First Impressions of the Wii

This past week I had the chance to demo both the PS3 and Wii. I must admit that I was very impressed with the PS3's graphics. They were quite stunning and had great transparency effects. Any questions I had on how graphics could get that much sharper since PS2 were instantly answered. I was, however, playing the system on a high def TV setwhich I'm sure added to the experience (only 4% of Americans have HDTV sets at home). Hard-core gamers are sure to be drawn to this type of game realism, but the game play itself screamed monotony.

Next came the Wii. While the graphics were noticeably poorer, they were still better than PS2's. But I wasn't expecting or even wanting to demo the Wii for its graphics; I was concerned more with the game play of the new controller-- the wii-mote. I played a course in Excite Truck and was surprised at the responsiveness of the controller. It actually took a bit of skill to make modest adjustments instead of exaggerated turns with the steering, much like in any arcade racing game. I thought I could somehow lose line of site with the sensor or that it could become sluggish and lag, but this did not happen. The response consistently lagged at a barely noticeable rate, and not enough to cause any noticeable effect in game play. And, despite my efforts, I could not confuse the sensor bar. It somehow seemed to know the exact orientation of the wii-mote in 3D space at all times. Several online videos demonstrate that the sensor bar is simply an IR board, so the wii-mote is expected to work in all conditions that a simple TV remote can. The coolest aspect of the controller is its ability to recognize a rotation in the controller. The shopkeep let me in on this secret, showing how the cursor responded to wrist rotation by rotating itself on the screen. Pretty cool. This very action is used in Call of Duty 3 to peer around corners.

It was really an experience to watch the wii-mote respond to the actions of your hand. Unfortunately, its quite hard to even get your hands on one, and will be for a month or two. If you get a chance though, I definitely recommend just trying it out.