Ten Days of Wii!

[Edymion]

Starting Thursday November 9th of the year 2006 ( :p ), I will start a Countdown to Wii! Stay tuned to this thread for exciting updates in the realm of Wii! This is not a test! This is the real deal! Meet with anticipation...and weep!  

[Edymion]

That's right folks! It's almost that time! The new Fifth Generation Nintendo Entertainment System also known as Wii will be released in, almost precisely, ten days! In that time, I shall bring to you an article, give or take, each day that I find interesting, numbering down from ten! Today... You guessed it! It's ten! What better to start out with than Nintendo's killer app, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess!

T (minus) 10 Days

Quote:

November 6, 2006

Impressions: Does Zelda For Wii Shape Up?



Gamasutra's Jason Dobson was one of just a few select media invited to preview Nintendo's key Wii launch title Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess at the company's HQ in Seattle.

After multiple hours of play, how does the company's vital launch standout stack up? Here are Jason's full impressions:

"Since it was first unveiled at the Nintendo pre-E3 press event in 2004 alongside an earth-shattering trailer and Shigeru Miyamoto's pixie-like frame brandishing a sword and shield, it's perhaps no understatement that The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess has been one of the most anticipated video game titles of the current (and as it later turned out, upcoming) console generation. The game looked to take elements from the timeless series and use them to build upon perhaps the most critically acclaimed iteration to carry the Zelda name, The Ocarina of Time.

A year later, the game again played out its role as the centerpiece of the former annual event, summoning lines of enthusiasts, press, and other attendees. The lucky few waited for hours just to play the game for a few fleeting minutes. However, delays left many anxious, and the announcement of the game being developed for the upcoming GameCube successor – and in the process leaving that console's version somewhat of a second thought, also concerned some.

With Twilight Princess set to be released on November 19 alongside the Wii's North American launch, I and a few select other members of press were invited to descend upon Redmond, Washington to visit Nintendo of America headquarters, and spend more time with the game than perhaps anyone else outside of Nintendo representatives themselves.

So we came. We sat. And we played. And we played. A lot. It was refreshing to be able to play the game in a relaxed atmosphere for several uninterrupted hours over the course of two days, an experience that made the manic hustle of trade shows seem almost toxic by comparison.

Initial Impressions

After a short demonstration of the game on nearly finished Wii hardware, we were taken into a nearby demonstration room to continue our relationship with an adolescent elf named Link.

First, just to get the inevitable out of the way – not unlike ripping off a band-aid – the game looks like a GameCube game. I know some of you have come to terms with this, and some of you have not. The fact is – and Nintendo will back me up here – that the game looks more or less identical on both the Wii and GameCube. The same goes for content, which is likewise mirrored between platforms.

What you get with the Wii is a right handed Link and a specialized control system. At least on paper. What you won't find in any technical documentation is that after playing the game using the Wii remote and nunchuck, the mere idea of playing it on a game pad seems almost alien. This is an odd statement to write, because visually, the Wii's controls seem to be about as far removed as possible from the way we have been playing games for decades, but there you have it.

The Wii controls work very well, at least for Zelda. I have no illusions that there will be a bevy of games, especially early on, that try to shoehorn Wii-style mechanics into titles that has no business even being on the system. We saw this with the Nintendo DS. We'll see it again here.

Introducing The Gameplay

The game begins with Link as a farm hand, performing chores, talking to villagers, swimming, and running errands. He also rides a horse, shoots a slingshot, and commands a hawk to attack a monkey. And that is all in about the first ten minutes.

In fact, in the first couple of hours he acquires and uses every move found in Ocarina of Time, from horseback riding to boomerangs and downward thrusts. Every one. And there are a number of new moves (including seven distinct fighting maneuvers which are learned as you go along at specified points from an undead knight), some of which I saw, many of which remain a mystery. Make no mistake, this is a big game.

In speaking with Nintendo, the Japanese play testers (who, remember, had not played the game before) took no less than seventy hours to complete the game, it was claimed. Seven. Zero. Note that this was a straight play through, not bug testing. Twilight Princess has some meat on her bones.

Controller Lag Subtlties?

However, despite all of the fun and joy of reuniting with Link and playing this grand adventure on an as yet unreleased console, there were some questionable elements in the game. However. I say questionable about one in particular because it truly remains an unknown factor.

At every venue within which the Wii has been displayed, a varying amount of controller lag has been evident. This has been particularly noticeable with regards to actions that require a game's motion sensing Wii remote. Zelda still exhibits this trait, and while it is noticeable and somewhat annoying, it simply remains unclear if this will be a problem in the living room.

The reason I say this is that the Wii stations we played on featured the Wii sensor bar affixed to the bottom of an HD television, and in front of a light that was likewise part of the TV's undercarriage. In addition, the Wii itself was situated right below the bar, and was encased in a kind of clear plastic, highly reflective shell.

So was this light and resulting reflection to blame for the lag that was noticed? Or is this, as they say, just the nature of the beast when it comes to the Wii. I asked Nintendo a couple representatives on this, but could not get a definite answer other than a rather ambiguous “Yes, probably” when referring to the light/reflection interference.

This lag was immediately evident after you collected 30 rupees and bought the slingshot, and began testing your aim. You assign items, such as the slingshot, to the B button, and there were times when pressing the button would simply bring up a message saying that you needed to point the Wii remote at the screen, even if you were already doing just that.

Sometimes after a second or two it would register, sometimes it would pick it up only after the remote was moved, and other times it would not read it at all, forcing the B button to be released and depressed again. Annoying, for sure, and truly hope that this was an factor of the environment rather than an issue with the hardware. Color me cautiously optimistic in this regard.

Horsing Around

Another issue I had with the game was in how the horse controls. I clearly am not happy with how the beast responds to my instructions, but it should also be said that your steed controls nearly identically than she did in Ocarina of Time. So, since next to nobody had an issue with that, you can take my following words with a grain of salt. My problem is that your horse feels too much like driving a tank with legs.

It's a bit unwieldy, and I found myself having trouble lining up targets on the horse, or running into walls while trying to navigate thin passageways. This was doubly disturbing because controlling Link in wolf form while in the Twilight Realm feels perfectly natural.

While the two are different for a number of reasons, there really is no reason why the horse could not mimic the fluid nature of the wolf's controls – other than just to say the horse needs to be more difficult to handle because its a horse. But as said, this will not be an issue for the majority of people who played through and loved Ocarina.

Cameras Want To Be Free

My final gripe is that after spending as much time as I have with the game, is that I have to say that I miss having a freely controllable camera. Granted, pressing Z and C on the nunchuck do reposition the camera behind link and go into a first-person “free look” mode respectively, but it's just not the same. Not to me anyway.

