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After long waits and much anticipation (though, oddly, not as much as for the PS3), the Nintendo Wii has finally made it's North American debut.

Nintendo's newest console made it's official debut at 12:01 this morning, though many chains that opened for midnight launches for the PS3 forced gamers to wait until normal store hours.

Another marked difference from the PS3 launch was the attitude of the fans. While anxious PS3ers aggressively guarded their places in line, the Wii lines were more quiet and orderly, with some customers even displaying attitudes of friendliness. One Manhattan man and his friends even brought previous Nintendo consoles to the line and invited other hopefuls to play while they queued.

Furthermore, the much-anticipated Virtual Console is officially up and running, with games from all pre-Gamecube Nintendo consoles as well as the Sega Genesis system currently available for download. More titles are promised by year's end.

The Wii launch was marred by none of the violence and crime that affected the PS3 release. Were video game fans simply tired out after a weekend of camping out on sidewalks for the two new consoles, or was the Wii's relative abundance responsible for the calmer atmospher? Whatever the case may be, despite reports of Wii availability being as much as ten times greater than initial PS3 availability, stores still sold out within minutes.

Source: Gamespot

Finally, my personal story. I dragged my husband out of bed at six o'clock to take me down to the local Target while he went to Best Buy. He was number 69 in a line for 63 available Wiis, and I wound up being just three people too late. However, one of the earlier people in line kindly sold me his ticket for a mere $10. ($10 for two hours of standing in line that I didn't have to endure? Well worth it, in my opinion.) So, I walked out of there with my very own Wii and a copy of Twilight Princess.

So far, I'm loving the new console. All of the reports about the Wiimote being incredibly responsive, intuitive, and easy to use are absolutely true! The Mii feature is highly entertaining (my plaza is already populated with the Mario Bros., Link, Zero Suit Samus, and a few others of my own creation), and Twilight Princess is looking to be the best new Zelda game since A Link to the Past, way back in the SNES games.

Am I a Nintendo fangirl? Up until this morning, I would have said I was primarily a Sony fan. But, as far as I'm concerned, the Wii might have just won my heart. We'll see if others feel the same way--this just might be Nintendo's coup in the console war.

This post has been edited by karasuman on 19th November 2006 20:46

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Veni, vidi, dormivi.

Quote (karasuman @ 19th November 2006 20:46)

The Wii launch was marred by none of the violence and crime that affected the PS3 release.  Were video game fans simply tired out after a weekend of camping out on sidewalks for the two new consoles, or was the Wii's relative abundance responsible for the calmer atmospher?

I personally think all the criminals and robbers were just drunk or had a hangover.

Or wanted to go to Church in the morning.

Quote (karasuman @ 19th November 2006 20:46)

However, one of the earlier people in line kindly sold me his ticket for a mere $10.  ($10 for two hours of standing in line that I didn't have to endure?  Well worth it, in my opinion.)  So, I walked out of there with my very own Wii and a copy of Twilight Princess.

Admit it: you had an M2 gunner shoot him as the US Army helped stage Operation Lets Make PS3 Look Bad And Shoot All The Rioting Nintendo Fans Whilst We Cover It Up And The Guy Who Makes The Names For The Operations Is On Vacation, didn't you?

Can I request a Fatwah on Isiah Triforce Johnson, BTW?

I've been hearing that the games are quite polarising so far, some people love them, some hate them.

Really, what did we expect? Wii had a far more laid back approach, flooding the launch market with a high volume of consoles made from pretty much currently existing technology Nintendo might actually make a quick profit from. It wasn't exactly bold, but it was a little more sensible, if perhaps a little mercenary when you really think about it. Wii couldn't have been any cheaper without calling down an antitrust lawsuit for predatory pricing.

However, to me, Wii still feels too reliant on gimmicks and a good marketing campaign and despite the claims of innovation, it seems only to come in very small doses so far. It seems like along with the console war,I'm going to have to wait a long time for any significant results.

Meanwhile, eBay's already a madhouse. There are Wii and PS3 bundles for insane prices from $4000 upwards and someones selling a DOMAIN NAME for nearly $100000. Oh, and someones put an actual Wii for the same price, though thankfully no one has been dumb enough to make a bid.

Quote (karasuman @ 19th November 2006 21:34)

Quote (Del S @ 19th November 2006 16:32)

Or wanted to go to Church in the morning.

I went to church AND got a Wii. So there?

Thus, you win.

I hope when Jesus saved he didn't overwrite anything.

This post has been edited by Del S on 19th November 2006 21:38

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"Only the dead have seen the end of their quotes being misattributed to Plato."
-George Santayana

"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here..."
-Abraham Lincoln, prior to the discovery of Irony.

Quote (Del S @ 19th November 2006 16:32)

Or wanted to go to Church in the morning.

I went to church AND got a Wii. So there?

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Veni, vidi, dormivi.

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I walked out of there with my very own Wii and a copy of Twilight Princess.

That's good news. I'm holding out for sometime longer though. The second I get TP though. It's going to be some time before I play anything else.

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"Have you ever seen a baby do that before?"

When she says that the controller is responsive and fun, she isn't lying. I've only played Wii sports (I also got TP, but I have to study for my English final so no time to play it now), but it's really just fun is all. I mean, it's not the next Zelda in terms of scale but it's just great fun to play.

I'll probably post some in-depth chronicles of my adventures (to get the console and of playing the console) later, but for now you'll just have to trust me that it may very well really be worth $250.

