Wii Launch Review

THE CONSOLE
As everyone knows, most of the Wii games are controlled by use of the very innovative controller. The unofficially named "Wiimote" is held in your right hand ( Or left, doesn't matter ) while the "Nunchuk" is held in your left. ( Or right. ) You control what's on screen by doing movements with your hands.

Other things worth noting about the Wii is that it is completely backwards compatible with the Game Cube. On top of the Wii there are 2 memory card slots, 4 Game Cube controller slots, and the tray for the Game Cube games. Nintendo has also finally joined the Online race by offering a free online service, with the ability to purchase games via its Virtual Console, where you can download any NES, SNES, N64, Sega, etc. games available online. Also, the Wii features Wii Sports, which lets you play Baseball, Bowling, Tennis, Boxing, and Golf.

THE LAUNCH
The Nintendo Wii launched in North America on November 19th, 2006 ath the price of $249.99. In its first 8 days of release, Nintendo has already sold 600,000 consoles. ( About 200,000 more than the PS3 as of now 12-7-06 ). The games that came out during launch and shortly thereafter for the most part didn't get raving reviews, except of course The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Although the Wii didn't have many "must have" launch titles, Nintendo has already confirmed Super Smash Bros.: Brawl to be released sometime in 2007. Also, Mario Kart is also highly likely, seeing how Nintendo has released a version of it on every console and handheld ( excluding Gameboy Color ) since the Super Nintendo.

Overall, the Wii launch was a good one. Although there were shortages, ( Like there usually is during a console launch ) Nintendo had quite a few Wii's for quite a few consumers compared to the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 launches. The Wii is definitely a great console that had a nice launch compared to most companies. Nice job, Nintendo.

4/5 Launch