In the first five or so hours I found more than one occasion were I would have enjoyed the ability to rotate the camera a few degrees in order to see around a corner or get a better view of what Link happened to be doing at the time.

Perhaps this is just my brain trying to compensate for something that has been ingrained in it since the days of the Nintendo 64, but I digress. That said, note that never once did I die because I could see a hole or an enemy, so perhaps a freely controllable camera is overrated. I still miss it.

Nitpicks Done, Overall Grins

However, none of these are game breaking issues for me, and for most people they won't even matter, because at the end of the day, the game is still amazing. The dialog is sharp and endearing, as are the characters that populate both the lush countryside and the land of Hyrule as it lies imprisoned within the Twilight Realm.

The non-combat mechanics, such as fishing, are so relaxing and zen-like while using the Wii remote that I found myself doing them long after it was necessary. Likewise, the boomerang, while I had experienced its majesty at previous E3 events on the GameCube, has on the Wii become quite possibly my favorite weapon in all of gaming – being able to plot your course and then throw the thing at multiple targets is just plain entertaining.

I do wish Nintendo had stuck with the originally announced plans for the bow, however – at E3 it was said that using the Wii remote you would pull back, hearing the drawstring tighten in the Wii remote speaker, and then press the button to release the arrow. The bow, in actuality, controls no differently than the slingshot, just point and shoot.

The sound of the string is still there though, and the speaker is also used for a number of other in-game noises as well. It's a bit tinny, sounding not unlike a midi being played by a mobile phone, but still it – along with the Wii remote's rumble feature – do add a smidgen more to the game's overall immersive flavor.

Conclusion

And the game is immersive, there is no questioning that. It is every bit a killer app for Nintendo and the Wii, and deservingly so. Despite the nitpicking, this is still the best reason to own a Wii at launch, and will probably be for some time – despite a strong catalog of first and third party releases already announced.

It's fun and deep, and according to Nintendo will take players the span of time we normally attribute to a traditional role-playing epic to complete. I've tried to not spoil much here, reason being why I skirted around the story (which is entertaining in and of itself), and likewise have attempted to temper the existing fanboyism surrounding the game with a modicum of reality. In that, I hope for success."
POSTED: 02.09AM PST, 11/06/06 - Jason Dobson - LINK

 

[Edymion]

Little late sweatdrop ...but before it's expired xd

T (minus) 9 Days

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Excite Truck Hands-on

By Andrew Vandervell - 09/10/2006 - 2:20am GMT
The Wii Remote is used to good effect

I'd rather be pleasantly surprised by an unknown game of little pedigree, than disappointed by one that promised more than it could deliver. It's an idea that can be applied to most situations. Blind Dates, for example, are the very definition of such a theory. Set your expectations to low, and you won't be disappointed when it turns out your date enjoys clog dancing and rambling. Such is the case with Excite Truck. When it was announced at E3, many observers could do little more than exhibit a wearisome shrug of indifference. But, once people got their hands on the game, they soon realised it had a lot to offer, with the potential to equal the delights of previously low-key Nintendo launch titles such as Wave Race 64.
Excite Truck is a distant cousin to Excitebike 64 - the N64 title developed by former second party developer Left Field Productions, which was itself, a modern adaptation of the classic Excitebike from the NES era. Despite the distant lineage the influences can certainly be identified. Excitebike 64, and Excitebike before it, took the basic premise that making really big jumps on bikes equalled really big fun. Excite Truck does the same, except with Trucks. It's none-too-complicated and, much like many early Wii titles, neither are the controls.
Like Sonic and the Secret Rings, Excite Truck uses the Wii Remote alone with no nunchuk attachment required. You hold the remote horizontally, tilting left or right to steer and forward or back to level out your landings. The '1' and '2' buttons account for acceleration and braking, with the D-pad used to activate the all-important boost. As control systems go you can see why Nintendo sought to revive the franchise on Wii. Fans of the original Excitebike titles will immediately see the sense in using the remote's tilt abilities to perform inch perfect landings, and the system is very easy to pick up.



One area where Excite Truck certainly diverges from its cousins is in speed. Excite Truck is insanely fast, so fast in fact that comparisons to the Burnout series aren't completely out of place. Boosting, which forms an integral part of the gameplay, results in a mind-bending fish-eye effect that really accentuates the sense of speed, and how you use your boost is vitally important. Strewn around every track are power-ups, signified with a large exclamation mark, which trigger a variety of terrain altering events. Some trigger land slides, which you can use to knock opponents off the road, but the great majority cause the land in font of you to morph into giant ramps that you can boost off of to 'catch air' and earn stars. Nailing your landing also rewards you with a massive boost, making landings an important tool in maintaining your momentum.
The collection of stars forms the other key component of Excite Truck's gameplay. Borrowing heavily from other arcade titles, such as Burnout and OutRun, each race is not just a race to the finish, but a challenge to receive as high a grade as possible. Your grade depends upon the number of stars you are awarded in any given race. Stars are awarded for performing any number of moves, ranging from catching massive air to knocking opponents off the road and causing massive crashes. Your own crashes are rewarded too, and by tapping the '2' button you can earn a quick boost to get back on track and in contention.

Solid visuals and a smooth frame rate will please

Although the number of trucks and tracks are, as of yet, unknown, the early signs are certainly encouraging. Track design is very creative, with plenty of very neat touches including brilliant use of deforming terrain, and the trucks are well designed with a good sense of weight. The recent demo also included the Bowler Wildcat, which Top Gear fans will remember as the vehicle in which, Richard Hammond, claimed he was a "driving god". Visually, Excite Truck is very much on a par with other Wii launch titles we've already seen. It won't blow observers away, but will certainly please them with its good sense of style and brisk frame rate.
Overall, there's good reason to place Excite Truck at the higher end of your launch title wish list. It's a fun arcade racer with a great sense of speed, and it makes very good use of the Wii Remote in its gameplay. It may not re-write the arcade racer play book, but it certainly puts it to good use. It remains to be seen, however, whether it can string together the solid arcade elements into a game that will provide lasting satisfaction. For that, we'll just have to wait for the game to hit store shelves in December.

Source  

[Edymion]

I'm on time this time! xd

T (minus) 8 Days

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A game better shared with friends



Like many other un-energetic gamers the thought of playing a console that involves actually having to move from the sofa fills me with dread. When Wii Sports was announced I felt it would be a game that I’d toss aside in favour of the games that I could play whilst sitting down comfortably.

After playing Wii Sports, at the house of Wii in London, I realised just how unfit I’d become; I was sweating like a pig, panting like a dog and my body was aching from head to toe, but you know what? I’m looking forward to doing it all over again when Wii arrives in the UK on December 8th. If Wii Sports is an indication of other sports’ games that are coming to Wii then I’ll be ready to run the marathon next year.Wii Sports can still be played sitting down, but standing up and replicating the high-powered moves of a tennis player or boxer is more fun than I expected.

