My Wii just bitch-slapped your PS3.

[C. Lane]

I catch shit all the time because I traded in my Playstation and a stack of some blood-bath classsics for a Nintendo Wii and god knows how many more years of Triforce-centric gameplay. I can honestly say I don't regret it for a second. Sure it stings a little when a friend will say, "Hey Cobra, do you put your Wii remote in your pants where your penis used to be?" But then I remember that while they're sitting in a basement with a bottle of Mountain Dew, a headset, and frag grenade. I'm playing Strip Mario Party or digital beer pong. I understand that in no game for the Wii can I screw a hooker in the backseat of a station wagon, then hack her to pieces with a chainsaw and get my money back. But I can re-play Tanks over and over and over and still F-ing loose in the bonus levels!!!
To boil it all down these are the two main reasons why the Nintendo Wii squashes the nuts of all other platforms:

1) Gameplay is social: I spent the better part of my teens in a walk-in closet running special-ops, you guessed it, A-L-O-N-E. Now I can pretty much invite anyone over to play and not have to worry about weather they can work a 27 button controller or enjoy eating the hearts out of Zombies.

2) Replayability: Most of the games for the Wii go beyond some cinematic endscene or 100% completion bonus character outfit. You can keep on playing them because either they get so difficult you actually loose or your playing against impossible hi-score totals (like old-school arcade cabinets).

So, if you want we can talk all day about your 80 gig storage capacity, insane graphics cards, and global wireless communication devices. At the end of the day, me and my Wii will just sit back, laugh, and say, "Did you read the part about Strip Mario Party?"

[Martin]

Good points. I would add that it's easy to lose sight of what the Wii represents in terms of actual advancement: interface.

Technology capability will always be limited by interfacing, and the more intuitive an interface can be made, the more accessible it becomes, the more it's potential can be adapted to truly innovative uses. Graphics are pretty, and I've seen worlds created that are both extremely complex and now truly epic in proportion. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy video games. But they get really old really fast, I agree, if they don't incorporate your observations.

But honestly, thinking about how bad the technological divide already is in the world, it's exciting, refreshing and a relief to see how Nintendo has for some time recognized this and facilitates a level of personal enrichment hitherto unimaginable.

The Wii and DS systems have titles to exercise your body, let your mind play, learn Kanji strokes and train other language skills. It won't replace physical activity outside, say, or language classes, but if it gets your ass up and take a step in a direction you might otherwise be hesitant to take I welcome it. If it inspires you to go take a yoga class and make some new friends, even better. Whatever your bag is, I think we can expect vast improvements in what people use technological capacity for. I think this is fantastic, and it represents a (comparatively) inexpensive and intuitive way to expand the vast potential we really have in dedicated processor power.

Simply owning a gaming system puts you in the upper 2% bracket of the worlds population. Having time to burn on the couch cycling through weapons and leveling up probably isolates you into a fraction of that.

Converting passive affluence into tangible potential is a feat that represents more than turning profits with titles. If you can convince fat lazy slobs with low opinions of themselves to start pitching in and make the most of their circumstances, even improve their self-esteem and burn off a lethargic haze of contemporary American convenience, then you've made a truly awe inspiring effort.

Thank you, Wii.

[Justin J Hyman]

I love my Wii but we registered for a PS3 at Target and I sure hope we get it. For one it has the most user friendly blueray disc player in terms of its upgradeablility.
Secondly, there are several titles that come out that I really, really want to play. Modern Warfare being at the top of that list.
We have the Wii Fit and DDR which can get really physical but I am jonesing for the uprgraded accelerometer for the Wiimote as I can handily beat anyone at Wii Sports tennis without standing at this point.
Do you guys want to become Wii Friends and link our systems so that we can play some Smash Bros or something of the like?
Have you downloaded any games for the VC. I am dying for Golgo 13 to come out.

J

[Kent]

Alright, as a PS3 owner, I'm going to step in here. Let's talk about the downsides to the WII.

1. Danger Factor- There is a serious risk of damage to friends, pets and your television of you fling one of those little nunchuck drumstick thingys around. Seriously, a fiance with a black eye days before the wedding could be very dangerous, especially after WII bowling goes bad!

2. Multiple uses- I'm not even going to get started on using a WII as an exercise machine, because I really doubt most people use it for that. Sure, they might have at first, but they will end up being fat asses on the couch eating potato chips and playing their video games with one hand. At least with a PS3, you get a blu-ray player out of it. Since blu-ray won the war against HD, it's going to be the future of watching movies. Just like the PS2 gave us a DVD player, the PS3 gives us a blu-ray player. Also, if you hook it up to the web, you can pretty much do all your internet business from the browser.

3. STUPID LOOKING GAMES! Seriously, are we five? What's with the big, cartoony puffy looking guys? I'm sorry, but I really can't take a game seriously that has a bunch of people floating around with no arms that look like their head and bodies are made of eggs! Lame! With most PS3 games, you're looking at semi-realistic graphics with a purpose. Plus, it feels like WII churns out games without putting any real effort into them. Mind you, I do like the new Mario game and I felt that one took some thought, but some of the crap I've seen hit the Game Stops? Ugh!

That's it for now, but I'm sure I'll have more to say soon!