I am not into video games as much as I used to, but I still get most of the new consoles and my 11-year-old certainly follows things closely.
Like many, I was ready to write off Nintendo and declare Sony the gold standard and unassailable top dog of the gaming industry. When the PSP came out, it seemed so incredibly much better and cooler than the DS, we thought it wouldn't even be close. Well, the PSP turned out to be a very pretty yawner where the DS is wonderfully innovative and tons of fun.
So then came the heralded PS3 and the wonky Wii that most had considered Nintendo's swansong, one that didn't have a prayer against the PS3 and Xbox360. Wrong again. While the PS3 may eventually recover from its disastrous start with a sky-high price and not a single must-have launch title (or anything since), the Wii is just a sweetheart and tons of fun. It shows that Nintendo still totally gets it.
Few had thought the motion-sensitive controller'd be anything but a novelty item, but it totally works. You don't have to buy a single game to have fun with the Wii. The included sports games disc makes for tons of fun, creating Miis (little people that you can make look amazingly like whoever you want), the Opera web browser is way better than most browsers on any console (heck I use it to check CNN.com and the Dim forums on the big TV when I wake up), and the potential seems endless.
Also, the way they cleverly gave it WiFi without having to pay extra, the way it smartly integrates the DS handheld in game play... it all adds up to a great example of brains (Nintendo) over brawn (Sony).
Like many, I was ready to write off Nintendo and declare Sony the gold standard and unassailable top dog of the gaming industry. When the PSP came out, it seemed so incredibly much better and cooler than the DS, we thought it wouldn't even be close. Well, the PSP turned out to be a very pretty yawner where the DS is wonderfully innovative and tons of fun.
So then came the heralded PS3 and the wonky Wii that most had considered Nintendo's swansong, one that didn't have a prayer against the PS3 and Xbox360. Wrong again. While the PS3 may eventually recover from its disastrous start with a sky-high price and not a single must-have launch title (or anything since), the Wii is just a sweetheart and tons of fun. It shows that Nintendo still totally gets it.
Few had thought the motion-sensitive controller'd be anything but a novelty item, but it totally works. You don't have to buy a single game to have fun with the Wii. The included sports games disc makes for tons of fun, creating Miis (little people that you can make look amazingly like whoever you want), the Opera web browser is way better than most browsers on any console (heck I use it to check CNN.com and the Dim forums on the big TV when I wake up), and the potential seems endless.
Also, the way they cleverly gave it WiFi without having to pay extra, the way it smartly integrates the DS handheld in game play... it all adds up to a great example of brains (Nintendo) over brawn (Sony).