Wii Sports consists of 5 action titles, Tennis, Baseball, Bowling, Golf, and Boxing. These games are simple to play and have basic graphics, but I feel that Wii Sports could quite possibly change the way we entertain ourselves on a Saturday night; if you have friends that are also into gaming that is. As a solo experience I’m not certain whether Wii Sports will have the same effect (unless you’re looking at an alternate way to get fit), but as a multiplayer game it’s an exiting and competitive set of games that had us using all sorts of ungentlemanly techniques in order to break each others concentration. In ‘Boxing’ we were boisterously nudging each other, in ‘Tennis’ we were screaming abuse when the other made a poor shot, and in ‘Bowling’ Nick was even bragging about how “It’s not about power it’s about technique”.It's these off-putting comments, taunts and the male bonding session that made my Wii Sports experience a pleasurable one.

Wii Sports is going to make for some great Saturday night entertainment; returning back from the pub with friends and competing on all 5 of these games is going to make for some memorable nights. Wii Sports is more about the social interaction and the competition of playing with another person than the actual game itself, and although the games aren’t true representations of the sport they mimic, they are a great deal of fun to play.

Let’s have a look at the individual titles and our own HEXUS.gaming tournament between myself and the gaming editor, Nick.

Source

You can also expect the game too look a whole lot better than it did at E3 (in case you haven't been paying attention to the latest screen shots). You can see that many textures, shades, and lighting effects have been added...though, your characters (Mii caricatures) still appear limbless...  

[Edymion]

T (minus) 7 Days

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Red Steel Hands-on Preview
By Russell Frushtick

As the very first game announced for the Nintendo Wii, Red Steel had a pretty huge amount of buzz surrounding it going into E3 last May. The game would be the poster child for convincing the world that Nintendo's console wasn't just for the kiddies, with mature, GoldenEye-style gameplay and graphics. Unfortunately, the build at E3 was clearly not ready for prime time. With control issues and visual miscues, Red Steel was one of the few disappointments on Nintendo's show floor.Flash forward to a couple weeks before the Wii's launch. Sensing that folks didn't give the game a fair shake, Ubisoft held an event in NYC to show off the near-final build of the game. We felt it was our duty to give it another shot. Here's what we came away with after about an hour.The game starts off in a restaurant in Japan. You play as a yakuza bodyguard who falls for the boss's daughter, and at the start of the game you're sitting down for a quiet meal. The first time you take control the game, you'll have time to get used to the controls. Pointing the Wii-mote allows you to look around. It doesn't require very much movement at all, so you can rest your hand on your lap and just use your wrist to see all around you. The nunchaku handles movement and the actions of your off-hand, so by flicking it you can reload, open doors and reflect attacks.Clearly, this isn't going to be a nice night out, though. A rival gang quickly attempts to take out your boss, and it's up to you to rescue him from certain death. The first few levels are a frantic race through a hotel, blasting away at guys in stairwells and kitchens. Incredibly, the controls took almost no time to get used to. In a matter of minutes, we were aiming and locking on to enemies for easy headshots. The zooming feature is especially cool, as all you have to do is move the remote towards the screen. The Wii will sense that you're getting close and zoom your view in on the appropriate target.After some fierce gunplay, we ran into our first boss battle, which showed off the swordplay in the game. Using a sword is as easy as swinging the remote, but a lot of enemies will require more strategy than mindlessly hacking away. Oftentimes you'll have to reflect an attack (by shaking the nunchaku) in order to find an opening in their defenses.The gameplay was definitely reminiscent of GoldenEye, with an emphasis on action rather than exploration. We were definitely impressed by the graphics, which don't look nearly as ragged as they did at E3, and actually look much better than some of the other Wii launch games. Looks like we won't just be playing Zelda come November 19th.

Source  

[Edymion]

T (minus) 6 Days

Less than a week. The deadline looms. Don't forget to hold in your excitement!

Today's not a game coming out on release day. It's news of the future establishment of Wii, and it's through a specific third party. This is news from one of my personal picks (in terms of development teams)!

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Bandai Namco Working on Over 30 Wii Titles
11/11/2006, 2:10pm Eastern Time

In a Bandai Namco press conference, Vice President Shin Unozawa revealed that there are over 30 titles for Nintendo Wii in development without divulging further details about the games. He also made note that for both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, combined there are only 10 titles in works.

Namco is a Japanese Video Game developer best known for games such as Soul Calibur, Tekken, Tales, Ridge Racer, Xenosaga, and Katamari Damacy. Namco has also made special efforts to collaborate with Nintendo in the previous generation such as in Starfox: Assault and Mario Kart Arcade GP.

Current Namco games known for Wii include Sword of Legendia, Tamagotchi, and SD Gundam: Scud Hammers.
(as)

Source  

[Edymion]

T (minus) 5 Days

Quote:

Nintendo's Wii Is A Revolution
David M. Ewalt, 11.13.06, 9:15 AM ET Nintendo Wii

In 2005, when Nintendo unveiled its next-generation gaming console, the company revealed that the project's internal code name was "Revolution." Now that it's set to hit U.S stores on Nov. 19, the box will sell, oddly, as the Wii--pronounced "we." But Revolution remains a better fit. To compete with Sony's (nyse: SNE - news - people ) PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) Xbox 360, Nintendo (other-otc: NTDOY - news - people ) has re-invented videogaming, making it more social, more intuitive and surprisingly physically engaging. The Wii is indeed revolutionary, and it's potentially the device that will make videogaming as widely enjoyed as board or card games.
The feature that sets the Wii apart from both its competitors and its ancestors is the Wii remote, the device's control pad. Instead of a bulky, button-studded joystick, Nintendo has produced a slim wand that looks like a television remote control. It's connected to the console wirelessly, and more important, it's equipped with an innovative motion sensor that detects movement and rotation in three dimensions.


