I will admit, i was disappointed with Nintendo when they released the Gamecube. Their console was inferior to it's rivals, the Xbox and the PS2. Up until that point Nintendo led the way with the success of the NES and the SNES. Microsoft and Playstation made such big strides in the gaming industry i think Nintendo was shell shocked! Microsoft and Sony both announced their next gen consoles but all was quiet on Nintendo's front. There was a rumor about a console codenamed the "Revolution" but details were sparse and no one knew exactly what to expect from Nintendo for their next gen offering. Every once ina while small details would emerge, word from Nintendo was that their next console would be the biggest "revolution" in gaming history! Right before launch Nintendo changed the name of their console! The Nintendo Wii was born!!

The Nintendo What? Thats right the Wii. They chose that name because universally they thought that it ment "we" as in groups of people, as their console would be aimed at multi player gaming in a way that no one had thought of before. Nintendo's new console features a very innovative controller shaped like a tv remote, so they called the controller the Wii-Mote. The main difference between the Wii and the other consoles is the user interaction with the console.

Rather than sitting down playing games on a regular controller, the Wii thrusts the gamers right into the action. You see the Wii-mote is used like objects would be in real life. Playing a baseball game? The you have to hold the Wii-Mote like a baseball bat and swing at the ball when it has been pitched to you. Playing golf? Then you have to hold the Wii-mote like a golf club and swing like you are going to hit the ball! It is this kind of innovation that separates the Wii from the rest of the pack.

Technically speaking the Wii is no where near as powerful as it's rivals, the Xbox 360 and the Sony Playstation 3. The Xbox 360 and the PS3 are geared towards the hardcore gamer, the gamer that wants it all! HD graphics, true Dolby surround sound. The Xbox 360 boasts 3x 3.2ghz processors while the Wii only has one IBM processor that runs at 729mhz. The 360 and ps3 are equipped to operate and run like high end gaming pc's, the Wii is much more subtle, but the lack of processor speed and lack of HD graphics do not take anything away from the Wii, in fact i think that it makes the Wii a little better than it's competition! Nintendo has so much faith in it's system that it does not need all that power to deliver a truly amazing gaming experience.

When you open the box you will find the Wii, a Wii Stand, The Wii-mote, 1 sensor bar, component cables, and the power supply. There is also 1 cd that has Wii sports on it. Setup is incredibly easy. Place the sensor bar above or below your TV, hook the console to the monitor, plug it in and away you go! One feature the Wii boasts that the Xbox or PS3 does not have...Built in Wi-Fi. If you have a home network, all you have to do is go to the settings and the Wii will connect to your home network. This opens up many more features of the Wii!

A big thing in the gaming world right now is down loadable content and the Wii delivers this. There are a few channels to choose from on the Wii! They range from the Wii shop where you can buy old school games from the glory days, to the Internet channel! Yes you can surf the web on the Wii which is a great feature, something the PS3 and the 360 do not offer yet! The Wii shop offers gamers the opportunity to purchase and download games from the past from many different machines. You can download and play games that were on the NES, SNES, Turbo Graffix, Sega Genesis and Nintendo 64. Every week Nintendo updates it catalogs with a few new games. The games range from $5 to $10, one downside is that in order to play these games you have to purchase an additional controller call the Classic Controller, it is priced at $19.95, but in my opinion is well worth it! Just being able to download and play the original Mario is well worth it!

The Wii can also play Gamecube games! There were some great games on the Wii including Zelda and Resident Evil now you can play them on your Wii! If you had a Gamecube, you can play your Gamecube controller into the Wii or you can purchase a Gamecube controller for as little as $5 from ebay! The other features such as the Internet channel operate very well, surfing the web on your tv as opposed to the computer screen is refreshing! The Everyone Votes channel is a quirky channel where users can submit questions with yes or no answers, the question is then polled and the percentages are shown. There is also a weather channel that tells you what the current conditions are outside in your area, it also features a globe that you can travel around so you can see temperatures in other parts of the world. The news channel is like a newspaper on your console and it is updated every hour with the latest news, sports, and entertainment!

The other great thing about the Wii is that you can create Mii's! Mii's are computer generated characters that you make to look like yourself! Your Mii can then be used in many games! Your Mii's can also be shared with other Wii users and your Mii's can get together and party! This is a very cool feature! One game i am looking forward to is Mii Sims. This is the Sims that you can get on the PC but the character you control is the Mii you create on your console!

The biggest draw about the Wii is the way that the gamer interacts with the games! This is so much fun, i can hardly bear it! The more people you have to play with the better! You can connect up to 4 Wii-motes at the same time for multi player action! The games you get with the Wii, Wii-Sports are great and they show the potential that this machine has! Bowling, Baseball, Tennis, Boxing and golf are included and while the games might not be the best looking on the console, or the nest sounding, in terms of pure fun and game play they are second to none! There is nothing funnier than making yourself look like a clown in front of a group of people, or other people making themselves look like clowns! It is hysterical in group settings!

There are some great titles coming out ton the Wii! Super Mario Galaxy and Wii Mario Kart will be released towards the end of the year! Great games right now include, Zelda and Wariowear: Smooth moves! Both are incredibly fun and innovative! The great thing is that the Wii makes you get up and move around while you play, so an added bonus would be that you could actually get into shape playing this thing!

While the Xbox 360 leads the way with online play, the PS3 is second and the Wii right now is in last place! This will change soon! Nintendo has given much more freedom to it's 3rd party developers with this console. The lack of trust between Nintendo and it's 3rd party developers in the past is what killed the Gamecube! There are currently 2 online games and they are Pokemon, and Hooked (a fishing game) many more will follow including Madden, Fifa, Mario and Mario Kart plus many more to follow!

While the 360 and PS3 may appeal to a the hardcore gamer, the Wii appeals to everyone. The entire family can pick up the Wii-mote and have fun! What better than for family night to include playing bowling on the Wii? or how about a round of Tennis? Not only is it fun it is exercise as well, now who says video games are bad for you? If you can find one in the store, i highly recommend you buy one! You will not regret it!

Recommended:
Yes