Wii's a winner for online play

news via philly

Sure, there are some great games like Wii Sports and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, but I'm especially impressed with Nintendo's foray into online connectivity. While Microsoft's Xbox Live service proved during the last console generation that Bill Gates and company had online gaming mastered, no one could have predicted that Nintendo would do so well with its first serious attempt to connect a console to the Internet.

While Nintendo's previous system, the GameCube, could get online via either broadband or dial-up adapter peripherals, there was practically no reason to bother. Only devotees of Sega's Phantasy Star Online role-playing game had the need to reach cyberspace. It's an entirely different story with the Wii, which is equipped with Wi-Fi connectivity right out of the box, allowing it to go online through your wireless home network. Wii owners who lack Wi-Fi support can buy a $29.99 LAN adapter to connect to a standard wired network.

Once online, Wii gamers can check out news and weather information or surf the Web using a Wii-optimized, beta version of the Opera web browser. Parents who are concerned about their children's Internet use - and who isn't these days? - should take note of parental controls built into the Wii set-up menu. These can be used to limit access to the online environment as well as block children from playing inappropriate games. Without the parental controls activated, I readily accessed social networking site MySpace as well as the Playboy Web site through my Wii - all in the name of research, mind you. Thankfully, it only takes a minute to configure the parental filtering.

The Wii Shop Channel lets gamers access old-school games, for a fee. Some of the most beloved titles from retro systems like the NES, SNES, N64, Sega Genesis and TurboGrafx are available for download, and more games are being added on a regular basis. Nintendo calls this feature the "Virtual Console." Just be aware that you'll need an additional controller to play the older games. GameCube controllers will work with some of the retro titles, but others require Nintendo's Classic Controller, which sells for $19.99 but can be hard to find. The latest addition to Wii's online menu is the Everybody Votes Channel, which allows gamers to have their say in online polls.

If there's a gripe concerning the Wii's online component, it's that, as of now, there are no actual games featuring online play. That means you can't play a Wii game against an opponent who isn't sitting next to you on the couch. The first wave of online multiplayer-enabled Wii titles should become available by summertime, so we'll have a better idea of the system's multiplayer capabilities by then. It would be great, for example, to play the new Smash Bros. title, scheduled for a late June launch, against opponents from around the world.

In the meantime, I'm amusing myself with Wii Play, an amusing game that builds on the casual, fun style of Wii Sports. Players can choose one of nine mini-games, including Fishing, Laser Hockey and Shooting Range. All are easy to learn, but challenging nonetheless. My favorite is a battle between toy tanks that shoot it out with cannons, missiles and mines, all while navigating a wooden maze. Want to play against a friend? Nintendo makes it easy by including an extra Wii remote inside the Wii Play package.

feedback via comment