Nintendo Wii

On November 19th 2006 the world met one of the coolest gaming consoles ever made. The Nintendo Wii was released with a lot of hype and there was a shortage for the first few months. The Wii is still going strong a year later and is outselling both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.

But what makes the Wii so special. While it doesn’t have the best graphics or the meanest processors the Wii brings back the essence of gaming, fun. The Wii features a number of joysticks that you hold in your hands and your characters move based on where you’re pointing your hands. This is totally different than any other console around and thats what makes it fun.

The Wii comes with, in my opinion, it’s best game, Wii Sports. This has boxing, bowling, golf and tennis and is by far the most fun you’ll have with the Wii.

Here are a few of the technical specifications for the Wii:

• Street price: $249.99
• 4 mm wide, 157 mm tall, and 215.2 mm deep
• PowerPC “Broadway” processor, clocked at 729 MHz
• Dolby Pro Logic II capable, built-in controller speaker
• Controllers connected via Bluetooth

Things I like
The Wii revolutionalized the way gamers play their games. Instead of the normal controller that everyone is used to, Nintendo went with a risky new design and it payed off. Their controllers are totally wireless and the Wii tracks the movements of the controllers and maps it onto the screen. This means if you’re playing the bowling game you actually move the controller as if you’re bowling.

The Wii is super fun to play. With the ability to have up to four players its a great party console. While there are a number of fun games for it, my favorite is the free Wii sports that comes with the console. The Wii is also a great way to work out. When you’re swinging your arms for an extended period of time you really feel like you’ve been working out. The final thing I like about the Wii is it’s low price tag. At only $250 it’s much lower than it’s competition and this is a large selling point for me. All-in-all the Wii is a fantastic device.

Things I don’t like
There isn’t much that I don’t like about the Wii. The main thing that I think Nintendo should have change is the Wii’s graphics. The Wii only displays it’s graphics in 720p instead of full 1080p. The graphics are also more cartoony than the others, so if you’re into crisp realistic graphics the Wii isn’t for you. This however, is a minor problem since the game play is so much fun.

Pros:

• Small size
• Very cheap
• So much fun

Cons:

• Graphics aren’t up to par

Final Thoughts
If you haven’t bought this yet, get it! The Wii is so much fun and it doesn’t cost a lot at all. If you ever have friends over I know that the Wii will bring hours of fun to the party. I recommend that you go out right after reading this review and buy it.