Well, through a friend of mine I was able to try out the Nintendo Wii this weekend. It was great, but I want more time with it before I give my final verdict.
I love the Wii-mote. It was a lot smaller than I thought it was going to be...about 6 inches long, I'd say. It fits well in your hand. You really need to wear the wrist strap, though, because it can fly out of your hand pretty easily.
I was able to play Wii Sports and Excitetruck. In Wii Sports, Golf and Bowling are the clear winners. The tennis game was ok, but could get pretty boring if not played with 4 people. Boxing was pretty difficult. I couldn't get the different punches down, but I ended up flailing away and winning anyway. Baseball is weird, b/c all you do is pitch and swing. You only play for 3 innings. The batting part is neat b/c the bat corresponds exactly with how you hold the Wii-mote.
Excitetruck was more fun than I thought it would be. In this one you hold the Wii-mote on it's side and steer holding both ends. Playing against other people is a lot of fun, but the game lacks in single player mode. Oh, and the graphics were akin to first generation gamecube. Ugly.
Overall, the games really were enjoyable (especially multi-player). I really want to see how Zelda plays before I pass final judgement. I was impressed, though.
Can't wait to try one out for myself. Was a little suprised by the news today about the DVD playback.
FYI, they Wii will not play DVD movies, which we already knew. However they are now saying sometime in mid to late 2007 there will be a Wii that can play DVD's, though it's not known if this is a hardware or software update. I would hope it's just a software thing.
Not that I really care if it plays DVD's since I have plenty of other players but still.
Originally posted by wmatisticCan't wait to try one out for myself. Was a little suprised by the news today about the DVD playback.
FYI, they Wii will not play DVD movies, which we already knew. However they are now saying sometime in mid to late 2007 there will be a Wii that can play DVD's, though it's not known if this is a hardware or software update. I would hope it's just a software thing.
Not that I really care if it plays DVD's since I have plenty of other players but still.
Check out this article on ign.com (wii.ign.com) ... it says it all.
That announcement has inspired me to get one then...unless a killer app that I just have to have comes out for the system first.
Though...whats the point in announcing a new version of the hardware before the first one comes out?
Originally posted by wmatisticCan't wait to try one out for myself. Was a little suprised by the news today about the DVD playback.
FYI, they Wii will not play DVD movies, which we already knew. However they are now saying sometime in mid to late 2007 there will be a Wii that can play DVD's, though it's not known if this is a hardware or software update. I would hope it's just a software thing.
Not that I really care if it plays DVD's since I have plenty of other players but still.
Check out this article on ign.com (wii.ign.com) ... it says it all.
That announcement has inspired me to get one then...unless a killer app that I just have to have comes out for the system first.
Though...whats the point in announcing a new version of the hardware before the first one comes out?
(edited by Oliver on 13.11.06 2117)
They didn't mean to. Apparently the maker of the Roxio software will be involved in making it happen and they let it slip. Nintendo was backed into a corner and confirmed it.
Might as well reply to this thread, rather than start a new "OMG TEH WII HAS LAUNCHED!!" one ...
Anyway, I arrived at the local Target at 6 AM yesterday morning, confident that two hourse before the store opened was plenty of time to secure a Wii (the store had said they would have 42 consoles ready) ... This is pretty much what we did for the GameCube launch - rather than pre-ordering we just showed up at the store. Although in that case, we didn't show up more than ten minutes before opening time, and there were still only a few people waiting ahead of us.
However, it looks like there's a little more demand for Nintendo's new console, as there were people camping out at 9 PM on Saturday night! Needless to say, we went home Wii-less (heh), but did pick up a few titles in anticipation of our eventual console purchase: Zelda, Madden, Super Monkey Ball, Trauma Center, and Excite Truck.
Unlike the PS3, I'm sure new shipments will be forthcoming in the immediate future (one person said the day after Thanksgiving as a possibility), so I'm pretty sure I can hold out until then. Of course, this morning's edition of Fox Trot tickled me a little bit:
See, this would have been such a better place to post than the PS3 thread
Well, here's an update. The Wii is still in the living room in the box, unopened. I will probably get it hooked up tonight, but the main issue is that I need to figure out what is coming out of the entertainment area (probably the Gamecube, except that I really like being able to play Advance Wars 2 on the TV).
Hopefully I can get Advance Wars 2 as a download for the Wii. I know it is possible, but I don't know if they will do GBA games to start off.
