Messages

1

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Colbert beats Pelosi with his Wii

« on: November 28, 2006, 09:27:30 AM »

Paid or not, both South Park and Colbert were extremely funny and targeted to adults, and I think it is awesome that he went so far as to highlight one of the most interesting features of the Wii -- the Miis.  I mean how many nongamers that are starting to gain interest in the system would know about the "Mii" feature.  In my family, creating our Miis is almost considered a mini-game (So far we have me, my son, two of his friends, my wife, my mother-in-law, my nephew and one neighbor).

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Nintendo Gaming / RE: Colbert beats Peloski with his Wii

« on: November 28, 2006, 02:58:42 AM »

Point taken -- of course if the mention was solicited, then that would go to show that Nintendo is truly taking a unique approach and reaching out to a variety of demographics.

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Nintendo Gaming / Colbert beats Peloski with his Wii

« on: November 28, 2006, 02:53:38 AM »

Hey all,

I know this might have been mentioned in different threads, but with all of the discussion about whether people are casually discussing the Wii (non-gamers, etc.) I thought this would be great to point out.

In one respect, it is similar to the Wii being featured on SouthPark, but I think the main difference here is demographic.

For those of you who don't know, The Colbert Report is a show on Comedy Central (11:30 et - rebroadcast the next day @ 8:30 et).  It is basically a "political satire" news show that sort of mocks Fox News (Bill O'Reilly?).  In other words, it is geared towards an older audience.  

In this clip, Mr. Colbert is boxing against Nancy Pelosi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3Owd5lqWXY

I can't say that I recall any game console receiving this amount of positive, non-solicited, mentions in a non-gaming format (It even shows him playing it - sort of).

Enough said  (Thanks for the name correction-for some reason I always think of a relative named Porenski)

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Nintendo Gaming / RE: Everyone's talking about the Wii...

« on: November 27, 2006, 08:25:18 AM »

Well, all I can say is that one of the main reasons that my mother-in-law (approx. 68 yrs old) was looking forward to coming over for Thanksgiving was to "bowl".  Apparently, she has told all of the older women in her church about it and is planning to bring a bunch of them (and her minister) over to our house to play some night pretty soon.  It's not just that she is telling everyone about it, but that she always sounds so excited.

As a looong time gamer, this completely blows my mind.

The question now, is that if they are pulling in people in that genre (older non-gamers), will they be able to come out with new games that will continue to appeal to that market.  Although I think WiiSports is turning into a phenomenon, I can honestly say that I can't see someone like my mother-in-law being attracted to any of the other launch titles (she wanted to watch Tony Hawk, but it really didn't appeal to her).  

That said, some of the games announced may just fill the gap (WiiPlay, Cooking Mama, etc.).

I think one of the biggest hurdles that Nintendo has actually CREATED with their new philosophy is to provide new games that appeal to ALL segments of the market - considering that no system that I know of in the history of gaming has even attempted to appeal to the over 50 crowd (which happens to be, as far as I know, the fastest growing segment of the population).

In addition to my mother-in-law, I am a bank consultant that travels all over the country and when a few people at the bank I was working at found out that I was going to camp-out for the wii I had several people talk to me about it.  I would say that at least two had decided to pick it up.

BTW - I got the Wii for myself for my 40th b-day (and I remind my 12 yr. old of this everytime I want to play and I have to boot him off the system).

Has anyone noticed the number of "wii experience" videos posted on the net by new Wii owners who couldn't believe that their parents or in-laws were having a blast with Wiisports?  I have seen more videos of adults than I have of kids.

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Nintendo Gaming / RE: Wii scratching disks?

« on: November 22, 2006, 01:03:18 AM »

Thanks, I get back into town tonight and will give it a try.

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Nintendo Gaming / RE: Wii scratching disks?

« on: November 22, 2006, 12:25:31 AM »

I have the same issue with Zelda.  I noticed this concern Sunday in forums, so I checked all my discs and my copy of Zelda has two pretty severe scratches.  With that said, none of my other games were scratched (and we have played Wii Sports far more than any other).  Knowing that I can't return the game to WalMart (policy to not accept returns for opened games), I wrote a letter to Nintendo yesterday and have not received a reply.  I truly believe that this was a problem with the disc itself and that it was not caused by the Wii system.  As noted above, the scratches were not circular (caused while the disc is spinning) and not straight across the disc (as I would expect on inserting or removing the disc).  One goes at an angle, and the other is almost a square spot where it looks like it has been gouged.

As it is, Zelda may be the first game that I will actually end up paying over $100 to play, as I fully expect to have to buy another copy.

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Nintendo Gaming / RE: The amazing thing about Wii Launch.

« on: November 21, 2006, 12:37:48 AM »

I have to say that, even though my wife will not shop at Wal Mart, that is where my son and I ended up waiting for the Wii (Technically it was for me, but I brought him along for bathroom breaks and a little DS competition with Elite Beat Agents).  Wal Mart set us up in the lawn & garden section (which was completely enclosed and heated), provided free fried chicken, cookies and soft drinks and in general were very considerate.  Everyone in line (24 systems available) bought Zelda and at least one other game in addition to extra controllers and nunchucks (I was #23 and got the last extra wiimote).  I would say that there were only a few college kids in line ... all of the rest were parents getting it for their kids or adults getting it for themselves (and acting like they were getting it for their kids).  

Overall, It was a great experience.  Nobody in line was planning to sell theirs; however, several people had purchased a PS3 and sold it to use the extra money for their Wii (mostly the college kids).

