The Wii can be placed in a more traditional horizontal position, but it’s obvious that Nintendo intended it to be stood upright, given the vertical stand included in the package. On the front of the system, you’ll find the power button, a reset button, an eject button and, of course, the disc slot. Instead of a more common disc tray, the Wii uses a slot that you simply feed the discs into, which works smoothly with either Wii games or the smaller GameCube discs. One of the first things you’ll notice when switching the system on is how extremely quiet it is, with very little noise from the drive, and a relatively silent fan. For all the good things there are to say about the Xbox 360, the noise of it when running isn’t one of them, so it’s refreshing not having the sound of your game during late-night gaming sessions drowned out by general console humming.
Has there ever been a better fragrance than that of New Box Smell?
Also found on the front of the console is a flap. Hidden behind this is an SD card slot for expanding the system's internal 512Mb memory for saves, downloads, and also Virtual Console games and music for custom soundtrack support. As well as the SD card slot, there's also a sync button which is used to help connect multiple controllers to the system with ease. Two other flaps can be found on the top of the machine, which neatly hide the GameCube controller and memory card ports, while on the rear of the Wii you’ll find connections for the AC adapter, AV cable, sensor bar, and a pair of USB ports. Overall, it’s neat and tidy, even if there’s very little that’s actually new about the whole thing.
Of course, the real treats are contained within the controller. In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past two or so years, the Wii controller comes in separate parts. With the machine, you get one ‘Wii Remote’ controller, which is shaped and held in the same way any TV remote control is, and one ‘Nunchuk’ attachment that allows you to connect an analogue stick to the Wii Remote. Both the Wii Remote and Nunchuk contain motion sensors which, when used in conjunction with the Wii’s sensor bar, allow the movement, speed and position of both controllers to be measured. As well as a stick, the Nunchuk has two trigger buttons, while the Wii Remote has a D-pad, one trigger button, one main action button, and five smaller buttons that are generally reserved for menu navigation.
Compared to previous controllers, there’s a distinct lack of things to press, but given the nature of motion sensor control, and the impressive accuracy the Wii demonstrates, it should never be a problem. Take Tennis in Wii Sports, for example. On a pad-based tennis game, you'd have different buttons for topspin, backspin, slice and lob. On the Wii Remote however, all four types of shot can be produced using different movements. The same could be said in FPSs, where reloading your gun, opening doors or performing a melee attack can all be done with a flick of the Nunchuk. Ultimately, the features of any controller are irrelevant if it’s not comfortable, but thankfully the Wii Remote and Nunchuk both fit like a glove, making lengthy Zelda sessions all the more inviting.
As you can see, it's a dainty device as far as consoles go.
The Xbox 360 really pushed things forward with its dashboard/guide interface, so it’s great to see a similar system on the Wii. Using a series of TV screen-esque boxes known as ‘Wii Channels’, accessing the many features of the console is easy using the on-screen pointer, which is controlled with the Wii Remote. Almost everything has its own channel, from Wii games, to your SD card photos; nothing is more than a click or two away. There are also channels for the News and Weather that can be updated via the Internet, as well as the widely-anticipated Opera web browser, which is due early next year. The Wii Shop channel is where you’ll find all your Virtual Console releases, while the Wii Mii channel is where you can create your own ‘Mii’ characters.
These mini versions of yourself, friends, family, famous figures or any made-up character you care to construct can be created in the Mii channel. Your Miis can be used within Wii games (Wii Sports being a perfect example) as your own personal avatar, or you can attach their image to messages for visual identification of who they’re from, giving the whole system a pleasantly personal feel. Miis can also be sent to other Wii users by exchanging each other's Wii codes, much like the Friend codes on the DS. Unlike the DS however, the Wii has one single code for the system, and then it’s done. Setting up your wireless internet connection is simple, and sending Miis/messages to each other is problem free. The WiiConnect24 feature is a positive addition too, allowing your Wii to receive messages and game updates while it’s switched off. Unfortunately, there aren’t any online-enabled games out yet to test the Wii properly, but other than messages taking a while to receive, initial signs are good.
Overall there’s a lot here to be impressed with. The console itself is very hard to fault with its compact size and sleek design, while the menu interface is easy on the eye and very user-friendly. The controller works incredibly well and is wonderfully comfortable to hold. Whether the controller is enough to make up for its obvious lack of technical power when compared to the competition is something only time will tell.
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