Wiiiii!
December 9th, 2006 | by Futt | 1,785 views
Yesterday saw the European launch of the new Nintendo Wii console. Being a big fan of Nintendo, and having looked forward to this console for quite some time now, I had of course pre-ordered mine from a local gaming shop. So what am I doing posting here instead of playing with my Wii? Heh. My arms are tired! Read on for some first impressions.
I bought the Wii package, which comes with the console, one controller with nunchuck, and the game Wii Sports. I also bought “Zelda: Twilight Princess”, the much anticipated original Nintendo Wii launch title. Setting up the console was easy, just plug it in, attach the sensor bar and video cable, and turn it on. The wireless Wiimote is preconfigured, if you have an additional Wiimote you will have to “sync” it with your Wii.
First thing I did was to make my Mii of course. Then I connected my Wii to my wireless router, and performed 2 updates. Wii Connect24 keeps the Wii connected, you guessed it, 24/7, even when it’s in standby mode. This way you can get Wiimail and updates even when the console is not in use.
Next, I fired up Wii Sports to get a feel for the controller. Wii Sports is a nice collection of fairly addictive single/multiplayer sports games. Now I’m not a sports game fan myself, but with the Wiimote even golf is fun! It does take some getting used to, but it did not take long before I hit my first homerun (Baseball) and had beat several shades of crap out of some random Mii (boxing). It’s good exercise as well - at least for a couch potato like me.
Next up was Zelda: Twilight Princess. Damn it is pretty - and a lot of fun. The Wiimote feels like a very natural interface for this game, and plays a lot better than previous Zelda titles where I always felt the controller was clumsy and unnatural. Maybe it’s because I usually play games on the PC and has gotten used to the keyboard/mouse combo, but I find that Wiimote+nunchuck makes for a very intuitive and easy to use interface. Might be getting Red Steel next to see how well this interface translates into FPS games.
All in all, I am very happy with my Wii. It is fun to play, easy to learn, has a lot of great launch titles - and is very reasonably priced compared to the other “next-gen” consoles. Next, I will be trying the Virtual Console for some retro gaming action, probably buy Wii Play (for the extra Wiimote) and possibly look into some of the other launch titles. Rayman, Excite Truck, etc.
Now - back to the Wii!
(PS: If you want my Wii code, drop me a note)
3 Responses to “Wiiiii!”
I want one! :)
Though I have to say, I’m also really happy with the 360 (currently hooked on Viva Pinata). I used to be a fan of Playstation, but I can’t see me ever buying a PS3 - overpriced, overhyped and very very late coming on the market. Oh, and Sony are the devil. :D
hello boys, how come are you not tired with console games? my guess is you put this up on a computer. why arent you playing games on it? consoles are really a thing of the past, if that. it’s for children, really.
Well actually consoles are defiently not a thing of the past. In fact you could go as far to say that they are becoming rapidly more popular. This new nintendo Wii was manufactured presumebly for children but when you look behind it’s childish games it’s actually a rather complex system. Many adults are looking into it because they finally have a gaming console where they can move around and not be stuck down with a controller which for adults seems complex and complicated to use. Where as with the Wii controller you can just move it around freely to do really cool stuff, Example being ‘Zelda: Twilight Princess” you can move around the controller to control the sword! How easy does it get? And it’s also being advertised as something to get you healthy especially that you get free ‘Wii Sports’ with it!
Stolencheese,
James,
Griinshar on F4G.