Sunday, August 5, 2007

The Wii

So tonight, we were at a party at my wife's coworker's house. And he had a Nintendo Wii. All we did is play Wii Sports the entire time (as much as the kid would allow us to, anyway). And we had a blast. This is the first time my wife's been genuinely excited about a video game system, at least since we went through a mild playstation 1 phase a few years ago. So needless to say, we decided that we need to get one. :)

Obviously, supply is a major problem right now. But assuming that can be conquered, I wanted to figure out what exactly we'll need to invest into the thing in order to get up to speed. Here's my list:
  • The Wii -- $250
  • Extra controller -- $40 (we could get Wii Play plus a controller for $50...though I've heard that game might not be worth the ten bucks)
  • Extra nunchuk thingie -- $20 (maybe...not sure it'd be used much, except maybe for boxing)
  • Component Cable -- $20 (we recently bought a 37" HDTV, and while the Wii isn't HD, I want it to look as good as possible...and it does seem to make a big difference)
I'd also like to get the charge station, though we have a good number of quality rechargeable extra AA's floating around for our digital cameras, so it's probably not necessary.

So we're looking at roughly a $330 startup. And that's before we get any games. I'm sure we'll go the rental/used route as much as possible, but even used Wii games are pricey right now.

Any recommendations? Zelda seems like the only game that I'd be personally obligated to get, given my interests. But I'm more interested in games that my wife (a non-gamer) might like, and that we can play together...
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7 comments:

  1. Zach HolbrookAugust 5, 2007 at 9:25 AM

    I've played the Wii only once, but it was great fun. I would have kept playing but I was at a bar and didn't want to make a spectacle of myself getting too into it. So I suppose I'm not going to be much help as far as deciding what games to get, but I do fully support your decision.

    Puzzle Quest is supposed to be available for the Wii in early 2008. I have it for the PSP, and I think it's a pretty ingenious (and very addictive) little game.

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  2. WyrinAugust 5, 2007 at 11:48 AM

    I picked up a Wii a couple of months back, and it really is amazing how it brings something new to tired, seasoned old gamer like me ;)

    I'd reccomend getting Wii play if your wife isn't a serious gamer - the games in there aren't amazing but they're fun, and you can compete against each other - and at and extra tenner for the controller, it's worth picking up.

    I run mine on a 32" LCD and it looks pretty good. I'm waiting to pick up Zelda second hand and FInal Fantasy Crystal Chronicles and Naruto when they are released, but I got Resident Evil 4 fairly cheap, and that's great fun. Supply here was tricky, and the only one I found was in a bundle with Cars, Open Season, and Songebob plus Wii Sports. The cartoon based ones are fun, but not taxing - but they suit my non-gamer gf well. Eleedees (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Konami-Eledees-Wii/dp/B000IMFNRK) could be good for a non-gamer.

    SO not played a great range of games on the Wii, but it's really injected some fun back into console gaming for me

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  3. BerliadAugust 5, 2007 at 4:14 PM

    Thanks for the comments--they are helpful! Wyrin, if you found Wii Play to be worth getting, especially in terms of providing something that my wife and I can play together, we'll definitely go that route.

    I have described my wife as a non-gamer, but one game she really did enjoy on our playstation was Crash Bandicoot Warped. It was a nice combination of platformer-style action mixed with some really fun mini-games. Just challenging enough to be enjoyable, but never so much that you had to have any real talent to win. Even so, she did far better in that game than I ever did. :) -B

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  4. AnonymousAugust 5, 2007 at 11:56 PM

    I've heard good reviews about warioware smooth moves (http://www.gamespot.com/wii/puzzle/wariowaresmoothmoves/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;review)

    It consists primarily of what they call "microgames" that use the motion sensing capabilities of the controller in a bunch of different ways, and is described as being pretty accessible to casual gamers

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  5. AnonymousAugust 6, 2007 at 1:46 AM

    I would get Mario Party 8 and Mario Strykers. They are both designed for multiplayer games so you and your wife should have fun.Big Brain Academy is supposed to be fun, you can earn degrees and take classes to be more intelligent. There's also a multiplayer mode lol.

    Phaedra36

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  6. DzagoAugust 6, 2007 at 3:02 AM

    What about Rayman Raving Rabits, bunch of hillarious minigames I think it's must have on Wii.

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  7. BerliadAugust 6, 2007 at 1:22 PM

    Thanks for all the recommendations! Very helpful.

    In case others are reading this, I found nice video reviews of Smooth Moves, Raving Rabbids, and others here: http://www.g4tv.com/xplay/reviews/index.html

    Used to watch that show back when TechTV was part of basic Tier Cable, but it's been a while. :) Here's Rabbids:
    http://www.g4tv.com/xplay/reviews/1317/Rayman_Raving_Rabbids.html
    Smooth Moves:
    http://www.g4tv.com/xplay/reviews/1409/WarioWare_Smooth_Moves.html
    And Zelda:
    http://www.g4tv.com/xplay/reviews/1315/The_Legend_of_Zelda_Twilight_Princess.html

    Also, Gamespot has a few video reviews as well, including super monkey ball, which sounds right up my wife's alley:
    http://www.gamespot.com/wii/action/supermonkeyballbananablitz/review.html?sid=6161924
    -B

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