My Random Review and Thoughts on the WII

I've just got myself a Nintendo Wii a few days back. If you don't know what it is, the Wii is the newest game console from Nintendo, which features this revolutionary control system called the Wii Remote which is basically similar to a TV remote and the primary input is the act of swinging the remote around as opposed to the typical input system that consists of a direction pad and multiple buttons.

As a game player over the last 2 decades, I have to admit that I'm quite intrigued by the new design, as I have dampened my enthusiasm for games of the late. As many of the newer games in the market lack the innovation and the new factor due to many of them being rehashes of existing games, I'm finding it less and less fun to play the existing crop of games, and that is why I decided to buy the Wii.

Though I've bought a few games, I'll just keep my discussion short on one of the games that made most of the impression. The first game that really demonstrated the capability of the Wii was this game called Wii Sports. Wii Sports is a package of Tennis, Boxing, Golf, Baseball, and Bowling. Contrary to most other sports games on the market, all of the games were virtually simplify to the point of its essence. A good example would be like tennis. Instead of controlling the player avatar directly, the computer now moves the player avatar, and you as the player is only responsible for hitting the balls. In golf, they took out the 14 club bag, and left with it with 4. Though surprising at first, it all made sense when I've started to use the Wii remote to play those sports games. Tennis is extremely simple, as you basically have to swing your remote like a virtual racket. Timing, angle, and direction of the remote will ultimately decide where the ball would end up. Without having to control the player, the game play was simple but extremely effective. It ended up being a great design decision as making games simple will allow people who typically not play games find games less of a challenge. People who never played video games who came to my home found games like bowling and tennis fun. Easy to pick up, and immediately playable, it turns out the Wii really shines when it becomes the center of a community based entertainment center.

When having guests over at my home, if of different disposition, at the first the movies is the most suitable form of entertainment. Now, it seems that the Wii is going to give the TV and the DVD player a run for its money.

In simple, I call the Wii a console for the masses. It won't win over many of the power players due to its limited processing power, but the idea behind it would probably win over lots of other players, most of them who I assume never considered playing games before.