Read More From David M. Ewalt's Digital Download

In other words, the Wii remote allows users to get up, move around the room and become part of the game. If you want your character on the screen to swing his sword, you wield the remote and make the thrusts and parries yourself. In a game of baseball, you hold the remote like a bat, and swing for the stands when you want your virtual player to do the same.
By giving players the ability to physically interact with a virtual world, Nintendo has significantly changed the experience of videogaming. It's suddenly more immersive, more compelling and potentially more appealing to consumers who have never considered buying a videogame console before.
Last week, shortly after a Wii review unit arrived at Forbes.com's office, I set it up in a conference room to test it out. A colleague and I booted up Wii Sports, a collection of simple sports games that comes bundled with every console. It wasn't long before we were completely immersed in Wii Tennis. The simple mini-game replicates an actual tennis match as well as any I've ever seen: Since you're actually swinging the remote like you would a racket, you can hit with varying force or apply spin to the ball, depending on how you move your body.
Within minutes, we'd drawn a crowd, and only a short while after that, most of the editorial staff was packed into the conference room, laughing, enjoying the show and pushing for their turn at the remote. It was the first time since the original Nintendo Entertainment System came out in 1985 that videogaming felt like a party experience--not just because it was new, and worth gawking at, but because the experience is so much more physical, like Charades or Twister, and spectators can enjoy as much as the players.
After the hard-core gamers got their turns, less videogame-savvy editors took a shot, too. And it was here where the intuitive motion control system really proved its worth. There's no sequence of arcane button combinations required to throw a baseball: You just wind up and mime an actual throw. Suddenly, videogames are fun for everyone--old or young, male or female, regardless of prior gaming experience. I lost count of how many times I heard non-gamers say, "Wow, I want to get this."
The other phrase I heard a lot was something to the effect of, "There's no way I'm shelling out all that cash for a PlayStation 3." Sony's new game console, which debuts Nov. 17 in the U.S., will retail for $500 or $600, depending on whether you buy a basic setup or the premium version, which comes with a bigger hard drive, built-in Wi-Fi and a flash memory card reader. Similarly, Microsoft's Xbox 360, which debuted in November 2005, now retails at $300 or $400.
Compare that to the Wii's $250 price tag, and Nintendo's already got a leg up in the upcoming console war. By concentrating on innovating through game play, and ignoring its competitors' most high-tech features--super-powered processors, support for high-definition televisions and DVD formats--Nintendo has not only been able to keep its costs down, but it's hit upon the single thing that sets apart an entertainment device most: It's fun.
It's too early in the console war to tell if the Wii's upstart strategy will help Nintendo gain ground against Microsoft and Sony, both 800-pound gorillas of the gaming world. But if my early experience with the console--and the smiles on the faces of friends and colleagues--are any measure, Nintendo's got a huge hit on its hands.
Video: Batter Up With Wii!
Read More From David M. Ewalt's Digital Download

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EDIT: O_o; Formatting got messed up... Yay... Fun time ninja  

[Edymion]

T (minus) 4 Days

There has to be a surprise game, and the one brought today just so happens to be one such game! We also have to have that third-party support wink Without further ado, here we go!

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Rayman Raving Rabbids: Impressions and Video
Rayman meets Gladiator and Wario Ware in this mini-game bonanza. Hands-on and direct-feed inside.
by Matt Casamassina

October 13, 2006 - Rayman Raving Rabbids is not a platformer. You will not be navigating your way through a stylized 3D world or jumping from object to object like you may have done in, say, Rayman 2. This new entry into the franchise represents a dramatic departure from the traditional Rayman play style. But we're asking you not to be a snob about it because yes, Raving Rabbids is completely different, but it also happens to be hilarious and fun. If you ignore it just because it's not a platformer, well, you'll be missing out on a great Wii launch title and passing over a game designed primarily to take advantage of Nintendo's system. If we're making you feel guilty, good -- because damn it, you should own this game.


Rayman Raving Rabbids comes from Michel Ancel and the Beyond Good & Evil team. It could accurately be called a compilation of mini-games and it could likewise be compared to Nintendo's own Wario Ware series. But to be fair, Ubisoft's title is much deeper than Nintendo's, serving up a collection of varied and off-the-wall challenges both more complex and more lasting than many of the over-as-soon-as-they've-begun offerings in the Big N's project. But even if the two were identical, Rayman Raving Rabbids would still have one major advantage, which is that it's coming out this year.



Although the title has been designed to be immediately accessible, it does feature a surreal back-story and a means to connect the mini-games, of which there are more than 70, according to Ubisoft. The game begins as Rayman has been captured by an evil race of bunnies. You've undoubtedly seen these ridiculously funny characters in the various videos and images the developer has already released, but for the individual who hasn't, these beings have been living underground for years and have come to the surface to take over. The bunnies are short, have bad teeth, and hate just about everything except for yellow submarines and dancing. Imprisoned and without many options, Rayman is forced to compete in a series of challenges for the entertainment of the bunnies. If he succeeds in these tests, he gains in popularity and earns plungers, which he can use to build a ladder that he can climb to escape his jail cell. You'll also unlock special costumes -- the big afro, anybody? -- that Rayman can wear.

The intricacies of this setup were unfortunately not available for demonstration in the latest build of the game, which is coming along rapidly. However, Ubisoft representatives did tell us that Rayman will compete in a number of challenges per day over a 12-to-15-day period. He enters a colosseum-like environment inspired by the movie Gladiator and from this arena you're able to choose several different mini-games, at which point the action begins.




Raving Rabbids has a great sense of humor. The bunnies in the game are so well-designed, animated, and voiced, that they have actually upstaged Rayman himself to become the spotlight of Ubisoft's marketing efforts for the title. The game revolves the inabilities of these crazy enemies, which scream in rage if they are interrupted while sitting on the toilet or if they happen to grab a banana instead of a plunger. Don't ask -- you'll find out what we're talking about when you get to sit down and play the various mini-games for yourself.

Let's get into some specifics, though. With 70-plus minis to choose from, Ubisoft could have accidentally favored quantity over quality and we'd be left with a robust, but thoroughly unenjoyable experience. Luckily, that's not what has happened. Instead, the majority of minis in Raving Rabbids are not only funny, but well thought out, making full use of Nintendo's controllers for immediately intuitive, but nevertheless skill-based selections. Some of these mini-games are decidedly easy.

For instance, in one stage, you simply twirl the remote in circles to spin a cow around a chain, and then tap the A button to release the animal, where it soars into the air while mooing and moaning. The better your swing and release, the farther it flies. In a seemingly simple, but somehow difficult mini, you have to use the controller for a game of jump rope. Sounds like a breeze, but in practice it's very much like patting your head and rubbing your belly -- and Ubisoft has done this intentionally just to mess with you. You twirl the rope by motioning counterclockwise circles with the Wii-mote and you make Rayman jump by gesturing quickly to the right with the nunchuk. Not cool. Although we pulled it off, we nearly had a seizure doing so. As if the task itself weren't brain-teasing enough, bunnies continually pop into the screen, peer at you and scream while you attempt it. Honestly, it's hard not to giggle at this stuff.

In Carrot Juice, another mini, your job is to stop an army of scuba-gear-wearing bunnies as they advance on your oceanfront cocktail stand. You have to pump carrot juice into their scuba masks, which fill up and drown the characters. To do this, you aim your carrot juice hose with the Wii-mote, which naturally offers pixel-perfect accuracy, and you pump up and down as fast as you can with the nunchuk, which controls the flow of your carrot juice. If you're quick, you'll be able to send a constant stream of juice at the enemies. If you're slow, you'll sputter carrot juice their way at random intervals. Ubisoft said nobody had lasted with the mini longer than three minutes and we understand why; your forearm actually grows tired. It's awesome and completely different because rarely has physical exertion been a factor in videogames -- but here we are. Incidentally, we lasted more than two minutes and then the bunnies got us.


