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 Wii views – Wii reviews, get it? Bad pun? Come on I’m just having a Wii bit of fun lads‘n‘lasses.

On video gaming I must admit while I now own a Wii I’m more of an arcade genre gamer. Unlike the kids of today if I have to read a manual 30 pages long and have 8 fingers on each hand or be double jointed to play the game then that game is not for me. Pong is still the best and Pinball my favourite. I have original Atari consoles and have progressed from Nintendo to Super Nintendo to N64, to Gamecude and now the Wii. It’s the classic titles I love. The ones I grew up with in the 1970s and 1980s. Going to Shoppers City arcade then later Algonquin College outside Bert’s Bar playing real pinball on tables made out of wood and games with with joysticks you plugged quarters in. I have some of them on the Gamecube titles which are now played on the Wii.

Namco classics like Pac-Man, Centipede, Galaga, Dig-Dug. Newer simple controls and fun play titles like Super Monkey Ball. For N64 favs includes Beetle Adventure Racing, Jeopardy and of course Tetris. The N64 version of Tetris is still the best; the N64 is hooked up alongside the Wii. As you’ll read I’ve gotten into some role playing games too but again they have to have uncomplicated interface / controls.

The Wii Console and Accessories

As said the Wii is downward compatible to the Gamecube. Just plug in your GC controllers and your GC memory card too and it plays as before. Added benefit, easier access to the data card contents in the Wii Data Management section. The Wii comes with a Wii Remote but not a Nunchuk – a joystick thing which takes getting used to. Cash grab if ask me that it isn’t included as it’s needed for over half the games you’re likely to play. You’ll have to buy more of each for each player. Other controller gadgets available like a “classic” controller for old style games and shooter adapter. See the title box for what’s needed. I’m left handed and thankfully not exclusive at it except for writing and eating. Most games show instructions on how to hold and use remotes

but only for right handers. If switch to left hand it does take time to figure out proper way to do motions to get same game play results. Some I couldn’t. Thankfully for me playing ‘righty” is fine but still kind of funny being left handed in real life for tennis, batting, throwing etc but go right for Wii. 

Wii Internet connections

I’ll save you some time here with info I’ve learned. First if you do have high speed internet I hightly recommend setting it up for the Wii if for no other reason to get the “Nintendo Channel” through the Wii menu. This feed gives you previews, reviews, short videos of games in play and allows you to search titles by genre of game, Nintendo platform, popularity etc. It will save you money by giving you better idea if a title is right for you or that person you’re gifting. The other main channel you can access is the Wii Shopping Channel where you can download “Virtual games” from the older platforms to download to the Wii and WiiWare which are new games to download. This is done by using points that you buy. 

If you have a wireless LAN set-up for your computers then nothing to buy, just set it up through the Wii to receive the signal. Better the signal faster the internet as usual. If you don’t have wireless you can get a router and do as above. Two altenatives for now if you don’t want to go wireless, get the Nintendo brand LAN USB adapter or go Wired via an adapter.

Per the Nintendo support website both of these work best with Broadband connection. It says it may not work or give erratic with DSL. I use the wired adapter method with “Portable Internet” which is pseudo wireless modem.The LAN USB adapter creates a wireless network to the Wii. Nintendo says that product is being discontinued but there are tons on the shelves. The package says it works with Windows XP only. For Vista go to Nintendo site and download software and follow instructions.

For more secure data wise and faster internet speed in the Wii  go the “wired”route.Buy Nintendo’s or another brand’s Wired adapter as I did. It’s a small plug about an inch long. Your ethernet cable for broadbast or DSL usually goes between the modem and the computer. Just plug the end going to the computer to this adapter and plug it into the USB port on the Wii. If you have a good long cord you need not even move the modem to reach. Follow the plug’s and the Wii guide and you’re good to go then just unplug the eithernet to plug back into your PC for regaulr internet. You DON’T have to set up internet in the Wii if you don’t want those features.

