FEATURE
Wii in the Family
How did the Wii transform this writer's family game nights?
In this line of work, a lot of games pass through our living room. Good or bad, few get more than a passing glance from my long-suffering wife and family. So when we're in the mood for a little sociable competition or some familial bonding, we prefer to sit around the table with Monopoly or Trivial Pursuit: You know, the classics. Games the whole family can enjoy.
At least that's how it used to be. But in the last few weeks, the house has rung to the squeals of delighted Smiths, young and old: we have a new toy, and it's brought out the gamer in all of us, from my kids to my mother-in-law. Even if your idea of video game heaven is a glass of wine and an hour of Bookworm, the Nintendo Wii could be right up your street.
And the key to this universal appeal is in the Wii's unique remote controller. Although it's not much to look at -- just a candy bar-sized slab of white plastic with a clean, iPod-like scattering of subtly labeled buttons -- it hides a complex array of sensors. Simply put, it detects movement. It can tell whether you're swinging it around, tilting it, aiming it at the TV, or shaking it up and down. Wii games -- good ones, anyway -- ditch the complex control systems that so often mark modern video games, and replace them with simple motions that mirror natural, familiar movements like throwing a ball.
Depending on what you're doing, that unique controller operates as a pointer, a steering wheel, a tennis racquet, you name it. And although it looks like a normal infra-red TV remote, it really only uses infra-red when it's working as a pointer, and has far more range than you might expect. It even works from the next room, so if you have a player you need to handicap, make 'em play from the kitchen. That'll teach 'em.
Setting up the machine isn't too tricky, although I had some trouble making it work with my wireless network. Once it's sitting next to your TV, it's as inconspicuous as a DVD player, and unlike the Xbox 360, it doesn't sound like a hairdryer when you turn it on.
Our first port of call is what Nintendo calls the "Mii Channel" -- it's where you create cartoony characters ("Miis") by assembling them from pre-drawn eyes, noses, ears, and so on. We did what every Wii owner has done: we made Miis that looked like us. Bobble-headed, cross-eyed versions of us, sure -- but us nevertheless. Much like a driver's license picture, if you genuinely look like your Wii, there's probably something very wrong with you.
To be honest, we all got hung up on our Miis for a while. It wasn't until we'd each designed Mii versions of ourselves that we actually got to play a game, and of course each one required its share of discussion -- mostly focused on the slider that controls the build of your Wii, from slim to stocky. Take it from me: female family members get to put that slider wherever they like, but male ones can expect to witness a lengthy debate on the subject.
Some Wii games use your Miis for their on-screen characters, tying your scores and progress to them as you play -- so it wasn't long before we had an entire baseball team of virtual representations of friends and relatives. Set up the online functions in the right way and your Miis will make their way to other Wiis, and you'll receive other people's Miis in return.
Bundled in the box of every Wii, along with one remote, one nunchuck controller, assorted cables, and enough plastic bags and twisty-ties to suffocate all the Miis we just made, is one game:
In fact, it's quite possibly the best Wii game around. It's certainly the best multiplayer Wii game around, and it's barely left the high-tech slot-loading drive of our Wii since we first turned it on. Chucking it in with every Wii purchase is a stroke of genius, because not only is it the most approachable video game I've ever played, it nails the Wii's appeal like Barry Bonds nails home runs.
One glimpse of someone swinging the remote like a baseball bat, and even the most skeptical, technophobic, or just-plain-uninterested passer-by can't help but comment. Sure, the comments tended to start along the lines of, "What on earth are you doing?", but before long we moved along to "Hey, that looks cool," and from there it's just a little step to, "You're doing that wrong. Move over, let me try".
Infectious isn't the word. My quick rounds of Wii Sports' Golf inevitably turn into marathon four-player tournaments: people passing through can't help but ask questions. And there have been more than a few sore arms around here in the last week or so - even among the non-gamers. Tennis is addictive and hard on the arms, and no matter how many times we reminded the kids that subtle movements work just as well as big sweeping ones, waving them around wildly just seems like more fun.
Leaving the kids aside for the moment, where the Wii succeeds, and other consoles fail, is that everybody wants to play the Wii -- and we do mean everybody. Sure, my mother-in-law was humoring the kids to begin with. But everyone understands bowling, and the Wii's controls bear such close resemblance to the real thing that once she got over her self-consciousness, she was giving them a run for their money. (Her best score was 156, incidentally, and that's better than I can do.)
In fact, by the end of the first few frames, she was starting to see advantages to Wii Sports' virtual bowling alley. "This is neat! You don't have to worry about the drunk guy in the next lane leering at you. Unless he's your husband," as she put it. It's surprising how much taken-for-granted rituals like standing up when it's your turn affect the atmosphere, and many players commented on just how authentic the experience felt. All we were missing were the daft shoes.
Even more than this, Wii Sports' attention to detail helps make the games so playable -- the way the remote chimes from its integrated loudspeaker to let you know when it's your turn, for example. It'll do that even if you're in another room, so you can slip it in your pocket and go get a drink without fear of missing your shot. If you slip and mess up your swing, it'll pop up a box showing you what to do instead -- clearly, and with pictures.
Just make sure you keep an eye on the younger ones. It's easy for those careful, measured motions you showed them to turn ever wilder. Some of the Wii Sports games tend to encourage faster, harder swings, so if young (or not so young) folks get into one-upmanship contests, stuff's likely to get broken.
On that note, Nintendo games come with copious warnings about securing the remote with the supplied wrist strap. Although some players have reported straps breaking mid-swing, we didn't have any such problems: no smashed windows, no black eyes, no broken TVs. Enforce a no-strap, no-play policy and you'll be safe enough.
While we enjoyed the games where we all played at once -- Tennis, Boxing, and Baseball -- the turn-taking games are the ones we're coming back to most often. Part of the fun of family games is the banter in between turns, and if you're too focused on the game there's no time for that kind of interaction.
Plus it's a more equitable experience: just like the real thing, an inexperienced player can still play with more proficient friends without being overwhelmed. Moreover, you can make do with just one remote, and as extra ones are just as hard to find as the consoles right now, that can only be a good thing.
We tried a few other Wii games, but none of them quite match the immediacy and infectiousness of Wii Sports. Excite Truck, another Nintendo game, scored well in our review -- but it's only a two-player game and, being split screen (that is, each player only has half the screen to play on) we found it a little hard on the eyes. It's perfect for when you're looking for something a little more heavyweight than Wii Sports, though, and
And then there's the epic
Most of the existing offerings on the "Virtual Console," an iTunes-like service which lets you purchase and download classic video games from a variety of well-loved past consoles, are aimed more at the hardcore gamer crowd, and your kids will sneer at them. But if you nurse fond memories of playing Donkey Kong on your Nintendo Entertainment System back in the 80s, say, the Wii will let you relive them (or share them with the kids, even) for a few extra bucks.
For the rest of the line-up -- which, so far, isn't very long -- our impressions weren't quite so positive. Some games seem to "get" the Wii, and others don't. They're not always the ones you might expect, either.
I don't think it's time to retire Monopoly or Trivial Pursuit quite yet. But letting the Wii in the house has let me achieve something I'd been trying to do for years: share my video game habit -- OK, addiction -- with the whole family. Yes, even my mother-in-law. Alone of all the next-generation consoles, the Wii actually innovates. And if future Wii titles can reproduce the simplicity and obviousness of Wii Sports, I can see an awful lot more Wii Nights in our future.
It's brilliant. It's free. What more do you need to know?
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Posted: 16 Dec 2006