I Played the Wii Again, and You Didn’t (or Wii Hands-On)
I played with the Wii. Again. For most of you out there in internet land, that leaves me at 2 times playing the Wii… and you at none. But don’t get mad at my obvious superiority over you. I, Benny, am here to bless you with my hands-on impression goodness. Man do I rock hardcore. Seriously though, I got to play with almost-final Wii hardware at the Activision event and I couldn’t be more excited about the hardware itself.
I was able to get my grubby hands on the actual Wii console itself. I picked it up, opened up the flaps (even the mystery one), and generally tried to get a sense of what I’d be buying come November. There really isn’t anything but good news to report. The Wii console is small, but not ridiculously so. It’s nice and light… and feels just as solid as any other Nintendo console. All the flaps close with a very nice thunk, and the entire unit exudes Nintendo quality. The white, shiny surface of the Wii is attractive and didn’t seem to attract fingerprints at an alarming rate (and there were plenty of people grabbing at it). On a small side note, the Wii looks fairly nice on its side. In fact it looks even smaller.
There isn’t anything glamorous about the Gamecube ports up top. There are 4 controller ports and 2 memory card ports. If you don’t want them, you wouldn’t even know the flap was there. The front flap does indeed hold the fabled “SYNC” button and an SD card slot. The SYNC button is pressed in conjunction with the SYNC button on the Wiimote to pair them together. You only have to do this once, until you want your controller to connect to another Wii. There were two Wii (is the plural of Wii, Wii? It should be) in the same room, and they never experienced any interference from each other.
The ever elusive blue light was not on during gameplay, and I can only assume that the Wii will be like the Game Boy Micro in that the blue only comes on during start up. The only light coming from the Wii while it was on was a small green light next to the eject button. Around back, we’ve got all the ports you’re used to seeing: sensor bar, power cord, and A/V out. Unfortunately, Nintendo has abandoned a long loved tradition and changed the A/V plugs for the Wii. Your old Nintendo A/V connections will not work with the Wii. I’m sure the new ones have some special motion sensing quality to them that Nintendo hasn’t announced.
The power brick is really small (I’d say smaller than the GCN one) and was a light grey color. The Wii is also whisper quiet. I don’t even remember hearing a disc spinning sound (and the games were running on discs. I saw the CD-Rs myself!). The sensor bar is tiny. It was placed above the TV (on a small plastic stand), and I didn’t notice it after I initially saw it. I didn’t get to see any interface or anything like that. At one point, one of the games froze, and I was expecting to see the Wii interface on the restart. But alas, there was just developer-looking computer text. Color me sad.
The controllers were close to final units (if not final themselves). Again, they felt amazing. They were the perfect size and weight for what you do with them. Not one problem with the buttons or the d-pad; everything on the controller feels great. The speaker’s volume is loud enough to hear, but not loud enough to distract. It’s nothing mind-blowing, just a small addition to the controller.
I didn’t really get to test out how the Wiimote reacted to changing my distance to the sensor bar, but I can tell you that people were moving all around, and there weren’t any hardware related problems. The controllers were completely wireless, and 4 were running on each Wii. The best thing I can say about the controller is that I didn’t even notice it. It just kind of melted in my hands, and I never really thought about it while playing.
Basically, if you have any worries about the Wii hardware, don’t. The units that I played were fantastic in almost every way, and I don’t foresee any major issues come November. It really can’t come soon enough.
And that’s about it. If you have any Wii related hardware questions, please drop me a line and I’ll try to answer them as best a rebel could.
Benny - October 16th, 2006 - 
Grant on October 16, 2006 at 11:17 pm
Sounds good. Anything interesting to report about what you played?
Linkman2004 on October 16, 2006 at 11:20 pm
Lucky you and your getting to play the Wii! I kill you with a fish!
Anyways, I’ve got a couple questions. Are the buttons clicky or mushy? And is the D-Pad clicky or exactly like the one on the DS Lite?
kiddkalen on October 16, 2006 at 11:21 pm
Bastard. Typo-ignoring, Wii-flaunting bastard.
Switch on October 16, 2006 at 11:28 pm
Will the GC controller ports work with the Wavebird?
Farnic on October 16, 2006 at 11:38 pm
how small is “tiny” for the sensor bar? relate it to something, give me an idea lol
kiddkalen on October 16, 2006 at 11:40 pm
@ Switch. Yes, I have seen WaveBird compatibility confirmed in multiple places already.
