Are Wii Ready To Play...Part II

...So anyway, I'm not quite sure how it happened. Either I saved a whole bunch of money this year buying my gifts at the flea market and yard sales or returned all of the clothing that I had supposedly grown back into and was no where close to fitting me yet (Sorry, Mom and Sister) that I am now the proud owner of my very own Wii gaming system. Of course, I couldn't figure out how to set it up; I had to call Friend over to do that. I was somewhat helpful; I did get to clean under the television stand and hold the flashlight. The first thing I noticed about the controller was that there was only two or three buttons that had to be mashed. And most games that I have played so far you just have to swing your arm in the direction you want the ball/object to go. Talk about easy. Talk about realistic. I'm so hooked on the bowling game that I threw my back out and had to spend two days on the heating pad with my feet propped up. Personally, I think the damn thing is too realistic. Do you know why? I'm left-handed and I have a hook on my ball that even Earl Weaver would be proud of. So much so that when I do venture out to a bowling alley I bowl right-handed. One can only stand so many gutter balls. Would you believe the Wii copies my hook? Exactly. The ball starts on the left side of the lane and by the time it reaches the pins has crossed to the right side and rolls into the gutter. Time. After time. After time. I guess once my back gets better, I'll switch to something else. Maybe something that won't result in bodily injury or bedrest. Golf, anyone?

Are Wii Ready To Play...Part I

I've always liked arcade games. At least I used to until they put so many different buttons and knobs that you have to push simultaneously, or singularly, or randomly, or intermittently or whatever while constantly pumping quarters or tokens into the slot. Back in the day, or the mid 80s, games like Galaga, Centipede, Pacman, Qubert, Space Invaders, and my favorite, Tempest, had basically one or two movements: A left-right (controller) motion with one hand and an up-down (trigger)with the other. Quite simple, yes, but I bet there are a lot of folks out there that can remember how sore their wrists became and developed a callus or two from spending hours playing those crazy games. My neighbors, the Alexander's, had an Atari system and we spent many sleepless nights during sleepovers playing Pitfall, Frogger and Asteroids. I loved spending the night there. As I've blossomed into middle age I have tried to keep up with the gaming industry. (Without much luck) I have a Nintendo 64 gathering dust in a closet somewhere. I have the newer Atari gaming system that came out a few years ago stuck underneath the guest room bed. I just had to have the Xbox when it came out a few years ago and I don't even know where it is at the moment. To me, there was just too many buttons to push, and even though the vibrating controller was exciting, I was so unskilled at the games and I got tired of playing at the same level, that I chucked it somewhere. Lately, all of the attention seems to be about the Wii. The what? I know, when I first heard about it, I was like what's a Wii? And the first commercials didn't help either. Two Asian men showing up in folks' living rooms with outer space looking gadgets. What are we? The Jetsons? Ruttro!...