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Nintendo Wii Console And Controller And Wii Sports GameIn a nutshell:As if the idea of five games in one package didn't sound a good enough deal on its own the Wii's best multiplayer compendium comes free with the console.
The lowdown:Clearly realising that they need to provide some quick and obvious reasons why the Wii Remote is such a good idea Nintendo have packed in this compilation with the console, which includes simple versions of tennis, golf, baseball, bowling and boxing. The four player tennis game is the obvious stand out as you swing the Remote exactly as you would a real tennis racket, with the game seeming to almost magically interpret your movements into the game. All the other games work in a similar way, as you hold the Remote like a golf club or ready it like a baseball bat - you can even use it to gently roll bowling bowls and add some subtle aftertouch. The graphics make be purposefully basic but these are the games to instantly prove why the Wii is going to be such a revolution. Most exciting moment:While even Wii Tennis can be played with very minor movements of the Wii Remote the boxing game actively encourages you to act things out properly. You hold up both the Remote and the nunchuck to simulate your two hands and then duck and weave as you switch between trying to pummel your opponent and dodging or blocking their own attacks. Since you ask:You can use your own customised Mii Channel character in any of the games for that personal touch. The idea was originally just a joke featuring caricatures of Nintendo's top brass for a press conference, but it proved so popular that Nintendo ensured anyone could make their own character to play with. The bottom line:Five of the best games on the Wii and they all come free with the console!-HARRISON DENT |
Average User Rating: 80% (458 Reviews) | |
| 5 / 5 | New-gen levels the playing field!
A. J. Roche "Audiojoe4444" (Berks, UK) - 8 February 2007 OK, so it's not a "serious" gaming machine. If I want to play Call Of Duty 3, I'll play it on my Xbox 360. If I want HD graphics, and an online multiplayer experience, then ditto. But sometimes, you know the times, when all you want to do is have some fun, there is nothing like the Wii. The greatest thing about it, is of course, the control system, which completely levels the playing field, and rightly so. I'm a semi-serious gamer, but when I first played Wii Bowling with my 4-year old daughter, she kicked my ass. I had to learn how to bowl. When it came to Tennis, I had to time my swing, apply power, spin, loft, instead of "pressing A". When it came to Baseball, I had to perfect fastballs, pitching speed, time my swing, get the angle of the bat right. And this was just from playing 3 of the 5 Wii Sports games. It's fun! Anyone can play! Anyone can be good at it, most are bad! More importantly, it brings the room together! Everyone wants to play this thing, people see it and want to have a go. How many video games consoles can you say that about? Apart from the superb retail games (Wii Play and Warioware are highly recommended by the way), the Wii Shop channel allows you to download great games from Nintendo and Sega's past. So far I have bought Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr, Sonic, Altered Beast, Super Mario Brothers, Mario Kart 64 and Golden Axe, all games I loved as a child. I love the Xbox Live Arcade, but it's very hit and miss. The Wii Shop Channel is hit after hit. We have found the Weather Channel extremely useful on numerous occasions, especially for 5-day forecasts. The News Channel is particularly informative and well presented. The Internet Channel is excellent, and saves us having to boot up the laptop or PC for quick enquiries. The Photo Channel is fun, if a little shallow (but it's all about fun, remember...) Lastly, we come to the Mii Channel, which is one of the most addictive pastimes going. Creating Mii's will soon take over the world, I am sure of it. I have created everyone I know, they are all there, meandering around my Mii plaza, bumping into each other, each one exaggerated in their own special ways, and the fact that they pop up in and around your games is a great touch. FYI, I have now taken to creating famous people, which is kind of odd... My John Lennon is particularly impressive It's not going to set the world on fire when it comes to graphics, but if you want a superb, fun, addictive, thoroughly enjoyable experience, that EVERYONE will love, then trust me, get one of these! (If you can of course...)... Read Full Review » |
| 5 / 5 | The Beginner's Guide
Paulo Piper Segurado - 14 February 2008 I'm going to aim this review at people who have never really played videogames before or who have only had a passing interest, as I think there may be quite a lot of you who are considering, or actively trying your best in, purchasing a Wii. Basically you buy the Wii (not that easy at the moment, I know), take it out of the box, plug it into your TV and into the mains just like a DVD player, and then plug the 'sensor bar' into the Wii unit. You then place this same sensor either on top of or just underneath your television. The sensor bar is basically a long, slim grey piece of rectangular plastic with a cable running out to plug it into the Wii. You then put some batteries into your 'Wii-mote' (Wii remote, included with the Wii console), and use it to turn the unit on. Of course, you're going to need a game to play. The Wii uses a disc format the same size and shape as a DVD disc - you just slot these into the unit. To get you started, Nintendo includes a game disc with the machine called 'Wii Sports'. This features Tennis, Baseball, Bowling, Golf and Boxing. To actually play the games, you'll have to go through a few menus. Just use the Wii-mote by simply pointing at a particular point on your TV screen and clicking the buttons (the remote is kind of half-way between a computer mouse and a TV remote - but so much more). It's when you actually get into the game that the fun begins. You don't have to press a series of buttons to play like with most videogame machines. You may have to push one or two buttons, but generally you just move the remote around, and the sensor bar (which I told you about earlier) does the rest. The sensor bar basically tells the machine itself the place where you have pointed the remote - but it also