For those not living under a rock, you’ve probably heard what serious gamers have been buzzing about all weekend: the release of the Sony PS3 and the Nintendo Wii. Sony’s PS3, priced at a “whopping” $600, aims to kill last year’s holiday blockbuster the Xbox 360. Sony’s looking to continue home-console dominance by offering what they claim is superior technology, Sony’s Blu-ray versus Microsoft’s HDD.
In the melee of technical jargon flying about, 80s gaming legend Nintendo doesn’t seem to care two-bits. They’re after a whole new type of gamer. Nintendo’s president, Mr. Satoru Iwata, declared, “We need something radical,” and you’ve probably seen the commercials that show exactly what he means. Children, teens and adults having tons of fun waving imaginary tennis rackets, slashing Ganon’s minions in Zelda, and swinging falsetto golf clubs all through the magic of Nintendo’s motion-detecting nunchaku controller. Now you can game and exercise all at once.
We all remember a time when video games were just fun to play. The days before games needed multi-million dollar film-level budgets. Ok, maybe sometimes you found yourself out of breath and frustrated trying to figure out why your cartridge didn’t work anymore, but you still loved to game. Brothers played games with sisters. Parents gamed with children. Controls weren’t complicated and you didn’t need a manual and strategy guide just to have a good wholesome twenty minutes of fun. It was a family experience. But somewhere in the 90s blitz of 16 and 32-bit warfare, gaming companies lost sight of the family.
The Nintendo Wii is a radical attempt at luring non-gamers and the family back to video games. No more tedious nights of Pictionary, Scrabble and Charades with family friends. Husbands are already telling wives, “The Wii isn’t for me, it’s for us.” And don’t forget the children. “Mom/Dad, the Wii is an activity based gaming system. Boxing, tennis, and golf… I can exercise and have fun at the same time. I’ll even eat my vegetables.”
The Nintendo Wii went on sale Nov. 19th and has already sold out its first shipment of consoles. Priced at $249, it seems a trivial price this holiday season when compared to Sony’s PS3. The Age of Nintendo is back upon us. The Bag Man says buy the Wii, you won’t regret it.
the Wii Rocks. I’m sticking with that and my Xbox 360. F@$@ a PS3!
i don’t know if i’ll get a wii, especially since i just bought Gears of war for 360. outside of Zelda what other games are they coming out with before year end?