It's playtime

Joining the mainstream for one of the few instances in my life, I have purchased the Wii game console and the Wii Fit to go with it. It cost me a small fortune. Nintendo created the Wii, which has since been a hit with non-typical gamers such as women and older people. The Wii comes with a console, a Wii remote, a Nunchuk, some pre-loaded games and batteries.

I played some of the pre-loaded Wii games such as boxing and tennis, which was a blast. You need to swing the Wii remote to hit a virtual tennis ball across the court. For the boxing game to work, another peripheral called a Nunchuk needs to be attached to the Wii remote. I thoroughly enjoyed the boxing game because you get to pretend to jab and dodge blows. It's a great way to let off some steam in a non-destructive way. I'm considering purchasing another Nunchuk so that I can "box" a human opponent instead of just playing against the machine.

As for the Wii Fit, this is a separate balance board and a disc, which includes games such as Yoga, Aeorobics, Strength training and Balance games. The addictive part about the Wii Fit is that it scores your performance in each of the games, so it gets the competitive juices flowing. Plus, you get the added benefit of some physical activity. That's one way that the Wii distinguishes itself from other video games, which just require gamers to sit zombie-like in front of a TV, pressing buttons to see bloods and guts fly.

Some more fun included creating an avatar, called "Mii's" to represent yourself. Each player has the option of selecting to be represented by a male or female avatar. Physical traits can be chosen such as a the size and shape of your body, nose, eyes, eyebrows and hair color. If desired, you could even give your avatar a double chin, wrinkles, freckles or ruddy cheeks. In the picture below, the avatar creation process is portrayed.

Overall, the Wii has been quite fun and addictive. It also a great party game to break the ice and get people interacting with one another. This afternoon, I plan on trying out virtual golfing and other games.

A Mii in the Making

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Eine Frage an meine deutsche Leserschaft: Sind Wii's in Deutschland genauso angesagt wie in den USA?