tells the machine exactly how and where you move the remote. Motion sensitivity! What this means is that to play golf you just hold the remote like a golf club, and take a swing - and hey presto, your on-screen character hits the golf ball with just as much power, lift and spin as you put in. There is some very well developed technology at work here! Tennis is much the same - swing the remote like you would a tennis racquet. In bowling you hold the remote as if it were a ball and 'throw' it (you don't actually let go of it!). Each different game makes slightly different use of the remote, and there are loads available - from one called Zelda where you get to sword-fight using the remote, to Wii Play which features a number of fun games in much the same vein as Wii Sports. I can testify that this is fun for everyone, from age 3 to 63 or older. Nintendo are slowly sorting out supply difficulties so hopefully it's only a matter of time before it's easy to get your hands on one. In the meantime I would suggest asking around or checking out the Amazon Wii 'Customer Discussions' for helpful advice - just scroll down to under the reviews on this page. Good luck!... Read Full Review » |
| 5 / 5 | Wii60
mortalbug (London, UK) - 26 October 2006 I was lucky enough to get the chance to play the Wii at Nintendo's UK office recently and it really is brilliant. The control system works as it should (very intuitive) and is nice and resposive. I played a 4x4 racing game, Wario Ware and the bundled sports game. I have to say, the graphics I saw were pretty much Gamecube quality but the control system adds to the gameplay so much, the graphics wern't such a concern. The only danger of the Wii is the damage to house and friends when wildly flailing your arms about when you get too into the game. I think the perfect set up is going to be a 360 for the 'regular' games and a Wii for the Nintendo magic (Wii60?)... Read Full Review » |
| 5 / 5 | Just to clear up a few things...
matisfaction "matisfaction" (The Potteries) - 2 July 2007 I'd just like to clear up a few points that a lot of people seem to be using in their "my console is better than yours" routine, as it gets ever-more tiresome so does the fact that people are talking complete and utter rubbish to try and get there favourite machine over in the review section. First I'd like to point out that Wii basically comes packed with everything (as well as the excellent Wii Sports) that the 360/PS3 BASIC packs do apart from the multimedia capabilities, HD graphics and in the PS3's case: a hard drive. All the extra bits for the 360 like HD-DVD, hard drive and Xbox live have to be bought separately or via the more expensive packages. The Wii online games like Mario Strikers charged run on a free service via WIFI. What you do have to pay for though are (obviously) the Virtual Console games (the pricing is a tad draconian for some VC titles but it does level out when you look at some of the rare tg-16 games that are available) and the OPERA web browser (it was free to download before the end of June). It's also worth mentioning that the Wii is the only console out of the three that is 100% backwards compatible, the PS3 & 360 claim to be but will only run a few titles. For a hundred and eighty pounds, the Wii is undoubtedly value for money, people may harp on about the PS3/360's multimedia capabilities and HD graphics but as a stand alone games console, the Wii is very a attractive purchase. Not to say that the 360 and PS3 aren't, just be aware that a lot of people don't state that all the extras = more cash spent.... Read Full Review » |
| 5 / 5 | Revolution? Revelation!
Benchimus (England) - 5 April 2007 My brother-in-law got one at launch, and initially I was sceptical as to whether it was worth being 'bleeding edge'. I couldn't have been more wrong. I don't have any particular allegiance to a console brand, but I do admire excellent execution of hardware and software. In my opinion, if you're looking for state-of-the-art graphics, you're probably best plumping for a top-spec gaming PC. But if you want something that will change the way you interact with a game, then it would be worth checking out the Wii. I would never have thought that I would see my mother-in-law enjoying herself playing a video game; PC, Playstation and Xbox games are typically targetted at boys (young and old). The supplied Wii Sports is designed to get you used to the Wii remote, but is excellent in itself. The Wii is very compact and seems well made and sits nicely (even upright) on the bottom shelf of my TV stand. At the moment it is available only in an Apple Mac-like white, but I remember seeing promotional material of a version in black; and as 'black is back', I think it's only a matter of time before a black version becomes available (the PS3 is in black, as will be the soon-to-be-released Xbox 360 Elite). I think Nintendo will do the whole thing that they did with the DS handheld, i.e. launch in one colour, then release other colourways. The Wii remote and nunchuk are also supplied (in white) and also seem to be well made. It shouldn't matter if you are left- or right- handed: considerately, the Wii remote isn't handedness-biased. You definitely must use the wrist strap, unless you want to see the remote flying into your TV screen/furniture/partner/dog/cat/etc after a vigorous throwing action. There were some initial concerns with the nylon lanyard of the wrist strap being too thin and flimsy, but I had reassurance from Nintendo Customer Service that there shouldn't be any problems as long as the strap is used in accordance with the instructions (anyway, because it's so hard to get hold of a console, when/if you do, you're likely to get the 'upgraded' strap supplied). For multiplayer games you will need up to 3 additional sets of Wii remotes and nunchuks (which at RRP is almost as much as the console itself!). I bought another set of controllers for 2 player games with my better half, and those instances when we get together with my brother-in-law. There are a good selection of games available for the Wii, and a number of soon-to-be-released Mario titles. But I challenge you to not load up Wii Sports every now and again for a quick game of tennis! Definitely worth getting if you want a video console that will get everybody involved.... Read Full Review » |
RRP
£295.00
Release Date
8 December 2006
Price Range
£179.98 - £181.61