Final-wii!

june 28, 2007

I finally got a Wii! This morning, while I was with Eileen and Jacob visiting his grandparents, I told Eileen, "I'm getting tired of the hunt for a Wii. Maybe I'll just get a PS3 and enjoy some Blu-ray movies. Lets go to Fry's and check out the PS3." So, Eileen humored me and we went to Fry's. Walking by the desk for software, we saw a sign, "Wii Bundle, Wii + Two Games, $349." Yea, right, I thought. They actually have Wii's in stock. So, I asked, out of frustration, "You have the Wii in stock?" "Yup." Whoa. Our off chance visit to Brokaw Fry's has netted me a Wii! I got the Wii, Wii Play ($10 game, $40 Wii-mote) and WarioWare. I totally forgot that the Wii only includes the composite cables for video. I still need to get some component cables for the Wii. Eileen and I spent a good chunk of the afternoon playing Wii together while Jacob was sleeping. She loves WarioWare (single player). And we love to play Tennis and Bowling together! What fun! The Wii might not have the shiny graphics or Blu-ray player of the PS3. The Wii might not have the shiny graphics of the Xbox 360. But, the Wii certainly has more fun stuff to do than either of the two "next generation" gaming consoles. Nintendo was smart to bundle Wii Sports with the Wii. Wii Sports really shows off the capabilities of the Wii. Yes, the graphics are so last generation. But, the fun is so, the next generation. The PS3 and Xbox 360 platforms seem to concentrate on next-gen graphics and...well, FPS games. There's nothing wrong with that, except that I am kind of tired of the FPS genre. I got the Opera browser from the Wii Store. It...works...GREAT. Fantastic having a browser for a 10ft interface. Even if I'm not going to use it all the time, just having it is great. The Photos Channel is actually pretty good also. I tried it briefly with an SD card full of photos. Very nice indeed. Anyways, I think the Wii, like the DS, is a great reinvention of what a gaming console can be. Yes, it may not be for hardcore gamers -- who will most likely flock towards the PS3 and Xbox 360 -- but as a mass-market gaming device, the Wii is really showing the gaming industry that it is all about the fun, not about the graphics.


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