I know it's a topic being piggy backed to the PS3 thread, but I GOT ONE! My roommates and I waited outside the Toys R Us in Bellevue (WA) from about noon till their midnight launch. We were numbers 33, 34, and 35. The Toys R Us staff was incredibly courteous and helpful, and when giving out the vouchers they used the list that had been started by the first guy there. (Which was a great idea, by whoever that was.) They announced to the line that they only had enough copies of Zelda for pre-orders, but after everyone started moaning and bitching, they got 50 copies shipped up from the Edmonds store! They had about 200 copies of the system which was very cool too. Everybody working at the store seemed very good-natured and as enthusiastic as we were. This experience made Toys R Us very likeable for me.
I picked up Marvel Ultimate Alliance, the system, and the classic controller that night. I should have grabbed an extra set of the Wiimote and nunchuck b/c those seem to be selling out everywhere. Yesterday I grabbed Red Steal from BestBuy. I also downloaded Sonic to my Virtual Console. My roomates have Raving Rabbits, Trauma Center, and Zelda. The system itself is AWESOME. The menus are pretty intuitive and I like the idea of the channels. Creating the Mii was probably one of the most fun things, sharing it, moreso. Nobody's in my "Parade" yet, but the system and network are both fairly new. I was hoping that the Weather and News Channels would both be functional, but alas they're coming in Dec and Jan respectively. The subtle vibration in the remote as your pointer rolls over menu items or buttons was/is a great idea and makes the connection between what you see on your screen and the remote and you seem more integrated.
Also, I'm glad I didn't buy a point card that night because you can buy Virtual Console points using your Wii in the Store Channel (internet connection and CC required of course) and avoid the extra dollar or two that is added to the cost of the point cards being sold at retail stores.
The photo feature is pretty cool, in that you can upload via an SD card (1gb was $19.99 at best buy w/ mail-in rebate) and then draw all over the photos or send them to other Wii's! You can also save them directly to your Wii which is kind of nifty.
One of the frustrating things we ran into though, was adding additional controllers to games. In Wii sports it's straight forward and tells you when to push the 1 & 2 buttons to add another controller/player. In other games like Red Steal, Rabbits, etc. You need to press Home >> Controller Settings >> Reconnect and THEN 1&2 on the controllers in the order that you want them to be players. (First person to do it is player 1, second person player 2, etc.) Then you can close that menu out and the game will recognize the other controllers. NONE of the game instruction manuals told us how to do this, and the Wii manual lists it as "one-time synchronization" which is a little confusing. Once you know what to do though, it's a pretty smooth process.
I tried playing Mario Kart Double Dash on the Wii, and everything works great (Wavebird, Memory Card, etc). The only gripe I have is that for some reason the Wiimote's Home button didn't work, and the only way to get back into the Wii menu was to reset the system (turn it off then on). I may be missing something, but w/o reading the manual that was the only way I could figure out to do it.
Overall, I'm very happy with my purchase, and I think it's a great new direction. The controller offers a lot more versatility than you would think, and really makes games more approachable w/o sacrificing playability. Once they start adding more Wii Channels, I think the system will really take off, because I'd love to just start up my console (start up time is like 1-3 sec) to check the weather with simple point and click, rather than using my computer all the time.
If anyone wants to exchange Wii ID's, PM me.
(edited by Jericholic53 on 20.11.06 0839)
(edited by Jericholic53 on 20.11.06 0854) It says so right here in the wcw handbook!
Got mine at Best Buy after a night outside. They were nice enough, but I was kinda ticked that they store stayed open to 11pm but couldn't be bothered to stay open one hour later to sell the Wii. No they had to close, make everyone(little kids and old people) stay outside all night and open at 9am. Kinda ticked me off.
Anyway got to play a bit last night and I must say WOW. I mean seriously, what a great system this thing is. Just completly impressed and I haven't even tried Zelda yet. Just Wii Sports and Madden. Madden is the best game of football I've played in a long, long time.
Oh and for Oliver, they are now saying they are only planning a release of the DVD playing version in Japan, not the US. So you may be waiting for something we never get.
Which is the first time I could ever say that. Yes, it rules. I am a tennis addict.
