The UK’s First Long Wii Play Session – it seems like yesterday
Everyone else has played a Wii for around ten minutes in the UK, if at all. A handful of lucky journalists have got ten mins per title. Today, we can tell you what it’s like after more than two hours of raw playing time, and that’s what gamers everywhere need to know.
Hailed as the largest innovation in gaming history by some and as the biggest gimmick ever to strike the realm of console gaming by others, the Nintendo Wii is sure to top many gamers Christmas lists. The sexy, minimalist white box with its soft, blue glow around the disc port deserves a spot on any lounge TV unit, surely?
What we’ve been lacking up until now though has been lengthy play times on the Wii itself. Ten minutes at E3 2006 just doesn’t cut it. Will you get tired too quickly? Do you have to stand around or is it feasible to sit? Is waving the remote a fine art or is it just like waving a stick in a goldfish bowl and hoping to strike lucky? Finally Entertainmentwise’s Kim Kaze is able to answer these and other pressing, REAL questions; after an extended, lengthy play test of four Wii launch titles at the UK offices of Nintendo themselves. No interruptions, no queue, no noise and advice from one of the QA Team to assist with game play questions. Also, this time there were controllers without wires of any kind. Who could ask for more?
We also got to hold a Wii unit in our hands and gain real perspective of how it’s going to feel to handle the unit itself and the literal size as it will be when we slot it into our lounge TV units at home.
First of all, it’s important to remind you that the Wii is selling on two very important and unique points:
1) It’s for everyone; the hardcore gaming nut through to grannies, girls and irregular gamers.
2) The remote which acts as the primary control device is utterly wireless and more than just a tilt sensor; every movement of the remote is detected in any fashion and relates to game play.
No other console either out now or set to launch this side of 2010 offers this. Coming close, Nintendo’s DS handheld has been used as inspiration for many of the Wii features relating to the casual gamer, but that’s where the similarities end.
Some gamers have shown concern that the activity level required to play Wii games, especially the sporty titles, may be too high. There are concerns that you have to stand for long periods of time and use body actions such as swinging your arm above your head or at the side of your body. After playing non stop for two hours, did this happen to me?
No. I’m not exactly Wonder woman in terms of fitness and I can assure you, as a regular player there was enough action to warrant perhaps making sure one has access to a tap before playing (you’re going to want a drink if you play for as long as we did!) and possibly ensuring plenty of moving around space in your living room. The key to the Wii control is that even the most active title on the launch line up, Wii Sports, doesn’t require you to make large body motions unless you want to. You can play it moving very little if you want, and some of the games can be played sitting down. I wouldn’t recommend trying golf sitting down, as this is a little tricky.
To test this, in terms of fitness we took along two regular gamers with average to low fitness and one gamer with ME/CFS. He was able to play for the two hour slot with only a fractional tiredness issue and was if anything, making the largest motions with the remote controller out of all three of us and owned at Wii tennis! If you have health related concerns that you or your friends and family suffer from a tiredness health problem, it’s not going to bar you from enjoying the Nintendo Wii. We’ve tested it now and after two hours, it’s safe to say that it’s possible to play on the Wii launch line up for two hours and not be dripping with sweat afterwards. Just remember that large body motions are not a requirement – they’re what players do to have fun with the game. Playing with smaller movements or sitting down is largely possible, doable and healthy.
Tip: Besides we there are still loads of games to be played on the PC via steam, and for many of these you can get pretty decent prices via great websites like g2a.com. Here you can find many very similar sites just like, so that you have more than enough choice! Nonetheless, we prefer the Wii, but playing a PC game once in a whole also does not hurt anyone.
The biggest shock we got on arrival was that not only is the Wii remote controller a truly remarkable tool, but the nunchuck controller also has a sensor inside, enabling it to be used in exactly the same way! When introduced to Wii Boxing, all a player has to do is hold a nunchuck in one hand and the Wii remote in the other and then move exactly as you would a boxer – lean back or side to side, blocking, jabbing, upper cutting etc. The Wii detects the movement of the nunchuck exactly the same way as it does your main remote. There’s no need to press buttons in this game, you simply move. This is truly an awesome innovation in gaming and not an experience you’d expect outside of the arcades. The QA guy on hand to talk us through the launch line up also informed us that there may be plans to invent shin remotes of some form to enable kicking in games in the future. As far as I am aware, this would definitely be a first in home entertainment, if not any entertainment!
