Nintendo Wii..... (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

Congrats, Tom!

I've had a Wii since 12/6/06. The one I got this morning was for a friend.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I gave my cousin's son a Wii for his combo birthday/Xmas gift tonight, and he didn't really know what a Wii was, but after we got it all hooked up, he had a total blast playing all the Wii sports games, and before we knew it, 2 hours had flown by, and it was time for his bedtime because he was getting tired and discombulated, but still wanted to play more. He picked up on the interactive controls very well, and just had a lot of fun. He can't wait to have his friends over to play the Wii with him. Of course, his mother, my cousin, probably will want to strangle me in the long run for giving her son the Wii, but her hubby was having a lot of fun with it as well.

 

[Rhoq]

The Wii's on-line services (besides the virtual console) have started to go live. The Forecast Channel (weather) is now available worldwide and the free beta for the Opera web browser for Wii will enable the Internet Channel on Friday (Dec. 22nd). The final version of Opera will be available in March 2007 and will be a free download for all Wii owners until June. After that, Opera will cost 500 Wii points for late adopters.

The News Channel is supposed to become active in late January 2007.

 

[RAF]

Thanks for the heads up, Rhoq! I've been wondering what was going on with those additional features. I've been so busy trying to play some of the titles (Elebits is another one of those unexpected WiiBlasts - thank you, Konami!) that I forgot to ask what was up with the Forecast and News Channels.

Boy this Wii continues to amaze me.

 

[Rhoq]

I have to admit, the Forecast Channel is much nicer (and packed with features) than I thought it would be.

 

[Rhoq]

IGN's Tour of the Wii Forecast Channel

 

[Patrick Sun]

Hilarious Wii-inflicted "injury" video during gameplay

 

[Rhoq]

Wii Internet Channel is now live.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Got the Wii hooked up at my friend's place, and we played for 3 hours yesterday, and then another 3 hours today, and let me tell you, I think I have tennis elbow already, and might have pulled a hammy. We have almost knocked holes in the walls and corners of walls with our swings while playing tennis, but it's been a blast. My left arm is sore as hell, especially the shoulder. Tennis and bowling have been the funnest multi-player games for us. I love the Mii's that my friend and I created for gameplay, just bumps up the fun level.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Played almost 5 hours of tennis on the Wii last night, but at least we alternated doubles between 3 players, so the load was a little less. We had a blast and my friend's wife got to play, and now she's rather insistent that my friend get them a Wii because she's having so much fun with playing, and watching people play on the Wii. We even created a Mii for the wife (not without some giggling from giving her some questionable facial and body features in a joking manner until we finally arrived at her Mii).

Towards the last hour, we were some hurting pups, I couldn't play the net because I was so tired and couldn't quite play the right stroke in time. We had some killer rallies, and the focus on the point in those rallies were very reminiscent to old times on the tennis court.

I'm going to need to invest in some icy-hot soon...

 

[Jeffrey Noel]

Patrick, I really appreciate the updates on your experience with the Wii. While only 26, I have grown up with video games my entire life and play my Xbox to death. My wife is not into gaming, yet, but your experiences are exactly what I am looking for in a system: to get my wife involved in my hobby of gaming. I can definitely see my wife getting into it, which will in turn lead to some great "family" time.

Thanks for the updates!

 

[Patrick Sun]

The Wii is definitely Wife-friendly, with a high SAF. Tomorrow some more friends are going to show up and we'll be introducing them to the Wii and letting them play and have some good time fun.

We did the Wii endurance test (after playing another 3 hours of tennis and bowling), I scored a pitiful Wii age of 53 for the first time, and I can't take another test for another 24 hours, per the Wii limitation for the test.

I will post some more photos later in the week, some funny ones get generated while people play the Wii, that's for sure.

 

[Jeffery_H]

I'm one of the old school gamers and grew up on the Atari 2600. It came out about the 6th grade for me. Now, years later I don't have a ton of time to spend playing computer games and FPS like kids. But I do still game on my PC for high-end RPG or strategy (Company of Heroes my latest one). I truly don't buy as many PC games as I use to because WoW and others take way too much time. Also, I've found there aren't as many on-line gamers as on the 360 for most titles.

That brings me to my 360. I REALLY love it and think Microsoft paved the way for how to build a reliable on-line community. Unlike the PS3, ALL games have a uniform way of connecting and MUST use their servers. They know the performance and set how things work. The 360 Live Arcade and Market Place are fantastic too and there again they are leading the way showing how it's done. For me, the 360 is the perfect console that is Next-Gen in graphics, sound, on-line play, download content and classic gaming bar none.

The PS3 has lost MANY of their once unique titles to the 360 as being released on their console first. Plus the problems they still have not figured out with letting game companies run their own servers and not use theirs. Companies could even charge for a certain game if they wanted to for on-line play. While Microsoft charges for a Gold account, it's a small monthly fee and covers you for EVERY game made on the 360. Who has the better graphics is yet to be seen, but certainly the on-line portion Microsoft wins hands down. So bottom line is you have Blu-Ray (which no one I know is investing in either HD format for DVDs) and some titles coming next year that may be similar to the 360.

Now enter the Nintendo Wii. I was not interested at all in playing Nintendo games since the original Playstation and later the XBox. But this time I couldn't help myself due to the wacky controllers. I thought that if they pulled it off like they said it could be very entertaining. No, not for the graphics or on-line play, but just in sheer fun. So I decided to buy a Wii and just happened to luck into one. Boy am I glad I did. It's been a blast to play around with. I knew this wasn't Next Gen from the graphics and on-line gaming stand point, but it certainly is innovative to play. The Wii is the only system that has brought the family together since playing Pac-Man, Space Invaders and Frogger years ago. It's easy to pickup, play and walk away or play for a couple of hours. I also have found it great for parties, heck, even girls play and love it. Bottom line is Nintendo did a great job with the FUN factor and the controllers as others have said. Even older people in their 60s can play with their grandkids and that's something that won't happen with the others. When someone is older, they don't want games like FPS or complex instructions to play. Wii sports is perfect and what I found they enjoy most (even I do). I can only hope that Nintendo listens and makes more games like Wii sports that Grandparents and Grandkids can play alike.

