Nintendo Wii: My Review

Ok, I have had a Wii for over a year now, and thought it might be time to write about it if I had not done so already. So here I go and I will try to break it down into different parts.

Console:
The console itself is pretty small, and you can either set it upward or flat, depending on where you want to put it. I myself have it standing upward to fit in my entertainment system. The console is pretty simple as well, with only 3 buttons on the front: power, reset and eject. There is also a slot for your SD card and slots for you to hook up your old game cube controllers or in the case of the game Dance Dance Revolution, the mat you dance on. There is a 4th button but is not really used unless you have a new controller, this button synchronizes the controllers to the console. Of course it has all the normal hookups to the TV in the back of the console, a place for the power plug, and a location for you to plug in the sensor bar for the remotes.

Controllers:
The controllers are unique as they are motion controlled, although playstation and x-box are trying to get their own version of a motion controllers, the Wii came out with it first. The controllers are about 6 inches long with a directional pad and 6 buttons. most games though you really only use 2 of these buttons mostly. One of the buttons is a home button which takes you back to the main menu of the Wii operating system. On the bottom of the controller is a slot where you hook up the nunchuck. The nunchuck has a directional controller and two more buttons, but depending on the game you might not even need to use these. There are physical attachments that you can use on the controller as well, like with Mario Kart Wii you can put the controller into a wheel and use it to actually drive the kart. Other accessories are a tennis racket, golf clubs, baseball bats and even some companies have made mock guns for you to put your controller in to use it as a gun. The controllers have no cords and are all wireless, so either you have to keep replacing the batteries or get a charger for them with rechargeable batteries, I chose the latter option for convenience. There is also a classic controller that you can hook into the controller in the port in the back so you can play some classic games using it. There is also the Wii Fit that is used like a controller. Also, the system comes with only one controller, so if you want more than one you will have to shell out the dough to get them, and the controller and nunchuck are sold separately.

The Operating System:
The game consoles main operating system is rather simple, which is good. Without going into the specifics of exactly what the Wii runs as far as equipment wise, the main screen is easy to figure out. Using the controller to point and click, there are different channels to select. There is the game channel where you play the games on disk. There is also the Mii channel where you create your very own avatar. There is a shopping channel, a weather channel, a news channel, ect. Some of these channels you need an online connection to use though.

Online Connection/Play:
There are different ways to get you Wii to connect online. You can buy an adapter that will allow you to connect directly to the internet. There is also a Wi Fi connector that you can plug into your computer via a USB connector. However, if you have a internet connection through DSL or Broadband, it would be just as cheap to buy a wireless router that can be used for any wireless device. That is what I did, and it has worked just fine. My only grip about the online issue is that many games is that they usually do not have online play that would make many games better. However, the one thing that online play has that other systems do not, is that it does not currently require a subscription to play online. Meaning no extra money out of my pocket, which I always like.

The Games:
I have many different games for my Wii and have rented some as well. I'm a Star Wars nut so I have played Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Star Wars Lego and enjoyed them both(though TFU was a little short). I have also played some family games for my wife, son and I like Carnival Games:Mini Golf. I have not met a game I have not liked to play as of yet, and find them all enjoyable and easy to play. I also like the having to get up and move part of some of the games, helps me to get off the couch when I am feeling lazy. Again my only major grip is that more games do not have online play. Oh that and that many of their games are not dropping in price like they should for being over 2 years old.

Overall:
Over all this is a game system is a great one, one that can be enjoyed alone or with the entire family. It has brought many hours of fun for us and would highly recommend it to any one. While it does take some money to get all the stuff to set it up, once it is it is fun to play, and still cheaper than the other two consoles.