Its Fun to Play with Your Wii

I was charged with reviewing Nintendos new gaming consolethe Wii. For those of you living under rocks, the Wii uses a different control scheme than ever before. In order to interact with the console, you actually move the controller around. You can swing it like a racket, throw it like a baseball, or point it like a gun.

Nintendo sacrificed graphics so they could work on the controls and lower the sale price to $250. The $250 price tag is only $50 more than the sale price of all their previews consoles. Comparatively, the Xbox 360 costs $400 and the PS3 was $600.

Nintendo has stressed that the Wii is for gamers and non-traditional gamers alike. Instead of reviewing it myself, I decided to take it home and interview their target audiencemy parents. I arrived home at 4:30 pm and my dad started playing immediately. When my mom got home at 6:00, they took over the Wii until 1am.

My dad is a 46 year old heavy equipment operator and my mom is a 44 year old homemaker. The last video game my dad played was Super Mario Brothers 3 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. My mom has only ever played two games: Tetris and Super Mario Brothers (both for the NES).

I began asking them questions while they were playing Wii Sports.

Q: 	What were your first impressions of the Wii?
Dad: 	I thought it was uh uh (distracted by playing Wii Sports) unbelievable. 
The technology was amazing.
Mom:	A little confusing until I realized how intuitive the controls are to use.

Q:	The PS3 costs $600, the Xbox 350 $400. Even though the Nintendo Wii has 
inferior graphics by far, is the $250 price tag reasonable?
Dad:	The Wii is by far the better deal from what Ive seen.
Mom:	The Wii is by far better. The controls are much easier to understand and use.

Q:	Some say the Wiimotes are a gimmick. Others say theyre the next generation of 
gaming. What do you think?
Dad:	The technology has advanced so much from when I played. They are showing us 
the beginning of what modern technology can accomplish. I dont think its a 
gimmick. A gimmick is when theyre just creating hype for a product so they can 
take your money. But really, they should be creating hype for the Wiimotes.
Mom:	Its definitely a step up. For people like me, these Wiimotes are more intuitive. 
You dont have to have crazy finger speed to pull off advanced button codes.

Q:	The Nintendo Wii has a Virtual Console in which you can purchase older 
Nintendo (and third party) titles and download them to your Wii. At $5-$12 for 
games, what are your thoughts on the Virtual Console?
Dad:	$5-$12 seems pretty cheap for nostalgic entertainment.
Mom:	Its cool for nostalgias sake. You can play that favorite game you had years ago. 
And its even better that you can play them all on one system.

Q:	What do you think is the major selling point for the Nintendo Wii?
Dad:	The controllers.
Mom:	The good price and the Wiimotes.

Q:	Do you think nontraditional gamers will be interested?
Dad:	Yes. Its a lot less complicated than the other consoles.
Mom:	Yes. Its a lot easier to relate to. The controls allow you to play without much 
gaming experience.

Q:	So are you going to get one?
Dad:	(Immediately) Yes! Id like to. I really would. This is cool!
Mom:	Nah. I dont think wed use it enough.

So, it appears as though Nintendo has accomplished their goal. The system is easy to use, user friendly, intuitive, and most of all, a lot of fun!



Justin Schnurer
