Mar
11
After months of keeping an eye peeled, we finally came across the white albatross of gaming consoles. While grocery shopping last week, I stopped to take a peek at the games and saw one lonely Wii sitting in the display case.
I had Dawngrrl stand post at the case while I quickly located an associate to open the gates and give us the sought after Nintendo Wii game console.
We also added in the “Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess” game and were on our way. We had also hoped to get an extra controller but it appears they are also in very short supply.
The console itself is quite diminutive. It’s about the size of a PC DVD drive when not mounted in the computer. It has a USB connection, WiFi, SD slot and two GameCube memory slots along with four GameCube controller slots. Hooking it up was a no brainer. You connect the power and video obviously, and the sensor bar for the Wiimote. The graphics were pretty rough looking at first on our 65″ HDTV. A $20 Component Cable brought it to 480p giving it a much clearer but still quite jaggy look. But let’s be clear folks, this game system’s talent is not graphics. The Xbox 360 and PS3 clearly blow it out of the water, but that is to be expected from systems with drastically more power…and a price tag to match.
My first impression with Wii Sports was golf. I can’t even explain how much I was impressed. This game is the definition of fun. Your involved and active and the controls are phenomenal. I wasn’t overly excited with Baseball or Tennis, Golf is amazing and Bowling is fun as well. I felt boxing suffered from some control problems making it difficult to play without getting a bit frustrated.
I know this is an add in game, a freebie, but the games also suffer from some depth. While I love the golf, you have one course, and can play either 3 or 9 holes. That makes it quickly tiring and wanting more. We will be picking up the Tiger Woods 07 on the quick.
Zelda so far is a good bit of fun. It makes quite a variety of uses for the unique control system. I think as I go I will feel this a welcome addition to the Zelda family.
Overall I am in no way disappointed with the Wii purchase. While we only have two games, it is getting it’s fair share of the household gaming already. We have played a 9 hole round of golf pretty much every day since we got it.
Time will tell how the games fare, I have only been looking for the Tiger Woods game so far, none of the rest have caught my fancy, but that is the same story with the shiny Playstation 3 that is collecting dust. (until James Bond: Casino Royale comes out on Blu-Ray this week!)
To end, I thought I would offer my thoughts if you are looking but can only buy one. I know it’s a bit more expensive, but Dawngrrl and I both agree, buy the Xbox 360 premium. Currently our game catalog for 360 is getting close to 30 and we both play it all the time.
