I pledge allegiance to the Wii and to the corporation for which it stands.
I suppose I could be considered a fanboy. I was a Sega man in the beginning of my console gaming life but after the Sega CD died I left the world of gaming for a long time only to re-enter as a PC-Gamer. However, when I first moved to MN I had spent a brief time living with Frankles' brother and his N64. It had made an impression on me, though it didn't really become apparent until much later.
After doing a necessary upgrade to Windows XP and subsequently finding I could no longer play several of my games (Sime Theme Park!) I decided the constant cycle of upgrading my PC to play new games was annoying, time consuming, and expensive. Mrs. Whackly and I decided to buy a N64 at Best Buy on our way back to St. Cloud from the airport.
We played MarioKart, Donkey Kong 64, Space Station Silicon Valley (one of the best games I've ever played on any console), Rush 2, and Rush 2049. The multiplayer mode on Rush 2049 was one of the best ever. I don't know if it was really all that good or if I love it because I was just some kind of unholy and autistic savant level of good at it.
Obviously, when the Gamecube came out it was a no brainer that we would upgrade. We did wait a while and actually got our GNC second hand from Marcia's brother who had decided get a PS2. It was a good investment but we struggled to find games that had that spectacular multiplayer experience from the N64. MarioKart Double Dash on the GCN was close but the multiplayer was a bit thin compared to MarioKart 64.
Then came Mezzo. He'd had an Xbox for a while and during a visit to his new house in IL he convinced me I should get one too. It was a good descision. We played Star Wars Battlefront and Star Wars Battlefront 2 until 2 in the morning too many nights to count. The lack of sleep was detracting from our everyday lives but we couldn't resist the sweet satisfaction of watching Kaiser PC get blown up by a well placed land mine or the sould lifting pleasure of chucking a grenade into a room full of stormtroopers and rushing in to pick off the survivors. It was awesome.
There was a problem, though. My multiplayer/social gaming experience had swung completely to the realm of online gaming and the time spent gaming with my wife had dwindled to near nothingness. We tried a few things. We played Zelda: Four Swords with our GBAs connected to the GCN but it just wasn't scratching the itch.
Then came the 360. I won mine (mostly thanks to Jumper!). Got it two days before launch from the good people at Pepsicola Softdrinks and Diabetes (Mountain Dew, specifically). Mezzo and I suddenly had a bunch of newer and prettier games to play. Many of them are super cool and bundles of fun but we haven't quite found a replacement for Star Wars Battlefront just yet. Call Of Duty 3 is out. If looks promising. We'll see. The Xbox Live Arcade did, however, rekindle the idea that Mrs. Whackly and I should be playing together once again. Our search for the "killer app" has brought me to many fun games but, much like my next-gen struggle to find the right game between Mezzo and I, our efforts to fill our multiplayer yearnings have not been fruitful.
I don't wish to sound like I don't like my 360. I love it. It's basically our cable box now since I use the Media Center capability to connect it to my Media Center PC in the office. It does an awesome job of upscaling DVDs to 1080i (I'm unclear on exactly what it's doing there but I have an expensive Sony progressive scan 5 disc dvd changer and the same disks look so much better played on the 360 that it's silly-Mezzo has the same dvd player as me and I think he'll agree). I have some really awesome games for the 360 (Marble Blast Ultra, Ghost Recon, PGR3, and many more - and don't forget Oblivion!!!!!). For all its coolness the 360 has left some part of my inner gamer unfulfilled.
The Erotic Awakening of Wii. Thanks to Something Dirty (who was willing to pick my Wii for me before the mall closed which subsequently allowed me to not have to leave a family gathering in WI early for a video game console) I got my Wii last sunday. I didn't dive right into the games. I spend nearly an hour trying to get it connected to the internet. The tried and true addage "It's your router, it's your router, it's your router." held true once again. Once online, updated, and ready I started playing the games.
First stop, Wii Sports. Color me impressed. I had psyched myself up for a long time to be objective 'cause I had this feeling that I was going to like it no matter what. Objectivity be damned. It's cool as hell! Next stop, virtual console. Sim City! Mario 64! Sonic the Hedgehog! Downloaded, played, enjoyed! Not multiplayer but cool as hell. I noticed last night that Bomberman 93 is up there (from the T16!). That could be the multiplayer killer app Marcia and I have been looking for... but then again, so could Wii Sports! If they release Rush 2049 for the Virtual Console I'm quitting my job to play. It was a dreamcast title as well as an N64 title so it seems likely that it will come out on XBLA or NVC at some point. I'm hoping to see Military Madness (T16) on there too (its like Advance Wars for the GBA.. only 10 years earlier).
