Up close and personal with the Wii

by Kevin Kelly { Sep 30th 2006 at 11:05PM }

IGN's Wii Fanboy-in-Chief Matt Casamassina gets fairly intimate with the Wii and does his best Vanna White during a hands-on look at the unit. The music screams "CHRISTMAS!" too loud, and beats you over the head with their "hallelujah" joke, but who's paying attention to that stuff?

While we know it's coming soon, getting under the hood and seeing things like the GameCube interface under the flap right now gets our fingers itching. What will that SD card slot be used for besides storing images and saved games? Will every GameCube title be supported? Can you use the nunchuck controller as a weapon on opponents in the same room with you?

Waiting is nearly impossible, and we still have all of October to get through. We just hope that this sucker will come in black, because it looks a bit too much like it received a teeth whitening, especially next to Mattboy.

Tags: Hands on, Nintendo, Wii

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

DJManoloco @ Sep 30th 2006 11:13PM

Fuck that where's my Black Wii?

Psaakyrn @ Sep 30th 2006 11:20PM

Oh stop whining about not having a black Wii. Is a bucket of black paint that expensive?

Anyway, I'm glad the Wii follows the KISS methology, which would both make it look compact, and help it fit into anywhere (e.g. unlike the PS3 ot 360, it would look fine next to my laptop. Not that I'll be playing it on one..). It seems that if you're using the GC controllers you'll have to play it sideways though, but I'm quite sure that shouldn't be a problem.

Agrajag @ Sep 30th 2006 11:24PM

OH GOD SEXY SLEEK

Crazylink @ Sep 30th 2006 11:27PM

Is he a Taco Bell person or something? He siad good-to-go way to many times.

DJManoloco @ Sep 30th 2006 11:34PM

Psaakyrn shut your ass up, opinions are like assholes, everybody has to have one, you asshole! What kind of stupid ass comment is "a bucket of black paint that expensive?" What are you going to paint my console? Stupid ass bitch.

Psaakyrn @ Sep 30th 2006 11:37PM

to #5 DJManoloco

By the way, "Fuck that where's my Black Wii?" is not an opinion, it's either a request, or a command, depending on your point of view.

I was just implying that Nintendo don't have to make a black Wii for you to have one, since it wouldn't be that expensive to turn a white Wii into a Black one.

nothing dude @ Sep 30th 2006 11:54PM

whats up with his hair?

nothing dude @ Sep 30th 2006 11:56PM

why is Psaakyrn so offended that DJManloco wants a Black Wii?

LordMinogue @ Sep 30th 2006 11:59PM

"and unlike some other systems it's not going to break on the day you buy it"

C'mon, thats a low shot. The Wii is going to have a product defect rate too.

EL_RIEL @ Oct 2nd 2006 5:22PM

hey admin, can we have icecream?

LOL *joke*
on topic:
The Nintendo Wii is impressive!

DG @ Oct 1st 2006 12:03AM

Ooooh....sweet Batman t-shirt with sportjacket combo.

Do any of you dress like that dork? If so, punch yourself. Please.

kyri @ Oct 1st 2006 4:58AM

Do you tihnk the wavebirds reciever will fit into the gamecube ports properly? i hope so.

nothing dude @ Oct 1st 2006 12:11AM

and DJManloco must have this Blog confused with the "i wear flames on my t-shirt still im such a duesh bag" blog.

Concerned @ Oct 1st 2006 9:32PM

Lol nintedo+defect doesn't fit well..

and whoever tries to pass off the ds lite hinge "Crack" a Defect is a moron

defects usually..i don't know.. keep you from playing perfectly

it was a cosmetic issue...

but back on topic

OMFG FUXING SM3xyz0rs

Fap fap fap

=D

toad @ Oct 1st 2006 12:13AM

ya i agree, nintendo said that the wii and wiimotes would come in 5 different colors, shown here
http://www.wiicolors.com/
id be pretty mad if 2 months later nintendo released those colors and screwed all the people who bought the thing the day it came out. i mean comon, the biggest fans are the guys (and girls!) who buy a system on launch day.
and #9, nintendo's record is pretty clean. look at the cube and 64, no problems at all on launch. the only change they ever made to the gamecube is they took out component vidoe i believe, because it was not used by the masses. and i can understand a few gliches, but a system dying on you as soon as you get it home? that blows...

Faar @ Oct 1st 2006 12:17AM

Could we have someone at IGN talking about the wii that isn't quite so LAME?

No, we don't care wether the plug into the wiimote is proprietary or not, and there's not much point in holding up the butt-end of the controller at the camera and say "as you can see", because we CAN'T see. On a streaming video, the controller socket is about four pixels in size... I mean, come on. Write a damn script and memorize it instead of simply rambling randomly, repeating "good to go" like some freakin' parrot.

