who knows! But at least for now I don’t know how it could get any better than this.
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