Custom Wiis

I’ve got Nintendo on my brain today. Here is a video of PhotoShopped, customized Wiis that may never see the light of day, but are pretty funny. And given the number of companies selling stickers that you can “skin” you console systems with, some of these may come true. Though I doubt the drum stick controller will ever work. Mmm…fried plastic…

A Wii Little Bonus (or how many uses of Wii can we come up with?)

I’m getting a Nintendo Wii on November 19 (hopefully at midnight, but that remains to be seen).  I have many reasons for doing so and that list only grows.

Here’s the most original I’ve seen so far.  And the most promising, at that.

Via Joystiq.

Homemade Wii Commercial

via Joystiq

Wii Reserved

I went to the local gamestop today to reserve the Wii. I’ll go back on 11/19 to pick it up. Here are photos from the line.

The line was longer than I expected and I’m sure some folks were turned away or told they had even less of a guarantee of a system (I have no idea how that works). I definitely felt out of place, particularly when folks started playing Magic: The Gathering while they waited. But then the shop talk of video games started and I felt much more at ease.

Anyone else reading this stand in line and have stories to tell?

Wii in Action, Sort Of

Nintendo’s Wii site has some new videos up of people playing Wii Sports (which comes with the system).  These are the best videos I’ve seen so far that show just why I’m excited about this system.  Looks like pre-orders start on Friday, too…

I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that these folks aren’t just off the street, but they are still good videos.

Return to the Beginning

Today, I reserved the first Nintendo game I’ve reserved/purchased since I was in high school. The game is The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and I did this in anticipation of the Wii release on 11/19 (the same day I’ll pick up the game). Also, there’s a chance I’ll get a quicker heads up on pre-ordering the system itself by having reserved a game. Since I was going to get it anyway, seemed like a simple choice.

This is a full circle for me in terms of video games. My first real video game system was the original Nintendo (back when we could just call a game system by the name of the company that made it). I did have an Atari 2600, but I wouldn’t call that a real system because it spoils the sentiment of this post.

The Nintendo is probably responsible for my semi-geek status in my late twenties. Through it, I learned about Space Pirates and aliens that would suck away your energy. I encountered a role-playing game that blew me away in terms of a cohesive story and continued to enthrall me over several unrelated sequels. There were princesses to save, mushrooms and turtles to stomp on, ducks to hunt, and countless other adventures just waiting for the push of a button. Good times. And lazy times.

I missed a lot of chores because of video games (something my mother will likely agree with). But I didn’t miss a lot of life. I could’ve gotten outside more, sure, but I still had friends and activity.

So now I’m in my late twenties getting ready to get my hands on another Nintendo system and have some fun in my adult years just the same as my younger. It’s kind of a trip.

Google on your TV!

The last of six videos is up at the Wii web site.  This one is about the Internet Channel, which lets you surf the web.

It uses the Opera browser and from what I’ve heard, it’ll be free in the US (no confirmation from Nintendo yet and they originally said you’d have to buy the browser first).  Oh, and you’ll need to be connected to the internet (no brainer).

This could be big or could be “eh” when we see it for real.  Depending on the system’s boot time and the fact that I don’t know anyone who doesn’t primarily use their computer to get to a web site, this could easily become a staple in a connected person’s digital life.  I’m most interested to see how text input is handled.  If you can shop on line like the video says, there must be an easy way to input text.  Maybe a Bluetooth keyboard is in the works?  The remote is nice, but I can’t see how text entry can be quick with that unless they have some kind of predictive text key-cloud (where you choose one letter and the next likely letters appear closer to where you just clicked than the rest; constantly morphing cloud of keys, but very handy).

This is also something the other consoles don’t have and may be a major selling point.  Surf the web without having to buy a full computer (even though you can get a full computer for about the same start up cost).

Still, it’s about the games.  The web is nice and I imagine I’ll make use of it (blogging on my TV…).  But what I really want to do is play Zelda.  And Metroid.  And Mario.  And Brain Age.  And whatever else strikes my fancy.

Here’s a Stupid Thing

Rumor has it that in order to reserve a Nintendo Wii at an EB Games or Gamestop, the $50 deposit must be made by trading in games.  In other words, no cash, credit, or even store credit is to be accepted.  But if you bring in old games that you probably spent more than the $250 Wii price tag to buy originally, you can pay for part of that $250 price tag and reserve a system to pick up on November 19.

Or just go somewhere else and keep your old games (assuming you have any).

Let’s count the days until the person who thought this up gets fired, assuming it prooves true.  Likely they leaked a test balloon to see how folks would react, then go from there.

Link

Wii on November 19

The Seattle PI has an article from the NY Times stating that the Wii will be released in North America on November 19 (Sunday is a traditional release date for Nintendo) and cost $250. It will be bundled with Wii Sports. How many controllers and such it will come with remains to be seen.

Other news is the ability to surf the web on your TV, check news and weather, and $5-$10 per game on the Virtual Console.

Article. See also here and here.

I’m not surprised at the price. They said earlier it would be $250 or less. Why would anyone expect them to go less? Particularly when their rivals are already priced much higher.

I’m also not surprised that Wii Sports is bundled with the system. That doesn’t have the ring of a game folks would go out and buy. Plus, it’s good to have a solid game to get used to the controls with and demonstrate to folks. Who doesn’t know how tennis, golf, baseball, or bowling are played? Pretty basic. This is also the first home system to be released with a game by the manufacturer in a while, I think.

What should definitely happen is bundle the nunchuk attachment with the system. So many games seem to be making use of it that to not would be ludicrous. Then again, it could be a guaranteed $20 purchase for every gamer (in which case, bump the price and bundle it, please). Here’s hoping they don’t go the route of bundling it with every game that would use it. I don’t want to have several attachments floating around after a while.

Other news to look out for is how many controllers will it come with. Typically systems have only one, but with the “play together” feel of the Wii, two makes more sense (maybe just one nunchuk, though).

UPDATE: This will come with one wii-mote and a nunchuk attachment.  You can buy a wii-mote for about $40 and a nunchuk for another $20.  A bit high, but not bad since it looks like many of the multiplayer games will only need two controllers or have everyone share a single controller at this stage.  But how much is the classic controller?

Other excitement is about non-game content.  The Wii Channels look slick and easy to get addicted to, particularly if there isn’t any boot time to get to the screen.  I could see that becoming my first point of access for breaking news and weather quite easily (though I’ll still rely on my RSS Reader for the bulk of my news).

I’m glad to see it comes with batteries for the controller, but I’ll be picking up some rechargeables and a decent size SD card for extra storage pretty quickly.

$250 Wii in November with Free Online Gameplay?

Engadget has a post about a USA Today article citing that the Nintendo Wii will be released in November for $250.  No big surprise there, but this as close to an actual announcement as we’ve gotten so far.

The nice news (yes, nicer than a possible price) is that Connect24, Nintendo’s answer to Xbox Live, will be free.  For everyone.  Akin to the Xbox Live Silver account, but this will let you play games online as well (can we say Smash Bros.?).