I had to turn him off. Sheesh. George Dubya almost seems like a sharp, natural speaker in comparison...

nothing dude @ Oct 1st 2006 12:14AM

I have to agree that the nintendo Wii probably won't break like other systems. If theres one thing that most people could agree on is that nintendo products have a way lower tendency to break than other videogame products/systems. I bought my gamecube 5 years ago and it looks old and beat, but it still works like a champ.

taliesin-nine @ Oct 1st 2006 12:20AM

A black wii might look better, but it would also be a hell of a lot bigger :-/

Jonn @ Mar 29th 2007 12:09PM

I'm not paying $250 bucks for this thing unless it comes with Heavenly Light and Angelic Chorus features. It's just not "next-gen" without them.

fawazr @ Oct 1st 2006 12:37AM

"15. A black wii might look better, but it would also be a hell of a lot bigger :-/"

Lafff!--Took a second read, but that was hillarious!

The Wii only came out in one color to ensure supply for the 2006 holiday season. New Colors should pop up within the next few months. They wanted to simplify the worldwide launch by having just one SKU to worry about.

Mindstormy @ Oct 1st 2006 12:39AM

fuck black

where is my green wii????????

Peter Davis @ Oct 1st 2006 12:41AM

people are bagging out matt something chronic. you cant make your jealousy of his handling of a wii more apparent, and petty.

Tammy @ Oct 1st 2006 12:42AM

You know..the worst thing I've ever experienced with a Nintendo system was the DS Lite hinge crack. And it really didn't bother me, as I was too wraped up playing Phoenix Wright that week. I'm not trying to sound a Ninty fanboy, but after all my 360 problems, I'm really hoping the Wii stays true to Nintendo's good record.

metayoshi @ Oct 1st 2006 12:47AM

I'm probably the only one who respects Matt here. If anyone, I trust his reviews more than anyone else's in the internet.

In any case... It's funny cause i just finished watching that episode of IGN Weekly, and while I was watching, of course a little jealousy boiled up in me.

Man... I want the Wii so much.

GL @ Oct 1st 2006 12:51AM

After watching that video I am definitely good-to-go as far as my convictions of picking up a Wii, if supplies permit, over the holiday season.

Yes, that and a chalupa.

(ackowledgement to Crazylink for noticing the same, annoying thing)

I think I am now good-to-go-to-sleep.

Betruger @ Oct 1st 2006 12:51AM

I've always thought Matt was a tool since his name was first worth mentioning..
But yeah, I'm pretty jealous watching this video. :( Lucky bastard.

the_game_master @ Oct 1st 2006 12:55AM

For $250 Nintendo should have included a DVD HD upconvert playability.

Having no DVD-video support for a $250 DVD-ROM console is a joke

Betruger @ Oct 1st 2006 1:05AM

I hear this one plays games, too.

nothing dude @ Oct 1st 2006 1:10AM

I also trust Matt's reveiws more than anyone else's. He maybe the only decent writer, not like those bias "nintendo murdered my parents" writers at 1up.com

Junebuggy @ Oct 1st 2006 1:17AM

Anyone asking for a different colored Wii on launch should go stick a rusty shovel up their pretentious asses. I bet there were as many people that were DS owners pissed when the DS Lite came out.

Asking for a different colored Wii on launch makes you sound like a spoiled brat who doesnt care about the weight of his requests. Like living in wisconsin and demanding to ride a camel to school.

If you want a black Wii so bad, dont bother those that want one on launch. You're in the fucking way.

Jason @ Oct 1st 2006 1:24AM

@24

What? Do you buy a system to have a DVD player? Get a grip man, most of the natural world has a DVD player at this point, and if you don't, you can always go to Big Lots and pony a whole $50 for one. GASP AND AMAZE!

I feel the pangs of envy right now. Lucky stiff gets to fondle a Wii, and I just have to stare at my cube and PS2 and wait until November.

And now, a joke
"This look at the Nintendo Wii has been brought to you by Taco Bell."

zazzawazza @ Oct 1st 2006 1:33AM

I'm not quite sure about this.... I mean, I'm worrying about when I get my Wii, black or white whichever... the question that's truly on my mind is... when I get my greay paws on this machine...... Will I be good to go?

Or did he say that already? I'm not quite sure.

wii the people @ Oct 1st 2006 1:32AM

I second everything that nothing dude said...with a vengeance!

matt @ Oct 1st 2006 1:53AM

"Not going to break on launch day, unlike some other consoles..." Harsh. I love my 360 and to take digs like that in a hardware intro video? Ouch. Oh well, i probably would have been laughing my azz off if he made from of the PS3 so I gotta keep things in perspective.

I'll be getting one eventually IF they can keep to their promise of nintendo's entire library for download. Then I can finally get rid of my NES.

