Wii Finally Get To Play

Wii had a red letter day recently. To be brief, tax return time is good to us, and wii're able to splurge for about the only time of the year once it comes in. This year's splurge included the coveted Nintendo Wii. Talk about a geek's technolust gone wild. This thing is probably the cleverest video game system to hit the home market in a long time.

Prior to its launch, there were all kinds of naysayers, primarily because the next generation systems for Nintendo's current competitors, Xbox and Playstation, were all putting out graphics that were either HD or close to it, where the Wii was to have basically the same graphics as the GameCube. But when it hit... oh, did they shut their mouths. In six months, the Wii outsold what the Xbox did in it first 18 months. The PS3 hastily added some shoddy motion control in their controller, but it didn't help. Now, 3 years after Xbox, 2 years after Wii, and 1 year after PS3, the Wii continues to sell out, while the others sit on their shelves. Who's laughing now?

Wii played the bowling game with three of us. It knew how Wii were holding our hands and threw the ball accordingly. The Queen always tends to bounce her ball down the alley, and sure enough, the game did it exactly as she does it in real life. It curved and everything else just like throwing the real ball. It was amazing. Wii played all of those Wii Sports games, and despite my aversion to sports games, I thoroughly enjoyed it. What can touch this thing?

Wii also got Guitar Hero 3. I have already mention my love for this game, but I continue to adore it as I play through the levels. I recently had my butt kicked by a song on the hard level, but rest assured, I will conquer it as well.

While the Geek certainly enjoys the system, the Queen and princesses have their games as well. Rock Girl, naturally, likes Guitar Hero, but she also has a Horses simulation game that she likes playing. Girls and horses. It's a thing, I guess. Wii naturally also have a Disney Princesses game, and it is mostly The Socialite that plays this one, though Sassy Pants tries awful hard. She's just a bit too young yet, but she'll keep trying and she'll get the hang of it.

The Queen was thrilled to have a new Sims game as she plays Sims Castaway. On the Wii, this works out very well, since the Wiimote works like a mouse pointer. She said it's quite fun, although my weekend schedule at the world's larget retailer has prevented me from watching her play.

"My" game is Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga. Now, I already have both Lego Star Wars games on the GameCube, but this one promised to have some more stuff in it. They did redesign the outer level, and although I've only played through the first episode (again, with the world's laregest retailer schedule -- and lots of Guitar Hero), I've noticed some marked differences between the new version and the old version. For instance, I always hated the pod race level, but in the new version, they have it un-timed and now have a free play mode, where before, it only allowed the story mode. This, of course, makes the level more complex, which is okay. There's also an extra canister to collect that is blue, as opposed to the white ones from the first version. I have yet to find a blue one...but like I said, I haven't played that far in yet.

Of course, wii also got the new Mario game, and everyone has played on it. It's very enjoyable and in classic Nintendo fashion, serves to exploit all the features of their system, serving as the flagship must-have game.

If you don't have a Wii yet, good luck. They continue to sell out even so long after its launch. Wii called all over town to find one, and after wii got the last one in the store, 3 other people wanted one too...but too bad, cause Wii got it. If you want an Xbox or PS3, however, there are plenty available.

On the topic of the world's largest retailer, that weekend schedule is wreaking havoc on the weekend of the Queen and I. She doesn't sleep well. I stumble through the day from Saturday to Monday. One evening, she called me at work, and I had to run home due to some talking coming out of the living room. Near as I can figure, the voices from just outside the house carried in through the attic vent causing some odd reverb making the voices sound like they were inside. The house was secure, so she was mostly reassured.

It isn't fun, though, at all. The sooner I can leave that job by the wayside, the better off we'll be. It will allow me to actually have a weekend with my children again, not to mention allowing the Queen to sleep in comfort seven days a week, instead of only four. You never realize the impact a third shift will have on the family (and yourself) until you're doing it. Especially in conjunction with an 8-5 Monday through Friday job. Very rough.

I actually used to watch movies with the Queen, even her chick flicks. At present, I haven't seen any of her movies in some time. It's a minor thing, but I do miss watching movies with her, despite our radically different movie tastes. She won't watch mine since I navigate the horror / thriller sections mostly.

Well, such is life and life goes on. I swear some amusing and interestng things do go on in our lives, but by the time I sit down and write about them, I've all but forgotten what happened. Kind of annoying, really.