Mii, Wii & You?
The picture below is of this website on my new Nintendo Wii. It’s got Opera installed and works really well. I was impressed to see it play an embedded YouTube video right there on my TV. So now I can pause from playing a game to watch videos on the web. Very interesting…
What also has my attention is this whole concept of a Mii that Nintendo has. Think of it as another avatar of your self. Everyone in my family has one except for the pets which the kids were not all that happy about.
When I play certain games it keeps stats with my Mii. I can even embed a Mii into a controller, take that over to a friends house and now my Mii is playing games on their system. Wouldn’t it be cool if I could bring my games that I’ve downloaded (Super Mario Brothers last night for that retro feel on the HD TV *laugh*), web favorites and other goodies along as well?
There is a social area called the Mii Parade. I still don’t know what it does, but I’ve told the network that others can come and visit. Again, I’m not sure what that is about and how it will work, but the concept that my Wii is attached to the net 24/7 through my wireless network excites me. Will I wake up one morning to see new features, goodies or other things waiting for me? Will I wake up some day to an ad that I didn’t want? Since the Wii knows what games I play (It keeps a daily log for you) will Nintendo harvest that data and let me know when similar games that I might like will be coming out and provide me a demo right there instead of sending a disc through the mail?
All of this seems like a lot of potential. Brand new ground that will tie everything back to the TV, but not through the networks control that we’ve become use to. Or is it now just a bigger and better network?
I’m still not sure, but all these possibilities certainly have me excited. What about you?
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Comments(5)
CC, if that stuff really has you interested, you should take a look at what Microsoft’s done with XBox Live over the past several years. Nintendo’s actually relatively behind the curve on the online thing. It completely changes gaming when you’re able to plug in, play pretty much whatever, then get an invite to an online game with your friends with real-time voice chat in-game. They’ve also been logging gameplay and offering demos on the 360, though I don’t think they’ve connected the two systems yet. I’ll be thrilled if Nintendo gets their online service to the level of Xbox Live, but I’ll just be happy if their online gaming works better than Wi-Fi Connect does on the DS, to be honest…
Yeah I haven’t seen any vs. gaming yet. I loved that on my PS2 and would love to be able to do it on the Wii.
So far the WiFi connection seems to be working very well. It connected right into my network and I love that it updates itself while turned off.
Lots of potential on all platforms. Of course I think Apple when their iTV comes out is really going to bring things further along, but we shall see.
This space has been fantastic fun already. My 3 nephews and neices, and their 2 friends all have Nintendo DS’s we were going crazy with multiplayer Metroid and MarioKart. I haven’t had any trouble with Wi-Fi connect, but I did kick in the $30 for the “official” USB dongle.
I got an Xbox 360 for Christmas and it’s been cool trolling around the upgraded Live (including downloading an HD trailer for Frank Miller’s 300). Does Wii have multiplayer online gaming?
No multiplayer on the Wii yet that I’ve seen. Hoping it shows up.
The only thing I don’t like about XBox live is that I know they use to charge a monthly fee for it. Is that still the case? I don’t view this as an add on.
Last I’ve heard from the gaming blogs is that the first online vs. games won’t be out until middle of next year. I’m really hoping that the new Smash Bros. game will be one of them; that game would be crazy fun online.
There is a monthly fee for Xbox Live Gold (the version that lets you actually play online, as opposed to just accessing downloadable content), but it’s only around $5/month, or less if you pre-pay for a year. I don’t think that’s a lot to pay, and it’s worh it for the convenience of having MS maintain the servers and have everything work so smoothly.
BTW, this might interest you for more Mii swapping goodness: http://www.wiihaveaproblem.com/show_article.php?id=154