Wii: First Impressions

Yeah, that’s right: I played with one. Jealous? Ha!

The EBGames at Redmond Town Center had a kiosk set up already, so anyone can.

More than that, they actually give me an untethered controller to try it out, rather than one bolted to a wire. Although they did take your license for anti-theft reasons, but I’m not complaining. They also had a wrist strap on it, much like what “transistor radios” in the 70’s had. I asked why? So you can’t accidentally let go of it – low tech solution to the very viable problem I asked a while ago: what if yer bowling and oops, there goes the controller into your TV. Certainly not a bad thing.

Graphics? Nice, but nothing to write home about. Game play? It was a driving game, so the whole “movement” was iffy. I mean as iffy as using a regular controller… I accidentally spin donuts in PGR3 because I over turn – for this game, I wasn’t moving enough, and when I did, it was just as touchy. I’d say “fair” given the game. What was interesting was the range of the thing: it’s got a really long range – like across the store and through humans and stuff.

Anyway, I hopped out of the game, into the dashboard, where I was able to use the controller more. It’s a little odd, because the cursor starts off screen: when you start to wildly twitch, it shows up – picture what you do with a mouse, if it’s off screen and you want to find it, it’s not that bad but it was unexpected. But what interested me more is the rotation sensors: the on screen pointer will rotate along the long axis, from left to right, as if you were turning a door knob. I found it interesting that I naturally hold the thing on a tilt, according to the pointer orientation. Now, maybe there’s a calibration option for that, but oi… what a mess that could be.

I could see it now: Link would be forever running around Hyrule, to the left, just like an old driver that left a blinker on for days.


One thought on “Wii: First Impressions”

  1. I played the wii, and therefore i purchased it. Zelda is amazing, as is the price. it isn’t a retarded 600 + tax, plus cost of the game, plus another controller etc = 700+ dollars to get a ps3. which isn’t very impressive in the first place. Get a laptop or computer. EQ 2 or wow will server you for hours more then 650 for a stupid video game system. less your rich and can waste the money.


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