and this little piggy went wii, wii, wii...

I got my major birthday present yesterday. albeit 3 days after my birthday, it was worth the wait. I wasn't expecting it on my birthday because before Christmas, stores couldn't seem to keep this in stock- and still can't. But I have a friend who's an electronics manager at a local wal-mart. And when he got the shipment yesterday, he clocked out and went and purchased a Nintendo Wii. Which he gave to Rachel, who paid him back for it and it then was given to me as my birthday present.

I have been very excited about this. I can't think of any one game system I have gotten so close to it's release. But my gaming experience goes far back. I seem to remember we had an Intelevision when I was very young. When I had my heart surgery when I was 6 (1987), mom purchased a Nintendo Entertainment System for my brothers and I on our way back to PI from Portland. It was an early one. it came with ROB the Robot and the game Gyromite and Duck Hunt(for those of you who are thinking, yes, it WAS before they all came with the Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt combo cartridge). Sometime shortly thereafter, our grandmother unkowingly got one of the best games ever made for us for Christmas- the Legend of Zelda. Unlike so many times it is portrayed that grandma gets the "golf pro" game or something lame like that- she actually asked a guy in the store and he directed her to the Legend of Zelda as one of the hottest games at the time. It still stands the test of time.

For Christmas in 1993, I asked my dad for a Super Nintendo. It had been released a good time earlier, but by now, they were findable and they had just released the 3rd Zelda game- A Link to the Past. this is consequently perhaps the best Zelda game created (in regards to the story). Ryan got the Zelda game, I got the Super NES. it was a good combo as he was the best gamer in the family and i took after him as much as i could (he may have just had more time since he had 4 hip surgeries and was bed ridden for a long time- his bed was moved into the living room so he could watch tv/play games).

I remember Ryan got an N64 not too long after it was released and I liked playing it- I remember playing the Ocarina of Time in the spring of 1999 during my spring break (leading up to a huge youth conference he and I were going to with his church's youth group) and I beat the game in 5 days. It is the best game of the Zelda's with the combination of graphics, good story and excellent playability with a small learning curve. In getting my own N64 system, however, I was quite late and i only got Ryan's extra one as a Christmas gift.

I was also late with my GameCube, which i waited until fall of 2005 to buy one, as i was laid off work and also figured it to be useful in my ministry stuff. I only bought this for the Zelda game, but was rewarded with a handful of fun titles. and also rewarded because of the multiplayer fun games that my youth group eat up when i bring my system for fun nights.

Now, Rachel has gotten me the Wii. which is exactly what you do when you play it- say "Weee, Weee" because not only are you playing a game, but you are forced into it. you are forced into Boxing, tennis, bowling, baseball and golf (meh) by swining the bat or racket, rolling the ball and punching. it's excellent!!

much like the GameCube, I REALLY wanted this for the Zelda title that was released- since I had been anticipating the Twilight Princess for over a year now. And it doesn't disappoint!! But as for the system, those who laugh at the title should still be awed at how engaging it is to play! you cannot simply sit on the sofa to play it!! And for the price, it beats the other ones in it's generation- beating the already been out for months xbox360 by at least $150. And with some great launch titles.

There's a reason that my friend has 3 ps3's sitting on his shelf while he sells out of Wii's in mere minutes. Way to go Nintendo- you may not win the console war, but you will win a lot of people back with the innovative control style and the easy of use with the new controller!! as a Nintendo guy for most of my life, this one does not disappoint!!