Of the gadgets and technology that excite me so much, game consoles have never been amongst them. I do remember buying a Sega MegaDrive many years ago and spending hours playing my favourite games, Super Hang-On and Wipe Out, but it wasn’t long before I became bored and sold it on. When I got my PC the only games I’d play were things like After Dark Games which challenged the brain and London Racer - again a driving game because I’m so damn good at it…and in reality aswell 
When the Nintendo Wii was released I eyed it up for a bit. The attractive thing about the Wii is the physical element of it because at the same time as having fun you’re getting a workout, which is no bad thing for someone like me who works from home!! Being able to play tennis and ten-pin bowling with Wii Sport tempted me for a bit, then I just forgot about it as I do with all other gaming consoles. I have looked, on occasion, to see whether the price has been reduced from £179…but it never has.
Then a few weeks back Mario Kart for the Wii was released in Europe and many of my Twitter friends were talking about it…and challenging eachother with a game using their friend code. Once MKW was released elsewhere last week then I’ve seen the MK tweets triple. Twitter is tempting me to buy a Nintendo Wii and Mario Kart because of the interaction with others, wherever they are in the world. That’s gotta be fun.
It’s funny because if Apple released something I was interested in tomorrow with a £200 price-tag then I’d have no hesitation in buying it. Why? Because if it was something I wanted then I know with Apple I will get so much use out of it. There isn’t a single thing I’ve bought in the past few years, by Apple, that hasn’t been used to death. I am hesitating over the Wii because like I said I’ve never been big into gaming and I’d hate to spend that much money on something that may end up collecting dust. But at the same time it may be something I use a lot. I guess I’ll never know until I bite the bullet and buy one.
I’m going to wait until WWDC08 has passed in June before making any firm decision on buying a Wii, then of course the following month is my Birthday so any money would go towards the purchase. I don’t know what Apple have planned for that and I suppose nobody else does, apart from this 3G iPhone we keep hearing so much about. I’m not in line for one of those…well, unless o2 let existing customers make the switch seamlessly to the iPhone without having to enter a new contract…and if it was £20 a month then fair enough, but, we all know that won’t happen
Anyone else out there with a Wii who previously wasn’t much into gaming but bought one anyway?
05 May 08
9:49 pm
Our house got a Wii this Christmas and it hasn’t been used as much as I thought it would. I think its very much a novelty. I’m not a gamer myself, in fact the only games I ever play are Viva Pinata and The Simpsons Game. But saying this, I don’t think £179 is bad for a console so its up to you I guess.
Quick tip, the included games in Wii sport are extremely basic and get boring quite quickly.
05 May 08
9:58 pm
I’m not a gamer at all and, like you, figured that working from home means I need something to give me some physical workout, hence my reason for buying the Wii. I’ve had mine for about 2 weeks now and have clocked up a reasonable amount of use out of it. I’ve also got the Wii Fit now too which means I can use it to help me try and lose weight and trim up a bit too. They may appear to be simple exercises but they can get you working up a sweat.
I don’t agree about the Wii Sports game being basic and boring. Try playing with two people and you’ll have hours of fun. We spent a good hour or two on Sunday playing doubles in tennis and had great fun and completely wore ourselves out in the process (which is a good thing!). If you look at it from a gaming point of view then yes, you’ll probably get bored like you would with any game that you complete, but imagine going to the gym and running on the same treadmill for half a hour every day, far more boring than playing tennis, trying to argue that the ball was in and trying not to hit the wall or your other half with a plastic remote (yes I did all 3 yesterday!).
Mine will collect dust, but that’s because I don’t dust inside the video cabinet, not because it won’t be used. First thing every morning I do my Wii Fit check and I’ve been spending at least 30 minutes a day doing some form of exercise on it. I’m far better at hula hooping on it than in real life!
06 May 08
10:52 am
Hi Sam!
I’ve read your blog for a while and figured this is a good time to comment.
I have a Wii and I love it. It’s interesting that you mentioned it here, because I’m also an Apple aficionado and have said that Nintendo is the Apple of the gaming world. Clean, shiny white products and simplified interfaces make me smile.
Wii Sports is a blast, especially if you play with others. Admittedly, after a few weeks we stopped playing it regularly. Mario Kart does look fun, but I’m mostly waiting for Wii Fit, which is a balance and fitness-based set of games that tracks your progress over time. If you haven’t heard about it yet, I would definitely have a look at it. Nintendo has a good introduction on their website and http://www.gametrailers.com has some clips. It sounds like it would be right up your alley, and I gather it’s already out where you are. *grumble*
My wife and I have used the Wii for its Internet connectivity more than anything. Often, while eating dinner, we use the Everybody Votes channel, which is fascinating in itself. We also downloaded the Internet Channel (an Opera-based browser for the Wii) and we’ll watch Youtube clips or things like that. It’s also got News and Weather channels. The News Channel has a nice Associated Press feed and you can even read the news from other countries, so I get to stay abreast of happenings in some of my other favorite places, like Japan and the UK
Also, Satoru Iwata (CEO if Nintendo) recently announced that the Wii wouldn’t be receiving price cuts like other consoles do, as he felt it an undesirable way to treat customers who bought the Wii earlier than others did, and that it was already priced accordingly.
I hope this information is of interest to you.
Thanks, and take care!
Tom
06 May 08
8:46 pm
Andrew: Thanks for your take on it
Hi Sarah: LOL @ hitting Dave with the plastic remote
Gotta admit, the partnership thing on Wii sounds like a lot of fun. However, I’m gonna have to find me a new partner as mine is less into games than I am, so I’d have to pay people to come in and play with me 
Hi Tom! Wow, thanks so much for your input and all that info. Using the Wii for internet connectivity also sounds like fun. I had no idea you could do all those things. Cheers for that
06 May 08
8:53 pm
Sam, Dave was even less into games than me. Now I turn my back and he’s bowling or playing baseball and loves tennis doubles. He’s spent longer on the Wii Fit than I have too yet spent half of last week laughing at me when I kept moaning about not being able to get one!
You need to see if a friend has one and go round and try theirs out, give it 5 minutes and I bet J’ll love it
06 May 08
9:28 pm
Now that I think of it, I remember him saying that when he popped to his brother’s last year he played on his nephew’s Wii a few times and said it was a lot of fun (and tiring). I asked him a couple of weeks ago if he fancied going splits on it and I got a firm “Nope”
07 May 08
12:30 am
I know exactly what you mean. I felt so left out after launch week when everyone was playing. Actually, twitter finally convinced me into buying MKW. I probably would have got it eventually, but the online gaming aspect of it was too cool to wait.
Now, if only twitter could find some way to monetize on this…