For those of you who don't know, but might be interested, the Wii has arrived.
The Wii (pronounced "we") has been the hot item of much restless rumor for a looooong time among the more geeky, with hype up the wazoo. And the cool thing is that even with all that, it has surpassed expectations – it simply rocks, and I'm sad I'm not home these days to join the frenzy. As far as I have heard on the Internet, the Wii's not in Korea until next March.
And for those of you like me – not a gamer and haven't been since before anyone was even called a "gamer" around the time of Super Nintendo's Zelda and Contra – you're probably gonna ask, "Why the hell would I want a video game machine?"
Because Nintendo's back, too, baby. It really is the 80's all over again. First, I like James Bond again. Now this. And why is Playstation 3 dead in the water, besides the facts of it being overpriced, underpowered for that power, late in the game, and as chock full of hardware defects and other crap as an old Goldstar boom box? Don't take my word for it – check out the best possible review.
'Cause the Wii's cheap, small, and frickin' fun! (My adult read).
You don't use a traditional controller – you have to move your hands, wave your arms, and even – imagine – get up off your ass and actually have to do what's on the screen. So you are a ninja taking a slice at your enemy with a katana blade? You have to actually do it. You driving a monster truck? You don't need no stinking extra controller. Just drive in the air. It's not like playing the old duck game on the Super NES with those clunky guns – you do every and all things with Wii's nifty new controller.
And as a home theater buff, I'll just say that this all makes sense. Screens are getting bigger, digital, and more often accompanied by tricked-out surround sound. People are making more room in front of those screens because of their larger size and more central placement and priority in the home, so a cute little interactive device – introduced at just the age when people reared and raised on the Super Nintendo are in the highest earning bracket – is perfect to introduce now. And what with all the dark and violent virtual worlds we've been entering lately (and I'm not gonna get all Tipper Gore on ya – I've pimped away some pretty exciting nights playing Grand Theft Auto with the best of 'em), it's a refreshing, cleaner change. Back to basics.
Everybody's been waiting for the Wii – the geekazoids and kids have, anyway – but now that it's here, you need to think about getting one, especially to pass the time and anger manage while being an expat here. Hey – it's an option.
So, let Nintendo make you a kid again with its much talked-about new toy that gets you moving, your blood pumping, and your heart racing. The other thing I like about it is that you can't sit on you ass with most of these new games and just thumb yourself into oblivion. It puts the "get off your ass" in play again, and since it's Nintendo, I don't expect to see Grand Theft Auto for the Nintendo anytime soon; thank God, since I would prefer not to see 8-year-olds knifing pimps in the neck to take their ho's and steal their Lamborghini. Save that for when that fantasy is actually matched by a clearer view of reality, such that it's not confused with such.
Also, the advertising campaign is a hoot. "Wii would like to play." Haha. Indeed. With a traditional Japanese stringed instrument rocked out to a hip-hop beat, and the two Japanese guys in the mini-compact car visiting American everybodies across the country. Genius. I'm pretty critical of mindless consumerism driven by large corporations and hyped products that we really don't need – but i guess Nintendo has a special place in my heart.
Embedding has been turned off on the vids, but just click over and watch the official extended commercial. Now, I know what the hype was all about.
I'll put my own spin on things, ending with the shortest poem in the English language, composed by Muhammed Ali and quoted in the killer documentary When We Were Kings, as cited by George Plimpton.
"Me. We."
Indeed. Because why am I gonna buy a Wii? Because I'm gonna use it to have fun with friends at get-togethers, as something to bring people closer together and have a little fun with, as opposed to thumb-mashing on a single controller all day by myself. If it allows adults to have as much fun as a party favor as kids can when they hang out after school, then it's a great product in my book.
Here's to making more "we" from Wii.
