Wii Game Console

Reviewed by Daniel MacKenzie

With the console wars still going on and there hasn’t been a clear winner yet. The Nintendo Wii is defiantly a strong unit but it’s not perfect. There are a few flaws with the unit but nothing that couldn’t be expected with all of the new technology they put into it.

The first time I played it, I was impressed. It was so easy to play. A lot of people would think that using the remote would be difficult but it’s just like a T.V. remote. The only thing wrong with the remote is that there are two buttons at the bottom of the remote and when you need to use them, they are very hard to reach. Especially when you have both hands full. A handy feature is that a power button is built into the top of the remote. You don’t have to stand up to turn off the system. Also, by pressing the home button you can find how much battery life is left in all of the remotes that are connected. They really did a good job.

The console has two USB ports, ports for SD flash cards and other memory cards and Game Cube controller ports. The Wii remote has a built in memory chip that lets you store game data and files. This is for when you take the remote to another Wii, you will have all of your files with you. Also the Wii itself has a hard drive to store channels, game data, photos and more. It has a built in wireless card for people with wireless Internet. I used it and I had no problem setting up the Internet. For those who don’t have a wireless network, you must buy Nintendo’s USB adapter - there is no built in Ethernet port. The video output is still the regular RCA cables, and every unit comes with Wii Sports, a remote, and all the manuals you will need to get started.

When you start the console, a dashboard where you add your channels, which are things you can do with the Wii. There is a Disc Channel for games, a Photo Channel, a News Channel, a Shopping Channel and even an Internet Channel. There isn’t much to say about the Disc Channel, except it is where you launch Wii and Game Cube games. I didn’t play much with the Photo Channel, but know you can use the Wii to edit and store digital photos. You can only use the News and Weather Channel if you have access to the Internet because it needs to access the forecasts and the news feeds. You also need Internet access to use the Shopping Channel, where you can buy stuff like old N64 games.

The Wii allows downloading new channels and system updates. You must download the Internet Channel from the Internet. Nintendo is continuing to develop more channels to make to Wii more enjoyable. The graphics are also impressive. Nothing like the PS3 or Xbox 360, but better than the previous generation of game systems. They looked great on a standard TV.

Conclusion
All together, I think this is a great machine, especially for those people that aren’t hard core gamers and just want to have fun. Although, with the growing game selection this console is beginning to appeal to the hard core gamers. The game developers will take a while to get used to developing for the wireless remote, but that’s expected. Awesome job Nintendo!