By Zack Eckerdt

Trail Staff Writer

As I sat in line at Wal-Mart for three hours, I really wondered if it would be worth it. For the past three weeks I had obsessed over this machine. Now it was time to get my hands on the Nintendo Wii. I rushed home to hook my new system up, and after a week of intensive playing, I’m now sharing my unbiased findings with you.
The packaging was pretty simple, only including a picture of the Wii and its remote. The system’s look followed the same pattern. A $249.99 price tag got me a white system no larger than four DVD cases, a stand for it, a wireless “Wii remote” with a “nunchuck” attachment, two AA batteries for the remote, a sensor bar, an AC power adapter, a composite AV cable, a copy of Wii Sports and instruction manuals in three different languages.
The only difference from hooking up any other gaming system I had before was the fact that I had to set a sensor bar for the remote either above or below my T.V. I chose above my T.V., and turned on my system by hitting the power button on the system. However, I could have turned it on with my “Wii remote”.
This wireless remote looks like a six-inch T.V. remote, and has been deemed by many as the “Wii-mote.” The controls, from top to bottom, feature a power button for the Wii, a directional pad, an “A” button, a plus button, which often serves as the pause button, a minus button, a home button, which takes the user back to the main “Channel” page and a 1 and 2 button, which serve different purposes for different games. Also, remote has speakers, a rumble feature, a small amount of memory for transferring memory between systems and four small squares that are placed horizontally on the bottom of the remote to note which number remote it is relative to the other remotes in use.
The Wii Channel is the home page for the system. It allows the user to choose from different “channels,” or programs to use. These include the disc in use, the forecast, news, photos and the “Mii” and “Wii Shopping” channels to start with. Other channels can be downloaded with “Wii points,” or online credit, through the shopping channel. Examples of extra channels include an Internet browser, downloadable games from any of the previous Nintendo consoles and some Sega consoles. More channels are on the way.
I got my first use of the remote after I got to the home page. I’ll admit it took me a couple minutes to adjust to the new control system. I’m well versed in all the current control systems, but with the Wii I was actually pointing at the T.V. A cursor in the shape of a hand followed my every movement, including my rotating of the remote, which rotated the hand.
I proceeded to the Mii channel where I created my Mii character. This Mii character is a virtual character that you create to look like yourself. This character can then mingle on other Wii systems that you have added to your friends list. Also, in games like Wii Sports, these Miis become the characters you use to play the games.
Next, I downloaded the original Sonic the Hedgehog to my system. I turned my Wii-mote horizontally, placing the directional pad under my left thumb, and the 1 and 2 buttons under my right thumb. Now I had a classic controller to race around as my favorite blue hero.
The forecast channel and the news channel weren’t up and running, but Nintendo has promised a Dec. 20 release date for the weather channel, and a Dec. 27 release date for the news channel.
The photo channels access photos from SD cards and e-mails to its “message board,” part of the Mii channel.
To access the online channels, the system can only connect wirelessly at this point. The USB cable adapter is supposed to release in July 2007. This is one downside to a dorm-room player who is not close to an Internet access point.
Finally, the disc channel. Although the system does not read DVDs, it is backwards with all Gamecube games, controllers and memory cards.
The first Wii game I played was Wii Sports. This game allowed me to play tennis, bowling and golf with up to four players, and baseball and boxing with two. Each game presented a simple and accessible game play that surpassed any form of video game I had used before. Especially impressive were the baseball and boxing game. I felt a certain sense of realism when my Mii character stepped up to the plate and I could hold my Wii-mote like a baseball bat.
I lifted the controller up behind my shoulder, and the bat on the screen followed. Even the light shifting of the bat that comes before the swing was followed on screen.
Timing and the power of the swing of the remote could create a foul ball, a drive or fly to any portion of the field or a home run. The characters in the field acted on their own, and the game estimated a single, double or triple. On the pitching side, buttons on the remote set up for different types of pitches, and the speed of the Wii movement, like a real pitch, set up for the speed of the ball. Boxing also offered this sort of realism. This was the only Wii Sport game that needed the nunchuck attachment.
The nunchuck attachment is smaller than the Wii-mote, and includes an analogue stick on the top, and a Z and C button on the front of it. None of the buttons were used in this game because the nunchuck and Wii-mote acted as a left and right hand. There was a certain amount of satisfaction in being able to actually lean to the right and lay a shot to the ribs while feeling and hearing the hit through the remote.
Although it lacked depth and the controls had the occasional struggle of keeping up with me, the game still offers great replay value. So far, the system seems to have been a great investment.
Come back next week at the same Wii time, same Wii place to see how the actual Wii games handled with the system.