Tactile
So I’ve got my Wii and I have to say on first impressions, this is pretty cool. The packaging is clearly very Apple inspired and very different from previous Nintendo consoles (I can especially remember the very colourful SNES packaging with the game screenshots all over it), all white and minimalist. And yes I know the DS packaging was similar, but that’s a handheld, not a console.
To be honest the remote isn’t quite perfect, it dances around the screen a little more than I’d like, and when you lose that on-screen hand pointer it can be quite a challenge to get it back again. I like how when you turn your wrist the hand on screen turns with you and I also like the little force-feedback it gives when you roll over the on-screen buttons, giving it a bit more of a tactile feel. Sony are so wrong when they think that rumble doesn’t matter.
Wii Sports is heck-of-a fun, although so far I’ve only managed to play single player. I especially liked the bowling, I really feel in that one like I’m in control and could really get good at it. The tennis seems a little too flaky, I’m really not sure how I’m meant to hit the ball back in any particular direction and the boxing is just completely useless, I’m doing nothing except flail my arms about wildly and hope that makes some sort of difference to my avatar.
Speaking of avatars, the Mii’s are just fantastic, I spent a good long time playing around with all the different faces and noses etc in there. I think there are some odd choices in some of the pages, especially noses where almost all of them are completely useless, but I’m really proud of the Andrea Mii that I managed to create. I’m pretty generic however.
All in all, the hardware is nice, small, quiet, discreet. The remote works probably as well as could be expected and given time, I’m sure we’ll see some interesting games. For now I’m looking forward to playing with some friends.