In Bunnies Don't Give Gifts, one of the critters approaches Rayman with a box filled with dynamite and a lit fuse hanging out. Rayman has a very limited set of time to run the box around the island and give it to a faraway bunny, where it will, of course, explode. Rapid up and down motions on both the nunchuk and WIi-mote cause Rayman to run faster and faster. Simple, but enjoyable, and you can keep trying to beat your time.


Bunnies Don't Close Doors has been a favorite of ours since we first played it in New York. Several bunnies are in different outhouses and they are all trying to go to the bathroom. The problem is that the doors to these outhouses keep swinging open, at which point the clearly modest bunnies will scream and then throw a plunger at you. Nobody wants a plunger in the face, so it's best to keep those doors closed. You do it simply by pointing with the Wii-mote, grabbing the door with the A button and then slamming it shut. It's easier said than done, especially when multiple doors start sliding open. The game's crude humor is highly appealing to us.


Bunnies Have no Memory is more or less a game of Simon Says. Four bunnies on-screen cry, wail and sing different off-key notes and you have to repeat their outbursts perfectly. You merely point at a bunny with the Wii-mote and tap the A button to do it.


Bunnies Don't Use Toothpaste is a particularly gruesome mini-game. The scene zooms in on a bunny's grotesque mouth, whose broken teeth house protruding worms. When the worms squirm out of the bunny's teeth, they look at you and smile, and your only task is to aim at them with the Wii-mote, grab them with the A button, and snap back to pull them out. When you eventually mess up, the action zooms in even closer to the bunny's horrifying mouth and the critter screams in agony and rage.


In Bunnies Helped Tame the Wild West you journey through an on-rails first-person sequence shooting the enemies with plungers. The backdrop is, naturally, the wild west, despite the fact there are some random robots thrown in for good measure. Using the Wii-mote, you point and shoot. You can tap a button on the nunchuk to rocket out a grappling hand, which latches onto bunnies and pulls them -- squirming and screaming -- to Rayman. And to reload your plunger gun you just shake the nunchuk.


In yet another mini, Rayman flies atop this giant bird and the objective is to soar around the island in search of pigs. Flying is done with the Wii-mote and feels very natural. You hit the A button to extend the bird's claws and latch onto a pig. And from there your goal is to drop the pig in a nearby pen. When we played, we were challenged to grab three pigs before the time ran out and always nabbed only two -- we still don't know where that last sucker was hiding.




All of the above mini-games played flawlessly, but there others were clearly still unfinished. For instance, in one game, the action was designed to mimic the fundamentals of smack-a-mole, but with bunnies instead. As they critters popped out of holes in a garden and looked around, you were meant to smack them on the head and send them packing. But the Wii-mote ran into some sensor issues and we were unable to try it. In one final mini, we saw a beat-up bunny with bandages and bruises, and our Wii-mote was supposed to control an on-screen hammer. We could never get it to work.

Despite these minor issues, we walked away from the game convinced that -- whether or not it's a traditional platformer or not -- it's going to be fun and funny. Plus, with its various multiplayer modes and huge selection of minis, it's bound to be one of the better games at launch for two or more players.


Just as it's done with Red Steel, Ubisoft has utilized the Wii hardware with Rayman and created beautiful and very stylized environments that are backed up by strong graphic technology. Lush, colorful beaches mingle with dark, rainy, gritty backdrops, just as the cute bunnies pop into environments with creepy statues and robots. Rabbids runs at 30 frames per second and supports progressive-scan and 16:9 widescreen modes.


We've posted a handful of direct-feed Rayman videos in our media section and we'll have even more next week. Don't hesitate to check them all out to see for yourself why we're so excited about the game.

Source

(I had to give at least one review/preview to the folks at IGN...))  

[Edymion]

Can you handle it? Is it in you to survive? It's coming! It's close! We wait on baited breath!

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Madden NFL 07: Multiplayer Madness


We check out the incredibly fun multiplayer minigames in Madden NFL 07 for the Wii.
By Brian Ekberg, GameSpot Posted Nov 10, 2006 10:03 am PT

The Nintendo Wii version of Madden NFL 07 might just be the most unique take on the long-running football franchise ever seen. The control scheme, which takes extensive advantage of the Wii's wireless controller and Nunchuk attachment make the game more interactive and visceral than you might expect, and, even better, the game includes all of the single-player modes found in the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions. The game will also include a trio of multiplayer minigames that aren't found in the other versions of Madden, and they just happen to be one of the best aspects of the Wii version. We got a chance to try out the three minigames, in some cases multiple times, during a recent demo session with the folks at EA Sports.


Though minigames are nothing new to the Madden franchise, those found in the Wii version have never been seen in the series before. The trio includes Two-on-Two, Kicking Combine, and a mode called YAC Attack. All can be played with up to four players on the same Wii console, and in some cases, two players can join together to take on the computer.
The first minigame we played, Two-on-Two, featured two players per team in a series of wide-open passing and catching that played a bit like your old schoolyard pickup games. The goal here is to score as many touchdowns as you can for each of the five plays of your round. Should you intercept a ball and run it back to the opposite end zone, you get two points. Each team gets a set number of downs per round, with one player acting as the quarterback and the other acting as the wide receiver. On the defensive side of the ball, one player controls a defensive back and the other plays as a linebacker, rushing the quarterback. Just like the old-school games, there is a set amount of time before the linebacker can cross the line of scrimmage to rush the QB, counted off in "Mississippi's" that flash up on the screen (as in One Mississippi, Two Mississippi, and so on). Once you get to the set number of Mississippi's, the linebacker can cross the scrimmage line and lay a beatdown on the QB.
During Two-on-Two, every player will get multiple chances to play every position. In the first round, you might play quarterback on offense and linebacker on defense. In the next round, you'll play as a wide receiver on offense and a defensive back when playing defense. Your responsibilities, naturally, change depending on the position you're currently playing. As a wideout, for example, your job will be to get open, running whatever kind of route you wish. When the ball is thrown your way, you'll have to manually catch the ball by motioning up with the two controllers simultaneously. Your quarterback, on the other hand, will have a few moments to wait before he's under pressure; once the wideout is open, he'll toss the ball by pressing forward with the Wii controller. The power you put behind the Wii controller "throw" motion will determine the type of throw you make. A quick motion will make for a bullet pass; a slow movement will result in a lob pass.
On defense, the primary objective of the linebacker is to put pressure on the quarterback, though he can drop back into double coverage, as well. Though he can only begin his rush once the time limit is up, you can speed up the Mississippi countdown by vigorously drumming the Wii controller and Nunchuk up and down. The quicker you drum, the faster the countdown will go, putting that much extra pressure on the QB. Finally, as the defensive back, your job is to knock down, or better yet, intercept the pass. You can swat a pass by holding up the Wii controller when the ball reaches you; to attempt an interception, you hold up both controllers as if you were playing receiver.
Over the course of a full game, you can expect to score a ton of touchdowns and, for the most part, it's a rollicking good time, especially with four players. The ever-changing routes of the wide receiver and the constant pressure on the quarterback make for some laugh-out-loud moments of tension. It helps too that there's no such thing as pass interference in this mode, so when playing as a defensive back, you can impede the wideout's progress by getting ahead of him and slowing him down. There are some frustrations--catching the ball is sometimes more difficult than it should be, and tackling is sometimes pretty difficult--but for the most part, it's a great time.


