I do not own one. I want one but I have just not made the investment. I recently did, however, make the investment to the Play Station 3 but that was a Circuit City closing decision. And a cheap Blu-ray player decision. But in my office I have a Wii that I play nearly every day to either relieve stress or to bring on some much needed inspiration. You can look at sites all day long but sometimes you run out of ideas. It also is a great way to get off my butt and get moving. (Dan, you only wish you could beat me at tennis.)
But the Nintendo Wii has made an incredible impression on the market in a very short time. Having sold as many consoles as the Microsoft XBox 360 and the Sony PS3 combined, in it’s first three years of being avaialble to the general public, they have sealed a niche market. Getting you off the couch and moving around and actually integrating yourself into the game is it’s one thing that sets it apart. It is lacking in the graphics deparment and the game play but the point of the console is not to succeed in either of those area. It brings a whole new set of gamers to the TV set. It brings the young kids that would rather sit on their butts than be active, the grandma’s that have no idea what a computer is to the screen and bowling from home. It even brings folks together in an office setting, like mine, together during break and lunch hours so that we can better bond as a team of employees. It is all arond an incredible console that does a number of things. Who cares if it can not give you the latest graphics? That was never the point.
But I came across this article today that showed the top ten coolest Wii controllers. And while I felt it was going to be most compared to the case mods on the Xbox 360 side, it was more of just controller holders that will allow you to play your games but with a different feel. Nintendo actually did this themselves not too long ago by releasing the baseball bat, tennis racket, and golf club to go along with their Wii Sports second edition.
The one shown above was the only cool one in the list, really. There were a couple more that were modeled to look like guns and hatchets, but they seemed more like they went along with a game or a movie to sell the product and the name of said movie, not an actual controller modification.
But this makes you think about the future of gaming. Every time a new console comes out we are hit with the Wow Factor and the “What could they possibly come up with next?” theory. We are entering a world of absolute crystal clear high definition. We are entering a world of television, movies, and gaming that will have you next to being in the game yourself. I feel that we will only continue to enhance the graphics, challenege the writing behind those that take the time to write a decent game script, and push the boundaries of those that are willing to take the extra time to make a game that will take you more than a few hours to beat. (I beat Gears of War, one of the hottest games to come out on the Xbox 360 in just under 5 hours. It took me, on the other hand, nearly 100 hours to complete the Grand Theft Auto: San Adreas edition. There is a huge difference with a game that can keep me in front of my TV for months rather than days.)
I encourage you, if you have not already, to get out and try a Wii. Play some tennis, some bowling, or some Need For Speed. The game will actually put your motions in the movement of the character making you feel like an actal part of the game. The sensors are pretty much dead on. The lag is almost non exsistent and the price of the console and games are quite fair. The console comes in at $249 and the games are at the old retail price of $49.99. You can find used games, sine the console has been out for a few years now, for under $10 if you look in the right places. The system is fun, and it begs to wonder what is next. Come on Nintendo, give me a hint!
