Anna. Baby due 1/8/10
New member
So I was able to snag a Wii today....finally. And have had a few good hours, trying it out....playing some of the games. And these are my initial impressions...
First of all, it's a sleek little machine. Small as hell, especially sitting next to my 360. It's got doors hiding a lot...SD slot, Mem Card slots, Gamecube ports. It's amazing that they packed so much, into such a small package.
Startup, Menu, Internet Settings, etc.
You turn on the Wii, and are greeted to a very simple, and soothing menu. It's very "Apple-like". Rounded corners, soft tones, white colors, smooth transitions, etc. With very pleasant music playing softly in the background. It's a big step up from the Gamecube's menu, but I don't quite like it as much as the 360's blade menu. It's pretty easy to navigate with the Wii-Mote. One thing that I learned early on (and this goes for games as well), is you don't have to hold your arm out and aim at the screen....like those old Light Gun games. The way it senses the Wii-Mote, makes it act a lot like a mouse. Once you locate where the cursor is, it's just intuitive from there. You can have your arm resting on your knee....and still be very accurate with it, it's not like holding a gun.
Having it detect my Wireless AP was pretty straight forward. Once it was connected, it automatically wanted to run some system updates. There were two of them....and they took a while. Not sure if this was because of the wireless, or maybe slow servers. I checked out the Online Shop....pretty cool. Layed out very nicely. Virtual Console games are already rolling out, with some classics. They're still building the network, so a lot of features are not available yet.
The Mii channel is kinda neat. Fun to fool around with a bit, and make characters of you and your friends. But it's not very fleshed out. It could use quite a bit more options imo. Adding people to your address book could have been easier as well....you have to input a long number, and other people have to input yours. This is how you put people on your friends list. Xbox Live's Gamertag is a MUCH better system.
Games, control, etc.
I picked up Zelda, Monkey Ball, Rayman, and got ExciteTruck from GameFly. And of course, the system comes with Wii Sports. The only game I haven't played yet, is Monkey Ball. I've gotten in at least 20 mins with each of the other games though...and probably around an hour with Zelda.
Wii Sports is a blast. No other way to put it. It's soooooo simple, shallow, and unimpressive....but it's so damn fun. The bowling is probably my favorite so far. While not a simulation...it actually kinda feels like you're bowling. You control your position, release, power, spin, etc. It's pretty addictive. Baseball and tennis play well...and are fun. I can see why people damage their TV's with this game....because although you don't have to swing like Babe Ruth....it's hard not to get into the game....you quickly find yourself swinging pretty hard, even though you don't really need to. Golf is cool, for what it is....but needs a bunch of tweaking, it's crazy sensitive....I might just need to get used to it. The potential is there for deeper games like Tiger Woods though. Haven't tried out Boxing yet. I can definitely see this game being an absolute hit at parties....as many people have already brought up.
Rayman, first of all...is downright hilarious. Those little rabbits, and their behavior/characteristics are funny as hell. I've only gotten the chance to play though 4-5 of the games, but so far, they're very creative...and fun. There's 70 mini games....yes 70!!! So I'm sure the replay value is gonna be long for this one. Some of the ways this game uses the Wii-Mote, and Nunchuck are VERY creative....and fun. It really mixes it up.
ExciteTruck. Like I said a week ago, when I first tried the game out....it's not a deep game, and all together, it's not all that impressive either. But much like Wii Sports, this game ends up being very addictive, and fun. The controls (using the Wii-Mote sideways and turning it to steer) are very accurate, and precise. Once you get used to it...it becomes second nature. The game has a great sense of speed to it. Couple that with the big air, changing terrain, and crashing...and you've got yourself a very intense arcade racer. The game is very much like the San Francisco Rush series...if anyone is familiar with that.
Zelda. Not much can be said about this game....that hasn't already been said. It's amazing. And I'm not even that far into it...still in the village, doing tutorial type stuff. Some people feared playing this with the Wii-Mote, but it adds so much to it imo. Where it succeeds....is it doesn't overuse the Wii-Mote. A lot of the play is still done with buttons. The controls....once you get the hang of it, are very comfortable, and intuitive. And....fun. You don't have to have your arms hanging out in front of you, swinging away....you can just as easily have them resting on your legs. And the only time you really have to aim with it...is with the bow/slingshot/etc. I can't really talk about much else (i.e. story, dungeons, etc.) because I'm not too far in the game. But so far...I'm loving it.
Overall
I'm very happy with the purchase. The Wii is a very fine, and well though out console. It's too early for me to say if it's just a novelty, and it's "fun" will wear off. But if they continue to put out great games....I don't think it will. It's a nice addition to my console collection. I don't think I'd want it for my only console....but it's a nice compliment to the 360 (or PS3). Because there's still some games I'd much rather play on the 360. But the Wii is great for what it sets out to do. It's a very inviting system, with some great games that are easy to pick up. Great for a family, parties, non-gamers, etc.
