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If you don't want to read this big long post, here's the bottom line - I love Wii.
Yesterday I played more Wii then I thought I would. First, Wii Sports is awesome. The power of Wii sports doesn't really kick in until you have a room full of people (people who normally don't play or like games) get seriously into it. My Dad, who likes games but isn't very good at them, kicked my ass in Tennis and Bowling. It was the first time the man ever beat me in a video game. Even my Mom tried out Tennis, and she made more returns then she did lines in Tetris all those years ago. Of all the games, Bowling seems like the most balanced, and most skilled of them all.
Tennis is really good stuff too. Yes, you don't control your Mii running around, but that's fine, it's all about being simple. Hitting the ball, hearing the sound come out of the controller speaker, and it rumbling, it just all makes perfect sense and it's awesome. It's probably the closest thing to hitting a ball without hitting a ball.
Golf, which I saw getting terrible reviews, I felt was easy and fun to get into. Again, this isn't deep stuff, but it's not trying to be Tiger Woods, and what's here is fun. Boxing is probably the most "broken" of the bunch, and you also look like the biggest idiot, but it's still pretty fun and quite the work out. Baseball is probably the most boring of the bunch. It's just pitch and hit, and simple not as satisfying as the rest.
As a whole, Wii Sports is probably the most perfect pack in game ever conceived. While the games themselves aren't perfect, the magic of watching everyone get into it out weighs that. Some games don't read perfectly, like Boxing. Other games could use just a bit more sensitivity, like trying to putt in Golf.
The Mii channel is awesome. I personally wasn't sure how much I'd care about Mii's either, but once I showed people the Mii Channel, it was all over. My Wii now has well over 10 Mii's, each amusing in their own right, and it's hilarious to watch them populate Wii Sports. What is also cool is that in a game like Wii Sports, the Mii acts as your save slot. Similar to Brain Age, Wii Sports has a training program (created for adults over the age of 25 I'd say) that allows people to play the game to earn their "Sports Age." Your Mii acts as your save for this mode, among saving info from playing games with others.
Zelda is awesome. I don't have an HDTV, so I think the game looks really good. Aside from that, anyone who had doubts about the control should set them aside. It's got a learning curve, but in an hour I was swing that sword and shooting with the slingshot like nobodies business. And for those worried about having tired arms, for slower paced parts I was able to casually relax on my elbows with the controller apart and comfortably play the game. More comfortably then using a traditional pad I'd say. And because the game's sword slashing isn't 1 to 1, just gesture based, I was able to swing the sword without a problem.
Red Steel, I don't care what reviewers say, is probably the coolest bad game I've played in a while. It has a more arcadey feel going back to the Doom days of shooting anything that moves. Yes, it can have a bad frame rate, it's simple in design, has some shoddy AI, and the controls are far from perfect, BUT I felt compelled to keep playing. The game does enough different stuff that the novelty, for now at least, out weighs the cons. Aiming takes some getting used to, but it feels so different and almost rewarding that you can't help but get into the action. Locking onto characters with A, and literally pushing in with the controller to zoom in is just awesome. It just feels so cool to take cover, pop up, lock on, zoom in, shoot, drop back down, and flick the nunchuck to reload. And even though the speaker in the controller isn't the best, hearing your gun reload from it goes a long way to put you into the action. It's also worth noting that Red Steel has ridiculously awesome music, and stylish cut scenes. I'll also say that Red Steel is the only game that tired my arm out after a while.
Trauma Center unfortunately has a "been there done that" feeling. It's the same game as the DS, and I'm almost willing to say it makes more sense on the DS. For instance, slicing someone up on the DS feels better then waving it in the air on Wii. One advantage this version has is that all the items are mapped to the nunchuck, so it's a breeze to select a different tool. It's still a highly original game though, and if you haven't tried the DS version, I encourage you to give the Wii one a fair shot. Be warned though, when you aren't hacking apart patients, you're slogging through an anime soap opera, sifting through tons of text with lots of static images. I don't mind it, but I see it turning off a lot of people.
I also spent a fair amount of time just tinkering around with console settings and setting up the wireless connection. I went to the Wii Store and purchased 20 dollars worth of Wii Points. The two games I wanted at the store (Bonk and Gunstar) weren't there yet, but the temptation of buying something got to me and I purchased Sonic since I don't own it. Like everyone said, it was fast and easy, and it's a pixel perfect version of the Genesis original. I might go as far to say the most faithful emulation/port of it ever. I got to try out my Classic Controller on Sonic and it felt great. I also tried out the classic style remote setting but the remote just isn't as comfortable to use on its side.
So far, the ridiculously long wait has been well worth it. I was hooked to the Wii all day yesterday. It's been years since I fooled around with video games that long in one day. I also had dreams about Zelda and I just can't wait to go home and play more of it.
I'll post my Wii number later tonight.
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