Nintendo Wii Console

I actually didn't buy this myself, I got it for christmas (lucky). I was very suprised to get this, game consoles are always r e a l l y hard to find around christmas. The wii comes with Wii sports, the most well known game for the wii. It is a good game. I'm not going to talk about it much, but basically you swing the controller in different directions, depending on the game.

The wii remote itself (AKA the "Wiimote" or "wii controller" or simply "controller" Nintendo's official name is "Wii remote) Is, hence the name, shaped like a remote. ordered from top to bottom, first there is a power button, which actually turns the console on and off. Not particularly earth shattering, but a nice perk. Then you have a traditional arrow pad, an "A" button, and on the bottom there is a trigger-like thing, which is used in some shooting games and is known as the B button. THen you have a minus key,(which does nothing 9 times out of 10) a "home" key, and a "plus" key (which acts as a start button 9 times out of 10) Finally, you have a 1 and a 2 key.

The controller also has a built in speaker. It makes sounds during your game, like wii sports baseball makes a "CRRRAAAACK" noise, for example. THe controller also has "rumble" or "Vibration" in it as well.

The controller runs on 2 AA batteries, which seem to last a long time in my opinion. In addition, some games (NOT ALL GAMES!!) will give you an on-screen warning when the batteries are low. when this happens, you still have quite a bit of time left. (Thank you, nintendo, for giving us an early warning) At this point, the rumble may not be as strong, though. Despite the long battery life, you WILL want to get rechargeable batteries, and keep a battery charger with some batteries always in it, always near the wii!

At the lowest portion, you have 4 lights that indicate what player that controller is "set" to. Out of the box, the original controller is allready "added" to your console, so you need do nothing. If you replace your controller or get an additional one, you need to press a button on the console then one on the controller to "add" the controller. This is a 1 time thing. It will still be "paired" with your particular console even when the batteries are removed. Once you put new ones in you just press any button and your console "sees" it again and reconnects to it. Pressing the "home" key brings up a menu where you can turn the speaker in the remote on and off, check remaining battery power, turn the rumble on and off, or exit or reset the game.

THe wii's online capabilities are somewhat lacking. THere are not very many games (yet) that support online play. There is a message board system as well, but in order to use it, you have to register "buddies" on the console. In other words, you have to find someone who has a wii, and you have to give him this number that is written into the wii's message board system. He has to give you his code, too. these are called "friend codes" or "Wii numbers". As far as I know, you have to register a "buddy" who has the same game as you in order to play online. I don't know if any online-capable games do this, too, but if you are looking for a console with a good online system, DONT get a WII! Medal of honor, heros 2 has it's own intergrated online interface. I have never tested it because I rented the game, but It most likely doesnt use the friend codes. Third party games will likely have a better online than this. (I dont have very many games yer so I cant make a judgement on that. I did not get it for online play)

SO far, the games seem to be well-designed. I am not going to spend too much time discussing them here, but if you are looking for a good "adventure" type of game, get SUPER MARIO GALAXY! It uses the "nunchuck" or joystick attachment, but that's not a big deal because your wii comes with one. there is also a few World War 2 shooting games where you use the nunchuck to move and the wii mote to point and shoot. Think of it as a FPS/Arcade shooter hybrid.