Wii Hardware
Posted November 21, 2006
When unpacking the Wii, users will find the parts split into two boxes. The first contains the actual Wii unit, the power cable, and the composite cable connector. The second box contains the Wii-mote, nunchuck, sensor bar, and user manuals. Other extraneous items include 2 AA batteries for the remote, the Wii sports pack-in games, a plastic tray for vertical Wii placement, and a couple clear plastic attachments to stabilize the unit / sensor bar.
Build: Barely larger than a PC CD drive, the Wii is the smallest console on the gaming market. The Wii is encased by a thin white plastic shell, but seemingly sturdy. The front view contains a power button, reset button, eject button, and the slot-based disc loader. Also, a flip down portion of the front hides the controller sync button as well as the SD memory slot. The left side of the Wii (the top in the stand) pops up as well to reveal four Gamecube controller ports and two memory card slots. The rear of the Wii hides the small power slot, the AV-feed slot, two USB ports, and the sensor bar hookup. Also, the rear of the Wii houses the cooling fan; which doesn't make the slightest bit of noise.
The power adapter is approximately half the size of the Xbox 360 power brick and it's much lighter as well. Folks who enjoy traveling with their console will have no problem packing away the Wii and its components. The sensor bar is extremely light and may be prone to accidents, depending on the age group using the console. Also, the sensor bar requires mounting to secure the unit, but the sticky surface may become useless if the Wii is moved around repeatedly.
The Wii-mote is surprisingly weighted once the batteries are installed. While reasonably comfortable to hold, the design puts too much emphasis on using your thumb to navigate through games. Many times, I find myself fumbling for the correct button and readjusting my hand position to reach the lowest two buttons. The motion control unit inside the Wii-mote is spot on accurate and seems integrated well with the rest of the unit. Also, the handy wrist strap at the bottom of the remote thankfully keeps the remote from falling in case of slippage. In the left hand, the nunchuck snugly wraps itself within the palm and responds perfectly to user commands. Additionally, the button layout is designed for quick responses and works quite well with the thumbstick.
While the design is certainly sleek, there are a few flaws in the build of the main unit and the packaged accessories. The absence of a wired Ethernet jack on the main unit forces users to purchase an usb-to-ethernet adapter or a wireless router. The sensor bar wire is far too short for anyone with a large entertainment center. Finally, the composite cable in the packaging doesn't even include a separate S-Video feed for a higher resolution playback. New Wii owners are forced to purchase separate cables to use S-Video.
Functionality: When setting up the Wii, the user is greeted by a controller setup screen to acclimate the remote to the sensor bar. After lining up the proper signal area, the screen prompts for the usual setup info: Console name, date, country, language, parental controls, etc. When the user interface finally appears, the player is greeted by Nintendo's channel system. Channels are shown by a collection of square screens similar to a wall of computer monitors. Nintendo has created spaces for 48 channels, but only the first six are used at this point.
The current channels include disc, Photo, Mii, Wii Shop, Forecast, and News. The last two are unusable at this point, but expect then to come online in the next couple months. The Disc channel shows the game in the Wii slot. The game can be launched by clicking on the channel and then choosing Play. Interestingly, a feature video pops up when entering the disc channel. The Photo Channel is an area to navigate pictures and music that have been stored on a SD card or off the Wii message board.
The Mii channel offers a cute method of creating a user likeness in the form of a cartoonish character. Players can alter the character's height, shape, and an extensive number of facial features. Your personal Mii can wander around an area known as Mii Plaza and other Miis that have been created on your system will be there as well. All of the Miis can be organized or just allowed to walk amongst themselves. Also, Miis can travel to other Wii's via the Wiiconnect system. By adding a friend code to your Wii, your Mii is automatically sent to that system. It's an interesting way of user interaction, but it remains to be seen how effective it will become.
The Wii Shop channel offers up Nintendo's take on micro-transactions. Wii owners can purchase points through the interface and purchase a variety of content, but most will gravitate to the old-school NES, SNES, & N64 games. The interface is fairly buggy at this point due to folks attempting to use the Wiiconnect system. Once usage levels are evened out, the interface should respond much faster and error codes will dissipate.
The Wii also offers up a mail system. Users can send a Wii-mail to another gamer via the online service or leave a memo for another user of the Wii system, specifically another Mii. At this point, the messaging system is a bit of a pain to use compared to Xbox Live, but the addition to the Wii is welcome. Messaging uses an on screen keyboard that's about as fast as hunting and pecking for keys on a regular board. Also, users can plug up a USB keyboard if the onscreen board takes too long. Finally, the messaging system also includes a log of playtime and games played for each day. Perhaps a nod to Microsoft's achievement system, but it pales in comparison.
Gameplay:
Wii Sports is included with the system. It's a combination of five sporting events including bowling, tennis, baseball, golf, and boxing; all of which can use your Mii. Additionally, the mini-games are combined into a trial event, which tests skill and assigns a Wii age to your Mii player. The games are an excellent way to introduce a new user to the Wii control system, especially before sending them into a complex controller layout, like Zelda.
Of the five games, the control scheme in baseball impressed me considerably more than the rest. Unfortunately, the game becomes far too easy against the computer A.I. Hitting out of the park home runs is extremely simple. After going up 24 to 2 in the second inning, I had my fill of the game. Bowling is difficult to get a hang of as well as golf. Small nuances in the angle of throwing a bowling ball or swinging the club can dramatically alter the direction. Tennis also has the same difficulty level, but the swings are slightly more forgiving. Boxing is the worst of the five games probably because the control attempts to be too complex; but realistically, constant pummeling of another user always results in a win.
Graphics:
Visually, the Wii user interface is built on clean, smooth vector shapes that bear striking similarities to Flash based applications. While a bit on the bland side, the pale sheen of the background is minimalist in nature and thankfully free of advertisements (ahem 360). The sleek movement and flow between the various menus also play into the graphical style.
Unfortunately, cross console releases obviously don't look as impressive as their counterparts on the other two systems. Users that already have a PS3 or Xbox 360 will feel slighted by the visual capabilities of the Wii. Even Zelda doesn't feel if it's pushing the graphical capabilities of the Wii. In many respects, Zelda looks like an extremely polished Gamecube game rather than a title built for the Wii, like Super Mario Galaxy.
Audio:
The user interfaces uses a variety of light musical tunes in the background when navigating menus and entering the various user channels. Each track is designed to loop, so the music eventually becomes a bit repetitive. Users can load up their own tunes via an SD Disk and the Photo channel, but the tedious layout makes listening to custom soundtracks a slight chore. Some games, like ExciteTruck, have built in custom soundtrack support, but the majority of the catalog does not. It's unfortunate Nintendo didn't take a page out of Microsoft's book and integrate universal custom soundtrack support.
Conclusion:
Rather than taking a back seat to Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo has decided to hop in an entirely different car and race down the highway in the opposite direction. Instead of upgrading their consoles to meet the demand of the high-resolution world, they seem content to bank on the success of innovative controls. It's a bold move and the future will be interesting to say the least. The Wii will have games, like Zelda, that take full advantage of the unique control and games, like Red Steel, that butcher the controls. Nintendo seems to be garnering a bit more third party support this go around as well.
The hardware is definitely worth the $250 price, especially if replacing a Gamecube. Sadly, extras like the remote / nunchuck combo will definitely hurt the wallet when purchasing for three more players. In any case, a Wii is a safe bet for the holiday season.