Nintendo Wii Hands-on (p)Wiiview

The Nintendo Wii is arguably the most anticipated gaming console… well, ever. This is a rather odd fact considering that the Wii has so drastically bucked the trend of games console development. Instead of the traditional addition of more brute power to the gaming system, Nintendo have gone for a far more subtle approach, hoping to entice us in with promises of an enhanced gameplay experience that will be delivered through the magical power of the Wii remote.

The fact that this second remote is essential for the Wii experience raises an interesting question. Peter Moore claimed, not so many months ago, that the consumer would be able to buy the Wii and 360 for less money than a Playstation 3 – spawning the name ‘Wii60′. In actuality the PS3 will cost around £430 but the combination of a 360 premium and a Wii with two remotes will actually be close to the £530 mark. Remember, that’s without a HD DVD drive and with only a 20GB hard drive instead of the 60 GB one found in the PS3. It leads us to one final question (and our only ‘wii’ gag – aren’t we mature?) about Nintendo’s upcoming gaming console: Are Nintendo and Microsoft wiieally going to Wii all over Sony? The answer, surprisingly, is maybe not.

bit-tech