Nintendo Wii: Kikizo's Definitive Review
Two months on, Kikizo brings together Nintendo's number one fans to deliver this comprehensive, unbiased review of Wii - and we're not shy about saying what we mean.
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Power Struggle
The idea is that Wii is affordable to every kind of gamer, but as long-time players, would we rather pay a little extra for a little more cutting edge?
"They ended up with a $250 console whose launch games looked worse than anything recently on the Xbox -- the old Xbox."
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That said, the GameCube and the Wii are capable of decent graphics in 480p on widescreen televisions -- but where are the component cables? Why Nintendo didn't issue this vital accessory to all retailers is beyond my understanding, especially considering that the flagship Wii title, Twilight Princess, runs in progressive widescreen and looks absolutely terrible without the high-def cables. People are buying HDTVs. Lots and lots of people. And do you know what happens when you play Wii games on an HDTV with the included AV cables, besides crappy graphics? Game lag. An HDTV has to do the extra work of converting the analogue signal to progressive so it can be displayed, causing a 7-14 frame delay from the time you push a button to the time the game reacts on screen. This is totally annoying for Wii games. Only recently was I able to find the sacred cables and give Zelda the treatment she deserves on my HDTV. For my $250 there should have been a little more power under the hood.
Daniella: I was satisfied with Wii's image quality. It isn't perfect, but then again the first games for a console always end up paling in comparison to the later games for it graphically, and that's true for any console. I'm not particularly interested in realistic graphics, I prefer a more stylised look to games anyway. Sure it would be nice to have a little boost in power, but I don't need it and the other consoles show it's a lot of extra cash if you want it.
"I'm not particularly interested in realistic graphics, I prefer a more stylised look to games anyway"
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Sharan: Hardware-wise, the machine is obviously just a slightly more powerful GameCube with a special controller. With GameCubes being so cheap at the moment it seems difficult to justify £180 on the hardware alone. With the Remote and Nunchuk together retailing for under £50, one wonders where the rest of the money went. While the Wii is about experience rather then next-generation graphics, it would have been nice to have something a little more cutting edge, considering the 360 is now only £20 more expensive. A CD/DVD player should be standard on any optical disc based system.
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