Wii

Over the weekend of November 17th to November 19th, I was able to acquire both of the most sought after consoles, the Wii and the PS3. Personally I consider it unfair to compare the two because the PS3 is such a powerful beast, and the Wii is so much more fun. You can go pretty much anywhere on the 'Net and find opinions about the two systems, and this blog is no exception! I will, however, attempt to provide information that I haven't seen elsewhere.

Due to a strange sequence of events, I actually acquired my PS3 later in the day on the same day I acquired my Wii. And since I'm an unapologetic Nintendo fanboy, I'm reviewing the Wii first.

Nintendo prefers for some reason that the system simply be called Wii and not "Nintendo Wii". I'm sure it figures into the rantings of some social engineering plot designed to cement the system into the hearts and minds of the world, but it also saves me typing so I'm going along with it.

While many people camped out 2-3 days to acquire a PS3, I camped out a day and a half to get a Wii - not because that was the only way, but because I wanted one on day-one. Bored to tears I walked into the Best Buy I had camped out in front of and bought a copy of Eragon. I nearly finished the book by the time the store opened the next day, but, dad-gummit, I was the first one in line and thus got first pick of some of the more hard-to-find accessories like controllers and nunchuck attachments. I also picked up Red Steel, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, and Rayman: Raving Rabbids.

Out of the box -
System setup was pretty straightforward, but a bit more complicated than any previous Nintendo system owing to the requirements of the new controller. In order determine vertical alignment and triangulate distance from the screen, the system requires a slim infrared sensor bar to be mounted at the bottom of the screen or the top of it. This isn't very complicated to get accomplished correctly, however it makes moving the system from one TV to another more of a chore. I suppose if you count the fact that the controllers are all cordless now you might be able to call it even. Other than that, you have your power cord, and video cables and that's all there is to it. If you intend to use the Wii's online features (many of which are pending a future update) you will need to have a Wi-Fi capable router or access point as the Wii does not support wired Internet connections without the use of a special USB adapter (sold separately, only from Nintendo) The Wi-Fi setup is pretty straight forward. If you have ever set up a computer for Wi-Fi, everything should be more or less familiar. It supports all of the popular Wi-Fi security features like WEP and WPA. Mine was up and running in less than 10 minutes.

The Good -
The Wii remote - the center of your Wii world - is surprisingly simple in appearance but is in reality one of the most sophisticated human-computer interfaces commercially available. It utilizes two different types of wireless connectivity, has a multi-axis gyroscopic sensor that knows the exact orientation of the controller no matter how you tilt it, has a force feedback vibration function, a built in speaker, and a high-speed extension port that allows for a wide variety of possibilities for future expansions. In addition to its myriad features, it has an unexpectedly comfortable heft to it. Usage is very intuitive for simple things like menu navigation and with a little tweaking, could easily replace the PC mouse in a few years. For gameplay, there can be a bit more of a learning curve depending on how and how well the developer implemented it. Games like Rayman: Raving Rabbids were easy to just pick up and play, but Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz required a somewhat steeper learning curve. With practice, precision control is possible.

The Wii has a very small "footprint" (the amount of space it takes up on the surface on which it is placed) and should fit easily into just about any TV cabinet, shelf or entertainment center. The ventilation is all accomplished through the back panel of the unit (unlike the Gamecube where the fan vents were on the sides) Wii can easily be sandwiched between or underneath other devices without concern of overheating.

The Wii Sports tech demo included with the system is a very shallow but almost addictive diversion. The Wii operating software has a feature called Mii where you create little virtual characters, somewhat akin to a super-simplified version of the Sims or Animal Crossing. These characters can be sent to visit the Wii consoles of other friends connected to the Internet, and they are also the players in Wii Sports. Each Mii acquires his/her own scores and stats based on how well you perform at the various sporting events while using that Mii as the character. From what I've seen, Nintendo has future titles in the works to build on this feature.

The limited Internet communication is extremely restricted with the intention of keeping kids safe from Internet predators. Non-parent players will probably find it too restrictive as it requires that you first communicate with a person outside of the Wii network to exchange Wii console numbers. Without a Wii console number you cannot invite someone to be your friend, and unless the other person accepts your invitation you cannot communicate with him or her. The idea being that a child is literally unable to meet new people via the Wii interface. There are several fan-run websites that seek to alleviate this restriction by providing a place to meet other players and exchange the codes required to communicate via the Wii.

Zelda and Rayman are by far my favorite games so far. Rayman is stupid fun and makes innovative use of most of the new controller's capabilities. Zelda is as sweeping an epic that any fan could want. These games may not look like Oblivion or Gears of War in terms of polygon count, but they are every bit as much fun.

The system is, as far as I can tell, 100% backwards compatible with Gamecube. Two lids on the top of the Wii open up to reveal Gamecube controller and memory card ports.


The Bad

Along with all of the wonderful new features, there are a couple of annoyances I have encountered with Wii.

