Review: Nintendo Wii games console

We give Nintendo's innovative console an extended test drive

The Wii is finally here, arriving amidst all the usual media saturation, retail chaos and record-breaking sales statistics traditionally associated with a new Nintendo games console.

Being the ‘fastest-selling console in the known universe’, as Nintendo puts it, doesn’t necessarily guarantee long-term success, though. So, after our initial sneak preview we got our hands on the genuine article to give it a proper test drive. Small, sleek and white, the Wii’s design is a long way from colourful, kid-friendly look of Nintendo’s previous console, the Gamecube.

But, while the Wii’s forerunner sold fairly well in Japan, it never came close to matching the worldwide success of its main rival - Sony’s Playstation 2. This time round, it’s clear that Nintendo has decided on a whole new strategy.

Rather than taking on the next generation Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 at their own game, Nintendo has created its own set of rules, largely based around the Wii’s unique selling point; its controller.

The Wii’s controller looks nothing like the traditional games console joypad. It comes in two separate pieces for a start – the Wii Remote and the Nunchuk. The Remote, which looks like a TV remote, is the main controller and includes both a motion sensor and an on-screen pointer. This liberates players from the usual dual-thumbstick control system and has the potential to make for a much more interactive experience.

The Wii Sports game that comes with the console, for instance, allows players to use the controller to simulate all manner of activities, from playing tennis and golf to boxing and bowling.

It’s certainly a lot of fun and could well see the console crossing over into the mainstream, assuming that games developers can come up with titles that are both engaging and take full advantage of the controller. As it is, the launch line-up largely consists of a number of amusing party titles, but nothing that’s truly ‘must have’.

Microsoft has laid down the gauntlet in terms of both graphics and online features with its year-old Xbox 360, and the Wii will have a hard time competing in either of these areas.

Nintendo’s console doesn’t offer any high-definition visuals and graphically it looks very similar to the Gamecube. Indeed, the Wii is backwards compatible with the Cube, which made it possible for us to compare the new Zelda game in both formats. Visually they were almosty identical, but the Wii version was more fun to play because of the way it exploits the motion-sensing and on-screen aiming aspects of the control system.

Internet functions are promising, but limited. The Wii is Wifi-ready, so all those with a wireless network need to do is enter an SSID and a WEP or WPA encryption key - the pointer is used to select characters from an onscreen keyboard. Our model performed a couple of system updates and it was necessary to agree to some terms and conditions before we were allowed to browse Nintendo’s online offerings.

The Wii is supposed to feature several online channels but, in fact, there’s not a lot to it – at the moment, at least.

Neither the news nor the weather channels were up and running when we wrote this review, despite the fact that the Wii has been on sale for several weeks. Similarly, there were no Wii software applications to download and no message board photos to browse.

Nintendo has, however, managed to get its much-vaunted Virtual Console up and running in time for launch. This is a system that works a little like Xbox Live Arcade, where games – mainly favourite titles from yesteryear – can be purchased online and downloaded directly to the console.

Only a handful of Virtual Console games are currently available, ranging in price from about £3.50 to £6.99. Most are old NES, SNES and Megadrive titles, although at least one Nintendo 64 game (Super Mario 64) has also made the launch list. Nintendo promises many more downloadable games will be made available throughout the console’s life.

The only other non-gaming feature currently supported is photo browsing. Insert an SD card with some digital snaps on it into the console and it’s possible to browse them on your TV or view them as a slideshow. Accompanying music is available, although the typically twee Nintendo tunes on offer can be a bit grating.

It is possible, however, to pop an mp3 of your own choosing onto the SD card and the Wii will play this along to your slideshow instead. A handful of amusing photo-related activities (such as doodling on them or turning them into an onscreen jigsaw puzzle) are also available.

Some mention has been made of the fact that Wii-related accidents have been causing people to injure either themselves or their TV sets during frantic bouts of remote waving (see wiihaveaproblem.com for some examples).

We certainly didn’t suffer from anything more serious that a slight breathlessness during our own tests, but you can see how the introduction of such a physical element to video gaming could, in the wrong hands, prove somewhat dangerous.

Overall, however, the Wii has made a promising debut. Time will tell how well it stacks up against the technically superior Xbox 360 and the new Playstation 3 (due to launch in the UK in March), but it’s clear the console has the potential to appeal beyond the hardcore gaming market to those who wouldn’t normally buy a games console.

Also consider:
Xbox 360
The most powerful games console to date

Nintendo DS
Dual-screen pocket gaming

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