The second mode, Kicking Combine is, as you might expect, a kicking contest. Up to four players can take part, first choosing their team (and thus their kicker), and then using the Madden Wii kick mechanic (hold down the A button and move the Wii controller up quickly) to nail field goals from increasingly longer distances. The space between the two goal posts is color coded, and the closer you are to splitting the uprights down the middle, the more points you'll earn. To add challenge, all of the other nonkicking players in the game can generate "wind" by quickly drumming their two controllers in the air and pressing the Nunchuk's analog stick in any direction. The quicker everyone drums, the stronger the wind you'll generate and the harder it will be for the kicker. To make things even more difficult, you only have a few seconds to make your kick attempt before the next person takes his or her turn. Of the three, this was perhaps the weakest of the minigames, if only because it seemed overly difficult to make kicks with a strong wind working against you (the purposeful lack of an aiming arrow didn't help here). Then again, no one else seemed to be having too much trouble going all Adam Vinatieri on us, so perhaps the trouble was ours alone.
The final mode, and our favorite of the bunch, is known as YAC Attack. The "YAC" in YAC Attack stands for yards after catch, which means this is yet another pitch-and-catch minigame, though this one has a definite twist of its own. Essentially a three-on-one matchup, YAC Attack has one player acting as the quarterback for any NFL team, while the three remaining players are defensive backs looking to defend against the pass. When the quarterback hikes the ball, it's up to that player to find an open receiver; the three defensive backs will look to be swatting down balls, tackling receivers, or otherwise disrupting the momentum of the player on offense. If you've played defensive back in Madden NFL 07's Superstar challenge, you know that this is one of the more challenging positions in the game, but in YAC mode, that adds to the challenge. There is also the added benefit of your teammate picking up your slack if you blow your coverage and making the tackle or, better yet, breaking up the play altogether.
The twist in YAC Attack mode is that everyone is always competing against one another, even if they're playing on the same team. This is because how you perform on the field will earn you points, and the player with the highest number of points at the end of the game is the winner. On defense, making a big tackle or interception will earn you points, just like making a big pass will on offense. Simply completing passes isn't enough, however. The real goal on offense is to make a pass and then get those all-important yards after catch, which will really add to your point total. That said, it's not unusual to see someone leading the game mostly through skillful defensive play--a smart design choice that ensures everyone is in the game, no matter what side of the ball they're playing on.


The only annoying thing about this mode, beyond the occasional dropped pass, is when receivers get far down the field and become covered up by the individual player score graphics at the top of the screen. It's easy to lose track of your defensive assignments at this point, and a smart QB will take advantage of that. Still, the trash-talking possibilities in YAC Attack mode are pretty much off the charts, especially when the three defensive players gang up on the quarterback to throw him or her off their game. Even better, there's nothing better than shutting up the defensive yahoos with a sniper throw and a subsequent 30-yard touchdown run. Simply put, when YAC Attack mode is at its best, it's the best minigame of the bunch.
Though all three minigames in the Wii version of Madden NFL 07 have their charms, it's the interactive and energetic nature of the Two-on-Two and YAC Attack modes that impressed us most--if only because they seem most in line with the four-players-on-the-couch ethos that's at the heart of the Wii console. We look forward to spending more time with these minigames and the rest of what Madden NFL 07 for the Wii has to offer when the game launches later this month.
-GameSpot

Source  

[Edymion]

It's way too close. There are people losing sleep over this, and there are people camping out to watch the Sony PS3's walk out...only to wait another two days to pick up their console of choice! Me? I got mine pre-ordered ^_^

Here's a rather simple offering for you all today. This is a, pretty much, launch list.

Quote:

Games list for Wii launch

Mike Antonucci, 02:21 PM in Gaming, Mike Antonucci
Dean's just about dead on in his estimate of 20 Wii games being available at launch.
Here's the latest confirmed list I've been working on today:
Nintendo: Five Wii Sports games, including tennis and bowling, come with the console. The company also is releasing "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess'' and "Excite Truck'' at launch.
Activision: "Call of Duty 3,'' "Marvel: Ultimate Alliance'' and "Tony Hawk's
Downhill Jam'' will be available at launch. "World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions'' and "Rapala Tournament Fishing'' are scheduled for later next week.
Atlus: "Trauma Center: Second Opinion'' will be available at launch.
Electronic Arts: "Madden NFL 07'' and "Need for Speed: Carbon'' will be available at launch. "Tiger Woods PGA Tour'' and "SSX'' arrive in early '07.
Konami: "Elebits'' is scheduled for December.
Midway: "Happy Feet,'' "The Grim Adventures of Bill & Mandy'' and "Rampage: Total Destruction'' will be available at launch. "The Ant Bully'' is scheduled for later next week.
Sega: "Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz'' will be available at launch. "Sonic and the Secret Rings'' is scheduled for March.
THQ: "SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab,'' "Avatar: The Last Airbender'' and "Cars'' will be available at launch. "Barnyard'' is scheduled for later this month.
Ubisoft: "GT Pro Series,'' "Monster 4X4: World Circuit,'' "Rayman Raving Rabbids'' and "Red Steel'' will be available at launch. "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent'' is scheduled for late this month, with "Open Season'' and "Far Cry Vengeance'' in December.

Source  

[Edymion]

The wait is almost over. Most retailers receiving Wii units will be open tonight (or tomorrow morning based on how you look at it) at midnight to offer what so many have been waiting for. GameStop/EBGames locations, which received fewer than expected PS3 units, did not have a "special" midnight opening at all their stores. They did at a few, but these were, primarily, stores that simply did not have the supplies to meet pre-orders. With the Wii, on the other hand, GameStop/EBGames was more stringent on pre-orders. They actually held expectations low, at numbers just above PS3. Nearly all stores are receiving more units than they were, initially, authorized to take pre-orders on. That being the case, all retail locations receiving Wii units are holding midnight sales for the units.

