Nintendo Wii (Review)

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larch
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Nintendo Wii (Review)

Post by larch »

I have been the proud owner of a Nintendo Wii for just over 2 months now and I have been enjoying this little console immensely. After much consideration (I was afraid I couldn't do it justice with one of my reviews), I decided to finally take the plunge and review this awesome piece of hardware.

Just one or two side notes: A. This will be a completely biased review, since I have been a fan of Nintendo for ages. B. I will not review the online aspect of the Nintendo Wii, since I have little to no experience with that aspect of the console as of yet C. There won?t be any mention of the other consoles, as this will be a review of the Wii and I want to avoid the whole console X is better than console Y debate.

Now that we got all the formalities out of the way, let us begin??

The first thing you notice about the Wii is its design; very distinctive especially when standing upright in its stand. I am glad they went with a white finish, as it makes ugly small scratches a lot less visible than a black finish.

The SD card reader and Sync interface for the Wii remotes are nicely hidden from view, same goes for the Gamecube memory card readers located on the top of the console (when its standing vertically).

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The back of the console has the connector for the 12v power adapter, the AV out, the Wii sensor bar and two usb connections for extra peripherals to round it off. You end up with a lot less cable clutter and cables, since the Wii remotes are all wireless.

My only issue with the design would be the stand for the Wii; when in an upright position it seems rather ?fragile? at the best of times and looks ready to be knocked over quite easily. I recommend placing it horizontally if you have little nephews or nieces who are running about all over the show, but it looks so much sexier when sitting horizontally in its stand.

My other issue would be the amount of usb ports that are provided; four would have been nice, but that is just me being nitpicky, since I have never actually used them for anything.

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The Wii sensor bar (which seems very sensitive to sunlight by the way) is provided with a stand that can be stuck to any surface using double sided tape. It also comes with a healthy cord length for placing it as far away from the console as possible.

I recommend that you don?t use the stand, the design seems fine, but it just isn't secure enough to withstand someone bumping into it or something (cats and or flying Wii remotes) falling on it.

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Last but not least; the Wii remote and nunchuck - the main focus of the Wii console. I instantly fell in love with the control system. Some people say it?s just random waving about, but it is so much more. When playing games like Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Metriod Prime 3: Corruptions, you start to notice it?s so much more fun and it just feels ?right? using Wii remote and Nunchuck control system with these games.

The only thing I found a bit ?gimmicky? (if u can call it that), was the speaker that is located on the Wii remote that emits a sound corresponding to the actions made in the game environment, but u can turn that off in the Wii remotes options if u find it annoying or distracting.

The battery life on the controls isn't very long, especially when you have the sound and rumble options enabled (maybe it?s just me using crappy rechargeables, who knows?). I get about 28 hours of play out of my batteries with rumble enabled (I have yet to test it without the rumble option).

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The Wii console is backward compatible with all official Nintendo GameCube software, as well as Nintendo GameCube Memory Cards and controllers. Compatibility with software is achieved with the slot-loading drive's ability to accept Nintendo GameCube Game Discs.

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And for the people who enjoys there classic gaming, the Virtual Console service allows Wii owners to play games originally released on consoles like the: Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Nintendo 64, as well as Sega's Mega Drive/Genesis, NEC's TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine, and the SNK Neo Geo console.

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Included in this sleek package is Wiisports; a fairly simple (but highly enjoyable) game, that almost everyone can play and enjoy and it will keep you occupied till your next game purchase.

In closing; do I recommend buying a Nintendo Wii? Hell yes I do! At R2800 it is the best purchase u could ever make.

With a strong A-list of games like: Zelda: Twilight Princess, Super Mario Galaxy and Metriod Prime 3: Corruptions, you can?t go wrong (I also recommend purchasing those 3 games first). And as it stands 2008 is going to be a promising year for the Nintendo Wii when it comes to games and new hardware development.
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Post by matrixkid »

How much does a Wii go for? And how are the games priced???
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Post by OnlyOneKenobi »

matrixkid wrote:How much does a Wii go for? And how are the games priced???
R2 800 for the console which includes Wii sports and about R300 - R600 per game.
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Post by StarBound »

Wii is still priced at R2900 and games vary a bit. Game price will be around R500 like most consoles. Avalibility is bad but at least we got the main title (Mario galaxy).

For virtual console make your country settings UK and get the EU wii point cards. No need to wait for SA's lame attempt at the service.
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larch
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Post by larch »

StarBound wrote:Wii is still priced at R2900 and games vary a bit. Game price will be around R500 like most consoles. Avalibility is bad but at least we got the main title (Mario galaxy).

For virtual console make your country settings UK and get the EU wii point cards. No need to wait for SA's lame attempt at the service.
I purchase most of my games from: Take2: http://www.take2.co.za/ and from DVDCrave: http://www.dvdcrave.com/

They are currently having specials on Wii games at Take2 around R180 a game.
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Post by Vexo »

First 2 games you MUST buy is:
Zelda twilight princess
Mario Galaxy
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Post by StarBound »

Their specials are over priced. I got zelda for R500 at CNA. Super paper mario for a bit less than it is currently but surprizingly it was from them.
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larch
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Post by larch »

StarBound wrote:Their specials are over priced. I got zelda for R500 at CNA. Super paper mario for a bit less than it is currently but surprizingly it was from them.


Like I said before they have R180 specials on selected Wii games and some of the games u get they don't sell in the shops like Metroid Prime 3
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