Beginner’s guide to the Wii:
Price and packaging:
The current price of the bundles has dropped to $149.99. They have stopped production on the Wii Sports/Wii Sports Resort Bundle and the Mario Kart Bundle. The only one that is being made now is the Gamecube free version of the wii that comes packed with NSMB.
Those that currently own a Wii should know that if you do decide to try and trade in/sell your old Wii for the new one that you WILL NOT be able to have access to any games you have currently downloaded onto your system. Just make sure to give you a heads up…if you do it and then complain about it later then it’s your own damn fault.
There is a bundle celebrating Super Mario Bros. 25th anniversary. Comes with Red Wii, Red Wii RemotePlus, Wii Sports and NSMB Wii. It will be out Nov. 7th. They have stopped production on it so if you happen to find one then more power to you.
Wii capabilities:
The Wii is weakest system out of the 3 current gen systems out on the market currently in terms of graphics and other areas. I don’t know the exact specs on the system but I’m sure it’s slightly above the power of the original Xbox. There’s always been jokes within the industry that this system under the hood is ‘2 gamecubes strapped together’…not sure how true that is. That being said if you’re a complete graphics whore in every sense of the word then you and the Wii are not going to see eye to eye.
What this system does have that the other consoles don’t (for the time being anyway) are motion controls. In the past a lot of games for this system have been waggle fests with loads of 3rd parties dumping shovelware on this system for a quick buck. More recently it seems more 3rd parties are trying to take the system a bit more seriously and Wii motion plus is actually helping. There are really good games for this system but they’re just completely buried under a bunch of bullshit that gets released every week.
Resolution is also not really one of Wii’s strong suits either. The wii can only go up to 480p and 480i. It’s not much but it is slightly better and sharper and I’ve heard that on certain TV’s that things will look downright ugly while others look way better. I’m not entirely sure of which tv’s you generally want to avoid but if we find out later I’ll make sure to post it up.
The Wii is also completely backwards compatible with Gamecube games…Period. In order play gamecube games though you will need a gamecube controller and a gamecube memory card however. No…you can not use the classic contoller.
In terms of space the Wii currently only has 516mb of internal flash memory on its own, but since system update 4.0 you now have access to use SDHC cards of up to 32 gigs. 4.0 system update also allows you to move channels, Wiiware and VC titles onto the SD card and work directly off of it. To access and use your software off the card, click the blue card icon in the lower left side of the wii menu.
Accessories and cables:
Nintendo has their own component cables which are selling at 29.99.
There are some VGA cables that are apparently pretty good.
**Personally I just got the Wii Energizer Induction Charger and I easily recommend this over most if not all of the chargers that our out there. You don’t have to take off the Wii Jacket or the Wii MotionPlus for it and it has a failsafe to not overcharge your batteries. Plus the thing is just pretty damn cool with the technology and how it charges with the magnetism. **
Wheels, lightsabers, tennis raquets, bats etc. are NOT necessary to play any of the games on the Wii. The only 3 things I myself would say are ok to buy would be Nintendo’s Wheel that comes with Mario Kart, the Nyko perfect shot, and maybe Nintendo’s own zapper. I actually find Nintendo’s wheel to be comfortable and Nyko’s perfect shot is supposedly better than Nintendo’s zapper. Gun shells for the wii mote should only really be used for rail shooters. Please DO NOT try playing something like Metroid Prime Trilogy with it. (you laugh…but you don’t work at Gamestop).
If you have need of a slightly more stable connection through wired then buy this:
Wii Lan Adapter
Games:
Like I mentioned before…There’s a ton of shovelware on this system but the games that are good are in fact quite good. If it’s one thing that could be said about the Wii is that the really good exclusives for this system 1st or 3rd party don’t seem to be in any danger of being shared with any of the other systems for now anyway. For first time Wii owner’s here’s a current top 10 list that I’ll update and change to keep with current trends (OP’s note: This list isn’t actually in any order and is just seen as ‘the top 10’ collectively).
- Super Mario Galaxy
- No More Heroes 2
- Twilight Princess ( Wii or GC version…seems so far that there’s a lean to the GC though)
4.* Smash Brawl or Tatsunoko vs. Capcom - Mario Kart Wii
- Metroid Prime Trilogy
- Super Mario Galaxy 2
- Muramasa: The Demon Blade
- Punch-Out!!
- Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
*= If you hate smash with only the greatest passion that SRK can muster than it can probably be replaced with HOTD: Overkill, Little King’s Story, Boom Blox or it’s sequal [, Tiger Woods 10 (with Wii Motion Plus) or if you can find the game…Zack & Wiki. That game could always use more love or better yet just buy Tatsunoko vs. Capcom
If you want to find a place where most friend codes are kept then you may want to check out this thread.
Wii Friend Code thread:
Wii Friend Code Thread 2.0
Recent Things that Wii owners should be in the know about:
Wii Remote Plus
All of the new systems come with this…If you’re buying a system new then this Wii Remote should already be packed in with it. Otherwise if you’re planning to play a game like Red Steel 2 or Skyward Sword you will require a Wii MotionPlus to add on to the bottom of your Wiimote. I’d almost just suggest buying the Wii RemotePlus outright for simplicity…or better yet another suggestion to be to buy the Skyward Sword bundle at $69.99 and save yourself 20 bucks on the controller.
List of Solid to Must-Have exclusive titles:
Side Note on how games get put on this list: Games are chosen and put on this list through few different angles. Reviews (reviews from sites that ‘matter’ carry more weight), myself, and other people’s feedback. I try to stay as unbiased as possible on any and try to think about things on every angle. If nobody gives impressions on a game and I haven’t played it then if the general reviews of a game are around 8.0ish area or higher then I’ll put it on the list. Often if a game is in the slightly below the 8.0ish area I’ll actually take a look at the more trusting reviews. Also of note is a player’s impressions can often tip a game over to make the list as well…1 game that’s a good example of this is The Conduit which as of the moment of me writing this has a 69 on metacritic. This list can be changed to have games added or subtracted barring there’s a legitimate reason/argument/debate.
Updated 1/08/12
A Boy and His Blob
Animal Crossing: City Folk (Only recommended if you haven’t played the animal crossing series before)
Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy
Boom Blox
Boom Blox Bash Party
Castle of Shikigami III (if you dig shoot em ups like ikaruga)
The Conduit
Dawn of Discovery
De Blob
Dead Space Extraction
Deadly Creatures
Elebits (a bit dated now but was pretty good back then)
Excite Truck (dated…get Excitebots)
Excitebots: Trick Racing
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins
GoldenEye 007
Grand Slam Tennis (play it with Wii Motion plus)
House of the Dead: Overkill
Ivy the Kiwi?
Kirby’s Epic Yarn
Kirby’s Return to Dreamland
Klonoa
Little King’s Story
LOZ: Skyward Sword
LOZ: Twilight Princess
Let’s Tap
Metroid Prime Trilogy ( 1, 2, and 3 all on one disc…unless you just want to play 3 and nothing else I’d reccommend this)
MadWorld
Mario Kart Wii
Mario Strikers Charged
Mercury Meltdown Revolution
Metroid: Other M
Monster Hunter 3
Muramasa: The Demon Blade
Naruto Clash of Ninja revolution (get Rev 3)
Naruto Clash of Ninja revolution 2 (get Rev 3)
Naruto Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution 3
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
No More Heroes
NMH2: Desperate Struggle
Punch-Out!!
Rayman Raving Rabbids 2
Red Steel 2
Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles
Rune Factory: Frontier
Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip (works well with Wii Fit Board)
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Skate It (Works well with Wii Fit Board)
SSX Blur
Sin & Punishment 2
Sonic Colors
Super Mario All-Stars Limited Edition
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Paper Mario
Tatsunoku vs. Capcom
Trauma Center: Second Opinion
Trauma Center: New Blood
Trauma Team
Wario Land: Shake It!
Wario Ware: Smooth Moves
Wii Fit Plus (if you already have Wii Fit then Plus is just 19.99 for the game itself plus all your workout stuff gets transfered over to the new game)
Wii Sports Resort
Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros Treasure
List of games to keep an eye on: (also note that the exact dates are probably the shipping date unless otherwise stated) SD=Street Dated
Rhythm Heaven Fever (Feb 14)
Mario Party 9 (Mar 11) SD
Xenoblade Chronicles (April 3)
everything on this list is this year unless stated otherwise.
Decent/Awesome Wii Ware:
And Yet It Moves
Art Style: Cubello
Art Style: Rotohex
Art Style: Rotozoa
Art Style: Orbient
Bit.Trip Beat
Bit.Trip Core
Bit.Trip Fate
Bit.Trip Void
Bit.Trip Runner
Bonsai Barber
Bomberman Blast
Cave Story
Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth
Contra: Rebirth
Defend Your Castle
Dr. Mario Online RX
Excitebike: World Rally
Final Fantasy IV: After Years (Side note: if you want to play the full game…be prepared to shell out 32 bucks)
Fluidity
Jett Rocket
Lost Winds
Lost Winds: Winter of the Melodias
Maboshi’s Arcade
Mega Man 9
Mega Man 10
MotoHeroz
Muscle March
NEVES Plus
Nyx Quest: Kindred Spirts (formerly Icarian: Kindred Spirits)
Rage of the Gladiator
Sonic 4: Episode 1 (OP note: it has physics problems and it’s $15…but it’s still a fun game.)
Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People (all the episodes)
Swords and Soldiers
Tetris Party
Toki Tori
Tomena Sanner
Wario Ware D.I.Y. Showcase
World of Goo
You, Me, and the Cubes
Upcoming Potentially good Wii Ware:
La Mulana
Night Game
Project Q
Retro City Rampage
River City Ransom 2
Roll Around
Good Multiplatform games: ( Note: If you have a 360/ps3 and there is a title on this list that is currently on one of those…chances are it’s probably better on that system unless otherwise stated.)
Band Hero (same exclusive features as Guitar Hero 5 but it’s more top 10 pop)
Bully: Scholarship edition
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex (it’s good for the Wii but if you have COD4 on 360/ps3 you probably don’t want to play this unless you like wii controls better)
Call of Duty: World at War (has pretty good controls and has online)
de Blob: The Underground
Dokapon Kingdom (Mario Party + RPG)
DJ Hero
DJ Hero 2
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3
Geometry Wars: Galaxies
Ghostbusters
Guilty Gear XX Accent Core (use a classic controller or hori stick)
Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus ( use a classic controller or hori stick)
Guitar Hero III
Guitar Hero 5 (has some exclusive features it’s 360/ps3 counterparts do not…like Roadie battle)
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
Guitar Hero: Metallica
Guitar Hero: World Tour
Lego Indiana Jones
Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4
Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7
Lego Star Wars: the Complete Saga
Madden NFL ( All of them…just go with the latest one)
Medal of Honor Heroes 2 (really good fps controls compared to MP3)
Mini Ninjas
NBA Jam (Wii version does not have online, The 360/PS3 versions will)
NHL 2k10 (This game sucks ass on the other systems and is actually good on this one…however NHL 10 is better on 360/PS3)
Okami (Arguably the Paintbrush works pretty well with the wii mote)
Pinball Hall of Fame - The Williams Collection
Phantom Brave: We Meet Again
Pinball Hall of Fame: Gottlieb Collection (if you already have this on a any of the last gen consoles than realize that there isn’t much of a difference if at all)
Pro Evolution Soccer 2008
Pro Evolution Soccer 2009
Pro Evolution Soccer 2010
Rayman Raving Rabbids (better on this system)
Rayman Origins
Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition (Arguably the best version now with the ‘HD make’ for PS3)
Rock Band
Rock Band 2
Rock Band 3
Rock Band: Beatles
Rock Band: Green Day
Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny
Samurai Showdown Anthology (classic controller or arcade stick)
Scarface: The World is Yours
Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes (if you enjoy Dynasty Warriors type games you’ll probably enjoy this)
Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing (If you have a 360 then I’d reccommend picking up that version…)
Tenchu: Shadow Assassins
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 ( wait for Tiger Woods 10 and better on this system)
Tiger Woods PGA 2010 With motion Plus (best version of this game across the platforms)
Tiger Woods PGA 2011 (Probably still the best version until probably Sony’s Move controller is out)
Tiger Woods PGA 2012 (same)
TMNT: Smash UP ( If you’re a TMNT fan you may dig it…however if you like this type of game Brawl is probably a better experience)
Tornado Outbreak (Katamari like)
WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009
WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010
Potentially Good Multiplatform games that are coming:
The Grinder (2012?) (The Wii version will be an FPS and not a top down shooter like it’s 360/PS3 brethren. This game went silent over the last few months.)
Most multiplatform games that will come out on the Wii seem to be forgotten about save for a few. Assume that the Wii version is ass until proven otherwise.
Games In Limbo/ no date/ hush hush:
The Last Story
Pandora’s Tower
Disaster: Day of Crisis (seriously Nintendo? you STILL haven’t said shit about whether this game is going to ever come over here or not)
Tales of Graces
Pikmin 3 (moved to Wii U)
Possible game by Rockstar?
Zangeki No Reginleiv
Winter (cancelled for now)
Bleach: Versus Crusade
Dragon Quest X
If there’s anything that I’m forgetting on these let me know and I’ll add it.
I’ll re post some recent things from the older thread to keep people up to date.