The Gamer's Quarter

Lestrade

I keep hearing stories—honest-to-god tales—of the Wii doing exactly what Nintendo wants it to do. My friend's girlfriend, who is as non-gamer as one can get, has been bugging him to get a Wii. "It looks like the way I remember video games," she said. "Simple and fun, without all those fucking buttons."

Just five minutes ago, a coworker of mine asked, "do you have the Wii?"

"Hell yes!" I said. "Why?"

"My mom loves that thing."

"Your... mom?" I asked.

"Yeah, she plays it all the time." Her mom is a 57-year-old Chinese woman with little to no comprehension of English. "She loves bowling and golf."

Then my coworker went on to explain that she and her family—her whole family, like on the ol' 80's box for the NES—plays Wii regularly. They play Wii Sports and Rayman Raving Rabbids. In fact, her mom enjoys it so much that my coworker is a little worried that she won't cook as much now!

Fucking classic. Does anyone have any other Wii stories like this?

dessgeega · Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 3:32 pm Post subject:

my parents bought one of their own volition. my mother is ruthless at boxing and my father is a natural at bowling. my father just went out and bought a second remote and nunchuk.
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SuperWes · Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 3:33 pm Post subject:

Here's a quote from a friend of mine:

Cycle · Mac daddy Joined: 08 Sep 2006 Posts: 2767

If Min is his/her girlfriend/wife, they need to totally kick that ass to the curb.
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Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

Yeah, she sounds retarded.

I have already mentioned my 65-year-old dad playing through Zelda. Funnily enough my Mum has only had one go on Wii Tennis and got someone to take her place for Wii Bowling. She enjoyed it though.

dessgeega · Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 4:23 pm Post subject:

also my family love the miis and every person in my family has made one. nintendo is pretty savvy.
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Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

Oh yeah. Everyone's got a Mii in my house. There's really a knack to capturing the esscence of someone in a Mii. People complain about the lack of options, but the fact that you can grow and shrink features gives you a vast amount of flexability. You can really stylize and exaggerate. I made one of my brother-in-law which has everyone crying with laughter when they see it. It's just a baked bean head with two dots for eyes and a big Wallace and Gromit mouth, and yet it looks just like him.

Playing two-player baseball and seeing that all the people on your teams are your friends and family is just amazing.

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Ohhhh do I have stories.

1) I won over a co-worker who has a 360 and said the Wii would be shit because of the graphics. After less than 5 minutes his literal comment to me was "Nintendo really did it didn't they?"

2) Another co-worker grabbed a flyer off the "wanted" board and it had a Wii for sale for $400. Initially he said he was going to buy it to re-sell for $600 on ebay or something. After a week I asked him if he got it and found out that he really-really wanted one for himself. He said the last videogame he played was Zelda OoT for the N64 and he really wants to try the sports games.

3) My wife was bombarded at work by a few women who really wanted one but were worried that "it would break their TVs" (wiimotes flying). My wife convinced them otherwise and the became really excited and went off to buy one (good luck ladies!)

4) My dentist's assistant was trying to get one "for her son" and had tried waiting in 2 different four hour lines. When she found out I had one she asked tons of questions. Turns out that she really wanted one too because she wanted to play the sports games with the whole family, then my dentist chimed up saying that she hoped to get one for the same reason.

I know I'm missing some of the smaller stories too, but yeah, I think the point is made. OH!

5) My dad called me up asking if he thought it would be a good idea to get one for my mom! Yeah. I'm giving my mom a DS for Xmas (with quite a few games) so I told him no because it would be really hard to get and we'll see if she even spends time playing games at all.
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“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

Cycle · Mac daddy Joined: 08 Sep 2006 Posts: 2767

helicopterp · . Joined: 13 May 2006 Posts: 1435 Location: Philadelphia

There isn't one at my house, but when I brought my mom over to my cousins' house for Thanksgiving, she became absolutely addicted to tennis and bowling--and she's a real, like 4-5 times a week, tennis player, too.