"How could we possibly appreciate the Mona Lisa if Leonardo had written at the bottom of the canvas: 'The lady is smiling because she is hiding a secret from her lover.' This would shackle the viewer to reality, and I don't want this to happen to 2001." - Stanley Kubrick
I had no idea there were Wii stories being shared elsewhere ... I must investigate further:
Originally posted by KJames199 in the PS3 thread
Originally posted by EddieBurkett
Originally posted by StingArmyI wasn't worrying about the Wii launch either, until last night I started driving/calling around and realized that lines were already forming at every single Best Buy, Circuit City, and Wal-Mart in my area. Sure, it wasn't as bad as with the PS3, where people were lining up multiple days in advance, but it showed me that my original plan of just walking up to a Circuit City or a Target Sunday afternoon wasn't going to work.
As a result, my friend and I ended up camping out at a Wal-Mart at 9:30p to get our Wiis 6:00a this morning. Just got home and haven't gotten a chance to set it up yet, but boy am I stoked!! I was only going to get Madden since the Wii comes with a game already, but I gave in to peer pressure and bought Twilight Princess too. (=
- StingArmy
Dude, I could have written just about the exact same thing. I drove by the Target I was planning on hitting last night at about 1 am on my way home, saw some tents, and then when I went back at 5:00, there was a TON of people. So I hit my backup target, and wound up as #43 out of 51 available consoles. It took till about 9 am, but I got my Wii, along with Madden, Zelda, and Ultimate Alliance. (Got suckered into Target's Buy-3-games-get-a-$20-gift-card promotion.) If I don't post on here for the next week or so, you'll know why.
Same in Saskatoon. We drove by Future Shop at 11:00pm on Saturday and there was a virtual shantytown outside the doors. I tried a few places this morning, and no luck anywhere. Anyplace that carries games - Future Shop, Wal-Mart, Superstore, Rogers Video, EB - had people camping out overnight.
I picked up Super Monkey Ball and Excite Truck for whenever I actually get my hands on the system.
Luckily, I work across the street from an EB, so I can check it thrice daily, but it still wouldn't surprise me if I didn't see a Wii in stores until after Christmas. I slightly overestimated the supply and grossly underestimated the demand.
Man, I feel their pain
I guess this is a good sign for Nintendo ... or maybe people were just thankful to find any gaming console that was priced below 400 bucks.
Was at the local mall picking up a Birthday present last night and there was a Wii Set-up in the main hall way. They had 6 different Wii's going each with a different game. There was actually a line a a couple games of people waiting to try it out.
My wife and I lucked out and just walked up to tennis. After playing a best of 3 set game my wife was actualy excited about a video game system for the 1st time ever. she wanted to know how much it cost, where to get it, what games come with it ect...
If nintendo can get people like my wife, who looks at video games with disgust most times, excited enough to want the system. They are going to have a huge hit on their hands.
Setting up a display like this so that people that normally wouldn't walk into the EB or the video section of best buy would be exposed is brilliant.
I've only been playing Wii Sports for a couple of hours (haven't even touched Madden or Zelda yet) and I'm already in love with this system. My cousin, who is not at all a video gamer and who probably has never played a video game in his life, insisted I let him play after watching me playing one game of Bowling. We played each other for about an hour in Bowling, Boxing, and Tennis, and it's really true what they say about how easy it is for non-gamers to get into the control scheme.
I'm going to have a house full of people tomorrow for Thanksgiving. Normally if I had just bought a new video game or something I'd cringe at the idea of having to curb my playing for the day, but this time I can guarantee you that the three extra Wii remote/nunchuk combos that I bought are going to come in handy!
Originally posted by brickWas at the local mall picking up a Birthday present last night and there was a Wii Set-up in the main hall way. They had 6 different Wii's going each with a different game. There was actually a line a a couple games of people waiting to try it out.
My wife and I lucked out and just walked up to tennis. After playing a best of 3 set game my wife was actualy excited about a video game system for the 1st time ever. she wanted to know how much it cost, where to get it, what games come with it ect...
If nintendo can get people like my wife, who looks at video games with disgust most times, excited enough to want the system. They are going to have a huge hit on their hands.
Setting up a display like this so that people that normally wouldn't walk into the EB or the video section of best buy would be exposed is brilliant.
From what I understand Nintendo is travelling to malls around the US and setting up this demo you saw. Only like 28 or so malls they are doing it at, and you can find the list at their website. Good idea, like you said but this Wii seems to be spreading rapidly. People are playing and showing others and talking about it everywhere. Quickly becoming the must have item, which is nice to see.
