Wii!!!

Welcome back, everyone! (both of you) I am posting yet again, so soon! Not that anyone actually reads this blog anymore, but I guess it gives me practice with my writing (or typing) skills. So, read on, brave soul(s)!

It is official. As of a couple of weeks ago (Thanksgiving weekend, to be exact), I have become one of the few, the proud...... I have joined the ranks of those who......Wii?

To be exact, I have acquired a brand new Nintendo Wii. (pronounced "we", not to be confused with the popular little kids' slang term "wee") I decided to, for once in my life, get something like this new when it was released. So, I saved up, a little at a time, for months. Then, I expected that I would have to wait a couple more months to get one, because they sold out immediately upon the stores that had them in stock opening. But, my two younger brothers, one of which had his heart set on a Wii, went to Best Buy at 5:30 AM and waited in line until the store opened at 10 to buy one. And, since my brother that was desparate can't drive yet, my other brother was nice enough to take him, and, since there were two of them in line, they were nice enough to pick one up for me while I blissfully slept in. :-)

So, I got my Wii. It's quite unique for a video game console. as you can see in the picture of the controller and box, it stands vertically. It's about the size of three DVD cases set together, plus the little stand that it sits on.

The controller is what is the most unique, though. Instead of the traditional video game controller with the normal analog sticks and buttons, the main controller is like a motion sensitive TV remote. It senses motion as in you swinging it around, and gyroscopically, as well. So, if you point it up, or tilt it, depending on the game, your motions will control something in the game. Quite interesting. The wrist strap is also very necessary at times, to keep you from letting go and sending it sailing across the room!

The funny-shaped thing on the left is an attachment that plugs into the "Wii-mote" and is called a "nun-chuck". It has an Analog stick and two trigger buttons, and is also motion sensitive. This combination can make for some interesting moments playing games. It sounds pretty wierd, but, at least in the games that I've played, it works pretty well.

The box with the "Wii-mote" and nun-chuck.....

I got two games for it, as well as the Wii Sports game that is included with the console. Wii Sports is just that. A collection of sports games that, in part, are to teach you to properly use the controller. There is baseball, bowling, tennis, boxing, and golf. They basically require you to use the Wii-mote to make semi-realistic motions to do things in the game. For instance, in baseball, you swing the Wii-mote like a bat at the right time to make your character hit the ball. Same thing in tennis. In bowling, you hold the Wii-mote in your hand and make the motion of throwing(?) a bowling ball. Pretty neat, I thought.

Super Monkey Ball:Banana Blitz is pretty similar to the past Super Monkey Ball games. You have a cute little monkey in a hamster ball that you roll around through a maze toward a goal while trying to collect as many bananas as possible without running out of time. Only this time you use the Wii-mote's gyroscopic sensing abilities to tilt the maze. (kind of like an old Labyrinth game) And this Super Monkey Ball game has 50 party game that you can play with friends instead of the 10 or 12 the previous ones had.

Rayman:Raving Rabbids is a very interesting (and funny) game. You are a funny little critter with no arms, legs, or neck. Just a body, head, two hands and two feet. You are kidnapped by a bunch of psychotic little bunnies with a thing for toilet plungers who are intent on taking over the world, and are forced to take tests for their entertainment. Most of them are off-the-wall mini-games involving the bunnies in some way. For instance, one of them has you aiming with the Wii-mote and pulling worms out of a bunny's teeth. Another has you aiming at and then whacking over the head bunnies that pop up out of holes in a garden. There are odd races, and wierd, but funny tasks that you must complete. Possibly the best one so far, however, is one that has you moving through one of several scenes (you can't control your movement) armed with a plunger-shooting gun plugging bunnies that pop up out of nowhere with their own plunger guns and various other weapons that psychotic little bunnies would carry, trying their best to stop you. The whole game sounds kind of wierd, but it really is quite funny and entertaining.

The Wii also has a "virtual console" to which you can download classic games for from Nintendo's website. These would be classic NES, SNES, N64, Sega Genesis, and NEC TurboGrafx16 games. Ther haven't been terribly many released yet, but it definitely looks promising. The Wii will also play Gamecube games, so I guess, in Nintendo's eyes, it should replace all your previous Nintendo consoles. I guess time will tell.

Well that's about all I can come up with for now. I am enjoying my Wii, but I kind of doubt that I will be buying another console or somthing similar at launch, but I guess time will tell. You kind of get to be one of the few, the proud, but you also have a limited game selection, and the games haven't dropped to a reasonably affordable (at least for me) price yet. So I guess it has it's pros and cons.

Anyway, stay tuned, all you rabbid (sorry, I couldn't resist) fans!!!