Benny on October 16, 2006 at 11:48 pm
LINK: The d-pad is like the one on the DS lite, it feels fantabulous.
animagnum on October 17, 2006 at 12:09 am
Sucks to your asmar, Benny.
shingo on October 17, 2006 at 12:12 am
Hardcore is being the one who thought of the controller, not the one playing it first.
peshue on October 17, 2006 at 12:27 am
Any word on if the classic controller can be used to play gc games?
KLind on October 17, 2006 at 12:29 am
I’ve played it 4 times. I win.
E3
Fusion Tour
Nintendo World Store
The last one, I’m under NDA for.
Quit being a douche.
poopity_doopity_doo on October 17, 2006 at 12:44 am
WII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Alex on October 17, 2006 at 1:09 am
What kind of monitor was the Wii playing on? Brand? Size?
kiddkalen on October 17, 2006 at 1:37 am
Animagnum… I love Lord of the Flies and I dig your reference for one big reason: I use that exact same phrase quite often. When many people would say, “Sucks to be you!”, instead, I say, “Sucks to your asmar!” Nobody ever gets it. Nobody except me and you, I guess. Thanks man, for makin’ me not feel stupid.
Fank on October 17, 2006 at 1:39 am
I swear it, 12 or 13 more of these kind of articles, and I’m leaving 4cr.
Hurricane Mario on October 17, 2006 at 2:10 am
What?
keviokevio on October 17, 2006 at 2:25 am
QUESTION!
is the controller REALLY responsive? because i looked at some footage of tony hawk dj and the actions seemed kinda delayed in relation to the controller…
designerwhite on October 17, 2006 at 3:01 am
I just got my canadian EB preorder today!!! YAY!!! only a month left.
animagnum on October 17, 2006 at 3:11 am
kiddkalen, I’m glad somebody else recognized the reference. I figure using quotes like that will help me remember all of the weird books like Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies I had to read in middle school.
Jon on October 17, 2006 at 3:25 am
how does it feel for a left-handed player… :oops: if you switch hands, does it feel smooth, or is it irregular…
Fugus on October 17, 2006 at 3:50 am
To echo what Alex was saying: Do you feel that Wii needs to be played on a big/huge screen or Mr Everybody’s tv will do just fine ?
Since there is no pointing device I guess the size of the screen doesn’t affect gameplay but on a purely graphical point of view does the Wii deserves a badass tv screen to be played on ?
Arcanis on October 17, 2006 at 6:10 am
The plural of Wii would only be Wii if the singular was Wius.
Myles on October 17, 2006 at 7:08 am
I REALLY hope you meant DVD-Rs. Because games on ~650MB vs games on ~6.5 GB. No thanks.
Heh. I’m super psyched though, pre-ordered my Wii yesterday. Yes!
LunarTakiro on October 17, 2006 at 7:30 am
I’ve got a fever, and the only cure is finally getting to play the Wii =\. What kind of memory cards does it use?
Chris on October 17, 2006 at 8:35 am
I really think Nintendo should named it Wac instead of Wii. Seeing how they like to copy Apple these days – reversing the “M” in Mac will become Wac ;). Mario and Wario will be happy on a wacky system.
pung on October 17, 2006 at 9:03 am
Question:
Can Gamecube games be played with the Wii classic controller? Can Gamecube games save to the Wii onboard memory/SD card?
Jim Smith on October 17, 2006 at 9:08 am
I knew one day that little Nintendo website I went to would become patronising and ego-tistical.
Oh well, as long as they provide the articles, I guess…
used routers on October 17, 2006 at 9:46 am
Positive reviews like this get me even more excited. I can’t wait to give this thing a try. Unfortunately, I missed the pre-order.
Hopefully there are enough consoles hitting that I’ll be able to pick one up.
Grant on October 17, 2006 at 10:09 am
I’m surprised at how many people in the comments section don’t get jokes…
Konstantin on October 17, 2006 at 10:09 am
What? No blue light during gameplay? OMG, we have been forsaken by Nintendo!
Benny:
I always wondered if the spot you pointed at with the wiimote at was exact or an approximation.
If it was exact, how does the Wii know how big your screen is. This’ll also cause some problems with small screens, because the aiming would be alot harder.
