I bought our Wii early last year. My husband is a gamer and has been trying to get me back into games for years. His modus operandi is the Playstation 3, and he adores RPGs and sports games, neither of which really appeal to me. But when the Wii was launched back in 2006, it finally sounded like a fun, playful system I could get into. Of course, it took me a while (and the right game for motivation) to commit to the idea.
Price and availability I believe the Wii is finally widely available. But even last year when I purchased it (a good 2 years after its initial launch) it was hard to come by. I called store after store. I watched an online Wii tracker site. I checked eBay and Craigslist.
I finally found a good package deal on CircuitCity.com that included an extra Wii remote and nunchuk. I purchased two game titles at that time and soon after purchased a third. The Wii recently dropped in price and is available for under $200. When I purchased it, it was $250 plus the price of the extra controller (about $40) and nunchuk (about $20). New games for the system are generally about $50. Occasionally, there are $20-30 new games and some titles require additional equipment that costs more, such as the balance board for Wii Fit, which costs about $100 with game.
Out of the box I bought our Wii as a gift to my husband for Father's Day. He was dying to try the Wii Fit so I bought the console, bought the Wii Fit on eBay for a premium, and was determined to set the whole thing up without his help. And I did. I had absolutely no problem setting the Wii up. First off, kudos to whomever designed the package it comes in. Everything fit so perfectly in it. It's a compact box with two layers, no crazy Styrofoam pieces or insane twisty plastic things. It may seem frivolous to praise the packaging, but it just goes to show the simplicity and ingenious nature of the Wii.
My box contained the slim-designed Wii console, a stand for it, one wireless Wii remote controller with silicone jacket, one attachment nunchuk controller, the Wii Sports game, a sensor bar to place at controller level, an AV cable, a power cord, and a standard composite cable. Everything plugged in easily and started up quickly. The Wii-motes require 2 AA batteries, which are included. Rechargeable batteries, however, are the way to go if you plan on daily use.
Technical specs The Wii runs well thanks to an IBM PowerPC Broadway processor, an ATI Hollywood graphic processor, and 512 MB of built-in flash memory. Its storage can be expanded up to 32 GB with SD and SDHC memory cards. It has a slot-loading disc drive so that discs insert into the vertical-positioned system instead of being inserted into an ejecting tray. It has a multiAV port for component, composite, S-video, RGB SCART, and VGA output. Up to 4 Wii remote controllers can be connected wirelessly via Bluetooth. There are 2 USB ports.
While I don't think the graphics on the Wii are better or even on par with some of the PS3 graphics I've seen, there's nothing cheesy about them. Many of the games we own have cartoonish animations so it's hard for me to do a straight comparison. Still, the sound and graphics quality on the Wii is impressive. Save and load times are impressive as well.
Play time (ie What makes a Wii so special?) In the game console wars, the Wii competes with the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox. There are several unique things about the Wii. First off in my mind, are the games. Forgive me, but I missed Mario...and hubby missed Link. We've been a PlayStation home for a long time--PS1, PS2, PS3-so we've missed out on Super Mario and Zelda titles for a good long time. The New Super Mario Bros game that came out this year has me especially excited and I think it'll be tucked under the tree next month. There are also a host of other kid-friendly titles that are rare to find for the more teen-and-grown-up-geared systems. Not only are there Disney and cartoon kid games like Toy Story Mania, Cars Race-O-Rama, Go Diego Go, Barbie Horse Adventures, and Dora Saves the Snow Princess, but there are also a ton of family-game-night party-type titles that encourage group play.
