Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

OK, I’m going to join the throngs talking about the latest game system and talk about our new Wii. We’re not the kind of gamers with cash to throw around on consoles or video cards or games, so we thought about it pretty long and hard before we decided to commit all of our Christmas money to this. I am pleased to report that we haven’t been disappointed.

Getting the system was the first step, and it was actually pretty fun. Living in Idaho, the lines weren’t all that long, especially at the sneaky little furniture store we lined up at on the 20th. Hurrah for lack of advertising and everyone forgetting that this store also sold electronics! So I waited just over an hour and was in and out of the store with extra controllers and a system before you could say Super Mario Brothers. Then I whisked off to Wal-Mart for a copy of Marvel Ultimate Alliance and I was done!

Setting up the system was a breeze. The main controller was already synchronized and synching the 2nd wasn’t hard (though I DID have to glance at instructions for that part, darn it all). I was a little disappointed at the poor selection of online games and the fact that the forecast and news channels weren’t yet functional, but considering that it’s a game console I guess I can do without the weather for a bit. Sigh.

Wii Sports is actually pretty cool, considering it just seems to be a vehicle for showing off the new controllers. After a day of playing with it, both my husband’s and my geeky arms were sore and I reaffirmed the fact that I suck at bowling. I was a little frustrated with the responsiveness in the boxing module — I can’t tell if I’m moving too quickly or too slowly for the controllers — but everything else seemed to work like a charm. I really like the fact that it identifies players with the Mii characters and I love the fitness age test, if for no other reason than to make me feel less guilty for playing video games. 🙂 Look, doc, I’m exercising! Sort of!

Marvel Ultimate Alliance is fun, but that’s no surprise coming from a Gauntlet-loving button-masher such as myself. I love cooperative games where you just have to go through and bash things, and indeed I am not disappointed in this one. I like the different power ups and uniforms available to the characters and the contrived dialogue is so extreme that I just laugh out loud. Easy mode really is easy, which offers me hope to finish the game, and the gestures are much easier to use than the old Y-Y-B-up-down-Z-X-touch-your-nose crap we always used to get. As a coordinationally-challenged person those old games made me feel very discriminated against. ;b And I shall faithfully overlook things like the Human Torch being vulnerable to fire and being able to bash through iron portcullises while not being able to open simple doors.

So overall, we’re pleased. I’m looking forward to the possibility of playing online games with family members and the acquisition of other cool games like Zelda and Mario Galaxy. Being long-time Nintendo fans in our family, we’re glad that Nintendo seems to have done a good job with this console and hope to see them get back some market share!