Nintendo hit a home run with this thing.
First of all, it's a sleek little machine. Small as hell, especially sitting next to my 360. It's got doors hiding a lot...SD slot, Mem Card slots, Gamecube ports. It's amazing that they packed so much, into such a small package.
Startup, Menu, Internet Settings, etc.
You turn on the Wii, and are greeted to a very simple, and soothing menu. It's very "Apple-like". Rounded corners, soft tones, white colors, smooth transitions, etc. With very pleasant music playing softly in the background. It's a big step up from the Gamecube's menu, but I don't quite like it as much as the 360's blade menu. It's pretty easy to navigate with the Wii-Mote. One thing that I learned early on (and this goes for games as well), is you don't have to hold your arm out and aim at the screen....like those old Light Gun games. The way it senses the Wii-Mote, makes it act a lot like a mouse. Once you locate where the cursor is, it's just intuitive from there. You can have your arm resting on your knee....and still be very accurate with it, it's not like holding a gun.
Having it detect my Wireless AP was pretty straight forward. Once it was connected, it automatically wanted to run some system updates. There were two of them....and they took a while. Not sure if this was because of the wireless, or maybe slow servers. I checked out the Online Shop....pretty cool. Layed out very nicely. Virtual Console games are already rolling out, with some classics. They're still building the network, so a lot of features are not available yet.
The Mii channel is kinda neat. Fun to fool around with a bit, and make characters of you and your friends. But it's not very fleshed out. It could use quite a bit more options imo. Adding people to your address book could have been easier as well....you have to input a long number, and other people have to input yours. This is how you put people on your friends list. Xbox Live's Gamertag is a MUCH better system.
Games, control, etc.
I picked up Zelda, Monkey Ball, Rayman, and got ExciteTruck from GameFly. And of course, the system comes with Wii Sports. The only game I haven't played yet, is Monkey Ball. I've gotten in at least 20 mins with each of the other games though...and probably around an hour with Zelda.
Wii Sports is a blast. No other way to put it. It's soooooo simple, shallow, and unimpressive....but it's so damn fun. The bowling is probably my favorite so far. While not a simulation...it actually kinda feels like you're bowling. You control your position, release, power, spin, etc. It's pretty addictive. Baseball and tennis play well...and are fun. I can see why people damage their TV's with this game....because although you don't have to swing like Babe Ruth....it's hard not to get into the game....you quickly find yourself swinging pretty hard, even though you don't really need to. Golf is cool, for what it is....but needs a bunch of tweaking, it's crazy sensitive....I might just need to get used to it. The potential is there for deeper games like Tiger Woods though. Haven't tried out Boxing yet. I can definitely see this game being an absolute hit at parties....as many people have already brought up.
Rayman, first of all...is downright hilarious. Those little rabbits, and their behavior/characteristics are funny as hell. I've only gotten the chance to play though 4-5 of the games, but so far, they're very creative...and fun. There's 70 mini games....yes 70!!! So I'm sure the replay value is gonna be long for this one. Some of the ways this game uses the Wii-Mote, and Nunchuck are VERY creative....and fun. It really mixes it up.
ExciteTruck. Like I said a week ago, when I first tried the game out....it's not a deep game, and all together, it's not all that impressive either. But much like Wii Sports, this game ends up being very addictive, and fun. The controls (using the Wii-Mote sideways and turning it to steer) are very accurate, and precise. Once you get used to it...it becomes second nature. The game has a great sense of speed to it. Couple that with the big air, changing terrain, and crashing...and you've got yourself a very intense arcade racer. The game is very much like the San Francisco Rush series...if anyone is familiar with that.
Zelda. Not much can be said about this game....that hasn't already been said. It's amazing. And I'm not even that far into it...still in the village, doing tutorial type stuff. Some people feared playing this with the Wii-Mote, but it adds so much to it imo. Where it succeeds....is it doesn't overuse the Wii-Mote. A lot of the play is still done with buttons. The controls....once you get the hang of it, are very comfortable, and intuitive. And....fun. You don't have to have your arms hanging out in front of you, swinging away....you can just as easily have them resting on your legs. And the only time you really have to aim with it...is with the bow/slingshot/etc. I can't really talk about much else (i.e. story, dungeons, etc.) because I'm not too far in the game. But so far...I'm loving it.
Overall
I'm very happy with the purchase. The Wii is a very fine, and well though out console. It's too early for me to say if it's just a novelty, and it's "fun" will wear off. But if they continue to put out great games....I don't think it will. It's a nice addition to my console collection. I don't think I'd want it for my only console....but it's a nice compliment to the 360 (or PS3). Because there's still some games I'd much rather play on the 360. But the Wii is great for what it sets out to do. It's a very inviting system, with some great games that are easy to pick up. Great for a family, parties, non-gamers, etc.
Nintendo hit a home run with this thing.