Some questions about the Wii before I buy - Page 2

Yeah Ocarina of Time was a lot better than Majoras Mask.

So I'm back in the States now and have just finally bought the Wii I've been asking about. I was driving all over yesterday and again today looking for the damn thing. Apparently it's still a problem to find them here! It just so happened that I was in Game Stop when they got a delivery today. Very lucky! I told the girl to double bag it so that I wouldn't get mugged on the way out.

I'm unpacking it now, which is keeping the jet lag a bit at bay and me awake. I'll report back in a bit once I've tested it.

So I've had a little time to play the Wii now and I thought I would write my thoughts here. Now really a review, just some observations and opinions:

Generally speaking, I like the console and I like playing the games. The novelty of the Wiimote has worn off after a few months. I tend to stick to games that I don't have to be standing and waving around wildly to play. I used the Wiimote exclusively for games like Lego Indiana Jones and Mario Kart almost exclusively at the beginning, until I realised the Gamecube controller works. Now I just use this.

I bought a new Dell 27" monitor that I use for computing and for playing the Wii. The first Chinese component cable that I bought didn't work with it. The next one did, and is a great step up from the standard composite cable that comes with the Wii. I know that this isn't an X360 or a PS3, but I'm a little disappointed with the graphics. You'd think that Nintendo would have progressed beyond the Gamecube graphics-wise by now. Also, there's some strange interference coming from my Wii. It's hard to describe, but I've tested it on different TVs/monitors now in different countries with a few different cables including the one that came with the Wii. It's four or five areas of light/superficial picture static oriented in horizontal rows alternating with normal areas that move across the screen very slowly from bottom to top. Not sure if anyone else has this problem.

Also sort of bummed that there's not optical out connection for the audio, but I've figured that out.


Now for some games that I'm playing:

*Mario Kart - just great, I don't know when I'll get tired of playing it. My girlfriend is getting better at it, especially since we gave up the Wiimote and started using the Gamecube controller.

*Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles - I only played this once and I turned it off because it's terrible. HORRIBLE. Gameplay, graphics, story. BAD.

*Lego Indiana Jones - Was a fan of the Lego Star Wars series and this lives up to the reputation. I've picked up Lego Batman, but haven't had a chance to play it yet. My only complaint about the game is that it isn't beginner-friendly. The girlfriend has a huge problem with jumping. She can jump up in the air, and she can do classic NES Mario jumping, but gets miserable when it comes to jumping across chasms in 3D terrain games like Lego Indiana Jones. I've tried teaching her, and she is showing improvement, but I usually take the controller and do the jumps for her.

*Mario Part 8 - I got this in order to play with the girlfriend/friends, but it's not very good. The two or three games that are playable from the time you first load the disc get old fast. Then you have to spend a lot of time unlocking everything in order to play more, and I'm not even sure how to do that. Ultimately, we just don't play it.

*Bloom Blox - Another game that had potential, but really isn't all that fun. Have to spend time unlocking some things before you can get down to business.

*Mario Galaxy - Pretty good, but perhaps I'm getting too old for this sort of game. I don't like playing games like this alone any more. I'll play an RPG or a Castlevania-style pseudo-RPG alone, but not a Mario game.

*Guitar Hero - love it.

I have a few other games that I haven't tried yet: Super Smash Brothers Brawl, Zelda, Mercury Meltdown, No More Heroes, etc. I'll report back when I have played them and will let you know what I think.

Heard that rumour, also heard about a new Wiimote coming out that's supposed to be fully motion sensitive. In my opinion, these are things that should have been included with the Wii already. I don't know why they're getting released so late after the original console. Actually, I know why. Money and market dynamics. Just like why they release a new version of the NDS handheld every other year, or a new PSP version.