Issue 151

Wii will rock you...

29th January 2007

Since I was a kid I have been told off for leaning in racing games, (faint memories of the mega drive being pulled off the shelf), if only some one could some have come up with a control which could let me control the bike, by leaning like, you know, real life? Yes I did get an "Air pad" for the PS1 and it was great for racing for a moment, but it soon wore off as it was a simple button mapped to the lean meaning that I always turned at a constant no matter how much I leaned which wasn't that great. I have a small pile of these accessories now, snowboards, light guns, the eye toy etc… they all have similar problems with accuracy and few games supported them.

Enter the Nintendo Wii. Using advanced accelerometer and an IR sensor so you have a controller that can accurately sense your movements and knows where it is in relation to the TV. So beautifully designed that most actions can be reproduced. Wii attempts what no other console has ever tried. It has put motion sensing at the heart of its gaming and is it good? It's so good that you can get an entire family to play it! With the Wii-mote being supported by Nintendo in this way it is sure to get supported (Both Rumble and Analogue sticks were first brought out on the N64 and look where they are now on every gaming console). The Wii-mote can have attachments such as the nunchuck, which give you a second controller for your other hand which allows you to do so much more and adds a vital analogue stick.

Lurking in every Wii box is Wii Sports, this game cannot get enough hype. Wii Sports is a collection of five sports; Baseball, Tennis, Bowling, Golf and Boxing. The games are simple and imaginative and are easy to grasp, but leave enough room for you to get better with time. Though they do fall down at the enthusiasm level for not having intrinsic levels of detail, they certainly set the standard for immersive game play. My personal favourite is Bowling, the way the system takes all the movement of my follow thought so that little twist on the end of my throw can be seen. Wii Sports is a great game to play with friends as you all take a swing with tennis or punch up in boxing. It is even being sold now as a weight loss device by some.

The Wii has other abilities which we are only just seeing such as 24connect, allowing your Wii to get updates, mail and weather reports (a great selling point in Swansea!), access the internet and download classic games. And later this year will be able to play online games over this system and even in games like Animal Crossing you will be able to visit your friend villages without them having their Wii on.

The Nintendo console isn't without its flaws though, weak wrist straps have sent the evil Wii-mote of death to end many a plasma screen TV's life (though that problem has now been fix with a thicker wrist strap).

Other complaints have been about the graphics, whereas the Xbox 360 and PS3 are shooting off in to the distance the Wii doesn't look any different to the Game Cube. There is a simple explanation and that's because the games were designed on a modified Gamecube with a Wiimote adapter built in and only recently has the attachment hardware been on the market. Give it a while and you will really see the difference, expect better than the Xbox.

The Wii is going to have an exciting year as its line up with big titles such as Mario Galaxy, SSX Blur, Metroid Prime 3 Corruption, Sonic and the Secret Rings and the Sims Wii. The Wii cost £179.99, Good luck finding one though, as even now stores are selling out with in hour of receiving stock.

Mark Holmes