The last i read about the Wii, all consoles that were available for pre-order in Europe have been sold already. This basically means that if you never pre-ordered it, good look getting one before christmas.

But i'm not really concerned if i don't get one at launch because i'm only truly after it for Zelda:TP, and i've had that pre-ordered for Game Cube since 22nd June, 2005. So either way, i get to play it at launch.

Let's hope there's plenty of those then...

It's funny because I really enjoy my DS, but my brother (and apparently some of you guys, hehe) don't like that direction.  For me, the stylus was a hassle sometimes, but it never really made games impossible to play for me.  There are some games that use it awkwardly (like Mario 64 DS), but almost every one I've tried started hard and got easier (like Metroid or Starfox) or just had an alternate control scheme.  I really enjoy playing games like ClubHouse Games though, and I never really felt like Nintendo let the touch screen become a gimmick - at least, not in any of the first party titles I've played.

And for that reason, I am excited about picking up a Wii sometime.  I think Nintendo has shown a strong dedication to their ideas with the DS so far, and I hope it will be similar with the Wii.  They've definitely got a lot of buzz surrounding them right now, and I think they will take back a bit of the market this time around - which means better dev support, which in turn means more quality games.  There is always the possibility of a new idea becoming gimmicky (Sixaxis anyone?  :P), but overall I think the new system will launch strong, and stay strong.  Plus, Zelda looks completely awesome.

I must confess though, yesterday I went ahead and got a 360!  I got a chance to play around with my brother's 360 a couple weekends ago, and I came back impressed.  The library of games that I am interested in isn't superbly large right now, but there are quite a few games that I want to play, and since I am not really made of money, I won't be able to buy them all at once anyway.  There are also some good games on the horizon, and a ton of games from the old X-Box days I'll be able to pick up relatively cheap, so I think it'll be good.  I think I'm gonna be one of those Wii60 people though, since both consoles look to have a bright future ahead, in my opinion.

I gotta add one more thing to this before I go - Gears of War is awesome!  Easily one of the best looking games I've ever played, and very fun as well.  That one's going to keep me coming back for a while I think, with different difficulties and some cool multiplayer options (can't wait to try out co-op).  I'm not the best at using both thumbs on joysticks at once yet, but I think I'll be catching on soon enough.  Epic really outdid themselves with this game, and I recommend you at least try it out sometime.

Anyway, I think the server at our work might be up and working again, so I gotta get back to work (X Server is a piece of crap)...  I'll report back later on this good time of gameage, I'm sure.  :D

Explain that bit...

i, too, dig the best ds games.  for example, kirby canvas curse is absolutely brilliant, and impeccibly designed from head to toe.
but, i also loathe the over-abundance of crap shoehorned onto the touch screen in so many other games.
so, just like with a "traditional" gamepad, a game should be designed completely around the input device.  a game should not be designed off of paradigms of the past, and on concepts that worked on input devices of past, and then just forced to work on some radical new device.
it'll likely take some time for a lot of designers to flush their backward thinking out of their systems before they come to grips with both the ds and wii (i attribute this to the fact that too many "game designers" look to other games for inspiration).  but, when they do, we'll surely see some wild magic, me thinks :)


i don't disagree.  it looks amazing.  but, the fact of the matter is, it controls better on the gamecube.  it may not control awefully on the wii, but it controls best on the platform for which it was designed.  man, i could never imagine going through that whole adventure without the ability to control the 3d camera...  i just think it's a shame that nintendo feels they need to rely on a less-than-optimal port to be successful with the wii launch (but, hey, like anyone else, they aren't perfect - and they're a business that must stay afloat, too).

can't wait for their future titles designed specifically for the console though  :o   ;D  should be mind-blowing.


yeah, i find this statement odd, too.  from my experience, the sixaxis is far less gimmicky than you may think.  in fact, it works fantastically, and does nothing more than open up even more opportunities for new gaming experiences.  it just so happens that it is directly integrated with a traditional gamepad.  this is a very smart decision by sony, regardless of whether or not cats think they're "ripping off" nintendo.  it creates a seemless environment for designers to create around traditional, new gyroscopic, or even a combination of both.  no need to completely abandon an input interface that has been refined across multiple platform for years and years.  that would be as silly as completely stopping making cars and forcing everyone to ride boats because its "more fun".  why not let people ride boats and keep evolving the experience of driving a car?  for, don't you think that a designer should focus most of all on the complete gameplay experience before they put all of their effort in worrying about what the player is holding?

there's room and welcome for any and all revolution.  but at the same time, there's room and welcome for any and all evolution.

The Wii had me at Smash Bros, honestly... me and my friends are still playing Melee and having a blast with it.

Plus I simply can't afford either of the other consoles.  Nintendo definetly made the right move with the lower-price-and-innovation-over-power thing, as far as me and my bank account are concerned.

^Echo.

Whether or not I'll still feel that way when it's a year in and the only people using the Wii-ness are Nintendo themselves... we shall see.

Im a Wii fanboy, so my words would be pretty subjective.



Ill definitely vote for 360 after Wii though. The Live system looks pretty neat, but yeah.. I am with YoMama here. My wallet wont allow anyone right know.

Well, I don't have anything personally against the PS3 (save for the outrageous price and their all-too blatant push with the Blue Ray stuff), but I think that the Sixaxis controller was more of a knee-jerk reaction to Nintendo's console rather than a well-thought out implementation of a new idea.  Do you really think that the Sixaxis would even exist were it not for the Wii's control scheme?  I don't.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that they ripped off Nintendo.  Borrowing ideas is nothing new to the industry, and this is how we get technologies and software refined and made better.  I just have a hard time believing though that this was a function originally planned for the controller, and I don't think that this feature will be used as often as Sony's "egg commercial" might lead you to believe.  If the motion-based control stands to become a gimmick on either system, I think that it will happen on the PS3 first, because their version of this control seems more like an afterthought than anything else.

really, it doesn't matter to me if they did or did not implement motion control in reaction to nintendo.
but, keep in mind that they did patent the tech way back in 1999.

http://digg.com/gaming_news/1999:_Sony_s_patent_for_motion_control._Fanboys,_start_your_FLAMES_



for surely, as the ds severely borrowed from all tablet pocket pc's with its stylus interface.  and the wii is doing stuff that those silly radica tv plug and play motion games have done for years (tennis, star wars light sabers, baseball, golf, etc., etc. - although they did it horribly).


well, do note that every single ps3 launch game is using the motion control in some way or another.  once you get your hands on it, you'll likely think a bit differently.  it really does work nicely.  and, one of the best things about it is the fact that it doesn't have to be in-your-face at all.  it can be used as simple and subtle modifiers to classic control schemes, too.  and even cases like this can feed new types of interactions and experiences.  no need to make the whole motion capability elaborate and exaggerated at all.

anyhow, i'm not flaming in either direction.  i love every console that exists, because each is just another potential window to some sweet, sweet new games.  i just like to ground myself in a bit more realism, and do my rooting for games rather than interfaces.  great games!  great games!  great games!  keep 'em coming on every platform  :)