Games reviews: Here are some reviews of some games I have

Wii Sports
Comes with the Wii console. Learn to be a right hander if you’re a left hander, you’ll just get too frustrated trying get the moves correct otherwise. Bowling is fantastic, Baseball is really good once get hang of holding the remote properly. Pitching with it is great. Tennis is fun too. I do a mean back hand and a drilling serve.

Wii Play
For $10 extra you get a Wii Remote (more remotes, more players) and a collection of mini games that are great for beginners to learn the different ways to hold and use the remote. They’re fun for light play after. I like the neon hockey that looks like glowing paper clips pushing a dot puck. Low tech but cool.

Ultimate Board Game collection
What no action? Yep sit down and relax and play against the Wii and or friends in games of checkers, chess, connect 4, a reversi like game and my fav Battleship. The graphics are just fair and the menuing annoying but once get game going its intellectual no impact fun.

Boom Blox
Not since Tetris has there been a game I’ve played that has such simple controls: throw, pull, nudge yet is so addictive with so many levels. Kind of like reverse Mechano (gawd aging myself again), here you want to destroy structures that are made of blocks. Each task tells you what to knock down, pull out or nudge aside to get points and which to avoid to not lose points. If get enough points you open up next design task. Addictive part is bettering your score even if get minimum to move ahead. Kids will love it for cute critters that don’t actually do anything and they’ll like knocking things down. Adults get into the physics of it. Hmm hit this dead on blocks pop up, to left falls that way, to right falls another and then knocking others? It’s engineering in reverse. Steven Speilberg apparently is a developer of it.

CSI: Hard Evidence
I’m not usually into role playing games. Often get bored going around in circles looking for gems and spells and that the like. I get lost going around my neighbourhood so pleasant surprise to find this title. You’re a newbie CSI Vegas investigator in to help solve 5 different crimes. You interact with animated versions of the cast. The interface is not complicated. You collect evidence, go to locations, review case files, get hints if desired all recorded on a PDA pop-up. The better more methodical you are the better your assessment by Grishom will be at the end. Neat graphics like in the TV show as forsenic evidence is examined and explained. Seems to be the real voices. 

Pinball Dreams
As I said I love Pinball. I think it is the purest from of gaming. You decide when to hit the flipper, you aim the angle. There is little or no luck. I’ve played the real thing. In this collection it is new high tech tables cluttered full of shoot tubes and even sub levels. Give me lots of drop down targets, bumpers, save ball slots, the classic look and sounds. That said these are still good but not fantastic! I like adjusting the machine sounds loudest to make it seem more real. This title is made by Crave which did a pinball title for Gamecube. It has the same annoying bad feature. You can’t lock a favourite default viewing angle. You have to select one each time you play the table. Pinball Dreams you can play with the Nunchuk as the left flipper, nudging controls with the Wii remote as the right flipper, nudging but the plunger function is difficult with is stupid. You can also play with just the Wii Remote which I do.

Pinball Hall of Fame – The Williams Collection
Now here are recreations of classics, some of which I’ve played in real life! The sounds are accurate, the viewing angles are better to manage and the look and feel is good. They’ve added tournanment and multiplayer mode to games that were originally for one player only so that's a nice touch. You use just the Wii Remote to play.

Carnival Games
Another set on mini games to spend short time playing or long if play a lot of rhem. Kids will like creating their own avatar character. I don't know why they didn't licence to use the Mii you create. Games include balloon darts, ring toss, coin toss, dunk tank and other of the bygone era. The graphics and character talk is set more for kids however adults when in the mood can have fun. It's not to the caliber of Wii Sports as action goes but a fun family or multiplayer game. It just doesn't really grab me as much as I hoped it would and I may trade it in with another "also ran" towards something I hope I'll play more.

That’s it as a detailed look at the Wii and some titles I have. What do you like to play on the Wii?