I know I’m probably the last person in the world to get a Nintendo Wii — but I have one now — and I’ve been weeing for nearly a week with delight.


The Wii is pure fun and it is totally exhausting.  My favorite game so far is — Wario Land: Shake It! — and I’ve never really been a Mario fan. 


One of the greatest internet advertising schemes ever created was for Wario Land and you can see Wario completely destroy a YouTube page here.


Another great pocket of goodness is — Mario Super Sluggers — the National Pastime was never so fun and loud and colorful!

What I didn’t expect to find with the Nintendo Wii was WiFi. I can connect my Wii to my local WiFi network and get online! 

“Wii Ware” is a Wii internet channel you connect to via your Wii using WiFi — and it lets you buy games and add functionality to your Wii in addition to getting free weather and news updates. 

“Midnight Bowling” is a terrific Wii Ware game and it’s must faster, more fun, and has more realistic play than the bundled bowling game.  It’s a total winner.

I was also surprised to see you can download an internet browser for the Wii.  It’s an Opera-based web browser and it is a fast experience.  Here are some of your favorite websites as viewed on “Wii Internet.”  Images were captured with my beloved iPhone 3G in a darkened room.




If you don’t have a Wii — GET ONE! — if you have a Wii, please share your experiences and your favorite games.

Here’s how to sign “Wii” in American Sign Language:  Make a “W” HandShape and then keep you index finger straight as you bend down the other two fingers in unison a couple of times to imitate the “bowing i’s” in the Wii logo as seen in the Nintendo television commercials.  It’s sort of hard to sign it clearly and quickly, but boy is it a fun sign — almost as much fun as weeing for your Wii!

14 Comments

  1. Nintendo Wii and You? Et tu David? Eighth wonder of the world!
    Jokes apart, Nintendo is fun, one of my friends have it – I am not that of a video game fun – but tried a couple of times – some of these are really interesting.
    Have fun!

  2. Ha, Katha! I play “Unreal Tournament 2004” on my Mac almost every day. It’s great fun and quite a rush. I’ve never had a game console that tagged into my TV until the Wii. I actually got a Wii so I could use the new Fit Board —
    http://us.wii.com/viewer_tvcm_usa.jsp?vid=5
    http://us.wii.com/soft_wiifit.jsp
    — but there are no Fit Boards to be found anywhere! GAH!
    So… I’m FORCED to play these games, Katha! SMILE! Guitar Hero III is incredible. Challenging and a great learning tool, too.

  4. My roommate in ND was into videogames David, big time!
    He had all these gaming console that he used to plug in the TV and enjoy it. I played with him for a couple of times but he was absolutely glued to them – it was absolutely fun watching him playing golf or football…
    In fact I learnt the rules of golf while playing with him only – beforehand I was clueless about it withount a slightest ounce of interest!

  5. Oh dear oh dear …….. what is the world coming to ……….. (your favorite Luddite)

  7. Sounds like you had a fun roommate, Katha! You’re right we can learn from these games. Even Guitar Hero III has teachable elements in that you learn how a song is structured and put together and you can break a song up into its elements to practice certain sections only at varying speeds that match your skill level.

  8. Well, the Wii as a workout device is incredibly cool! Did you read the link? It’s a magnificent way that technology can smooth the effort needed to stay in shape indoors. A wonderful concept, really, Nicola!

  9. Yes, I did have a fun roommate – lucky me! He was a very good friend of mine, so was his girlfriend!
    I played X-Box 360, learnt to play “poker” (I was just ignorant about “cards” before that), football, golf with Tiger Woods and some other fun games too.
    I am more of a puzzle and Board game fan – but enjoyed those a lot!

  10. That’s great, Katha. It’s interesting how entertainment is becoming more learning-centered and learning arenas are becoming more media driven!

  11. Welcome to wii world, David! When I finally have my wii set up I will send you my friend code so we can send each other messages and the like! 🙂

  12. Hi Gordon! Yes, I remember seeing your Wii-motes charging in one of the big images of you doing something in your apartment. However, I have no idea what you’re talking about when you say “friend code” — but I look forward to finding out!
    One thing that must change ASAP is Janna routinely beating me in bowling. TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE! I can give her a pretty good thrashing in Tennis and Boxing and Baseball… but bowling… that’s a harder nut for me to crack for some reason…

  13. Don’t know anything about the Wii, David, but I do like being to exercise interactively.

Comments are closed.