--Wii 24/7
This is Nintendo's "always-on" Internet-based service. The Wii will periodically "phone home" to check for system software updates, and your friends can come and visit your Wii to leave messages or Mii's even while you're not playing. Personally I would prefer to have a little more control over this feature. As it is, you have to completely disable Internet connectivity to get your Wii console to stop acting as if it has a mind of its own. It was a little creepy the first time the blue disc slot just came on in the middle of the night and stayed on for several hours. As none of my friends reported visiting at that time, and no software updates were available at the time, there was no explanation provided as to why the Wii had done that. What's more I found that my controller's battery was completely drained in the morning. (The controller part is possibly just a coincidence, but I could have sworn that the battery had at least half a charge left before night time.

--AA batteries only
The Wii remote runs on two AA batteries. With the other current generation systems, the Wireless controllers either have or can be fitted with rechargeable battery packs which can be recharged by plugging the controllers into the system. Given the immense flexibility of the Wii remote, I suppose such a feature is a possibility for the future, but for now you just have to keep changing the batteries. If you decide to use one of the rubber sleeves (I believe they are referred to as "gloves") on your Wii remote, it will have to be removed each time your replace the batteries. The gloves I have are tight enough that this operation is a royal pain.

--Composite Video
From the outset, Nintendo has downplayed the role of High Definition graphics in video games, choosing instead to focus on improved gameplay and improved overall player experience. And I'm all for innovation like that, but I still want the best picture quality possible. The Wii ships with composite video cables - probably the lowest quality signal available on most TVs these days. Composite represents the "just enough to get by" mentality, and that's fine that that is all that you get with the system, but Nintendo grossly underestimated the demand for higher-quality Component video cables needed to get ultra-clear 480p video from the system. What's worse, none of these highly-sought-after cables were sent to stores. The only place they were available was from Nintendo directly via their online store. I ordered my cables on the 16th of November and did not receive them until the 28th due to gross underestimation of demand. In the interim, these cables (which cost me $35 if you count shipping) were being scalped on Ebay for nearly $200 - and people appeared to be paying it! For smaller TVs the improvement provided by these cables will not be so evident, but with larger screens (about 30 inches and above) the difference can be night and day. They made a dramatic improvement on my 42". The supply problem appears to be fixed now, but it was very annoying in the beginning.

--Space
Although the Wii takes up very little space itself, some of the activities suggested by the games take up quite a bit more. Wii is definitely not small-room friendly, at least not for titles like Wii Sports that suggest a wide range of motion.

--Controller Volume
So far I have not found a way to mute or turn the volume down on the Wii remote, and let me tell you the sound effects in Zelda are LOUD. This would seriously hamper one's ability to play a game in the wee hours of the morning (no pun intended) without disturbing anyone sleeping within earshot.

The Ugly

--Wii Shop
The Wii Shop is Nintendo's vaunted "iTunes of Video Games" where players can go to purchase vintage games from numerous classic systems (both Nintendo and non-Nintendo systems) for download and play on the Wii console. It is one of the main selling points that Nintendo has been pushing since before any of us even knew what the Wii would look like or be named.

This feature has gone from being one of the things I was most looking forward to, to being the one I most resent and will likely never use.

When Nintendo first announced this service they (Satoru Iwata at both E3 and SpaceWorld) were adamant that first party titles would be provided free of charge. A year later when the service is actually available, first party software costs from $5 to $10 per game - not free and not even cheaper than third-party software. Nintendo welched on its promise and that stings a lot. I won't go as far as to say that this would have changed my decision about buying a Wii but it sure didn't help. I understand that they are in business to make money, but to make money, you have to have good relationships with your customers. Making promises with no intention of keeping them is not a good relationship builder.

Another big disappointment with the Wii Shop is that although the Wii games themselves have been officially declared region-free (meaning any Wii game from any country should play on any Wii system) the Wii Shop will be region locked to prevent players from downloading classic games available in other reigions. This dashes the hopes of many of us who were hoping some beloved and nearly forgotten titles would have an unprecedented second chance at U.S. distribution.

I have strong opinions about supporting download-based software distribution. Because of the security mechanisms required to satisfy anti-piracy paranoia the usability of such downloaded software is almost exclusively crippled in some way - either it can only be downloaded into internal memory and cannot be transferred to permanent storage (like CD-R or DVD-R) or it will only work with a specific machine, or for a specific amount of time. I consider such restrictions immoral as there are far too many scenarios outside of the customers' control under which they will end up paying something for nothing. Perhaps it is my collector's mentality, or my buy-it-now play-it-later attitude toward a lot of games that makes me see it that way. Or perhaps it is the fact that if such services ever become commonplace the entire video game retail industry will suffer a painful demise. No more EBGames, no more GameStop, no more Game Crazy - just poof gone. And with it any chance of service by gamers for gamers.

So, for now, despite my fanaticism for Nintendo, it is my firm hope that the Wii Shop and any other download-based distribution (like XBOX Live Arcade) fails utterly, and although this demise is largely out of my control, I refuse to contribute to the problem by allowing one red cent of my money to be applied to them.

Conclusion
At $250 a pop, the Wii is definitely a good value. Make sure you either have a big room or avoid games that are likely to require one. Rechargeable AA batteries are a must.