Nintendo Wii White Console

Pretty much anyone who bought their Wii before February probably has a tale about how they were able to procure said console. Whether it was standing out in subzero temperatures for 5 hours, fighting through the Christmas shopping crowds, or robbing your neighbor at gunpoint and subsequently evading arrest, we all have a story.


Specs

729 MHz Power PC processor
88 MiB of RAM
ATI GPU with 24MiB of memory running at 243 MHz
512 MiB flash memory storage
SD Memory card slot
Built in WiFi 802.11b/g wireless connectivity
2x USB 2.0 Ports
Bluetooth controller connectivity
Media: Dual 12cm and 8cm Optical Disc drive

Overall the hardware is very comparable to the original Xbox only without the Hard Drive. That is, the Nintendo Wii isn't next generation hardware and the games will certainly resemble more of that of the previous generation. Still, there are many gamers out there who felt as if the current generation arrived too quickly. However, this basically comes down to whether or not graphics play a huge role in your gaming experience. Since the Wii is more geared towards the casual or part-time gamer, the lack of cutting edge hardware likely won't hurt. On the other hand, because the Wii's hardware isn't as powerful as the Xbox 360 or PS3, the Wii will miss out on many 3rd party Xbox 360 and PS3 ports. Nintendo was clear from the beginning that the Wii will be geared more towards creating a unique environment for gamers not creating the most powerful console on the market. The last couple Nintendo consoles have tried to match Sony pound for pound with powerful hardware and they have since fallen by the wayside.

The Nintendo Wii doesn't support any HDTV resolutions other than up to 480p. This is also on par with that of the original Xbox.


Features

One of the best features of the Wii is the Wii Channels. The Wii Channels are different applications on the Wii Console which allow you to perform different functions. For instance the Mii Channel allows you to create virtual representations of you and your family based on facial features, favorite colors, size, weight and such. These characters can be imported into games like Wii Sports, and Mii's from other Wii consoles can be imported onto yours. The Photo Channel allows you to view pictures in jpeg form, movie files in mov format, and audio files in mp3 format from your SD card. In this channel you can also edit photos using a crude paint-link interface. The news channel allows you to view news stories from across the nation; the Forecast Channel displays the weather in the area including the current temperature. The Shop Channel allows you to purchase additional content including channels, and Virtual Console games. The Internet Channel is a web browser developed by Opera. Up until last summer it was free to download via the Shop Channel, but now it costs a little bit of money. Virtual console games downloaded to your Wii also appear as their own channel.

The Nintendo Wii also has internet connectivity through its games. Your Wii has a 16 digit friend code as an console identifier similar to that of the Nintendo DS. Online connectivity is handled the same way where each game has a unique friend code. This can be very annoying when stacked up against the fluid friends list on Xbox Live. Speaking of Nintendo DS, your Wii also has wireless connectivity with your Nintendo DS. Currently the only games I know of that implement this are Pokemon and Geometry Wars. If the Gameboy Advance/GameCube connectivity was any indication, this won't be a well-supported feature.


Accessories

The Wii Remote is the basic component of the controller. It syncs with the Wii similar to that of the Xbox 360's wireless devices. The Wii acts as a pointer but also has gyroscopic functions that interact with the sensor bar that sits atop or below your TV. That is, the Wii can sense the controller's orientation relative to the TV. This is best illustrated when playing Baseball in Wii Sports as the bat in your Mii's hand moves relative to the Wii Remote's orientation in yours. The Wii Remote has a trigger button (B) and an A button that sits prominently on the Remote's face. Above the A button is a dpad and in the upper left hand corner is the power button. Below the A button sits the Home button which returns you to the Wii Console menu. On either side of the home button lies the minus and plus button respectively. Below the home button is a speaker. Yes you can receive audio via the Wii Remote's speaker. Finally below the speaker lies the 1 button and below that the 2 button. Below the 2 button is 4 LCD lights indicating which player the current remote is set to. The Wii Remote has a lot of potential but the way it interacts with the sensor bar can be rather sensitive.

The Wii Nunchuk is an attachment that plugs into the Wii Remote through a short cord (hence the name "Nunchuk"). It comes standard with your Wii console and offers the same motion sensing as the Wii Remote. That is, you can use the Nunchuk for games like Boxing in Wii Sports. It has an analog stick on the top similar to that of the left analog stick on the GameCube controller. It also has two button triggers at the top, which makes it ideal for first and third person shooter games.