The other Wii phenomenon I have noticed is that it made video games cool to talk about before class started. My Chaucer and Faulkner classes in particular have each brimmed with excitement on multiple occasions whenever somebody mentions Wii. And absolutely everybody in my classes who has played it loves it. I just like that I can show a degree of (relative) expertise and interest.
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player 2 · . Joined: 10 Jul 2005 Posts: 585 Location: Madison, WI USA

My dad has 3 hour bouts of Wii Sports every couple days.

Whenever my friends come over we make Miis and play Wii Sports.

Everyone loves it.

Everyone.

Loves.

It.
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Wii #: 8749 9109 9732 3653

"It is a peaceful way of understanding life, to play"
_Marcel Duchamp

Nana Komatsu · weak sauce Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 1293

On last week's "Wait Wait... don't tell me!" one of the panelists said he thought it was incredibly fun and while normally hesitant to promote things without being paid for it he could say nothing but good things.

david · . Joined: 03 Mar 2005 Posts: 170 Location: b, md

I could tell another version of the typical Wii Thanksgiving 2006, where all generations tried and loved it. Actually my Mom really really liked Tennis, and we've played together a half dozen times since then, at her own urging. Before that she was at best agnostic towards games, but now she seems much more open-minded. For some reason she was really impressed with the way Link swims, saying "it's amazing how he knows to move differently in the water," or some such thing. I mean, it probably is amazing -- I'm just jaded enough to not notice it, but she's just starting to notice.

Hearing about all these non-gamers getting into Wii is deeply satisfying. For years I've been deathly sick of the adolescent boy's club mentality of the entire industry. It's just amazing to see the stigma evaporate and people's distrust become enthusiasm. I hope hope hope Nintendo's got some really cool mass-appeal software in the pipe for next year -- and I'm not talking about Metroid and Mario. Truly broadening the market would be the best thing to happen in this industry ... ever? I mean to have games as diverse and enjoyed as widely as movies or music ... !
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Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Mister Toups · Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 9:41 pm Post subject:

Everyone who has come over to play it has been hooked on it. My non-gamer roommates play it more than I do. The wii is a goddamned miracle. People who have had no interest in games before are getting really excited about it.

No telling if it lasts but for now it's pretty great.
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where were you when nana komatsu got a wii?

dessgeega · Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 10:33 pm Post subject:

playing the i told you so card in this thread.
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player 2 · . Joined: 10 Jul 2005 Posts: 585 Location: Madison, WI USA

dhex · Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 11:13 pm Post subject:

well, there's going to be a wii at the nyee party i'm going to later this month, and i will report back.
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david · . Joined: 03 Mar 2005 Posts: 170 Location: b, md

The mainstream love continues today with another article in the NYTimes demystifying the internal workings of the Wii remote.

Meanwhile, I'm starting to hear anecdotes of hardship from PS3 flippers who can't unload their consoles. I've even heard of PS3s spotted in stores, sitting there with no one jumping on them. ... Totally anecdotal, yes, but... if that's starting to happen, before Christmas even... what's going to happen next?

It was easy to predict, to some extent. Wii is the games console that loves everyone, and everyone loves it back. It's got a captivating gimmick that represents something new. Universally, it surprises people and makes them laugh. By contrast, PS3 is aloof, demanding on the wallet, and doesn't really represent anything new. What kind of news story can you write about PS3 that wasn't being written about PS2 six years ago? (Game graphics approaching films in sophistication, plays the new movie format, blah blah blah.)
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SuperWes · Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2006 9:40 am Post subject:

Hey guys, you should read this.

It's only up today (Dec 22nd), but it's hilarious. Be sure to click on the image of the system.

-Wes
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Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

ryan · . Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Posts: 999

I haven't been able to find one to buy. Oh, there were some at a Gamestop when I went, but I was told that they were being held until Sunday. I ended up getting sick for a while and not being able to get up early enough to find one. I've made something like thirty trips to stores to try to track one down, not trusting to call. One day.

