I bet you never expected a video game system to warn you to "make sure there are no people or objects around you that you might bump into."
Meet the Nintendo Wii, which was recently released nationwide to much fanfare. It's the quirky Japanese company's entry into the latest round of video game console wars, and it represents a dramatically different kind of strategy than goliath rivals Sony and Microsoft.
While Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's brand-new Playstation 3 boast dazzling high-definition graphics and robust multimedia capabilities, the Wii focuses on the actual gaming experience. More specifically, it's all about the controller. Upon initial inspection, the Wii's controller looks a lot like a remote control with video game buttons (in fact, Nintendo calls the controllers "Wii Remotes"). There is, however, a major trick up the Wii Remote's sleeve: it's motion sensitive. Your motions with the controller are translated into in-game actions on your TV. It's a wildly innovative and futuristic proposition to change the way people play video games.
But does it work? I had the opportunity to spend a little time playing the Wii and here's my initial take: it works unbelievably well, but the best is yet to come.
Every Wii comes bundled with Wii Sports, a set of mini-demo sports games that really showcases the Wii Remote's unique capabilities. Take Wii Tennis, for instance. You swing the Wii Remote as if you're playing tennis and the characters on-screen react. It's amazingly natural, though you'll find that it takes time to nail down the proper timing of your movements. Wii Bowling is especially addictive because you can really master it by perfecting your movement of the Wii Remote.
Yet all of the Wii Sports games leave much to be desired when it comes to graphics. Nintendo gets some slack because Wii Sports is a free game bundled with the system, but it doesn't look much better than games on the Gamecube, the Wii's predecessor.
To see how a full-featured Wii game stacked up, I played "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess," the most heavily anticipated of Wii launch games. The graphics were better, but it's going to be difficult to go from an Xbox 360 or PS3 to a Wii.
The gameplay of Zelda, however, was immersive and fun. There are nifty uses of the Wii Remote, and you'll also use the Wii Nunchuck, which is another motion-sensitive controller with a joystick that you place in your other hand. Shaking the Nunchuck from side-to-side, for instance, spins your character. And then, of course, you'll use your Wii Remote to sword fight. It's pretty incredible.
Unfortunately, aside from Zelda, there appear to be few must-play titles for the Wii so far. It's going to take developers some time to figure out innovative and fun ways to take advantage of its unique abilities.
One of the more important aspects of the Wii is its price: $249. Compare that to the Xbox 360, which will cost you over $400 (once you buy a game), and the PS3, which will burn a $600 hole in your wallet, and Nintendo has a real advantage.
Just a final crucial note to readers: make sure you're aware how much more embarrassed you'll be when a crush walks into your room and catches you in the middle of a game. It's hard to look cool while fake-boxing with little white plastic controllers.
But then again, how much fun does that sound?
Technology questions? E-mail Bart Stein '09 at tech.browndailyherald@gmail.com.
