At Times I Am Downright Maniacal

I admire Nintendo. Not in some sort of geeky slobbering fanboy way, but the guys are innovators. I’ve had a Wii for a month or two now and, frankly, that is some good stuff.

Before the Wii, each generation of consoles had bigger controllers with more buttons than its predecessors. The standard Wiimote has six for gameplay and a directional pad. A “nunchuk” attachment needs to be connected for some games, bringing the total to eight buttons, the d-pad, and a control stick. There aren’t a lot of controls to learn or an overwhelming controlled covered in multi-colored buttons. You can just pick one up and go. It’s the great Wiiquilizer. Eight year old kids can play as easily as I can as easily as their moms can. My girlfriend, who is not a gamer by any definition, actually enjoys playing baseball on the Wii. I still win because I’m awesome and this isn’t a virtual “A League of Their Own” but the fact remains that she enjoys it.

I won’t deny that the system has its share of problems. Some of these games do involve a lot of arm movement. The aforementioned baseball, for example. You have to swing the remote like a bat to get your player (a Mii) to hit the ball when you are at bat and you have to whip your arm forward as the pitcher to really fire one over the plate. The problem is that you are swinging your arm hard without any real resistance and you run the risk of serious personal injurWiis. After an hour of playing the puzzle game “Boom Blox” with my friend (which consists mostly of chucking balls at towers of blocks) we both suffered from somewhat sore elbows. This is, most likely, the lamest injury one can sustain.

The Wii is much more family friendly than other systems. There are very few violent action games. Most of the titles are either sugary kids games (which are awful if you are over six) or unique games like Boom Blox, the ultimate game crossover fighter Super Smash Bros. Brawl, (Pikachu vs Mario vs Kirby vs the dude from Metal Gear Solid? Sign me up!) or the ER based Trauma Center. (Not ER the show, ER the actual room.)

Now, I’m not suggesting everyone rush out and buy a Wii. Some people actually have productive uses of their time and money. However, if you were thinking of getting a system, or you just want something to try with the kids, I highly recommend it. And if you do get one, let me know, we can play Smash Bros. online. I will destroy you.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS