Facibus Reviews

Today, I bought a Nintendo Wii. It is all Matt’s fault.

I have played with it for an hour. All I can say is that the Wii is:

• the games console I wish that I had when I was young,
• the console I wish I’d had to play with my children when they were young,
• the console I want to play when I do play games,
• graphically, good enough,
• responsively, excellent,
• fun, amongst the best I’ve ever had playing solo games.

Helen is working late tonight - when she gets home, I’ll introduce her to the Wii.

Every other game simulates the reality of gameplay - moving a mouse to move then clicking to shoot or wield a sword has not appealed to me for several years now. I used to be a fair hand at first person shooters (DooM, Hexen, Quake, Quake ][) but they grew past me by asking for too many simultaneous control movements. The Wii has given me the fun back.

The natural way to wield a tennis racquet or a weapon is in the hands - and the Wii gives us this natural interface. It is not the same as the real thing - I am no golfer, but I have studied classical Japanese swordsmanship, and it is definately not the same… but it is closer than anything I have seen before.

I can’t say if you would enjoy the Wii experience as I do (and it is definitely early days for me), but it is worth having a play with at a game shop.

UPDATE: My Wii has its own blog now over at Wiild Life. More about my blog diversification plans at Facibus On Blogging.

UPDATE 2: My Wii blog is now over at WiiForMii.com.