We were given a Nintendo Wii system with quite a few extras for Christmas by some wonderful people.  We’ve been playing it for a week or so now and I thought I would share my initial thoughts.

I am not what many would consider a “gamer” so the casual nature of the Wii system is a unique fit and fun alternative to many other consoles.  I have owned a few consoles in the past (NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, Playstation, Playstation 2, GameCube, Nintendo DS, PSP) and find the Wii to be the first truly different experience with gaming.  Many of the games seem to be the standard Nintendo fare of Japanese, highly colored, cartoon styles.  Most are filled with the usual cast of characters from Nintendo games of old.  One fun feature is the integration of Mii characters (customizable avatars).  I won’t go into detail as to how the system works as it’s been out for a while and you’re likely already very familiar with it.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from game play as the only experience I’ve had was the commercials showing people overly animated in their movement.  I’ve found most controls do not require quite as flagrant an approach as advertised (a flick of the wrist works most of the time).  I can easily see how this would quickly bore many hardcore gamers quickly as it makes most of the games very simple and repetitive.  I enjoy simple games so the ability to be able to enjoy a quick bout of bowling or puzzle game is actually a plus in my book.  I rarely have time to get into a serious gaming session so the quick-play approach to many of the titles works best for me.  I found my 3 year old son has had a harder time getting used to the controls (compared to the GameCube) but that may have a lot to do with both the unique game play and the fact that he is short and often goes out of the view of the remote sensor.

One thing I was a little disappointed in was the vast amount of attachments and tools often needed to fully enjoy games.  The system itself is reasonable at $250 but you are then stuck needing to buy an extra remote, nun chucks, wheels, classic controllers, etc… to get the full experience.  This quickly adds up and can become just as expensive as other consoles, if not more so.  We were lucky enough to be given most of the accessories right away so we were not hit with this large bill out of the gate.

We only have a few games so far (Wii Play, Wii Sports, Mario Kart, and Mario Party) so I can’t comment on all that is offered for the Wii yet.  I was a little disappointed in Mario Party 8 as it looks dated and has lackluster game play compared to past Mario Party titles.  Mario Kart is an excellent game and I highly recommend picking it up.  The wheel steering is responsive and fun and the new levels are definitely an upgrade with new tricks systems and interesting layouts.

One of the great features to the Wii is the free online play with some titles.  It uses built in wifi so we were able to get it online and running within minutes.  Mario kart has excellent online game play and can be a blast with multiple players from all over the world.  There is also downloadable games available online from older consoles (NES, SNES, 64, Turbo Grafix, Sega) and Wii Ware titles built for the Wii motion controller.  We have played a couple virtual console games and find them just as fun as they were years ago.

My wife wants to some day get the Wii Fit to add to our system and I think it would be fun for the additional game options as well.  There are so many options out there for varying game play it’s hard to decide which way to purchase and what truly offers its worth.  Overall I have to say we love our new Wii and I look forward to years of play with our kids and family.  I’ll post reviews of games as we acquire them as well.