I got Rayman: Raving Rabbids. It's cool. Not really my speed. I think Mrs. Whackly will like it and it might right for Whackly Jr. when he gets a little older. I also got the Monkeyball title but I haven't opened it yet. How many mini-games does one man need? I think I'll exchange it for something more in depth. To be honest, I kinda wish I'd open the Monkeyball game first and was taking back Rayman. But the past is the past and not every game we own HAS to be something I enjoy. If it's right for the other gamers in the family, that's cool too.
This weekend will tell all. We have a holiday weekend, of sorts, coming up and my wife and I will have a chance to play some of these games together (especially if I can find another controller) and I have great hope that the Wii will finally bring us full circle. I picture the Mrs. and I jumping around our living room like injured, uncoordinated animals attempting to destroy one another at Wii Tennis. The gaming future looks bright.
If you've not had a chance to play a Wii do yourself a favor and find a way. Nintendo knows what they are doing. It's not going to replace the PC or the 360 or the PS3 (barf) for those hardcore gamers. But for those new to the gaming experience and those who are more focused on having fun with a game than marvelling at pretty graphics the Wii is instantly engaging and intuitive. If could make a gamer out of you... No... I'm fucking serious! It really could. It's not hype. It's actually really freaking cool!
After doing a necessary upgrade to Windows XP and subsequently finding I could no longer play several of my games (Sime Theme Park!) I decided the constant cycle of upgrading my PC to play new games was annoying, time consuming, and expensive. Mrs. Whackly and I decided to buy a N64 at Best Buy on our way back to St. Cloud from the airport.
We played MarioKart, Donkey Kong 64, Space Station Silicon Valley (one of the best games I've ever played on any console), Rush 2, and Rush 2049. The multiplayer mode on Rush 2049 was one of the best ever. I don't know if it was really all that good or if I love it because I was just some kind of unholy and autistic savant level of good at it.
Obviously, when the Gamecube came out it was a no brainer that we would upgrade. We did wait a while and actually got our GNC second hand from Marcia's brother who had decided get a PS2. It was a good investment but we struggled to find games that had that spectacular multiplayer experience from the N64. MarioKart Double Dash on the GCN was close but the multiplayer was a bit thin compared to MarioKart 64.
Then came Mezzo. He'd had an Xbox for a while and during a visit to his new house in IL he convinced me I should get one too. It was a good descision. We played Star Wars Battlefront and Star Wars Battlefront 2 until 2 in the morning too many nights to count. The lack of sleep was detracting from our everyday lives but we couldn't resist the sweet satisfaction of watching Kaiser PC get blown up by a well placed land mine or the sould lifting pleasure of chucking a grenade into a room full of stormtroopers and rushing in to pick off the survivors. It was awesome.
There was a problem, though. My multiplayer/social gaming experience had swung completely to the realm of online gaming and the time spent gaming with my wife had dwindled to near nothingness. We tried a few things. We played Zelda: Four Swords with our GBAs connected to the GCN but it just wasn't scratching the itch.
Then came the 360. I won mine (mostly thanks to Jumper!). Got it two days before launch from the good people at Pepsicola Softdrinks and Diabetes (Mountain Dew, specifically). Mezzo and I suddenly had a bunch of newer and prettier games to play. Many of them are super cool and bundles of fun but we haven't quite found a replacement for Star Wars Battlefront just yet. Call Of Duty 3 is out. If looks promising. We'll see. The Xbox Live Arcade did, however, rekindle the idea that Mrs. Whackly and I should be playing together once again. Our search for the "killer app" has brought me to many fun games but, much like my next-gen struggle to find the right game between Mezzo and I, our efforts to fill our multiplayer yearnings have not been fruitful.
I don't wish to sound like I don't like my 360. I love it. It's basically our cable box now since I use the Media Center capability to connect it to my Media Center PC in the office. It does an awesome job of upscaling DVDs to 1080i (I'm unclear on exactly what it's doing there but I have an expensive Sony progressive scan 5 disc dvd changer and the same disks look so much better played on the 360 that it's silly-Mezzo has the same dvd player as me and I think he'll agree). I have some really awesome games for the 360 (Marble Blast Ultra, Ghost Recon, PGR3, and many more - and don't forget Oblivion!!!!!). For all its coolness the 360 has left some part of my inner gamer unfulfilled.
