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» MEDIA (2) Wiimote controllers

The more I play the Wii, the more I enjoy myself.

I won't say I've been playing it nonstop, but lately, I've instinctively been walking around with the remote in my back pocket whenever I leave the house.

Just um.....in case.

Yeah..it's that kind of serious.

Actually, the more I play it, the more I appreciate just how ingenious the idea behind the system is. Nintendo realized the divide between gamers. The casual from the "hardcore", the old from the young, the know-it-alls from the people that have never picked up a controller in their lives. They realized this divide, and thought: "Why does there have to be a divide?"

"Why can't everyone play?"

Good question. Why DOES gaming have to be so inclusive? It started out so simple, playing games and having fun, and now our systems are doing everything short of turning our lights on. We went from a simple 4 buttons + D-pad on a controller to the now-standard 10 button + D-pad, PLUS two analog stick setup.

Picking up a new game generally has that almost prerequisite 10-30 minute learning curve. We went from running and leaping to hanging from ledges, backflipping, cartwheeling, inverted grappling rappelling grinding ohmygoodnesswhatdoesthisbuttonDO kind of madness. It's almost no wonder that those who haven't been doing this for years are reluctant to join the fray. Walk up to the nearest parent buying a game for their children, and you're likely to encounter a lost soul indeed. Funny thing is, these same people used to play a game or two when they were younger. Did they outgrow gaming?

My theory is: Nah. I think gaming outgrew them.

I think that games were a temporary escape, a thrill. Plug and play. Diminuitive entertainment. Simple, challenging fun. Who could blame us? All that bleeping and blooping, flickering. Dare I say that games had a sort of mass appeal at the outset. They weren't too detailed, they weren't held back by convoluted storylines and a complex array of characters, it was entirely up for grabs. That was what I believe to be the best thing. Since it was so simple and easy to get into, everyone from Mom to your most distant cousin had at least a crack at Mario at one point. Technology moves on however, and as the machines became more powerful, so did the number of actions characters could accomplish. The move to 3D didn't help matters any, and soon, many were left behind in favor of a new generation of grid-walking, environment manipulating heroes. Could the fact that gaming was getting a little TOO real (at the time) be enough to scare off those who were looking for that simple pleasure of yesteryear?

Yeah.

Enter the Wii.

At the very outset, the system states it's purpose. It wants to play games. New games. Old games. Classic games. Moreover, it wants you to play games. Not just people like me, but everyone. Take a look at the controller.


The controller consists of very few buttons, and depending on the game, can either be played sideways, or vertically. The latter is for the vast majority of games that use the unique tilt sensor in the controller. Unlike Sony's offering, which just screams "GIMMICK!", this feature plays into the Wii's entire philosophy of intuitive, streamlined control. Why spend months upon months training your brain to move two analog sticks in tandem when it feels much more natural to just point the remote in the direction you want to look? Why bother orienting reticles when you can just point at the enemy you want to fire upon? Tap an analog stick left and right? Heck, why not just tilt your remote in the direction you want to steer your car? Games like Super Monkey Ball feel so...right when you just use the controller to tilt the world as opposed to analog (which oddly enough, felt more like moving the monkey than the world).

Simple. Unintimidating. Almost....friendly.

A sharp contrast to it's competition, which just SCREAMS "What button does what??" to the uninformed.

I can tell you right now, that I'd hand my mother a Wii controller in confidence and have her enjoy herself. That, as opposed to me attempting to hand her a 360 controller and having to give her a half-hour long tutorial about what does what...IF she doesn't give up and leave less than halfway through, that is. I'd challenge you to even hand one to someone even older, a grandparent even, and SEE if you can't get them hooked, at least for a little while.

The Wii isn't a technological powerhouse, but that's okay, it's not meant to be. It's affordable, intuitive, and most importantly, FUN. Unfortunately, it's not going to do your dishes.

This system was designed to bring everyone BACK together. Right now more than ever before, the new next gen systems radiate exclusivity. Only for the home theater buffs. Only for the hardcore gamer. Only for those with deep pockets. Only for hardware fanatics. Nintendo says, "Hi, everyone. We should play together."

Wii, should play together.

I agree.