Kyle Farnung: The Blog

Although I had been very interested in the Nintendo Wii since I had first heard about it, I never really planned to own one, let alone any other console game system. Well, needless to say, that changed.

Nintendo's newest console gaming system, the Wii.

Unlike the hordes of console buyers, I didn't even look around to find a Wii. Since I wasn't really interested in buying it, especially with the short supply, I hadn't really kept up with all of the supply craziness. If it hadn't been for a nice co-worker who mentioned that Toys "R" Us here in Clay, NY (near Syracuse) had them in stock, I never would have even given it a second thought. Heck, even when I went to the store looking for one I had all intentions of selling it to a friend who wanted one. Well, too bad for my friend, I'm hooked.

Follow up:

The Wii really isn't like any other game system you've ever played. Sure the graphics aren't too impressive and are about on par with Nintendo's last generation GameCube, but the real power of the Wii is in the controller. What people around the web like to call the "Wiimote," the revolutionary new controller uses accelerometers, Bluetooth, and infrared to detect the controllers movement and current position in space. This really lends itself to certain games like the ones in the included Wii Sports game. Instead of just pushing buttons and moving joysticks, the player has to move in order to play the game. Usually the motions involve swinging the controller in a certain direction, but there is also the ability to point and click. When playing a game like tennis, for example, the player swings their arm just like they would with a real racket to hit the ball.

To someone who has never used the system before, this sounds pretty complicated and possibly very frustrating. This is surely not the case at all. Even my parents love to play the Wii Sports games, especially bowling. It's hard to even get any time on it myself since my family is so addicted to it. Even my father who hasn't played a Nintendo game in years has been guilty of playing it for a few hours here and there.

Overall, I really think Nintendo did a great job with the Wii. They were really aiming to open the console gaming market to all demographics and I believe they accomplished that. If a console can get my entire family involved when no other one could, that is a real accomplishment on the part of Nintendo. Although I wish the graphics would have improved more significantly to compete with the horsepower of the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, you really can't argue with Nintendo's price which blows the other systems out of the water. Although I can't speak for everyone, the Wii is my number one choice in current consoles.