A Wii Experience (SM article)

LincLinc OwnerDetroit Icrontian
edited January 2007 in Gaming
Check out Papa Prime's experience with the Nintendo Wii and how Toys R Us screwed him over.
The kids never went to school and talked about the 360, or the Gamecube, or any other system. They never ran in from school and ran straight to a console before, but the Wii has changed all that. They can't wait to get home from school and play it.
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Comments

  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    That was a fun, honest article. I don't game, but the article brought back a lot of memories of fun gaming I had with my kids years back with the Nintendo NES and Nintendo 64 systems. I won't be buying the Wii, but it sounds like Nintendo has accomplished exactly what they set out to do with their new console.
  • shwaipshwaip bluffin' with my muffin Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    The reason the wire for the sensor bar is so thin/cheap is that all it is doing is powering the IR leds in the bar. No information gets sent back to the console from the "sensor" bar.
    My eldest son won an Xbox 360 in a random drawing

    Sure. "Random".
  • WingaWinga Mr South Africa Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    I remember reading some time back that Nintendo was aiming at the female market and non-gamers. Their spin on it was the Wii would have so much appeal, everybody will want to play it and will ENJOY it, whether you a gamer or not.
    That seems to ring very true in Prime's household.
    Great article Brian!!
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    Bundling is illegal. Best Buy lost millions in lawsuits on the 360 launch.
  • DogSoldierDogSoldier The heart of radical Amish country..
    edited November 2006
    Great read. I don't console game, (not since my Adam computer and Colecovision days) ,but this thing sounds intrigueing.
  • Sledgehammer70Sledgehammer70 California Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    Pappa Prime! great article, The Wii does look like tons of fun and from what I have played I enjoy it, but I have found Guitar Hero 1 & 2 to fill my needs of a crazy controller :) The day the Wii was launched I finally purchased at PS2 as my Wal-Mart was having a $50 off sale, which gave me a brand new PS2 slim for $79.00 out the door. I am still not sold on the Wii as I have found myself being a snobbish console gamer and want the High Def graphics and great content rather than just great content. What do you expect I am a PC Gamer :)

    Note: I know the PS2 isn't a High Def console, but the purchase was for a DVD player / console for in the bedroom.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    Thrax wrote:
    Bundling is illegal. Best Buy lost millions in lawsuits on the 360 launch.

    That's what I thought - ESPECIALLY when you consider that they told me the units were in stock - which they really were. However, once they had me in the door they wouldn't let me walk out with just a Wii... :grumble:
  • PsygnosisPsygnosis
    edited November 2006
    I found out via the manual that you have to do a one time "sync" with the console so that the console owns that particular remote. The bundled remote is factory-synchronized, but any additional remotes must be manually synced.

    The wireless controllers on the 360 work the EXACT same way. And he has a core system, so it didn't come with any pre-synced
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    I do have wireless controllers for the 360. I also have Wavebird controllers for the cube. The point is not that it was hard for me to sync. The point is that a lot of completely non-tech people will be buying this for their little ones this holiday season and I can see them having trouble with this aspect of things - I never said it was difficult, I said it was not intuitive.
  • tlafleurtlafleur
    edited November 2006
    I had a similar experience with Toys-R-Us. My brother was number three in line getting the last of the 60Gig PS3 preorders and I was number one in line getting the first Wii Preorder. He ended up with a 20Gig PS3 and I ended up with nothing. I went in on the 20th to pick mine up and they told me they had sold it even though I had until the close of the 20th. I complained to corporate several times and now they are shipping a Wii to my store by Friday and my brother is the first on the list for the 60Gig when it comes in.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    This reeks of class action. That's all I have to say. People made big money off of retailers when they tried to do the same thing on the XBOX360 launch, there's no reason why PS3/Wii should be any different.
  • lewicronlewicron Glasgow
    edited November 2006
    primesuspect wrote:
    That's what I thought - ESPECIALLY when you consider that they told me the units were in stock - which they really were. However, once they had me in the door they wouldn't let me walk out with just a Wii... :grumble:

