We
needed a bit of time to get used to the Wii-mote and Nunchuk.
Initially, a half hour familiarization session left us
a bit sweaty but extremely satisfied and giddy with laughter
after some really funny attempts at Wii Sports Baseball.
In fact, the controller learning curve is short because
the Nintendo engineers who perfected the controllers are
really, really smart and managed to figure out the biomechanical
relationship between typical human physical coordination
and its logical interaction with the controllers. The face-forward
orientation demanded by most games tends to correctly orient
the IR transceivers in the controllers, which in turn makes
lag almost non-existent in most games. Make note though
that some people with really quick muscle speed will be
able to get slightly ahead of the controller resulting
in some screen delay. In Wii Sports Baseball some of you
will have to start your swing early but slow down the speed
of movement through the swing; in Legend of Zelda:Twilight
Princess you'll have to moderate sword movement in order
to improve the accuracy and timing of thrusts and slashes.
The
Wii-mote is obviously light in weight which demands a
light touch and some sensitivity on your part when playing
certain games (especially ones which involve steering—or
maybe it's just me?). Swing speed in Wii Sports Bowling
is satisfyingly realistic. However, the rumble/force
feedback device and speaker inside the Wii-mote supply
lots of useful environmental clues as you move through
action sequences.
Legend
of Zelda:Twilight Princess provides an engrossing environment
that really has to be experienced to be fully understood.
The game designers working with Nintendo just seem to
continually come up with unrelentingly playable games.
No matter what you choose from the new crop of Wii games,
you're likely to have a good experience and in many cases
something really satisfying, not in the least because
of the amazing controllers. The high voltage mayhem surrounding
the release of this console is not misplaced.
Call
of Duty 3 was a new and somewhat difficult challenge
to play with the Wii-mote and Nunchuk. The movement of
the Nunchuk actually controls the camera. There are other
issues. Dedicated CoD3 players will adapt quickly, but
casual players may find the experience frustrating. If
you persevere though, the reward will be a gaming experience
significantly superior to playing CoD3 with a keyboard
and mouse.
Marvel:
Ultimate Alliance is a lot of fun with the new controllers.
The game is well-conceived on its own, but the addition
of the new controllers and the depth to which their unique
characteristics have been integrated in the game play
is amazing.
Cons: The
wireless controller will eat cheap batteries very quickly.
We recommend spending some money on 2800 MaH NiMH rechargeable
AA batteries—the high load ones sold for digital
cameras—along with an appropriate charger. The
reasonably heavy duty cable connecting the Wii-mote and
the Nunchuk should be long enough for most people, but
until you get used to active motion sensing while they're
connected (most notably during hand-to-hand combat and
martial arts games), be careful with your arm and hand
movements in order to avoid flipping the cable behind
your head, snagging a nearby lamp and so on. I have a
nicely bruised knuckle from hitting a side table during
an early swing in Wii Sports Bowling; the motion sensing
controllers will turn you into a believer in no time,
but you'll have to position yourself carefully for some
games. No CD or DVD playback. At this price point, we
really don't have a lot of complaints. Considering how
well the Wii works and how much fun it is, we really
shouldn't be complaining at all.
Pros: You
will not pry the Nintendo DS out of my 9 year old nephew's
hands with anything less than a thermonuclear blast.
I suspect the same thing is going to happen after he
gets his paws on the Nintendo Wii. What a fun experience
it is. Mind you, my wife is unlikely to let go of the
Wii-mote any time too soon either. The Wii does not offer
high definition video output, but you'll nonetheless
find that it's all a huge step up from the GameCube.
Nintendo has worked closely with graphics hardware superstar
ATI to come up with a wonderful graphics processor for
the Wii. The new processor and the fancy NAND flash memory
also make the Wii much faster than the GameCube. The
overall visual experience is rich, satisfying and amazingly
detailed. The 3D rendering, cool textures, strangely
realistic surfaces, characters and colorful situations
are innately intriguing. The combined Wii-mote and Nunchuk
can be held in either hand to fully accommodate left-handed
and right-handed people. The large number of excellent
new game titles which take advantage of the Wii design,
the delightful wireless controller technology, and the
wonderful selection of games clearly stand out as the
main reason to choose the Nintendo Wii over an Xbox 360
or a PlayStation 3. Fancy that—dropping a new game
console onto the market along with a matching raftload
of hot titles. Makes sense to me. The large number of
Wii-optimized game titles are terrific with dozens and
dozens more in the pipeline. Graphics output works perfectly
with both 4:3 and 16:9 television aspect ratios. The
480p output is clean and remarkably detailed, which is
a tribute to both the hardware makers and the game designers.
The bundled Wii Sports should provide a lot of fun for
every member of your family; in our view it's the best
family or group sports game suite ever released. Designed
for kids and adults alike, even some jaded teens. Nintendo
has hit a home run. Highly recommended.