Iscariote @ Oct 1st 2006 1:57AM

"For $250 Nintendo should have included a DVD HD upconvert playability. Having no DVD-video support for a $250 DVD-ROM console is a joke."

How many DVD players do I need? I have like six devices hooked up to my television currently that play DVDs.

I wish my 360 didn't play DVDs, because then my girlfriend would watch DVDs on the stupid dvd player instead of my 360.

FSK405K @ Oct 1st 2006 2:03AM

I love the GCN video of it being dragged behind a car, getting plugged in, and WORKING. Okay, who's first to try with their Wii?

fanan89 @ Oct 1st 2006 2:07AM

The Wii looks great, but ,in my opinion, only on the stand.
It gave me an awkward feeling while "naked", especially while it lays down. It looks like a big external drive, only less good looking. I think that sense will dissapear when the Wii will be out in other colors, I guess I just don't like the white version.

Knoxximus @ Oct 1st 2006 2:16AM

Nintendo systems are the ONLY hardware I buy at launch. Everything, I wait for the defect to pop up. Nintendo has never let me down in that department, so I'll be there on launch day with a fist fulla dollars.

Sploog @ Oct 1st 2006 2:17AM

good to go!

samfish @ Oct 1st 2006 2:27AM

I have like a thousand comic-related t-shirts.

...but I don't have that one. What an awesome shirt.
I needs it now.

Oh, and yeah- the Wii looks cool, too.

Foetoid @ Oct 1st 2006 2:30AM

@35

We have this magazine here in australia called Hyper. When they first got the original GBA they put it through the toilet test. People had mentioned accidental flushings of gamboy colours that came back working. So they flushed the only office GBA they had for reviews...2 days of drying and it worked fine. Nintendo products are invincible, i saw a funny vid when someone dragged a black gamecube behind a car for a few miles, bouncing along the road in the dirt, it was crazy, and it came back working (albeit all banged up). I'll be thier on launch day too with my totally paid-off preorder slip, and i know i wont get a machine that'll break within the first 5 years.

Uchendu Nwachukwu @ Oct 1st 2006 3:22AM

Yeah, so the Wii looks cool. Hopefully I get to play one this Tuesday at the Nintendo World Store event. About the only things I don't like about it are that it "sounds" cheap and nasty (things like the hinged doors not being spring-loaded and snapping into place like that sound really cheap) and it kinda looks crap when it's out of the stand. Also, the GameCube access flap, when open, looks horrible.

They should have tried harder to achieve that "Mac Mini" look.

But no matter, the proof is in the playing, and I hope to play it this tuesday.

scott @ Oct 1st 2006 2:55AM

@ samfish

check walmart, it's there, trust me...

nothing dude @ Oct 1st 2006 3:41AM

Hey, that looks thicker than 3 dvd cases stacked on top of eachother.
Wasnt that Nintendo's whole campaign?

"The Nintendo Wii... 3 DVD Cases Stacked on Top of Eachother!"

Burnt Meatloaf @ Oct 1st 2006 3:54AM

Why does everyone bitch that the Wii doesn't need DVD capabilites? We don't need game machines, either.

You don't need this... you don't need that. Bah! For the price, and what's inside it, I expect it. Maybe the reason the Wii is so small is so you have enough room for all your other electronics, 5 different controllers, and cable splitters.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled "for $250 we don't need S-Video or Ethernet ports, so we'll gladly pay $400 in the end" fanboy rants.

ill trooper @ Oct 1st 2006 4:07AM

Stop defending the Wii for not playing DVDs. Everything is in that box to do it, so why not? We all own DVD players, but I'm liking the idea of minimizing equipment around my TV as well as using less inputs.

Anyway, no need to repsond to me on this, I already know you don't think DVD playback is necessary, just putting my opinion on it out there... again.

Very cool how the flap falls down to give you the GameCube controller ports, but it also reveals that Nintendo isn't really fully giving us a new next-gen commitment, hardware-wise. When you commit about 1/6th of the total space within the console's mass to your last-gen machine, it tells us you're not totally letting go. I do appreciate it being there however.

I'm not really bothered by the guy either, although the outfit really needed a hoodie under that jacket. I'm kidding. But really, people on this site get bothered by press people who also express themselves with hair or clothing apparently different from you at home, the ones acting rabid over video game consoles. So check your head, fellas - rule number one in social interaction: stop hating like muthafu&&ers.

David @ Oct 1st 2006 4:37AM

Can't freaking wait to get mine! Pre-ordered with Zelda, Metroid and Component Cables, also picking up a few SD cards :D

Foppe @ Oct 1st 2006 4:36AM

"But really, people on this site get bothered by press people who also express themselves with hair or clothing apparently different from you at home, the ones acting rabid over video game consoles. So check your head, fellas - rule number one in social interaction: stop hating like muthafu&&ers."

Excuse us for not being like you, a person that can´t even spell your last word.