Wii Classic controller is a controller that closely resembles that of a hybrid PS2 Dual Shock controller and the GameCube controller. The two analog sticks sit side by side on the bottom of the face of the controller like with the Playstation Dual Shock. The dpad sits above the left analog stick, and the A,B,X,Y face buttons are configured in a diamond shape but similar orientation to that of the GameCube controller. The select, home, and start buttons sit in the middle of the controller. There are also two sets of trigger buttons. A long set of triggers on the outside and two on the inside.

At the top of the Wii there are 4 ports for GameCube controllers and two slots that can be used for GameCube memory cards. This is pretty sweet because the Wii acts as a smaller version of the GameCube in addition to its normal usage. There's no need to sell your Wavebird controller either.

Nintendo has a horrible history with its accessories. From the Power glove and R.O.B. on the NES to the Bongo Drums and microphone for the GameCube, there are a ton of accessories which really were only used for one or two games. The connector on the Wii Remote makes me cringe thinking what kinds of silly accessories they might try to pawn on us this generation. So far, the Nunchuk and Classic Controller will likely see mainstream usage. However, other controllers could only see sparse support.


Library

The Wii's gaming library is tied very closely to the unique properties of the Wii remote and accessories. Harkening back to the days of the NES and the SNES, the Wii comes with a pack in game Wii Sports. While Wii Sports isn't as deep as most sports games, it showcases the properties of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk while also exhibiting how Wii games can be accessible to many gamers. That's the goal of Nintendo with its library. It's to provide a controller interface that's easy to learn, allowing new gamers young and old flock to the console.

Ever since The Wii's launch a little over a year ago, the game library has struggled to produce critically acclaimed titles. While there are a handful of titles that really can be considered among the best of this generation like The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Super Mario Galaxy, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption; the Wii's gaming library struggles with games that are also released on other platforms. In the case of games like Madden, Call of Duty, and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance; the Wii version scored much lower than ones on other consoles. A year later it remains to be seen whether the Wii's gaming library can compete with its competition when it comes to appeasing the game critic community. However, if it's any consolation, the Nintendo DS had a first year very similar to the Wii's, but given a few months of time for developers to figure out the touch pad, better games were released. I would think this will prove to be the case with the Wii given its unique controller.

The genres which could prove to be revolutionary on the Wii are first person shooters. The Wii's remote could be used for aiming while the Nunchuk could be used for movement and strafing. However, Metroid Prime: Corruption is the only game to really showcase the Wii's advantage in this genre. Elebits is an acceptable game, but does not command the following Halo or Gears of War has; and the Call of Duty franchise has really struggled with the Wii controls and limited graphics, a staple in the first and 3rd person shooter genre.

One of the greatest genres for casual gamers is puzzle games and adult-oriented games. The success of such games on the Nintendo DS shows that they could find a new home on the Wii. However, after a year there really isn't much in this genre beyond Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree.

The Wii has proven in prior generations that its first party titles can be system movers. The Wii should prove to be no exception given the success of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Future first party titles from proven franchises include Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, and Super Smash Brother Brawl due to be release in January of 2008. However, as for future 3rd party titles, there aren't any games announced that currently have the hype that Final Fantasy, Grand Theft Auto, or Gears of War generate. Until the Wii can attract successful titles like those, it must rely on its first party games to carry the console, which is what doomed the Nintendo 64 and GameCube.

The genre with the biggest weakness on the Wii right now is role-playing games. The only RPG titles currently out now that are worth looking at are Super Paper Mario and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Those two games are both very good, but also could be categorized more as action titles than traditional Japanese RPGs. I don't have any serious worries that the Wii won't attract any RPGs because the GameCube had Tales of Symphonia, which was one of the best RPGs of the previous console generation; the Nintendo DS already has a strong lineup of RPGs; and there are several Nintendo franchises that could be hashed out as well like Harvest Moon, Fire Emblem, Golden Sun, and Pokemon. The question is whether Nintendo can attract get Square Enix aboard for some serious RPGs too. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles for the GameCube was awful by their standards, proving that a stronger title would be required. If the Wii can at least make some serious penetration in this genre, the Playstation 3 is in some serious trouble.

The one issue that's currently taking shape with the Wii library is that there will be some absolutely terrible games. I've seen lazy programming from development houses before and the Wii controller takes a lot of discipline and tweaking to get right. It became apparent to me when I analyzed the mechanics of the golf game works in Wii Sports. The Wii Remote can be way too sensitive at times and you have to take shortcuts and make the pointer sticky in some situations. I just don't see this happening with some 3rd party developers. The strong sales numbers and the extended hype and demand of the console even over a year after its launch goes to show that the market for 3rd party games is huge. However, I can only hope that those developers won't rush out games without properly testing and tweaking the Wii Remote functionality first.

