Up until actually trying to buy a Wii console, I thought all the talk of Nintendo not being able to manufacture enough consoles to keep up with demand was just marketing spin. However, after about three weeks of casually looking through sold out stores, I realised the truth. Sure, I could have put one on back-order, but for some reason I have a strange reluctance to put my name down for anything. I always have. I'm actually sitting here trying to figure out just why I have this strange aversion to placing back-orders on things, and I honestly don't know why...hmmmm.
Anyway, so we eventually lucked out and wandered into an EB Games just after they'd received a shipment of about 40 Wii consoles. We snapped one up immediately. Rather than buying a game at the time of purchase we figured that the bundled Wii Sports, and the Wii Play that came with our extra Wii Remote, would satiate our initial hunger for hot Wii action.
After I quickly set the console up back home ( while my girlfriend set up a nice duvet that we also bought on our shopping expedition ) I went through the easy process of creating a Mii that looked just like...well, me. At least, I think it does. My girlfriend says it looks more like my friend Mark back in New Zealand.
Now that I had my cute, smiling little avatar, I loaded up Wii Sports and got my first taste of playing an actual Wii game. That's right. Up until that point, I had never actually played on a Wii console. This is pretty shocking, really, considering that it's been out for about a year and a half now. There were always plans back in New Zealand to have Wii parties at a friend's place but they never panned out. I could have hired one, but apart from a couple of occasions as a child when I hired out a Mega CD and 32X for my Mega Drive from the now defunct Allstar Video in Sydenham, I've never really been one for the renting out of consoles. This is mainly due to the fact that they're really fucking expensive to hire, and the video stores tend to make you put a big-ass bond down in case you accidentally spill Fanta all over the console. When all is said and done, however, I suppose I was content enough with my PS2 and my beloved gaming PC to really worry too much about giving the Wii a shot, even though I had read and heard all about how great it was.
But now...now I was finally trying it out. And I've gotta say, it was quite a revelation just how intuitive and user friendly it is. It's one thing to hear about motion sensing controls, and quite another to actually use them. The first game I tried was Bowling, and it picked up every little flick of my wrist, allowing me to put some wicked spin on the ball. Gina and I went through every game, and apart from Boxing ( which devolves into frantically thrusting the Wii Remote and attached Nunchuk back and forth ), they all have a lot of fun to offer. We then gave Wii Play a go. A lot of the mini games on offer really didn't interest me beyond the initial playthrough, but the Laser Hockey game has become a firm favourite in our apartment.
Gina and I have had some very heated Laser Hockey battles. In fact, this simple little game has provided me with some of the most enjoyable gaming experiences I've had for a long time. A lot of this has to do with Gina, I think. She gets so incredibly involved in the game, and her massive reactions to every goal consistently crack me up. She even headbutted me in the chest once after she very narrowly lost a game.
And this, I think, touches upon what I really love about the Wii: The fact that both myself and my girlfriend can play on the console, and both get just as much out of it as the other. This is a huge thing for me. Gaming is a very large part of my life, and I honestly think the gaming experiences I've had, since I first picked up a joystick to play on my brother's Commodore 64 at the age of five or six, have had a major contribution towards making me into the person I am today. To share this wonderful obsession with my partner Gina, the love of my life, is something truly amazing. Any previous attempts to combine gaming with relationships have ended in failure. I have a couple of embarassing gaming memories, as they relate to ex-girlfriends. I distinctly remember buying a PS2 back in the day, along with a copy of Metal Gear Solid 2, and when my then-girlfriend came over to hang out one day I excitedly loaded it up to try and impress her with the lengthy opening cinematic.
As it came to an end and Snake stood up on the deck of the rain soaked tanker, Harry Gregson-Williams' epic orchestral score swelling in the background, I glanced over to see a look of what can only be described as pity on her face as she regarded me. Needless to say, I never again tried to involve her in my gaming habits.
I also got into an argument with a different ex-girlfriend over my Nintendo Gamecube. I had purchased it, along with a copy of Resident Evil, while heading over to her place to hang out. I went through the motions of paying attention to her, but the entire time I was thinking about that cute little purple console. After about an hour, I told her I was heading home to set it up. She was less than impressed. I tried explaining the situation to her, but she simply didn't understand my excitement at having a new console. I was determined, however, and headed off home. But the withering look she gave me as I walked down her driveway stays with me to this day...
So, to have finally found this combination of the perfect girl and the console that we both love is truly something special. I suppose it says a lot about how awesome my girlfriend is, but it also says something about the Wii. Thank you, Nintendo, for finally allowing me to bring my two great loves together.
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