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I got my hands on a Wii last night
Last night I stopped by my local Hollywood Video/Game Crazy to return some movies American Psycho style and I was overjoyed to see that the Game Crazy store got their full demo Nintendo Wii. This is the final retail unit and was sitting on the counter top.
The Wii was about the same size as expected. It was about the same volume as a Gamecube but more rectangular and vertical. I can't wait to get my Wii on Saturday Night/Sunday morning at midnight and take it home.
The Wii Remote was a lot smaller that I had expected and it was thicker. It felt really good and I was able to get the hang of playing Excitetruck instantly. I thought the rumble felt great and it added to the interactive experience. I am glad that I have a four pack of rechargeable NiMH AA batteries ready for my Wii. I am probably going to get a second Wiimote this weekend. I wanted to try out Wii Sports but they did not have it in their demo unit.
The sensor bar was smaller than I expected and when the dude behind the counter walked in front of it the Wiimote stopped working. It uses a WiFi like radio signal (Bluetooth and infrared) that can be blocked by some one standing in front of it. It ends up you do need a line of sight to the sensor bar but under a well lit normal lighting store front it worked great. One thing is that they had the TV mounted from the ceiling and the sensor bar was about five feet under it so there was a little mental disconnect when you had to wave the Wiimote in front of the sensor and look up. The moral of the story is that you don't want to separate the bar from the TV area.
I was able to mess around with the OS interface and make a Mii avatar. The OS is really nice and feels almost like an Apple product. I can see Mac addicts all over the world lusting after a Wii.
They were also giving away a DVD of a Wii infomercial and I was surprised to see Kymberly being responsive and wanting to try it out. That is pretty good for Nintendo if they can get a non-gaming woman such as her intrigued. Oh and the infomericial said that the Wii was down with the left handed homies.
Update : I just order my Wii Component cables online since most retailers might not be getting them until December 5th. There are conflicting rumors on “The Internets”. That is a bit lame of Nintendo.
There is no doubt in my mind that Nintendo has a hit on their hands. The Wii is going to fly off the shelves this holiday season.
Jake at November 15, 2006 
Games
Comments
Man i want one these so bad. I waited in line for hours during the pre-order. The guy stepped out and said one per person, one per family. So I counted people, and was assured that I would get one of the 17 they had. Well they a group of 4 kids to each get one, all clearly from the same family. So I was the first in line to get cut.
Ill just have to wait till they are on the shelves for good.
Posted by: Josh at November 15, 2006 2:12 PM
I would go to Toys R Us or Target on Sunday when they open. Major retailers like that will get a shipment but they are not doing pre-orders. I don’t think this is going to be PS2/PS3 launch rare.
Posted by: Jacob Metcalf ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.8bitjoystick.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at November 15, 2006 2:16 PM
Yeah, the PS3 is already selling on eBay for... well, way more than any human being on Earth should ever pay for home electronic game systems. The Wii is more of a "geek" than a "chic" thing. The PS3 has been all the talk of my work's morning meetings; the people I've talked to who were interested in the PS3 didn't even know what the Wii was.
Also, Nintendo has basically stated there will be plenty for everyone (I'm not going to cite my source, they've delved into it in numerous PRs and interviews)-- I'd say they're pretty good for it, the only time they weren't was with the Nintendo 64. God, you had to pry one from a mother's cold, dead hands that holiday season.
Bottom line, everyone who wants one should be able to get one.
Posted by: Josh WK at November 16, 2006 11:52 AM
As an Xbox 360 owner and future Wii owner I have not seen anything to get massively excited about from the PS3. I have to wonder how many of those folks waiting in line are going to try to fence it on eBay.
I think the $250 price point, innovative controls and the classic gaming is going to help sell the Wii to a wide variety of gamers. If I had kids I would hands down get them a Wii. There might be shortages of the Wii on the first week but once the 2nd batch hits the week after that things should be good. Nintendo is going to have ten times the amount of Wiis on the shelves this year than the number of PS3s.
It basically comes down to fun. Nintendo is fun.
Posted by: Jacob Metcalf at November 16, 2006 12:16 PM
Nintendo is indeed fun. Sony is a sexy black beast that rapes you if you're not cool enough. But, hey, that's my swing on it.
Posted by: Josh WK at November 16, 2006 3:48 PM
I still think that Sega Dreamcast http://www.8bitjoystick.com/archives/jake_black_dreamcast_of_coolness.php and Sega Genesis was the original cool slick black video game system. Also the actual size of the PS3 is the biggest game system out on the market now.
Posted by: Jacob Metcalf at November 16, 2006 4:08 PM
Yeesh, and people were making fun of how big the original xbox was though.
I have to say, I've had a better gaming experience with the 360 than the Xbox. I think it's just the overall presentation, and the Dashboard being accessible at all times that makes it a better system.
Posted by: Llydis at November 18, 2006 9:07 AM
