I Finally Got a Damn Wii
Yup, I finally did it! I got myself (primarily my family, actually) a Nintendo Wii. I’ve been on the fence about it since launch and had decided I’d wait until Metroid Prime 3 and/or Super Mario Galaxy were released. Then I guess weeks on end of hearing people raving about it and seeing just about everyone around me (online, anyway) getting one finally got to me and I just caved. Once I decided I wanted to get one, I had to figure out how. Because of course, they’re still impossible to get in stores. In fact, to this day, I’ve never seen a Wii console for sale in a retail store. That’s not to say there haven’t been any in said stores…
I started looking around online since I knew there was no way I’d be getting one from a store any time soon. The BNIB consoles selling on eBay are ridiculous – upwards of $500-$600 for something that retails for $279. Clearly, I’m wasn’t going to pay that much – not for the console alone, anyway. So I took my search elsewhere and literally started Googling for consoles available in Canada. I ended up on Kijiji and craigslist pretty quickly where I found way (way, WAY!) better deals than eBay. After browsing numerous listings, I found an awesome bundle that included pretty much everything I would buy right off the bat, which the exception of an extra Wiimote. Here’s what I ended up getting…
The Bundle
- Nintendo Wii Console w/Wii Sports
- 1 Wii Remote
- 1 Nunchuk
- 1 Classic Controller
- HD Component Cable
- USB WIFI Adapter
- 3 Wii games: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, SSX Blur, Sonic and the Secret Rings
- 12 Virtual Console games: Super Mario World, Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Donkey Kong Country, Sim City, F-Zero, Solomon’s Key, Bonk’s Adventure, Kid Icarus, Sonic the Hedgehog, Kirby’s Adventure
- 1 GameCube game: Super Mario Sunshine
- 1 Wireless Wavebird controller (GameCube)
- 1 16mb GameCube Memory Unit
The entire bundle ran me $675 CDN and I can sleep knowing I didn’t contribute to the massive retail scam that’s plagued the entire planet. What “scam” you ask? I’ve always assumed employees at most major retail outlets to be fucking crooked bastards, and I received my confirmation last night. How is it possible that shipments are being made once or twice a week to every retail outlet selling Nintendo Wii and not one of them has a single console on their shelves? At the same time, try and figure out why there’s people on eBay stating they’ve sold over 60 of them or check the quantity of some of the auctions. It’s not uncommon to see people with 6 or 7 of them. So again, how is that even possible? It’s possible because employees are buying the consoles themselves and turning around and selling them online for $200-$300 above the retail price, that’s how. In most cases, they’re not even making it onto the shelves. I had always figured this kind of dirty shit went down, and now I have second hand proof.
Why No One Can Get a Wii
The dude I bought the bundle from went into a tirade when I mentioned that I’ve never seen one in stores. It just so happens that he works for a large company that does movie/video game rentals. The dude that delivers games to them also makes a stop at the EB Games just down the street. One day when the delivery guy was making his rounds, dude asks him if he knows what the Wii boxes look like – which he did and agreed to give dude a heads up next time he sees some in the truck. A couple weeks later he got the nod and tailed the delivery truck over to EB. Not half an hour after the delivery had been made, dude went in and asked for a Wii – to which he was told they didn’t have any. Knowing full well they just received and shipment, dude started grilling the employee – all of the sudden, the EB jerk puts up his index finger and heads to the back of the store. He returns with a brand new Wii and states that he was “holding it for a friend”. Fucking, jerk.
First Impressions
It’s small, it’s sleek, it’s quiet, it’s ugly. Wait, what? The console itself is a nice little piece of hardware. But the graphics are balls. Especially on an HDTV, even with the component cable. It looks terrible. I’ve got it hooked up in our bedroom to the 27″ Sony Trinitron CRT – still using the component cable, mind you. It actually looks a heck of a lot better.
The dashboard, or as they call it “Wii Menu” is very nice, simple and easy to navigate. It actually does a few things better than the Xbox 360 and they’ve really done a great job of making it the hub of the system.
The controller and nunchuk are a mean combo. They both feel great in your hands and work extremely well. I’m surprised to see how much the nunchuk’s motion sensing capability is used.
What I’m Playing
I traded in SSX Blur and Sonic today for Rayman: Raving Rabbids. Couldn’t care less about either of those games and Hannah had no interest either. Raving Rabbids on the other hand, has always appealed to Hannah and I’ve heard some great things about it. Sure enough, it’s one fun and extremely goofy little game. It’s basically a compilation of mini-games with a simple story to fill the gaps. But the games and the use of the Wii’s control scheme is just brilliant. Crazy fun!
I hung onto Twilight Princess as I figured Deanna might play it. On Saturday night I put about an hour into it myself, which I spent blowing on grass, trying to catch a stupid cat, fly fishing and herding goats. “Kill me now” crossed my mind several times during that hour. Funny how none of that shit is mentioned in the raving reviews. I wasn’t ready to give up yet, though. I asked Deanna if she’d be into playing it through with me. I figured it might help to have someone to trade off the sucky parts with and we actually play quite a few games together. We put another hour into it, during which time we scored a wooden sword and finally starting killing shit. Things have definitely gotten better, although I just had to herd the damn goats again, but tomorrow (in the game) we’re supposed to be setting off on the main quest. So hopefully it gets good again, and stays that way.
So, that’s my experience so far in a nutshell. Hannah’s pretty sick today and in turn spent most of the day in her bed and not playing the Wii, which is unfortunate. But she’s on March Break for 2 full weeks now, so I’m sure she’ll get some decent time in. I’m planning to do some reviews and am going to have Hannah’s input and impressions as well since so many of the games are oriented to the younger generation. I’m stoked to have another new Nintendo console and a whole new way of playing games. Now, bring on the games already!