Wii review
We’ve had the Wii a while now so maybe it’s time that I shared my thoughts.
Even though I’m a big old nerd, I’ve never really been into computer games that much, if at all really. I used to play the odd game on my old Commodore 64 as a kid, but since then games have become too complicated, with too many buttons and too great a need for supreme hand-eye coordination. And too much blood and guts.
The Wii is different. Yes, you can have the complicated button sequences and blood and guts if you want. But, you can also have simple, fun, easy to learn games that you can play by yourself or with a mate or two if you like. There’s other stuff too though …
I really like the Miis - I love my Mii. I love making Miis of other people - nice/cheeky Miis for people I like, and insulting Miis for people I don’t. It’s also very handy to be able to connect to the internet through the Wii - great for downloading and watching videos on the telly or quickly checking the cinema listings. I also really like the Everybody Votes channel - daft questions but it’s really interesting to see how everyone else answers. The News channel is pretty wide-ranging - you’ll never see most of the news listed here on the TV. And the Weather channel is pretty cool too - I don’t really need to know if it’s sunny in Sydney, but it’s still pretty cool that I can find out.
As for games there’s quite a few that I really like. Wii Sports is fantastic, but expect to ache. I particularly like the bowling and golf. I like the baseball too even though I can’t hit the ball for toffee. I just love the way that your Miis join the teams or are bowling in the lane next to you. The boxing is great if you have some pent up aggression you want to work out. It’s soooo cool that it knows where you are waving your arms about. They are bringing out a Wii Fit next year which I definitely want. I think it’s a bit like a really advanced version of that dance mat thingy you could get for the PS2.
Wii Play is quite good fun - simple games that help you hone your Wii skills. I rather like the Billiards.
Mark really like the Mario and Wario games. I don’t mind Wario’s Smooth Moves - the concept is rather good - lots of little games which involve you waving the baton around in all sorts of daft ways, but I find the music a bit irritating. And I can’t stand the Mario football game, but I think this may be due to may aversion to football more than anything else.
We’ve got Big Brain Academy as well, now that they’ve removed the non-PC words from it. I rather like it but I have to confess it leaves me feeling a bit inadequate. My ability to remember stuff is really poor and I can’t add up. Practice makes perfect though - I guess that’s the point. I expect it’s good for helping prevent senility - give those little grey cells a workout.
My fave Wii game though is Excite Truck. You get to race your truck around impossible but visually stunning tracks in China, Mexico and Finland, smashing up your own and other folk’s trucks and doing massive jumps and drifts and stuff. It’s another one that’s great for working out aggression and relaxing. I find I’ll play it for up to an hour at a time which is really rare for me - I’m normally bored with a game after 15 minutes.
All in all it’s thumps up for the Wii.