I was at Best Buy and saw 3 PS3s (two 20s and one 60). The 60 gig version was snatched up within about 10-15 minutes, but the 2s were there when I left.

My gaming time has been divided among Gears of War, Call of Duty 3 online, and a handful of pc games that have been treating me oh so right, Medieval 2, 1701 AD, The Guild 2, etc.
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Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Ok, so the Wii went over smashingly with the family last night. A good 4 hours then dinner then 4 more hours after that. Lots of fun was had and after a lot of testing of many different games we settled on Bowling for the last hour or so. There was even an accident and we might sue Nintendo over it*!

*really was an accident where my dad clocked someone in the side of the head, though no suing will be involved, but many laughs were.
_________________
“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

Nana Komatsu · weak sauce Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 1293

Redd · Posted: Mon Dec 25, 2006 11:52 pm Post subject:

I finally feel so relaxed and, well, sorta dazed. Nintendo has finally proved that they are the better company... but now there's nothing to debate about. I guess now we get to shut up and play games. :(

But, yeah. You mention Wii once and it spreads like wild fire. "You got a Wii?" How many times have I heard that. Too many. People I don't like were talking to me. Not good.

So anyhow. I bought two of them, and I was gonna sell one to a friend, and was hugged. Random. Hug. Stop. But did I have a choice? No. It wasn't me they were hugging, it was the Wii (but in reality it was me).

Nintendo scares me in the fact that their products seem to charm you like a lonely Jigglypuff on a binge. Enough rambling.

~Redd

EDIT: 12 hours later from my original post:

Jeremy (2:54:41 PM): -_-
Jeremy (2:54:53 PM): 1.My familytook overmy wii
2.they r annoying
3. i hate them bad day -_-
Tonightless (3:00:22 PM): o-o
Tonightless (3:00:26 PM): -_-
Tonightless (3:00:39 PM): thats what the wii was designed to do
Tonightless (3:00:45 PM): to get everyone else who doesn't play games to paly it
Tonightless (3:00:49 PM): play it*
Jeremy (3:00:56 PM): yeh but -_- i wanted otplay zelda
Jeremy (3:00:57 PM): but
Jeremy (3:00:57 PM): nooo
Jeremy (3:00:59 PM): -_-
Tonightless (3:01:19 PM): lol cant they ever have some fun? XD
Tonightless (3:01:25 PM): so hungry...
-silence everafter-

Jeremy= friend
Tonightless= me

Note: These are not the exact screen names (so don't bother trying to add).

Blah.
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dmauro · . Joined: 20 Jul 2006 Posts: 303 Location: Brooklyn

I brought my Wii to may parents' place with me. My dad fell in love with Bowling. I didn't believe me when he told me he bowls a 250 IRL, until he got 220 in the game (topping mine and my friends' best scores) on his fifth try. When my brother saw that I brought it home he made some crack about "you got one of those huh? the one where you move the controller around" in a snyde voice, and even later he wouldn't admit that he was having fun with it, but he was up playing Bowling after everyone else was asleep and he got into golf and boxing as well.

A game as approchable as Wii Sports can really do a lot to tear down people's preconceptions.

edit: my dad plans on buying one specifically for golf, and my brother wouldn't believe me that the console was only $250 (although he then made some jokes about, "well it's only a gamecube anyways").

Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

Give your brother a cockpunch from me.

Lockeownzj00 · . Joined: 16 Aug 2005 Posts: 214

props on the NPR-ness. I love that show.

Uhm, yeah. I'm getting the same kind of thing. I've just been shocked by how consistently I hear totally "random" people being interested in it. I say "random" in the sense that demographics that we gamers usually ignore/would not consider are suddenly all over the place. It's nice.

They tested the waters with the DS, and the Wii was the cannonball...of fun.

or something.

dhex · Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 12:27 pm Post subject:

i played some wii bowling last night between bouts of drinking patron. it was fun as fort can attest.
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Redd · Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 3:34 pm Post subject: