So, like many of you out there, I picked up a Wii on the 19th, and I've truly been blown away. My own expectations were quite high, being the rabid fanboy I am, but Nintendo has outdone themselves once again.
But more on that later...
Thursday, we had about 30 people in our home for Thanksgiving Day Dinner, including some of my family, some of my wife's family and a few friends. The age range spanned between 2 years and 65 years. There were only 4 self-proclaimed gamers present, including my brother and two cousins, and there were more women present than men...
I set the Wii up in the main living room after a while, knowing it would draw some people to it. After all, in the few days I had owned it, my wife had already played some baseball and tennis, without being dragged into it! Both of my boys had taken to Excite Truck and Wii Sports Baseball, and my brother reported that both of our sisters and our niece had all been asking to play as well (he picked up a unit on launch day, too).
I was totally unprepared for just how big a hit the Wii was going to be, however, as we started up with Wii Sports Tennis. At first we had the usual suspects trying it out, including the core gamers and a few casual or non-gamers. But after we started bowling, everyone got involved. In a short time, my own father in law (not a gamer, pictured below) was throwing strikes and spares, and soon afterward, my wifes uncle, a self-professed ANTI-gamer, was rallying at tennis! I couldn't believe my eyes.
True, neither of these older guys is likely to go out and drop $250 on a system. But to have the entire family playing together was truly a testament to Nintendo's strategy with Wii. And, I did receive one check that day, from a couple of friends who haven't played games in over a decade, to go and purchase a Wii for them as soon as possible.
Blue Ocean!
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1 comment:
Man, I wish I'd waited for THIS post to write my last comment. I knew if anyone had the Wii, you'd be at the top of the list. Have you beat the new Zelda yet? My cousin had blasted through it after about 35 hours, he said. sheesh. Of course, even if I HAD bought the system, I couldn't have put that much time into it yet... Still, I'm excited just to have spent the afternoon playing. It's great fun, though, and our family had a similar experience--non-gamers and gamers alike joining hands. Wii really took the "video game" stigma away, at least with their sports games.
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