Get Your Wii

Author Archive

Video games are something that are generally played in teenager's bedrooms. You buy them a games console when they're ten and then they disappear for hours at a time, emerging infrequently to load up on snacks and fizzy drinks.

However, the release of the Nintendo Wii console changed that pattern slightly. The Wii was not a console for the kid's bedroom; its proper place was in the living room, ideally connected to a nice big plasma screen TV. There are several reasons why this is so.

One important difference with the Wii is that the special motion sensitive controllers it uses means that games are first learned and then played in a much more natural and intuitive manner. No need to remember that button A is to jump, button B is to duck and button C operates the thrusters on your space cruiser. Wii games are so simple to learn that even adults can, quite literally, get into the swing of things in a matter of minutes.

There is also a certain amount of exercise involved in playing Wii games due to the physical element of the game control. It's not just games like Wii Fit, which are designed to give you exercise of course - almost all Wii games require you to get moving about to a greater or lesser extent. That means that you need space to play them in.

It's also true that the Wii console, and the games played on it, seem to have a much more social side to them than has been in evidence for other console or PC games to date. Of course, if you want you can play against the computer - but Wii games seem to be a lot more fun when played with small groups.

Maybe it's the fact that you have to dance around, wave your arms about and generally make yourself look a bit silly at times. Whatever it is, the Wii is very definitely a group activity.

As cheesy as it sounds, the Wii is, very genuinely, great fun for children of all ages. Playing Wii games can become a social event. They can help you to exercise and lose weight - and most important of all, they are a lot of fun. The Wii has taken gaming out of the teenage bedroom and put it right in the middle of the family living room.

This might be one possible explanation as to why Nintendo enjoyed such success when it went over to the dark side with the release of a black Wii console in Europe prior to Christmas. It was extremely popular with customers, maybe because the colour matched the other electronic devices in the family living room. At the moment, the black Wii is not on sale in the U.S. - but it should arrive soon.

See the black Wii - and have a look at some of the great Wii games available .