Many months ago I blogged about my impressions about what was then called the Nintendo Revolution, now known as the Wii. I expressed same grave doubt about the platform. In fact, I said:
If anyone had any doubts that Nintendo had finally lost their minds, this should settle it.
Ok - I admit it. I was wrong. Really wrong. On Sunday my nephew (who I'm hoping to turn into a ColdFusion programmer) came by and brought over his Wii. I had already read glowing reports of how fun the Wii was, and had other friends tell me about it, but this was the first I actually got to try it.
The first thing I noticed was how small the sensor bar was. That was something I was a bit worried about. Right now I'm sitting maybe 7 feet from my TV and I can barely see the bar. (Of course, my eyesight isn't very good nowadays.)
He plugged it in and I got my first try with bowling in Wii Sports. (Which by the way is a free game included in the console. How long has it been since you got a free game??) It took me about two or three tries to get it - but once I did, I was knocking down spares left and right. It is hard to explain unless you try it - but this thing just feels right. It is a completely different feeling than other game system I've ever tried. All of the sports games feel like, well, sports.
In fact, I'm sitting down now and my arm is a bit sore. Now - I'm very much out of shape, I'll admit that. But playing the Wii is a much more involved, physical experience then anything I've ever done before, and I've been around since the old days mind you. (Atari 2600 was my first system.)
Now graphically - the system is not even close to the XBox 360. In fact, my nephew brought over his copy of Call of Duty 3, which I have for the 360, and the graphical changes were very evident. However, the experience of playing it with Wii was completely different. I'm not quite sure I liked it to be honest. I kept spinning around. But I think I would have gotten used to it eventually. (And to be honest, I am not pleased with the COD3 game on the 360, so the Wii version would have potentially been more interesting.)
I played Zelda only for a few minutes as I didn't want to ruin the plot. But approaching a monster and swinging my arms like crazy to attack was pure joy.
Lastly - the web browser (built on Opera) works very well, at least on my large screen. My home page loaded up and I was able to read it - kinda. The Weather feature for the Wii is also pretty neat.
Anyway - after seeing how fun this all was - I picked one up today and honestly see myself playing it at least as much as I do the XBox. Good job, Nintendo, and I'm very happy to have been so wrong.
Archived Comments
Yup, finally managed to pick one up Sunday - the Wii definitely rules! As much as you read about it, that's still nothing till you actually try it. I had 3 friends over and we were switching between the NFL playoffs and frames of Wii bowling. I had given up on xbox 3 or 4 years ago since it was such a time sink, but the Wii is just way too fun!!
I've been wanting to try it out but haven't had a chance to yet. It looks like it would be a lot of fun to play. I'll probably pick one up sometime this year. I have a xbox which just sits there most of the time. I find it hard to get interested in games nowadays. 5 minutes and then I'm bored.
I got a Wii for Christmas. What a blast! I highly recommend Rayman's Raving Rabbits. It's a bunch of mini-games, but it's funny as all get out. I also have Madden 2007 which is pretty cool to play. My only problem is I can't find a second nunchuck controller so I can play with a buddy. But I find that I spend more time playing Wii Sports than anything else. I'm approaching pro level on both Tennis and Boxing and they are starting to become a workout!
Welcome to the Wii Ray. Be careful of Zelda though, I found it can be quite addictive (http://www.flickr.com/photo...
If you fancy letting our Mii's mingle my Wii number is 5785 5225 8986 3577 :)
I'm not much of a gamer, but I'm going to have to get the Wii one of those days. Tried it out when we were over my sister's home for Xmas Dinner and it was so much fun.
I'm hoping to get a Wii in the near future as well. My friend has one and it is blast! I'm kind of upset since my Xbox died on me last weekend (red rings of death). Now, I'm waiting on MS to send me a box to ship it back to them so they can fix it for me. Hopefully it won't take a month to get it back. I need my Xbox!
Yeah, I want one...uh...for my kid. Seeing as I have a 360 this will be my excuse. Actually the funny thing about it is that my wife really wants one and she isn't a gamer to say the least. I am hoping the backwards compatibility lives up to its promise unlike some systems (ahem...sony) since we have quite a few GameCube games.