So, as you can tell, I love both my 360 and Wii for different reasons, but when it comes to family fun EVERYONE can enjoy, then Wii takes the prize.

 

[Jeffery_H]

Does anyone know if any wired or wireless USB adaptor will work with the Wii? I read that you don't need to seek out a Nintendo specific wireless or wired adaptor and can use DLink or Linksys just fine. I have a wired network and would prefer not spending more money on a wireless router for it unless I must. In either case, I have read that non Nintendo USB adaptors work just fine but can't confirm it. Anyone else have any luck or thoughts on this?

 

[Bryan X]

Jeffrey, I think I'm much like you. I love my 360 but picked up a Wii for my son (and me of course) because I really think the Wii complements the 360 very well.

The 360 is great for playing hardcore HD games like Call of Duty, Battlefield, and other intense, more 'mature' games. The 360 is great for the pro and college sports games too.

But the vast majority of the 360 games (other than the sports) at this point are aimed at a mature audience, not younger kids. I don't mind my 12 year old playing CoD or other intense games occasionally, but it's nice to have just-for-fun games too, and the 360 really doesn't have that yet (at least from my perspective).

So I snagged a Wii a few days before Christmas at Wal-Mart and we are loving the unique control and the fun no-brainer games. The Wii is a great little machine. I wouldn't want it as my only machine because I'd miss the HD gaming, but it is a fantastic co-machine with the 360.

 

[London Lawson]

I traded my Ipod for one and am very unimpressed. The dashboard is horrid and clunky, and no Dolby Digital or HD resolution is a no-no. Wii Sports seemed very gimmicky and shallow.

 

[Jeffrey Noel]

I understand your frustrations, but didn't you know that the Wii was not capable of DD5.1 or HD when you traded for it?

 

[London Lawson]

Yes, I was just mentioning it.

 

[RAF]

Now that more consoles are in the hands of more individuals we are beginning to see comparisons between the various options available. Let me add my own personal perspective:

I currently own a Microsoft XBox 360 with HD-DVD, a 60gig Sony PS3, a Nintendo Wii, a Sony PSP and a Nintendo DS. (I also have a merde-load of earlier gaming devices but let's keep the discussion to the "current" -- the artist formerly known as "next" -- generation gaming devices. I'm capable of displaying a video image up to and including 1080p on my current monitor. I'm also capable of processing and listening to full 7.1 sound codecs through my HDMI receiver and associated other equipment.

Without a doubt, the sound, HD video and graphics on the XBox 360 and the PS3 greatly outperform the Wii in terms of technical merit. This goes without saying and can be seen and heard by anyone with access to all these devices. There are several titles (mostly for teens and above) on both the PS3 and the 360 that are absolute sensory marvels. The 360 has, in my opinion, many more such titles and a much more advanced on-line community via XBox Live but it also has a year's head start on the PS3 so that's not really a fair comparison at this point. Talk to me again a year from now and we'll see if the landscape has changed.

But...

(and this is an important "but")

I'm beginning to sense something with the Wii that I sensed when I first purchased a PSP and a DS upon release. The PSP was better technically (no question on that score) but the DS games, simply put, were more FUN! At first I thought the novelty of the DS would wear off and the PSP would become my handheld of choice but in real life this has not happened. I'm always using the DS and the PS gets dusted off on occasion for use. When I first got the Wii I had the same feeling - it looks (and feels) like a lot of fun, but for how long?

Guess what? I'm loving it more every day as I learn more about it (and more and more features are unlocked.) Yes, the graphics and the sound are not up to 360/PS3 standards (Nintendo never claimed this) but I challenge anyone to actually be thinking about this when they are chasing down Elebits, fighting Rabbid Rabbits, bowling a few frames, swinging for the fences, going toward the net during a volley, fighting the baddies in Hyrule, jumping over trees in jeeps and numerous other tasks. As I've said before, total immersion makes up a lot for slight aural and video deficiencies.

And all the extra "fun" things that the Wii offers. From weather around the globe, to Miis, to Internet browsing (granted, still in the formative stages), to classic games via the Virtual Console, to a picture viewer that is amazingly elegant in its execution. And that's just the tip of the WiiBerg!

Is the Wii "better" than the XBox 360 or the PS3? Of course not, from a technical standpoint. It just seems like a lot more fun to play (where have I heard that before?) Will I abandon the XBox 360 or the PS3? As long as there is Oblivion or Blu-ray or any number of other things - of course not! But when people come over to my gaming nirvana guess which console gets the most play time by visitors?

Yep. CertainWii!



In many ways the PSP/DS experience is happening all over with the PS3/Wii. Will the Wii be for everyone? Of course not. But when the history is written regarding the most revolutionary game product of the year my money's on the little engine that could.

 

[Bryan X]

I love my Wii for the fun-type games, but I'd never consider getting Call of Duty 3 for my Wii instead of my 360. Call of Duty type games DESERVE the HD and DD5.1 treatment they get from a 360. With those type of games, it's all about immersing yourself in the most realistic world possible.

But you're right, RAF, some type of games, when it comes down to it, just need to be fun and graphics/sound can take somewhat of a backseat. The Wii is a great system in that regard. Hence why I think it is the perfect complement to the 360.