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Nintendo Gaming / RE: My Wii stopped recognizing my remote

« on: November 20, 2006, 08:47:03 AM »

One for every language known to man (with the possible exception of sanskrit).  

9

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Wii sports Pwnz!!!

« on: November 20, 2006, 08:34:12 AM »

Watching my wife taking her steps up to a non-existant foul line while bowling was delight until she whooped me in a game, then I felt compelled to go through the full motion myself and it actually helped.  After an hour of playing by herself, she was sweaty and breathing hard and decided she would play wiisports every morning as an additional workout.  Keep in mind that she has never been into videogames until she took my DS Lite and got pulled into Brain Age.  I thought she might get interested in WiiSports, but for me, watching her get totally sucked into Zelda was the real suprise .  My son and I sat in line for 9 hours and so far I have only played a couple hours worth of games (and my son is not the console hog anymore).

BTW: I'm 40 and my wife is 48 -  Kiddy system? I would argue that one!

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Nintendo Gaming / RE: My Wii stopped recognizing my remote

« on: November 20, 2006, 08:16:53 AM »

Had the same problem.  The reason that turning off the console works is because there are two different modes (according to the manual) for storing the "sync" info. and the system will default to the initial "sync" settings for the packaged wiimote when turned off and back on.

11

Nintendo Gaming / RE: One more aspect of the Wii to enjoy.

« on: November 16, 2006, 09:20:59 AM »

I have to admit that I have always been into videogames but, as is the case with some of the Planetgamecube staff, as I get older I don't have the time to sit and play for hours on end.  Because of that, I have mostly been relegated to my DS Lite (and I get interesting comments - like the female flight attendant in the security line at the airport that asked me if I was embarrassed because I had to explain what my DS Lite was to the security person - turns out we got stuck on the runway for over an hour because of storms and as I was getting off the plane I waved my DS at her and told her how glad I was to have it).

With that in mind, I have to say that the idea of spending 70 hours with Link (using the wiimote) has gotten me enormously excited again.  I travel every week and can easily see bringing it on the road and playing in hotels (regardless of the cruddy TVs).  As a matter of fact, my son and I have already discussed getting two so that we can play against each other online when I am not home.

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Nintendo Gaming / RE: One more aspect of the Wii to enjoy.

« on: November 16, 2006, 07:56:08 AM »

The thought of my wife throwing a cow in raving rabbids makes me laugh already.

I have to say that I am amazed that at my age I would qualify for the "I want it more than Cartman" category - as a matter of fact, my wife laughed the most when she saw Cartman not able to sleep, getting on the internet, etc. because every time she sees me on the computer I am looking at something Wii related.

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Nintendo Gaming / One more aspect of the Wii to enjoy.

« on: November 16, 2006, 07:32:51 AM »

As I have been reading the reviews and experiences with the wii posted on the net, I have gotten more excited about one aspect that I have not really heard anyone talk about:

I have a 12 year old son who plays video games constantly and really likes for me to watch him play.  Because our taste in games is a little different, I have to say that most of the time I put it off or I just sit around bored for 15 minutes then make an excuse to do something else.  One of the things that I have noticed the most is that the "experiences" with the wii are often centered around several people, and the people NOT playing seem to have alot of fun just watching those that are.  As a matter of fact, I can see my wife (who, up until I got a DS Lite, didn't like video games but now is a Brain Age addict) actually not getting annoyed with watching us play when we hook it up to the big TV w/surround sound (and maybe even joining in).  I think that this is an extremely important factor in pulling in the non-gamers - not by convincing them to play, but with them actually enjoying watching YOU play (not necessarily your character in the game) and wanting to join in (because they are watching the person as much as the screen).

BTW - I am getting it for myself for my 40th birthday (mid-life crisis anyone?)

14

Nintendo Gaming / RE: Do you still care about the name?

« on: May 12, 2006, 09:25:21 AM »

I have to say that whether the name is "liked" or "not liked" is, in my opinion, irrelevant.  At this point it is obvious that the name itself created huge discussion, and not just among hardcore gamers.  When the name was initially announced, it was all over the main-stream media.  This topic alone reiterates the fact that it created the stir that I feel Nintendo wanted.

In my home, we talk about the Wii, but we joke around with the name just as much.  The fact is that we trade Wii jokes constantly.  Funny? yes!  Does that make it bad? Not necessarily.

My twelve year old son first told me that he would still refer to it as the "revolution", but I haven't heard him use that name in the last week or so because referring to the "Wii" is just funnier and makes him laugh everytime.  Isn't that what Nintendo wants?  To make people smile.  Whether intentional or not, the name does just that.  For him, the name is no different than Wario having "fart" power in the new Smash Bros. game.

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Nintendo Gaming / RE:Something still hidden

« on: May 12, 2006, 09:05:47 AM »

Who knows ...

references to more hardware suprises are still out there.

Link: http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/09/technology/e3_nintendo/index.htm

"A Nintendo executive later said more features for the Wii will be revealed in the months leading up to its launch"

I also like the fact that while the article talked about Nintendo, the very last line simply stated "Price tag for the PS3? As much as $599"

I would also like to point out that I am a 40yr old (that travels extensively with my DS), and am just as excited about the implementation of this launch as I am the system itself.  I think that if Nintendo intends to release bits and pieces of information up until the system launch, it will only build on the current excitement instead of throwing all of the information out to the public to sit on for several months.