Fun stuff? Well. I've got one more review for the system, in general. It's, once again, from those in suits and ties none of us ever thought would play video games! I've been reading a lot of reviews like this one. FoxNews, MSNBC, CNN, Forbes, and many others are being surprised, time and again, at the value of the Wii system. If you want more on what each of these had to say, I recommend checking their sites for yourself. You will not be disappointed, and the humor is kept pretty interesting (I especially enjoyed FoxNews' reference to a 4-year-old, golf, and pwnage!). I bring to you the review from one of many magazines to name the Wii the Electronics's Best Buy of 2006!

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A Closer Look at the Nintendo Wii

Our reviewer catches his breath to report on his first few days with the Wii and its innovative, crowd-pleasing controller.

Danny Allen, PC World

Friday, November 17, 2006 07:00 PM PST


Photograph: Chris Manners


Members of Nintendo's huge, vocal fan base have been salivating in anticipation of the Wii for some time. But the curious and appreciative onlookers that I've noticed during my recent testing of a retail unit suggest that the Wii's appeal may well extend beyond the Nintendo faithful. The Wii seems poised to make console gaming more social, immersive, and--most importantly--fun than it has ever been.
Nintendo has announced that more than 1 million units of the $250 Wii will be available when the model makes its official U.S. debut on Sunday. So your odds of getting your hands on a Wii in the near future are better than your odds of snagging a PS3. Cryogenically freezing yourself to avoid the wait, as one of the characters in South Park did recently, won't be necessary.
Below is a video of the Nintendo Wii in action. To view it, you'll need to have the Adobe Flash Player plug-in installed.


Out of the Box

The Wii is the most compact of the next-generation consoles. It weighs just 2.7 pounds and measures 8.5 inches long by 6 inches wide by less than 2 inches thick. It has clean, sharp lines and an Apple-like glossy white finish, though we'll undoubtedly see units in black and possibly other colors at some point.
Like the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, The Wii can be oriented horizontally or vertically, thanks to its angled plastic stand. Once you've positioned it, your next step is to plug in the power supply (which is about the size a laptop brick), and connect the bundled composite audio/video cables to your television. To output content at the Wii's maximum 480p resolution in 16:9 wide-screen format, you'll have to purchase the optional component cable separately.
Next you must set up the included controllers: a Wii Remote and a Nunchuk--a joystick-style controller that connects to the remote for additional game control. I first hooked up the supplied sensor bar to the console and placed it just under the display of my TV. The sensor bar allows the console to communicate wirelessly (via Bluetooth) with up to four Wii Remotes at a time. The Wii Remote works for games within a radius of about 30 feet and functions as a cursor-type pointing device within about 15 feet. In my testing, the on-screen pointer jittered slightly when I tried to use it from farther away.
Photograph: Chris Manners


The final setup steps are to place two AA batteries into the Wii Remote, rearrange your furniture as necessary to clear plenty of space in front of the TV (to avoid any "Wiinjury"), and fire up the console.
Our colleagues over at GamePro have scanned in the Wii's manual, and it's worth a look to get an even more complete idea of the Wii's setup routine and overall features.
PC World also has a detailed account of a test drive of the PlayStation 3; and a review comparing the PS3 and the Wii.
The Wii Menu and Online Features

The first time I powered up the Wii, I had to create a gamer ID, which the system uses to save your games and also to identify you online. After creating my log-in and entering the date and time, I was presented with the Wii Menu. This interface, which uses a television/channel metaphor, is where you access the Wii's mostly free online features.
The first thing I wanted to do was jump online. I was particularly interested in the "sleepless" WiiConnect24 service that lets the console automatically download information, even when it's on standby.
The Wii includes a built-in 802.11b/g wireless network adapter, but you can also go online by using extra-cost options such as a LAN adaptor or a Wi-Fi USB adaptor that shares a PC's Internet connection. I tested the integrated Wi-Fi, and setup was a snap. The Wii scanned for and found my wireless ADSL router, and it let me type in the network's WEP key via an on-screen keyboard. I found that I could select letters and move around the Wii Menu using the Wii remote in the same way that I'd use a computer mouse. The remote even vibrated subtly in my hand as I hovered over menu options. Tactile feedback: great!
Unfortunately, since Nintendo's servers won't be up and running until the Wii launches, my online experience was limited. But the Wii will link to a lot of online elements after launch:
Wii Shop Channel (and Virtual Game Console): Nintendo's online store will eventually offer various extras to download, but the most notable one at launch is the Virtual Console, which will allow gamers to download and play games from past consoles such as the Nintendo 64, NES, Super NES, Sega Genesis, and TurboGrafx16. Nintendo will offer 12 classic console games at launch, including Donkey Kong (NES), SimCity (SNES), Super Mario 64, Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis), and Bomberman '93 (TurboGrafx16). Some 30 virtual console games should be available for download by year's end, according to Nintendo. The online shop will operate on a payment system called Wii Points. You'll be able to purchase Wii Points at retail outlets or with a credit card online. They'll be available in blocks of 2000 for $20 a block (which means that 1 Wii point is worth a penny, and 100 are worth a dollar). The retro NES games will start at 500 Wii points, TurboGrafx16 titles at 600 Wii Points, SNES and Sega Genesis games at 800 Wii Points, and N64 classics at about 1000 Wii Points.
Internet Channel: A customized version of the Opera Web browser (with Flash support) will be available for the Wii, Nintendo says. We can't tell whether it'll be ready for download at launch, nor how much it will cost, but Nintendo has confirmed that you'll have to surrender Wii Points to obtain it.
Forecast Channel: On this channel you'll be able to browse a 3D globe to obtain weather forecasts that are automatically updated each day.
News Channel: This channel will automatically display the latest news from around the world. The Associated Press will supply the headlines, Nintendo says.
Wii Message Board: Here you can post messages on a calendar for other Wii players in your house, exchange messages with Wii users around the world, and gather information about the latest game updates.
Photo Channel: The Wii's photo management and sharing options are far deeper than those of the PlayStation 3. You can use this channel to access digital photos via the Wii's SD card slot or a mobile phone. And besides just viewing the images, you'll be able to zoom in; create slide shows, a photo gallery or photo puzzles; draw on images; adjust colors in various artistic ways; and send your creations to other Wii users.
Mii Channel: This channel invites you to create customized caricature avatars for yourself; use them in a variety of Wii games; and save them to the Wii Remote for use later--even at a friend's house. You can store up to ten Mii characters on a single Wii Remote.
Disc Channel: Clicking here starts a Wii game disc that you've inserted.
Those Controllers

