Wii Zero-Day Hands On

• Related Feature:
  PlayStation 3 Zero-Day Hands-On

What a day. Our boxed retail Wii arrived by none other than armed escort. Didn't take long to figure out that Wii was here (yes, cries of 'Wiiii!' went out over instant messenger) and we realized we had a dilemma. To PS3 or to Wii? In the end we did both, and this is the unboxing experience, as close as we can bring it to you.

Box by Apple

Plenty of people have likened Nintendo's new hardware designs (Wii, DS Lite) to Apple's engineering, and that aesthetic carries over to the packaging, too. The elegant white box opens to reveal two blue trays featuring the Wii and bundled accessories.

You'll find the console, stand, and supporting flange, as well as A/V cables (composite only, we're afraid) and power cable, complete with a power brick slightly larger than that of the GameCube, and far smaller and lighter than that of the Xbox 360. The remote and nunchcuk are packed in, as is a set of AA batteries for the remote. Contrary to reports, there is no system update disc, but there is a cardboard sleeve (sob!) containing Wii Sports.

Our package also included an extra remote and nunchuck controller, as well as Excite Truck and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Wii at First Sight

After the enormous size of both the 360 and PS3, it's difficult not to love the diminutive Wii. The front panel buttons (power, reset and eject) are tiny but easy to operate. Slightly more difficult to use is the front panel door that leads to the SD card slot; you'll need a good fingernail to hook in and get it open. We considered standing the Wii vertically without the included grey stand, then realized that the stand also elevates one of two primary vents for the console; Xbox360 horror stories flashed through our heads as we put the stand back in place.

The rear panel is quite clean: two USB ports, the sensor port, power, and A/V ports. We hoped that, like the PS3, this A/V port might be backwards compatible with GameCube cables, but that isn't the case. Each cable has a distinctively shaped terminal that makes it easy to plug in correctly.