Nintendo Wii Full Review (Nintendo Wii)

Member Name: mist

Product:	Nintendo Wii
Date:	07/11/09 (11 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy setup, Great collection of titles, Constant updates, uniuqe control system

Disadvantages: Graphics arnt amazing, games in nintendo channel can be pricy

The nintendo Wii games console is a fantastic unit. I have owned the Wii for around four months now and am amazed at its wealth of features. I would like to start with the games, this is what most people will be interested in. The titles for the Wii as you may expect are quite uniuqe and take full advantage of the control system offered up by the Wii. Using a so called 'Nunchuck' in one hand, usually used for character movement in game, and the Wii remote in the other hand, used for looking around or controlling in game objects.

I found the controls to be accurate and responsive on all the software titles i have tried, at least fourty or more. The motion sensor bar is key to this, the bat which is around 30cm in length 3cm in height and coloured black sits neatly on top of your television set, sticky pads are provided so it wont slip off. A larger television set is highly reccomended and ideally set at a raised height as looking down at a screen is uncomfertable and can cause injury.

The Wii titles are largely fitness orientated games, and require a lot of movement by the user, however the Wii documentation is very informative and at the start of every Wii title launch you are reminded to place the wrist strap on to prevent the risk of the remote gaining air time and causing injury to anyone or anything nearby.

Although not as powerful as the other consoles such as the Sony PS3 and the Microsoft Xbox 360, the Wii can hold its own. The games are all bright and colourful and cheerfully fun. Some titles do exist that cater for the action fans! Medal of honour and Call of duty are two such titles offering up action and gun play aplenty, the graphics dont look amazing, but the control system more than makes up for this.

But where the Wii really wins is in its fun family orientated titles and 'get fit' abilities. The Wii fit is a fantastic title for anyone wanting to lose a few pounds and many other titles such as nutrition coach work alongside it perfectly.

When you fire up the Wii unit you are presented with a host of channels! the game launcher channel (which will play the loaded disk) you also have the weather channel, nintendo channel, photo channel..

The photo channel is good fun, you can view photos stored on an SD card and manipulate them in many fun ways and share them via the Wii Mii channel, a kind of meeting place where you can meet fellow Wii users and have a chat, challenge them to games, or just have a natter.

The nintendo channel allows you to purchase Wii ware games (exclusive Wii specific games), classic nintendo NES and SNES titles and even N64 titles. These are paid for using Wii points, Wii points can be purchased at games retailers and even via direct debit direct from the channel.

The Wii community also has a large Homebrew following, enabling you to install MOD the Wii for playback of backed up games, various home brew apps..etc, however Homebrew is risky and should not be attempted if you dont know what you are doing and it can void the warranty, however the console is moddable for those brave enough to try it.

Updates are coming thick and fast for the Wii, new channels, including BBC iPlayer, an updated internet browser (yes, you can browse the internet with the Wii) and even an unconfirmed Divx movie channel.

So, in short the Wii is a fantastic edition to any household and great fun for all the family.

Pros:

Easy setup
Great collection of titles
Constant updates
uniuqe control system
great family fun

Cons:

Graphics arnt amazing
Games in nintendo channel can be pricy
Forget it if you have a small Television

Summary: Fantastic Unit