Wii controllers are designed to be perfectly usable whether you're left- or right-handed.
For games, the Wii Remote has a plus pad (D-pad), a large A button, an underside B trigger, and buttons labeled 1 and 2. The main surface has other buttons as well: power up, minus and plus (for escaping game menus, and the like) and a home button (for switching back to the Wii Menu and checking controller battery life).
The Wii Remote also contains a control for adjusting force feedback, a built-in speaker, a wrist strap (in case the remote flies out of your hand), and four blue LED lights that indicate which player/controller number you've been assigned. An expansion port on the remote lets you connect the Nunchuk and other optional controllers. The supplied Nunchuk controller is used in conjunction with the Wii Remote and provides an analog thumb stick, and two front trigger buttons labeled C and Z. A second Wii Remote costs $40, and a second Nunchuk costs $20.
Another option is a classic-style controller (which Nintendo has priced at $20) for non-motion-sensing titles such as fast-paced fighting games. At E3 last spring, I took photos of the classic controller and Nintendo's concept "Zapper," a gunlike shell for the Wii Remote.
As time goes by, you can expect independent vendors to offer a multitude of plastic shells to slide your Wii Remote into--all of them promising to improve your gaming experience. One product already on sale is UbiSoft's $20 Wii Steering Wheel. Web rumors suggest that Electronic Arts may be working on a way to let you strap the Wii Remote to your foot in order to play its FIFA soccer game. Another rumor has it that the Nintendo DS handheld's touch screen will be able to act as a controller for Wii games.
Nintendo has experimented with different controllers in the past. Anyone remember the Power Glove or Virtual Boy? This time however, the company's efforts seem to have produced a winner.



Get Into the Game

Nintendo reports that at least 62 titles will be available for the Wii by year's end. Launch titles include the following:

• Avatar: The Last Airbender
  
• Cars and SpongeBob SquarePants: The Creature from the Krusty Krab
  
• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaich 2
  
• Excite Truck
  
• Happy Feet and The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
  
• Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
  
• Madden NFL 07
  
• Marvel Ultimate Alliance from Activision
  
• Monster 4X4 World Circuit
  
• Rampage: Total Destruction
  
• Rayman Raving Rabbids
  
• Red Steel
  
• Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
  
• Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam
  
• Trauma Center: Second Opinion
  
• Wii Sports

And these titles should be available within five weeks of launch:

• The Ant Bully
  
• Barnyard
  
• Chicken Little: Ace in Action
  
• Elebits
  
• Far Cry: Vengeance
  
• Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
  
• Metal Slug Anthology
  
• Need for Speed: Carbon
  
• Open Season
  
• Rapala Tournament Fishing
  
• Super Swing Golf
  
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent
  
• World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions

Hotly anticipated games such as Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, are due to arrive during the first half of 2007. The Wii will support single- or double-layer standard (12cm) Wii discs and mini (8cm) GameCube game discs.
About the Games

Here are my thoughts on the titles that I've tried out so far:
Wii Sports: Included free with the console, this simple but fun collection of micro sports games (tennis, golf, baseball, bowling, and boxing) will have you using the Wii controllers in various intuitive ways. The graphics, which are based on Mii characters, aren't crash hot--but like PlayStation Eye Toy games, they'll have you jumping about and generally having a blast miming the arm movements that each sport involves in real life. People watching me play a colleague had almost as much fun spectating as we had playing and were eager to try it themselves. Boxing--the only mini game that used both the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers, for both left- and right-handed punches--was my favorite and provided a decent workout! (For more detail and screenshots, check out GamePro's review.) A sequel, of sorts, to the Wii Sports collection, called Wii Play, should be available by year's end. It most likely will include table tennis, laser hockey (like air hockey), fishing, shooting, and pool/snooker, among other challenges.
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: This is clearly the most intently awaited Wii title--and from what I've seen so far, the wait was worth it. As in the GameCube version, the characters here speak in text only (which may or may not be a positive feature). It offers multiple environments, various styles of game play, and excellent graphics. You'll either love or hate the Wii controller enhancements; I found them easy to pick up and quite immersive. Swinging the sword was envigorating; and when I shot an arrow, I could first hear its sound in the Wii Remote's speaker, and then on the TV's speakers, enhancing the impression that the arrow was moving away from me. Again, for more detail and screenshots, read GamePro's review.
Excite Truck: In this racing title from Nintendo, you use the Wii Remote horizontally to mimic a steering wheel. The game does a superb job of conveying a sense of speed, and it looks pretty sharp. The thing I liked best about the game, though, was the absurdly massive amounts of air the trucks get, allowing me to jump and bump my way to victory. Here's GamePro's take.
Madden NFL 07: This Electronic Arts staple looks stunning on the Wii and is comparable to the version on rival consoles. Unique to the Wii's version, however, is the control scheme, owing to the Wii's implementation of motion-sensing control. You throw passes with the Wii remote (with subtle movements akin to a real ball toss) and control your receiver with the Nunchuk's joystick. I'm having a blast refining my technique just by playing a two-player game against friends, but if you want to upgrade your skills more quickly, Wii control tutorials are available.



More Wii Specs

Photograph: Chris Manners


I've already discussed the Wii's design, but let's take a closer look at its specs. The console uses a PowerPC processor jointly developed by Nintendo and IBM and manufactured by IBM. The Wii also has an ATI graphics chip, dubbed "Hollywood."
The console comes with 512MB of built-in flash memory for storage, plus an SD card reader. GameCube fans will appreciate that the unit also has four ports for GameCube controllers and two GameCube memory card ports. Two USB 2.0 ports are available for optional accessories such as the Wii LAN (Ethernet) adapter.
The Wii's built-in DVD slot drive emits a blue light when you turn the console on or insert a disc, but the Wii currently can't play back music CDs or DVD movies. Nintendo and Sonic Solutions are working on introducing DVD playback functionality, which they hope to make available via a future software download.
Living in a Wii World

Impressively, the responsive Wii controller remains satisfying to use even after the gimmick factor wears off. Your movements can become more subtle (and less energy consuming) as you learn how various games work. There's also the classic controller option, and the promise of myriad forthcoming controller shells.
The Wii's ridiculously enjoyable titles and innovative, motion-sensitive controllers help make it feel more like a toy you'll want to share with a group of players than a console you'd use strictly on your own for hours on end.
At $250, the affordable Wii is half or less of the price of the $500 and $600 versions of the PlayStation 3. True, the PS3 has superior graphics and a SixAxis motion-sensitive controller, but for casual gamers these features may be overkill--and for many more the PS3 package may be too expensive. If you have $250 and a group of friends at the ready, or if you're looking to buy an affordable, fun console for yourself or your kids, get a Wii.

What especially surprised me was the constant reference to GamePro Magazine. GPM happens to be one of the traditional anti-Nintendo magazines. If their parent company (PC World) is going to be "made fans" of the Wii, this may change the face of GamePro forever! This is good news, much along the lines of IGN becoming far less anti-Nintendo than they were in 2003.