Secondly, and more importantly to most folks, are the cool wireless Wii remotes. They are designed to be worn with a strap and held in your palm and used as an extension of your arm in many games. For instance, in the included Wii Sports game, you swing your whole arm to play tennis while holding the Wii-mote. You bowl with your arm hanging down, you bat a baseball by swinging, you box with your arms up (Nunchuk accessory must be connected to the Wii remote and held in your other hand) throwing right and left hooks, etc. The sensor bar, which we place on top of our TV, picks up the movement of the Wii remote allowing you to move and play at the same time. For driving games, turn the Wii-mote on its side, hold onto it with both hands, and turn it as if steering a wheel. It's active, it's fun, it even rumbles with some games, giving you interactive feedback. I've heard that older versions slipped off your wrist more easily, but we've had no problems with the wrist strap (which tightens for my 5-year-old and stretches for her 250-lb father) and the silicone sleeve that wraps around it gives the Wii remote a textured, rubbery non-slip feel. I have noticed that its unique features work better in some games than others. There are buttons on it and directional keys and it's all pretty intuitive. The design appears much less cluttered and complicated than the Xbox or PS3 controllers.
The Wii also allows you to create customized animated avatars called "Miis" that you can use in many of the games. We created a baldy little boy for my son, a pigtailed blond for my daughter, a redhead woman for me, and a blond man for my husband. We also made a blond for my sister who stays with us in the summer to play. You can choose which character to play but often the other characters get inserted into the game as extras. For instance, when we play the running part of the Wii Fit game, our Mii character jogs alongside some of the other "family members" while some of them are at the finish line cheering us on. I had no problem using the menu screen to create and save the characters. I'm not sure what the limit is, but we have 5 and there's room for more.
Another unique aspect of the Wii is that it has a Wi-Fi connection for connecting to the Internet as well as a wireless ability to connect with the popular handheld Nintendo DS. The Wi-Fi connection allows for interacting with others in a social environment as well as for downloading games and content.
Also, the Wii is backward compatible with all GameCube software, memory cards, and controllers. For us, that means nothing since we've never owned a GameCube. But many families who do might be pleased with that feature.
Game titles We have a handful of games for our Wii, some have worked out better than others for our family. The included Wii Sports was an instant hit. My husband and I never realized how competitive we were until we started trying to punch each other out (in the game of course) in boxing and played doubles tennis against each other. There is an accessory pack you can purchase to make your Wii remote resemble the different sports equipment (for example, a tennis racket that it fits into), but we never purchased it and have fun without it. My daughter loved bowling in Wii Sports.
Wii Fit is another winner we own. In addition to the Wii remote and Nunchuk, it also requires a balance board to do the assorted exercises, activities, and games. You can do step aerobics, peaceful meditating while staring at a candle, yoga positions, strength exercises, and play games that improve your balance and coordination like catching fish on a slippery iceberg (while your Mii character is in a penguin costume of course) or swaying side to side down a river while your character is in a bubble.
Mario Party 8 is another one we own that's great to play with groups. It's not as much fun as I had originally imagined, but there are lots of mini-games, different boards, and quirky elements to entertain me and my daughter on a rainy day. We also have My Fitness Coach, which my husband didn't like because it doesn't use the balance board and doesn't include the game-like interaction that Wii Fit does, Endless Ocean, which bored us before we even got into it, and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, which was more for hubby but he never got into it.
At some point we'll add more titles to our collection. I'd love to get one of the karaoke or rock band type games. And I'm definitely eyeing New Super Mario Bros. A racing game may be in our future, too. There's enough of a selection now that there's something for everyone including Call of Duty, Madden football, Mortal Kombat, Vegas Party, you name it.
Who is a Wii for? As the name implies, the Wii (we) is for everyone. It is a system that my five-year-old can play, my 19-year-old sister with disabilities can play, my mother who still can't figure out how to wake up a PC by shaking a mouse can play, and my 2-year-old son can almost play. My sister has developmental delays and learning disabilities and often has trouble learning how to use new equipment or playing new games. Although there was still a learning curve with our Wii games, she's been able to use the Wii remote with minimal assistance and enjoyed several of the games. But at the same time, someone like my husband, who has played almost every game system for the past 20 years, can play and enjoy the Wii. He admits it's different, but in a good way. The games available for it tend to be more family oriented. He still prefers to play his team sports and role-playing games on his PS3, but has tried some for the Wii.
Wii makes us happy While not every game we've played has been a hit, I think the Wii is one of the most creative systems ever and it's given us hours of family fun. But for a system that touts itself as being a social game, couldn't they have included a second remote?
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