"Not as amazing as Nintendo would have you believe"

The Wii is the latest console made by Nintendo to compete with the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 in the seventh generation. After Nintendo's failure with the 64 and Gamecube, they hoped to propel themselves to the top of the videogame market with the Wii. Nintendo hopes that with the mix of simple fun and a reach to casual and hardcore gamers of all ages they will sell a vast number of consoles.

Graphics: 6/10

I would like to say that I not basing the graphics off of a comparison to the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3, that would be incredibly unfair. Instead, I am basing the score off of what Nintendo promised. Many fans of Nintendo will tell you that graphics are not as important as gameplay or that graphics don't matter to them at all, which is ironic because it was completely the opposite in the fifth generation. Nintendo claimed that the Wii was more powerful than the Xbox, and I was very impressed with the graphics of Halo, so I was more optimistic than before. Sadly, the graphics are not very impressive. While Zelda: Twilight Princess looks good, most of the other launch titles hardly look better than Gamecube games. It may be just because they are launch games, but I doubt it.

Controller: 9/10

Ah, the famous Wiimote. The Wiimote is basically a nunchuck, with a remote like controller attached by a cord to a joystick like controller. This setup is very nice, as movement of an ingame character does not interfere with the rest of the controls. The Wiimote is very comfortable and small, with a wrist strap attached so that when playing a game such as Baseball in Wii Sports, you won't fling the controller and smash your TV screen (sadly some people neglect to wear the wrist strap and this still happens). The motion sensing is sensitive and responsive, however it is inconvenient as when you're playing Boxing in Wii Sports and flailing your arms around it can be a bit unresponsive. While being a great innovation, it makes some games such as Marvel: Ultimate Alliance more difficult and tedious to play on than its next generation counterparts. However, Madden is much more fun to play on the Wii.

Design:8/10

The Wii is designed very well. It is smaller than the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3, lightweight, and far more portable. Like the Playstation 3, it does not have a disc drive but instead has an slot that absorbs the discs. It has two compartments at the top, one that has four slots for plugging Gamecube controllers into and one with two slots for Gamecube memory cards. It is sleek, white, and shiny, and unlike the Playstation 3 it does not leave noticeable fingerprints. It is slanted and is situated upon a grey stand. I wish it had a tad more color, but I really cannot complain about the design past that.

Games: 6/10

While I cannot complain about Zelda as a launch title, many titles that people had hoped for at launch, such as Metroid, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and even Mario Galaxy I believe, were delayed. Past Metroid, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario (possibly), Zelda, and Wii Sports, I can not say I'm very impressed. That may sound like a long list but it's truly not. Many of the games I was excited about such as Red Steel and Monkey Ball proved to be entirely average. I can't say I was entirely disappointed in those two games though, as they were said to be mediocre. You can play games on the Virtual Console, but as I will discuss in the Features section, it's not worth your time.

Features: 5/10

Oh boy did Nintendo fail here. I think I'll start with the Virtual Console, as it's my biggest gripe. The Virtual Console has games from the NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, the Genesis, and even the TurboGrafx-16. Sounds great right? Not really. The problem is not the games on it, they're excellent, but rather the price. The games are bought with Wii points, with each Wii Point being worth a cent, so 100 Wii points is worth a dollar. The problem is that the games are a bit of a ripoff. The majority of the games range from 400-800 Wii points. Do the math. If I'm playing old games that I've never even bought just for fun I don't want to pay that much. The games are played with a classic controller which costs $20.

The two features that I was excited about were online play and Wii Weather. Can't say much about them because they weren't available at launch. Oops Nintendo. One interesting thing about the Wii is the ability to create Miis. Miis are avatars you can create to play in Wii Sports, along with hanging out with other people's Miis. The only feature about the Miis you can change is their faces. Their bodies look blocky and you can only change the color of the shirt and pants. However, making their faces is quite fun. You can make them several different races, male or female, along with making them have wacky features. I made a Mii with eyes on his chin and a mouth where his eyes should be. With my friend, I made a Rocky Mii and he made a Mr. T Mii, then we proceeded to play against each other in Boxing in Wii Sports. Fun stuff.

Buy or not?

While not as hard to find as the PS3, the Wii is not very easy to find. I would suggest waiting March or so when the top notch games are out and they're easier to find. Don't let my review fool you, the Wii is a fine console, it just has some minor issues that Nintendo needs to work out.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 12/11/06