[crouton] Nathaniel Trost: You Knew I Was Going To Get One

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Posted by Nathaniel Trost:
You Knew I Was Going To Get One
http://crouton.powerblogs.com/archives/archive_2006_11_26-2006_12_02.shtml#1164824420


   Iâm slowly feeling the programming discipline come back. It has
   actually taken me a while to get back into the groove, it feels like
   the mental equivalent of starting to run again after a long layoff. It
   does feel good, but I suspect I do prefer to do technical planning and
   management versus actually writing code. Thatâs right, Iâm one of
   them.
   And I bought a Wii. My restraint was being generally eroded and my
   desire to play with my siblings when they visit for the holidays was
   too great. I woke up early with a splitting headache on Sunday morning
   and the knowledge that I wasnât going to be able to get any productive
   work done for several hours, and that Best Buy would be selling Wiis
   at store opening. No, the Wii did not cure my headache, but it did
   make me giggle like a madman when I started playing with it.
   Iâm sure the novelty will fade a bit, but it was a strangely pleasing
   experience to configure the Wii when I first turned it on. Using the
   controller to point at the on-screen keyboard/number-pad to name the
   box, set up the network settings, etc. was a definite ânew toyâ
   endorphin buzz. The user interface just feels right.
   I bought Zelda and Rayman. I have not yet tried Zelda, I want to be
   able to give it a decent block of time which I donât have at the
   moment. Wii Sports is a beautiful pack-in. Even though itâs simple,
   Iâve probably played Wii Golf the most, doing the three-hole course
   only takes a couple minutes and itâs proved to be a nice little brain
   break. After messing with Wii Golf, Iâd definitely be interested in a
   more sophisticated golf title for the Wii, and Iâm not a golf
   aficionado by any stretch of the imagination. Bowling is well done,
   but didnât grab me, but then I recently spent time working on a
   bowling title. Tennis is just fun to do, itâs so simple but the fun is
   as much making the physical motions as playing the game. I canât wait
   to play it multiplayer. Boxing and Baseball remain unplayed.
   Rayman deserves a more detailed write-up at some later point. In
   short, Iâve only played it for a couple hours, clearing a couple of
   the stages, but I love it. The style, graphic and audio design, the
   mini-game concepts, the controller use, itâs brilliant.
   For me, it has already been worth buying the Wii just for the fact
   that I couldnât help but have a big goofy grin on my face while
   playing with it. Iâm giggling to myself and feeling like a kid, versus
   a grizzled jaded old geek who has spent more than a decade working in
   the game industry salt mines. Bravo, Nintendo.