Though I will say I'm annoyed I still can't find component cables. I tried ordering direct from Nintendo and it worked but now I can't find my order when I log in to their website so I don't know if I'll be getting it or not. No stores have any in stock of nintendo's or any third party brands either. I have read it makes a significant graphics difference so I really want one.
Oh well, other than that still very, very happy with the system. Got to play Zelda and it's a great game of course. Have to adjust to the control for it isn't hard at all.
I brought my Wii home to my parents for Thanksgiving. My Mom played and LOVED bowling, which is incredibly surreal, given that she NEVER plays games with us. Then my dad and brothers spent the rest of the day playing Golf. As awesome as it is to see everyone enjoying the system, I just want the chance to play me some Zelda...
You believe me, don't you? Please believe what I just said...
Just got mine today and you can count me amoung the people who made the "mistake" of trying Wii Sports before Zelda.
As much as I know I will enjoy Zelda, and I keep on playing bowling and tennis because they're so much fun! Especially bowling, because I used to bowl.
Please tell me I am not the only one who wants Gauntlet/LOTR/any hack-and-slash game on this system RIGHT THE NOW?
People want this system, and they want it badly. Word of mouth is spreading. Everytime there's a party people seem to be impressed. Non-gamers are enjoying it....and it's cheap. Very cheap. For the price of a PS3 you can get Wii, Zelda, another nunchuck, two retro controllers, retro points, Trauma: Second Opinion (the next game on my list of stuff to get), oh and hey, how about ANOTHER two nunchucks??
Oh, and get Smash Bros. Melee (BACKWARD COMPATIBILITy!).
So feasibly you could have;
- 4 Nunchucks - Two retro controlers - Super Mario 64 and Gunstar Hero's - Zelda - Wii Sports - Trauma: Second Opinion - Smash Bros. Melee (and original when it comes out for download)
Yeah, I think Nintendo will do VERY well for themselves with this system. The key, as always for Nintendo, will be third party titles (as if we need to worry about first party). But with this much clamouring for the system....I'd have to think developers will be lining up to produce games for it.
(edited by El Nastio on 24.11.06 1611) To celebrate the passing of the Troll Amnesty (and for otherwise no reason at all), I present to you the very best of Trolling here on The W. This Troll Moment of the Week is brought to you by one of the greatest(?) Trolls to come The W;
"TopTenPro" , who brought us the following such pieces of wisdom as: br>TopTenPro: I know this is going to be banished, but there is a point I want to make. Why is there not a woman that wants to be loved as much as I want to love?"
CRZ: "Here now are the Top Ten cruel responses I could whip up to this post:" (followed by a rather funny list).
Help!!! I'm still at my parent's house! I need to go home and do stuff before the weekend ends, but my parents won't stop playing Golf!!! Its not fair!
You believe me, don't you? Please believe what I just said...
This may or may not do anybody any good now, but Best Buy got its next shipment of Wiis today (Sunday). They were advertising a minimum of 12 per store. My store got 63 (I think they had a little over 100 at launch).
My store got 46, and they were sold out an hour before the store even opened. I guess there were people camping out like it was launch day all over again.
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Originally posted by Excalibur05My store got 46, and they were sold out an hour before the store even opened. I guess there were people camping out like it was launch day all over again.
I'm still trying hard to find somewhere in the Vancouver area that has a demo unit. I'm not one to buy a system on hearsay alone, I gotta try it out for myself before making a purchase.
It sounds cool, and looks cool...but I kinda want to get my hands on it first before I make an opinion.
Originally posted by Excalibur05My store got 46, and they were sold out an hour before the store even opened. I guess there were people camping out like it was launch day all over again.
I'm still trying hard to find somewhere in the Vancouver area that has a demo unit. I'm not one to buy a system on hearsay alone, I gotta try it out for myself before making a purchase.
It sounds cool, and looks cool...but I kinda want to get my hands on it first before I make an opinion.
From what I gather Nintendo and Sony are trying to get as many systems for sale as possible so regular demo units won't be in stores until after Christmas most likely. Doesn't mean you can't find them, just not many out there.
I find it amazing that with all the looking around, reading messages boards and websites that I do, that I have yet to find one single person say they don't love this system. It's almost unreal for that to happen.
I've said before (The W) that I don't think online gaming is all that important to the current crop of console's sales. Here (gamesarefun.com) is an editorial that agrees with me.
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