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"We're not tools of the government or anyone else. Fighting... fighting was the only thing I was ever good at, but at least I always fought for what I believed in." - Frank Yeager (a.k.a. Grey Fox)

::cries:: I should have pre-ordered!!!!!!!! I didn't wait in lline because I knew I wouldn't get one but I am upset that I was so stubborn about how cool the Wii was that I didn't even think I would buy one at all and now I am upset because I didn't get one. Waaaaaaaaa...........

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Elena Indurain

Currently Playing: Suikoden II

It's okay; if you wait a bit longer, there will be greater supply and less demand, and prices will be a bit lower without the hype. And you'll actually know what games are worth buying by then.

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Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

Congrats on your Wii, karasuman. Give big personal reviews on TP so that I can moan and whine about a Wii, please.

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Dead Winter. A nice comic.

They showed Twi Prin on Attack of the Show on G4 the other night, and I was impressed.

Wii for Christmas, as a gift for the whole family, seems highly likely. Congrads, Karasuman. I am jealous.

Twi Prin and the new Metroid ought to keep me busy for a LONG time.

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Join the Army, see the world, meet interesting people - and kill them.

~Pacifist Badge, 1978

Has anyone seen that commercial for Red Steel? It actually made me want a Wii less it was so bad.

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"That Light has bestowed upon me the greatest black magic!"

Oh good i was worried the controller would be impossible to use.

How many wiis and ps3s were there sold i only see stories about long queues

Quote (The Ancient @ 20th November 2006 09:52)

Has anyone seen that commercial for Red Steel? It actually made me want a Wii less it was so bad.

Yeah, it was rather cheesy.

"Pathetic! Ok, get a gun!"

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Join the Army, see the world, meet interesting people - and kill them.

~Pacifist Badge, 1978

Quote (Green Mage @ 20th November 2006 12:03)

Oh good i was worried the controller would be impossible to use.

How many wiis and ps3s were there sold i only see stories about long queues

Long queues tend to mean many sold, but don't forget that their were less 1st edition PS3s than their were 1st edition Wiis.

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Dead Winter. A nice comic.

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Has anyone seen that commercial for Red Steel? It actually made me want a Wii less it was so bad.

I agree with that, but for me I get the feeling I won't like red steel.

as I hear more and more from people who went out and got the Wii. They all agree that they love it. The nunchaku(spelling) was easy to adapt to. and nothing but great things about Zelda.

Karasuman, or anyone else who has played TP on the Wii, can you use the old school controller to play it, or do you have to use the nunchaku?

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"Have you ever seen a baby do that before?"

I don't have the system or game yet, but I'm almost certain that it is a nunchaku only game.

Edit

Than again, maybe I'm wrong. Though this link is from all the way back in March.

This post has been edited by Hamedo on 21st November 2006 16:49

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Join the Army, see the world, meet interesting people - and kill them.

~Pacifist Badge, 1978

I definitely can't wait to get a Wii! I was going to go stand in line but my mom wouldn't let me! I'm really hoping that there will be an Animal Crossing game out soon

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A fox is cunning
a fox is sleek.
I long to have ones
muzzle on my cheek.

Id hug him and we'd kiss
our love would be true.
And he would wisper
"I love you too"
=^_^= A snippet from a lovely and inspiring poem By Due Swann =^_^=

Quote (Cloud_Strife510 @ 21st November 2006 11:42)

Karasuman, or anyone else who has played TP on the Wii, can you use the old school controller to play it, or do you have to use the nunchaku?

You have to use the Wiimote/nunchaku combo. Don't freak out, though--it's not nearly as bad as you think!

You still have almost as many buttons to play with. The major differences in gameplay are:

1. Aiming is no longer done with an analog stick. You can aim directly with the Wiimote once you've activated the slingshot/whatever. This is a vast improvement!

2. You no longer hit a button to swing the sword. To do normal slashes/stabs, you swing the Wiimote (depending on the specific attack you want, you might tilt forward on the analog and z-target, as well). To do a spin attack, you twitch the nunchaku back and forth. Honestly, I miss the button; you have to swing just a little too much for me to do it right on the first try. Once the fighting starts, though, it's easy. A little more effort required, maybe, but it's not really bad. Just different.

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Veni, vidi, dormivi.

Quote (Cloud_Strife510 @ 21st November 2006 10:42)

Karasuman, or anyone else who has played TP on the Wii, can you use the old school controller to play it, or do you have to use the nunchaku?

You can play it with the Wii controller just like Kara said, but you can even go more classic. If you go into the options menu and turn the "pointer"" option to off, you're basically playing it with a classic controller. You don't have to point to aim, you can use the analogue stick. I think you still have to wave your arm to do sward attacks, but you don't have to be really accurate in order to use your slingshot or whatever.

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"We're not tools of the government or anyone else. Fighting... fighting was the only thing I was ever good at, but at least I always fought for what I believed in." - Frank Yeager (a.k.a. Grey Fox)

I do not think the Wii is a good system and it's name is sounding Dumb. Nintendo is not as good as Sony so I like the Play Station 3 the best, but I have not played any new System since the Play Station 2 so I am not Sure.

This post has been edited by Inque on 22nd November 2006 03:22

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who needs pornography when you can just read about it instead?

Karasuman, FallingHeart, thanks for your input. It won't really make much difference, and I like the idea of aiming, instead of tilting the analogue stick.

But for me I don't like to move around much when playing videogames they've been a near complete mental fix for me.

rarely using my body ever.

I guess it won't be too much difference. I just won't be able to lie down while playing video games anymore.

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"Have you ever seen a baby do that before?"