By Richard Southam

As of November 19th, 2006, the “next-generation” console wars have officially been renamed to the “current-generation” console wars. November 19th marked the release of the Wii, Nintendo’s newest console. This came only two days after Sony launched its PlayStation 3 on the 17th. The Wii’s release has gamers the world over excited about gaming.

Nintendo is back for another round of the console wars with its Wii (pronounced “we”). After failing to meet expectations with the GameCube, Nintendo has changed its focus and is taking console gaming into a brand new direction. With the Wii, Nintendo aims to attract not only the hardcore gamers, but non-gamers as well. It may sound crazy, but if the recent overwhelming success of its handheld system the DS Lite is any indication, Nintendo may be on to something.

What makes the Wii so special? It isn’t its amazing graphics. In fact, its graphics are only minimally superior to that of the original XBOX. What truly has people captivated is the way the games are played. Nintendo has introduced a brand new way of playing games. Gone are the days of button mashing on a joystick or gaming pad. With the Wii, you simply move the wand-like controller. Your actions are represented in real time on your television. The controller does have buttons on it, but there are far less of them compared to the XBOX360 and PlayStation3 controllers. Although only the basic games can be played with this remote, the more complex games require you to use a special remote attachment. The “nun-chuk” is an attachment that you plug in to the base of the regular remote. It contains an analog stick, as well as two trigger buttons. The nun-chuk’s many uses include moving your character, shooting guns, interacting with various objects.

There is another way that the Nintendo Wii is differentiating itself from the other two consoles. It comes with something called the “Virtual Console”. In a nutshell, the Virtual Console let’s you download games from older gaming systems. Although not every game is available for purchase at this point, Nintendo plans on releasing new titles to its Virtual Console every week. Games from the following consoles will be available: the NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, Sega Genesis, and more. These games are purchased with points. These points can be bought thru the Wii console itself, or at retailers nationwide. Prices range from $5 for NES games to $10 for Nintendo 64 games. A special remote may be purchased to play the games of the Virtual Console. However, the games can also be played with a GameCube controller.

Currently, the Nintendo Wii retails for $249.99. Included in the box are: the Wii game console, all the necessary wires and adapters, Wii Sports (a game featuring 5 different sports), and two variants of the controller; the regular remote, as well as the nun-chuk remote attachment. Additional remotes are $39.99 and the nun-chuks are sold separately for $19.99. The “Classic” controller used to play Virtual Console games are also sold for $19.99 each.

If early sales and buzz are any indication, the Wii is, and will continue to be, a smashing hit. Nintendo is not only pleasing its hardcore fans, but catering to the casual and non-gamers as well. This is in stark opposition to Sony and Microsoft, who are mostly going after the hardcore gamers.