Preview: Nintendo Wii
This little console from the home of Super Mario is going to be making a big splash this year.When Sony announced that the PlayStation 3 won't be available in Europe until March 2007, the disappointment of grumpy gamers across the UK was widespread. The fact that Nintendo have now gone public with a release date for their new machine, the Wii, will hopefully take the sting out of Xmas for them.
Firstly, this is the machine that was originally going to be called 'Revolution', but had a change of name in May this year to reflect the 'inclusive' strategy that Nintendo are embracing nowadays.
The first and most important thing to realise about the Wii is that it has almost nothing in common with the Xbox 360 or PS3. In terms of computing power it's only slightly more powerful than its predecessor, the Gamecube, so it's not really fair to call this a 'next generation' console. What makes the Wii so interesting, though, is the new controller that'll be used with it – which looks more like a TV remote control than a traditional game pad. So instead of having 3 different joysticks and upwards of 10 buttons on its controller, the wii-mote (as it's affectionately known) has a motion sensor in it that allows you to control the on-screen actions by physically waving your arms around.
Early demos include a tennis game where players hold the controller like a racquet and take an Andy Murray-style swing to literally 'hit' the ball in real time. Other examples are just as impressive, like whack-a-mole and swordfighting, where on-screen weapons respond exactly to how you move the wii-mote.
On top of all these new gimmicks, Nintendo have included a 'virtual console' with the Wii. This will give users access to a massive back catalogue of games from previous consoles, including Super NES, N64 and even the SEGA Megadrive. A limited selection of these will be available for download at a price of around £5 when the Wii launches, with more games being added every week. Wii will also feature full backwards compatibility with Gamecube games, which means there will be an enormous amount of content available for it straight out of the box.
Graphically, it's not going to be as pretty as the other machines on the market – in fact, the Wii won't feature HDTV support at all. Having said that an impressive selection of games at launch, together with Nintendo's flawless reputation, will make the console a seriously attractive prospect for gamers this Xmas. What's more, the price is going to make prospective PS3 owners choke with jealously – while Sony's machine will cost £425 when it finally launches in March 2007, the Wii is going to retail for only £179 this Christmas. With that £246 in change, you could buy an Xbox 360 AND a game. Ouch.
The Wii is launching on December 8th, and will cost £179 including a controller and the Wii Sports Game. RRP for software is £39.99, and titles available on release include Super Mario Galaxy, Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess[/b] and Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz.
FFWD
Related Links:
wii.nintendo.com
