Nintendo Wii: LV 2

The Nintendo Wii is the new kid on the block. With competition from Sony and Microsoft Nintendo has released the most innovative and physical console ever. This article is going to go over the Wii's pros and channels. Up front this console is by far better than their last attempt in the console world.

Innovative gaming is one of the biggest things going for the Wii. Games are gearing themselves around this motion sensor remote control. Games are somewhat limited by the button on the controller, since there is only a D-pad and 4-6 buttons depending on the game. So developers are forced to get more creative in using the controller with the buttons instead of just buttons.

My example would be Halo, this game uses no motion control. Just use your joysticks and buttons/ triggers to play the game. The Wii uses the controller and buttons like in Wii sports. The sports games use more controller action than button mashing. More and more games are becoming different from the normal video game. And people are noticing how the Wii is made for an active gamer, less sitting on the couch and more moving on the floor.

The Virtual Console is one of the other coolest features of the Wii. You can download old games from 5 different systems. Those are: NES, SNES, SEGA genesis, TUBROGRAFIX, and the N64. I love the option to download the original Mario Bros or the Starfox 64 game. I will say Nintendo does have a somewhat high price on some of these games, but I don't really care. But having the option to purchase classic and hard to find games is a really cool option I think.

For people with Internet connections, high speed or higher the Wii has an Opera Internet browser, News and Weather channel. Now the Internet browser is cool, but does seem a little out of place. I will say it has come in handy a time or two when the computer was not working. But the weather channel is a favorite of mine. The Wii has a globe model where you can see the weather of any major city in the world.

It is a incredibly cool function to see the weather across the world with a quick click and drag of the Wiimote. The four day and weekly forecasts are pretty accurate, and the background music is very calming and serene. I have left my Wii on in my room the whole day just displaying the weather for the day and week. The news channel is also another convenient way to get the news headline in a quick manner. The news is split up into separate major categories like a newspaper, but in the opening page the major headline from each section is available to be read right off the bat.

The Wii is a new and cool system. In later reviews I will go over more gadgets the Wii has or will have. But overall the Wii is a very user friendly system for all gamers. Both the younger and older gamers have their choice of what games to play. And the Wii offers practical uses for any family.