Wii in the House

The Wii is in the house. Game Crazy had a midnight event just for the people who pre-ordered. So we got there way early, played the demo Wii, and hung out with a small number of excited employees and customers.

We got the Wii, an extra wiimote controller, a classic controller, four additional games (plus the sports game that comes with the box), some online points for classic games, etc. for a good $50+ USD under the base price of the PS3.

And on top of that we have an amazing game playing experience. Using the wiimote controller is like no other human-machine interaction I've experienced. Feel the gentle "bump" as you traverse from option to option in a dialog, e.g. while building your online characters in the "Me Channel".

Something I learned now that I've played a good bit more since my first experience a few weeks ago: driving with the controller is something like the steering wheel, but the more I "drive" with it, the more I find myself balancing the controller in my hands and tilting the weight of it one way or another to keep the truck on course. This is not really a steering wheel, but close -- it is more of a natural analog for the truck's movement on the screen. More natural than a joy stick -- there is a "feel" for the movement, gently letting the fairly lightweight controller tilt around.

Easy. Smooth. Awe inspiring... you may be a fan of the multiple processors displaying all the PS3 graphics (although I have yet to hear of a purchaser who did not sell their purchase on ebay), but I have trouble imagining someone not coming away from a session with the Wii not thinking this is a big step toward a new style of machine interaction.

Nintendo knocked this one *way* out of the park. The feel is generations ahead of the 360 and I imagine the PS3. Whatever the Wii lacks in graphics processing will surely catch up over time with hardware and software improvements. At $250 per box, I can easily buy another box next Christmas with more graphics and still be on par with the initial cost of the competitors. Nintendo made the right investments.