Hands on with the Nintendo Wii – part two
E3 We’ve been waving our Wands at the E3 show – and the results are truly magical. Yes, even better than Paul Daniels in his prime
The wireless Remote also features a built-in speaker – which emits a noise when you hit a ball, for example – and a port to plug in peripherals such as the ‘Nunchuk’ controller, which also comes as part of the pack.
We used the Nunchuk while playing a new version of Zelda, and while the controls took some getting used to, they artfully combined standard joystick movement and motion-sensitive aiming to provide a unique experience – something sorely lacking for the sequels available on rival consoles.
Other games wowing the crowds include Metroid Prime, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Monkey Ball and Sonic – hardly innovative titles, but all refreshed by the new controller.
The graphics seem distinctly unimpressive – no better than Game Cube, in fact – but the gameplay more than made up for that fact. Add quirky titles like Orchestra Conductor and the Virtual Drumkit and you have something very new, and very appealing.
The bottom line is that most serious gamers will want an Xbox or PS3. But if they’ve got any sense, they’ll get a tiny Wii to go alongside it. And plenty of non-gamers might be tempted too. Which means, despite the rather wet name, Wii could be a winner.