By the way, I thought this was going to be a negative review since the title called it a "revoltion" - I was thinking it was a clever play on words. After reading I assume that is not what you meant.
Oops. Typo fixed.
I've had my Wii since launch (I actually waited for a few hours in Wal-Mart for the midnight release) and I'm definitely not regretting it! Wii Sports is a blast (alone or with a crowd), Zelda is excellent (I've actually begun to wonder how I've ever aimed the bow and arrow and such without the pointer), Rayman is very good (as long as you don't object to cartoon violence), as is Monkeyball (perfect for the motion-sensing single-player game, plus a lot of interesting mini-games for multi-player action), and Madden is a big (and pleasant) shift from the norm.
Add in all the virtual console games, and you've got quite a collection. There I've already gathered up quite a few, including a few of the Mario and Zelda games. They're extremely well done!
When I get home tonight, I'll grab my friend code so we can all mingle as well!
I can see it now... 30 years from now, this will be known as the "Wii Generation". Seriously though... I have not been a big "console" game fan for a long time (as I am MUCH better with Keyboard and Mouse than I am with a game controller). The Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii has changed my outlook on that. The Wii-mote/nunchuk interface WORKS LIKE A CHAMP. (BTW, I am with ya on the sore shoulder from the Wii Sports bowling, Ray.) I've nothing but good things to say about it. Except maybe... THEY NEED TO PRODUCE MORE OF THEM... Huntsville, AL gets about 15 Wii's (total) in at a time. for the whole CITY! Yeesh... MUCH more demand than supply. My sone has 5 games, two "motes", two "chuks" and still can't get him the CONSOLE!!!
Stop it! You're all killing me here. I really wanted to get a Wii for my family for Christmas, but couldn't convince my wife that we NEEDED one, so we ended up with a gamecube instead. The agony of defeat!! I suppose I'll have to wait till November and start trying again for next Christmas. What I'm really hoping is that by then the price will come down, and the hackers will come up with some good stuff so I can start streaming video from my pc via wifi.
Welcome to the club!
Welcome to the Revolution! After convincing my wife (Sorry Jeff!) to get one I have to admit It's a blast!! I had given up on consoles as they have always been harder for me to play. I have tons of games on the PC but squeezing my hands onto a little controller (compared to a keyboard and mouse) seemed to cause no end of problems. After leaving my PS2 and XBox collecting dust for over a year (and finally giving them both away) I decided to try one last time and got the Wii. BEST idea I've ever had!!
and they can be beneficial!!!
http://wiinintendo.net/2007...
Jeff,
You already can stream video from your computer to your Wii!
http://wii.ign.com/articles...
I haven't tried it myself, because the two are about 10 feet from one another, but it can be done.
Got mine today! So it should be a fun wii-kend!
thats IT!!! I'm getting one!!
Dangit, how did you just "pick one up today"? Every time I call Target to see if they have any, the guy just laughs at me. A friend of mine (5 states away, of course) has one, and sent me this link, which I think you'd appreciate :)
http://isnoop.net/blog/2006...
Ken, lucky I guess. My wife said there were 2 in stock. I haven't played it again since Tuesday but I'm missing it for sure.
Here in Bend they are also hard to come by. I heard a rumor that our Best Buy gets their shipments on Wednesday. I was planning to go after work but had some time to burn during my after school kid-taxi-run. Turned out to be a good thing, as they only received five units - I got the second to last one that was available.
So... it was just lucky I guess!
I stood in line in the blistering cold for 12 hours to get one of the first Wii's now i dont get to watch my 60+ inch screen anymore, kids always playin the Wii, lol.
One thing I found out about the Opera browser, is that you can play Youtube videos on your tv :-)
I wish they would have upgraded their flash to support more media intesive websites like cbs innertube.
Ray (and all) - My daughter received Super Monkey Ball for her b-day this wii-kend and it's a hoot! I never played the original but the kids have - and they loved the way the wii controller works for this game. There are lots of little mini games as well. Super fun!
I finally got a Wii today from my local Walmart. Luckily they had three available from yesterday's shipment. This thing is entirely too much fun. I think I hurt myself a bit with the boxing game, though -- too many right hooks!
I got a Wii, its great! Im not much of a game console person but this has me hooked!
The votes are in and tallied and Wii is the hands down Wii-nner.