The One on Nintendo Wii

If you do not know what is the Nintendo Wii (pronounced as "Weeee", not "why"), you must have probably been living under big gigantic rock for the past 2 years or so. Even old folks around the world are hooked onto the Wii (I'm dead serious!) Sotongball is so proud of his mum who has zero IT knowledge and interest when she finished her first game of Wii Bowling.

Since its worldwide launch in December 2006, the Nintendo Wii has sold more than 10 million units up to date, Nintendo outsold its competitors (namely the PS3 and Xbox 360) to become the leading console of this generation's console war, walk-in-a-park style. It is also the only console that has sticked to its US$250 price tag since launch day.

A quick look at this humble console's specs does not really explain well why is it selling like hotcakes everywhere:

• Outdated graphics card only on-par with XboxV1 and PS2
  
• Lack of High-Definition image - maximum output of 480p resolution
  
• Only a SD Card slot, lack of storage
  
• Limited multimedia capabilities
  

The points just mentioned above shows the Wii's limitations in even catagorizing itself as a next-gen console just before it was launched. However, Nintendo took the term "next-gen" towards a different direction, by introducing the motion sensing controller aka WiiMote.

Just like how the click wheel of the iPod does to MP3 music players, the Nintendo WiiMote make new interactive ways of controlling games feasible. The WiiMote can be a sword, gun, baseball bat, steering wheel, golf club, tennis racquet, magic wand, cue... ya you should get the drift.

I may as well just let the video below do the explanation:

For graphics whores like STB, the Nintendo Wii is definitely out of the question because the graphics are nowhere near the realistic HD graphics of the PS3 or even the Xbox360. Wii truly shines in the games that utilises its motion sensing WiiMote, games like the bundled Wii Sports will get you hooked for a week or so and can easily entertain your guests at home, hence the term "casual gaming".

For serious gamers, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime Corruption, Super Mario Galaxy, Smash Bros Brawl, Mario Kart and Resident Evil 4 will keep your lust for the AA list games fulfilled. Full backward compatibility with all the classic Nintendo and Sega consoles allows you to relive the nostalgia of playing Street Rage or Golden Axe via the Virtual Console in Wii.

Though much cheaper than its counterparts in countries like the US and Japan, the Nintendo Wii is not that much cheaper than a PS3 or a Xbox360. A Wii bundle in Singapore can easily cost SG$500 while Xbox360 Arcade and Pro sets are only SG$399 an SG$499 respectively, while a PS3 40GB cost SG$570~599.

All in all, if you like hosting people for parties at your place or you want to get yourself or just anyone into the gaming world, get a Wii and hope that you won't accidentally break a jaw or two with the violence swinging of the Wiimote.