Wii: first thoughts
I got the chance this past weekend to play the Wii at a friend’s house for a few hours. Here are some rough initial thoughts:
0. It’s fun. Really fun. Like “baby laughing hysterically for no reason other than he’s a baby and he’s alive” fun. I haven’t enjoyed a gaming system this much since a certain plumber and his green-clad brother ba-da-bum-ba-da-bum-bummed their way into our hearts.
1. Not only do I want to play it again right now (so badly) despite having to stand up and move around and stuff, I want to play it again right now (so badly) because I want to stand up and move around and stuff. Reminds me of my 15yo self; all he wanted to do was play hours and hours of basketball in my driveway.
2. With the Wii Sports Pack, Nintendo has made it possible for those who are not physically gifted to nonetheless discover and explore their athletic gifts (like manual dexterity, quickness, timing, etc.). Even your gray-haired relatives can excel at bowling: “It was her 1st time ever playing video games and she has a high of 155 so far. Wii rocks!”
3. Possibly the best thing about the Wii is that you don’t really need to be told how to use the controller. The boxing game has zero learning curve (just punch!).
4. Nintendo is betting the farm that just like megapixels don’t matter as much nowadays when buying digital cameras as lens quality, camera features, etc., the number of polygons your console’s processor spits out at what resolution matters less than how fun the games are. As someone who’s nonplussed by fancy graphics in video games, I’ll take that bet.
5. The menu interface is a little clunky. Did they not have time to get it right?
6. The day it’s possible to buy NHL ‘94 through the Wii’s Virtual Console, my life, such as it is, will be complete.
7. I’m curious how much fine control is possible with the Wiimote after a couple weeks of practice. With a conventional controller, very tiny adjustments are possible by pulsing or tapping the joypad or joystick…you can easily move Mario right to the edge of the staircase or subtly adjust your direction your kart is pointed on the track. But I found it difficult being that precise with the Wiimote while playing Super Monkey Ball.
Now all I need to do is get my own. :)
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