The Erotic Awakening of Wii. Thanks to Something Dirty (who was willing to pick my Wii for me before the mall closed which subsequently allowed me to not have to leave a family gathering in WI early for a video game console) I got my Wii last sunday. I didn't dive right into the games. I spend nearly an hour trying to get it connected to the internet. The tried and true addage "It's your router, it's your router, it's your router." held true once again. Once online, updated, and ready I started playing the games.
First stop, Wii Sports. Color me impressed. I had psyched myself up for a long time to be objective 'cause I had this feeling that I was going to like it no matter what. Objectivity be damned. It's cool as hell! Next stop, virtual console. Sim City! Mario 64! Sonic the Hedgehog! Downloaded, played, enjoyed! Not multiplayer but cool as hell. I noticed last night that Bomberman 93 is up there (from the T16!). That could be the multiplayer killer app Marcia and I have been looking for... but then again, so could Wii Sports! If they release Rush 2049 for the Virtual Console I'm quitting my job to play. It was a dreamcast title as well as an N64 title so it seems likely that it will come out on XBLA or NVC at some point. I'm hoping to see Military Madness (T16) on there too (its like Advance Wars for the GBA.. only 10 years earlier).
I got Rayman: Raving Rabbids. It's cool. Not really my speed. I think Mrs. Whackly will like it and it might right for Whackly Jr. when he gets a little older. I also got the Monkeyball title but I haven't opened it yet. How many mini-games does one man need? I think I'll exchange it for something more in depth. To be honest, I kinda wish I'd open the Monkeyball game first and was taking back Rayman. But the past is the past and not every game we own HAS to be something I enjoy. If it's right for the other gamers in the family, that's cool too.
This weekend will tell all. We have a holiday weekend, of sorts, coming up and my wife and I will have a chance to play some of these games together (especially if I can find another controller) and I have great hope that the Wii will finally bring us full circle. I picture the Mrs. and I jumping around our living room like injured, uncoordinated animals attempting to destroy one another at Wii Tennis. The gaming future looks bright.
If you've not had a chance to play a Wii do yourself a favor and find a way. Nintendo knows what they are doing. It's not going to replace the PC or the 360 or the PS3 (barf) for those hardcore gamers. But for those new to the gaming experience and those who are more focused on having fun with a game than marvelling at pretty graphics the Wii is instantly engaging and intuitive. If could make a gamer out of you... No... I'm fucking serious! It really could. It's not hype. It's actually really freaking cool!
posted by Unknown at 10:36 AM
5 Comments:
is it because the 360 is a year old today that you have made this statement?
it was kinda funny always seeing kaiser pc falling at those landmines....i remember a game where me and you in jabbas palace kept falling at each others as well.....havent laughed so hard since,LOL
i know there has been some probelms getting the valuable update for the wii once purchased....not sure what it is though,and the news weather and online browser come along december and january
i hated sega,i had a master system 2,and hated it...only game i loved for it was psycho fox(damn i wanna play that again)...i was a nintendo guy...the original NES,where you inserted the big old cartridges and pushed down....only remember the mario games....and the dizzy games(adventures of an egg...treasure island dizzy,fantasy island dizzy)
then it was the SNES...the gameboy....smashed it on my knee,when i got pissed at the end of game bad guy in mario.....and then the N64...it wasnt goldeneye that i loved on that console...it was zelda,ocarina of time,where i would just fish for hours on end
glad to hear that the virtual console part of the wii is all up and running...are the original zelda games on there yet?..i heard ocarina and majoras mask are to make an appearance(even though i have those games on a special edition gamecube disc)
Hey Wackly! My Console's Wii Number is 1827-3189-8198-3986. You should let me know what yours is so I can add you.
Here is my Wii address. w1827318981983986@wii.com. This is so cool and can even recv. Pic's that is no larger than 1MB in total size of message.
Here from you later from my Wii.
I should really start using spellcheck. Sheesh!
feelin a little outta the loop. but that's me and videogames. however, the wii's interactive, full-on game play makes me wanna try it. soon i will be on your doorstep, whackly. i am just a sad girl who can really only play 1D games, so the prospect of something totally different is really intriguing. i'm a little excited to see it.
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