Nintendo Wii

Damn you, Nintendo
I had put a fork in you.
Now I must have you.

I’ve played the Wii a few times. It’s fun, but it always felt a bit too gimmicky for me. “The graphics suck,” I moan. “Aside from Wii sports, what’s the point?” I criticize. “It’s for kids,” I say, with a casual flick of my hand, as if I can’t be bothered with such trifle hogwash.

Then, my mom got one. Yesterday, in fact. And something happened. For the first time in my life, my mom played a video game with me, and she had a BLAST. And that’s when I realized what’s so awesome about the Wii. It’s so damn approachable and easy to use. Within minutes my mom, who can barely operate a motorized vehicle or a desktop mouse, was playing Wii Bowling. And BEATING me. In fact, my wife and my mom took a great deal of pleasure in beating me in bowling (I can still take them in tennis and golf, though).

Add to it the Wii Fit (I track my weight/BMI everyday, so that is super handy) and, of course, Mario Kart, and we have the makings of a really useful tool and a very fun family night. My wife usually doens’t play video games with me. Maybe it’s the traditional controls, I don’t know. But for the most part, she sticks to Xbox Arcade games, which are pretty easy to pick up and play. Turns out, the Wii is exactly that in a cooler, more interactive nutshell.

Ahh, nothing like the taste of Crow in the morning.