The Wii also features backwards compatibility with GameCube games. The disc drive takes not only the 12cm Wii discs, but also the 8cm GameCube discs. The GameCube controller and memory card ports for the GameCube allow you to use your Wii as a GameCube minus certain accessories like the Gameboy player. Given the availability of GameCube games it enhances the library of the Wii.

In addition to backwards compatibility with the GameCube, the Wii's Virtual Console allows you to emulate games from older consoles like the Super Nintendo, Turbo Graphics 16, Sega Genesis, and original Nintendo downloaded via the Wii's Shop Channel. Currently most of the popular games from these consoles have been made available on the Virtual console with new ones are added every week or so. However, there aren't a ton of great games left to be released so I remain skeptical of what they'll add to the Virtual Console in the coming year. The controllers you can use include the Wii Remote, Classic Controller, and GameCube Controller. The Classic controller works for all the games while the other two works for some games but not others. For more information about what games are available for the virtual console click the link below:

http://wii.nintendo.com/virtualconsole_en.jsp

Overall, given a strong demand and some decent games released over the course of the past year, I have high hopes for the Wii library. It isn't as strong as some of the other consoles and will likely to continue to lose out on some Xbox360 and PS3 ports. I'm not too concerned about the Wii remote issue because the PS3 has limited gyroscopic attributes too which can be transferred, and if not the Wii's classic controller could also be mandated for some ports. Can the Wii match the Xbox 360 now that Halo 3 has been released and Grand Theft Auto IV is almost here? Will Super Mario Galaxy, and later Super Smash Brothers Brawl make up for those two titles? Will any new and creative franchises bloom from the new control scheme? Will the Wii retain 3rd party developers and will their games impress gamers? Those are the questions that face the Wii's game library.


Impressions

With regards to durability, the Wii is a worthy addition in the chain of Nintendo consoles. The console over the past year has been pretty sturdy and well-constructed, though if it's any indication, prior Nintendo consoles, especially recent ones stood the test of time unlike its competition. The issues with Sony's Playstation 2, the original Xbox and the whole DVD drive fiasco, and the recent troubles with the Xbox 360's dreaded Red Ring of Death makes me never want to get a console so close to launch. Though Nintendo seems to defy this trend and when I picked up my Wii last January I bought it with confidence. Besides, with a $250 price tag, it wasn't as bad as dropping $400 or even $600 on a console only to have it die a year after launch. Besides, my Xbox 360 has already been sent back to Microsoft once and I use it just as much.

The games on the other hand do not look quite as nice. Wii Sports has graphics on par with the GameCube, the same with WarioWare: Smooth Moves. Only The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess has graphics that truly look better than that of the GameCube. On my HDTV the games look good at 480p. Still, it's hard going from an Xbox 360 game to a Wii game with regards to the graphics. While gameplay does trump everything else, I remain skeptical that certain 3rd party developers will churn out good looking games.

With regards to the control scheme, I'm still wary. It's not quite as bad as the disaster with the N64 controller, but there are sensitivity issues with the pointer. The range of the pointer is my biggest concern. It seems as if I have to sit between 6 and 12 feet away from the TV for the pointer to work correctly. Games like WarioWare, Wii Sports, and Twilight Princess takes away a lot of the learning curve at first. Still for video game novices like my wife and daughter, this hasn't been much of a problem except while using an interface like with the web browser. It would be nice to have some sort of USB keyboard support.

Overall I have little doubt that the Wii will be a wise console choice for this generation. Role playing game fans might want to hold tight to see what kinds of RPGs are headed the Wii's way first. However, if the Playstation 3 doesn't gain any tangible traction in the market, Nintendo might benefit greatly as Microsoft still struggles with Japanese game companies. The next step for Nintendo is that it has to convince hardcore gamers that the Wii isn't a gimmick and that it's capable of some really transcendent games. Given the constant demand for the console over the past year, Nintendo has bought itself some time here. However, this next year is probably the most critical to win over the more seasoned gamers. I was convinced enough to get one. The low price and current selection of games shows that if the Wii does fail to catch on in a major way, at least it'll be a good complimentary console to the more mature-oriented Xbox 360. That is at least I can play interactive games with my kids on it.