If it is a relative approximation, how does it feel? How big is the angle that you can point the wiimote in without the pointer leaving the screen area?
This has been puzzling me for quite some time now.
Considering they use a sensor bar, I’d guess it’s a relative approximation, because the sensor bar detects the wiimotes signal-tip from two spots to determine it’s physical position and heading.
Quizzlepuzzle
Benny on October 17, 2006 at 11:12 am
EVERYBODY: So… I was joking a lil’ bit. I mean I’m an asshole, but I’m not that much of an asshole. I would never flaunt my superiority over you overtly
FARNIC – I think going with the “3 pencils side by side” thing would go well. Don’t kill me if that’s not exact.
KEVIO – It feels just as responsive as a joystiq press of a button press. No worries mate.
PESHUE/PUNG: I didn’t get to try out the classic controller or any GCN games. Sorry.
ALEX: They had two different monitors there, a wide screen one running in progressive scan and a 4:3 one. They weren’t insanely large… and I dont think the size of your TV will affect anything. The Wii has felt great on all the TVs I’ve played it on.
JON: I’m not left handed, but the controllers don’t seem to favor one hand or another. I’m sure being a lefty wouldn’t confuse the system (and looking at Nintendo’s track record with Lefty’s and the DS… I’m sure youll be fine)
FUGUS: If your current setup plays GCN games to your standards… it’ll do just fine for the Wii.
LUNAR: SD Cards and 512mb of onboard memory.
KONS: I suppose it is relative approximation… but there was no delay in the controls. It felt just as instant as a joystiq and a button press on any other controller.
Also, the sensor bar was placed on top of the screen… but I’ve seen it placed below the screen as well. I don’t think it matters.
Lemond on October 17, 2006 at 11:57 am
The Super Scope’s sensor was just this tiny little infrared thing that sat on top of your TV, and that was 90’s technology. The Super Scope was very accurate and you had to go to this one screen to calibrate it to your TV. It was a relatively painless process, and it could work especially well if they can make the calibration screen more like a game.
I still have not figured out how that friggin little thing works.
Konstantin on October 17, 2006 at 12:15 pm
Thanks for the info Benny!
Any idea how wide the angle was that you could point at without the cursor leaving the screen?
yankeeblue on October 17, 2006 at 12:26 pm
Whats with people being up 4cr’s butt about articles? Case of the Mondays?
NETCHRIS on October 17, 2006 at 12:43 pm
Sounds great!
Nick on October 17, 2006 at 12:50 pm
Ahh, sarcasm. Teh interweb does not understand!
Brandon Nintendofreak on October 17, 2006 at 2:58 pm
i heard this around before,but as a wii fanatic, i cant help but make sure. does wii go online using the nintendo wi-fi USB connector?
Greg Z on October 17, 2006 at 4:07 pm
“i heard this around before,but as a wii fanatic, i cant help but make sure. does wii go online using the nintendo wi-fi USB connector?
Brandon Nintendofreak”
Answer: Yes, it does.
Rasengan_Master on October 17, 2006 at 6:29 pm
Hahah, I don’t really give a damn.
Electro on October 17, 2006 at 7:48 pm
DVD-R’s
xcvmvcx on October 17, 2006 at 11:19 pm
Stop kissing your own ass, you egotistical gimp.
Kenofthedead on October 17, 2006 at 11:41 pm
Yes my friend, you’re Wii playing is bold. But are you also … daring?
Benny on October 18, 2006 at 2:46 am
Nicely done Ken. Very nicely done.
phil on October 18, 2006 at 3:10 pm
you mention you saw the “CD’Rs”? are they actually CD’s or are they DVD’s or nintendos own disc format. Any idea how much data they can hold
Brandon Nintendofreak on October 18, 2006 at 3:40 pm
thanks greg z.just making sure.
BreakfastPills on October 18, 2006 at 5:02 pm
I like your elitist attitude. Keep up the mean work.
Carin on October 18, 2006 at 6:19 pm
Me wanna Wiiiiii!!!
Honestly, if it’s such a great experience that everyone feels the need to brag about it this much, my fears are all the more offset. All hail Emperor Miyamoto!
bluebright on October 20, 2006 at 9:03 am
Pffft, Wii…who even cares about that anymore…oh yeah, me.