    Who wouldn't? Toys r Us or the kids? ;)
  • SquillSquill Chesterfield, Va
    edited November 2006
    Congrats Prime! This article made it to the front page of Digg!
    digg.jpg 113.4K
  • JSchwageJSchwage Rochester, NY
    edited November 2006
    Well, after reading this article, I think I've decided on the Wii as my first choice in the next-gen console arena.
    shwaip wrote:
    My eldest son won an Xbox 360 in a random drawing
    Sure. "Random".
    Hey, it happens. My sister came home one day from school screaming at the top of her lungs saying "I won a PS2 from Lunchables!". And sure enough she did. It actually came with a couple games too. :tongue2:
  • LincLinc Owner Detroit Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    JSchwage wrote:
    Hey, it happens. My sister came home one day from school screaming at the top of her lungs saying "I won a PS2 from Lunchables!". And sure enough she did. It actually came with a couple games too. :tongue2:
    Welcome to Short-Media! :) shwaip was referencing a bit of an inside joke. At the site's annual LAN party at primesuspect's house in Michigan, the 360 was a giveaway from our site. His two kids were in the drawing, being participants at the party, and the drawing resulted in one kid getting the 360 and the other getting a really sweet speaker set. We were all pretty damn jealous, haha :D
  • shwaipshwaip bluffin' with my muffin Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    General Keebler wrote:
    Welcome to Short-Media! :) shwaip was referencing a bit of an inside joke. At the site's annual LAN party at primesuspect's house in Michigan, the 360 was a giveaway from our site. His two kids were in the drawing, being participants at the party, and the drawing resulted in one kid getting the 360 and the other getting a really sweet speaker set. We were all pretty damn jealous, haha :D

    Don't forget that it was prime himself that was picking the winners.

    (I don't have any real doubts about how random the drawing was).
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    I call foul! :D
  • QCHQCH Ancient Guru Chicago Area - USA Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    That's OK, I blame Prof....





    (another inside joke, but it's usually true :D)
  • tmh88tmh88 Pittsburgh / Athens, OH
    edited November 2006
    you can make it up by giving me a 360 :tongue2:
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited November 2006
    About the drawing...

    I hope I'm not divulging any secret information here, but I guess that's why the Admins have the post deletion powers. :p

    The Xbox 360 was originally purchased as a promotion for the site. After a while the project was abandoned; there was just no easy way to make it work. At that point, the owners of the site (of which prime is one, for those who may not know) could have sold it off and stuck the money back in their pockets. I don't know who made the decision, but it was eventually decided that it would be a prize at SM LAN 2006.

    Basically, prime could have just given it to his kids and no one would have ever been aware of where it came from. As it was, they had the same 1-in-40 chance that the rest of us did. Had I won it I would have given it to my daughter, who would probably still be pestering me to buy her games for it. I'm glad it went to someone who would really enjoy it.

    Now as for the speakers, I could have used those! :rant:;D
  • AuthorityActionAuthorityAction Missouri Member
    edited November 2006
    Very good article Brian, I really want a wii now!
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    A follow up:

    The Wii is getting so much airtime in my house, it's crazy. People have been coming over and visiting just to play. Kids, adults, in-laws, everybody. Everybody who plays it, leaves the house talking about it. I think Nintendo should start giving me a commission, because I know that at least three Wiis are getting purchased just based on the playtests at my house. :)
  • WinfreyWinfrey waddafuh Missouri Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    Great article I was wondering when consoles were going to go back to being pure fun again!
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    I was wondering when consoles were going to go back to being pure fun again!
    From what I'm reading different places around the 'net, Wii is doing very, very well. Pure "fun" is exactly what Nintendo wanted the Wii to be. They wanted to get back to their NES roots. Looks like they succeeded.
  • RWBRWB Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    My credit card is about to get bigger... damn you prime!!!! HAHA I was wanting one before, but not so bad as to wait in a line for one, but now I wish I did. :P
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    Dammit I don't want to be at work right now! I want to go home and play Zelda! I beat the first dungeon last night and now that I've got the controls mastered, I am fiending for more.

    Did anyone see the Super Smash Brothers Brawl trailers?

    SOLID SNAKE is in the game! SOLID SNAKE!!

    As another followup note to my Wii experience:

    Splitting the controller into two pieces is an incredible idea. You can sit with your arms to either side of you (looking unbelievably lazy in the process), which is WAY more comfortable than sitting there with your hands together holding a little controller.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited November 2006
    primesuspect wrote:
    ...SOLID SNAKE is in the game! SOLID SNAKE!!
    The last time I asked a question like this I learned more about certain behaviors than I really cared to know, but what in Sam Hill is a "SOLID SNAKE"? :mullet:
  • GargGarg Purveyor of Lincoln Nightmares Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    The world's greatest action hero. Solid Snake > Bruce Willis.
    Wikipedia link
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    video game character from the 80's to the present day. From Metal Gear series.
  • CycloniteCyclonite Tampa, Florida Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    primesuspect wrote:
    Dammit I don't want to be at work right now! I want to go home and play Zelda! I beat the first dungeon last night and now that I've got the controls mastered, I am fiending for more.

    Nice! I'm int the water temple and loving the game. Although, I have always hated the water temple the most in the Zelda games. I always get so lost.
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