Yesterday we finally gave in and bought our Wii.  It was our belated Christmas present to each other anyway so it was well overdue.  I’ve been looking forward to getting my hands on this box of tricks since Nintendo announced it back in 2006.

We went for a bundle that included 2 games (as well as Wii Sports which comes with the console), so we chose Mario Party 8 and Zack & Wiki.  We also managed to get a nifty Wiimote charging dock and Wii stand included - it looks really smart (full of blue LEDs!)

Although I was itching to rip the box open*, I managed to hold on for an hour or so before I gave in.  Setting up the console was painless.  Only three cables to plug in - the AV cable, the power cable and the Wii sensor bar which sits neatly on top of the TV.  Hang on, I lied.  There was a fourth - the USB cable from the Wii stand/charging station which provides power.

Right, everything plugged in - check.  Change the TV to the AV2 channel - check.  I pressed the power button and the Wii sprung to life.  Its a quiet little machine, with just a faint hum (and the odd click when its reading discs) but surprisingly solid, especially when compared to my aging GameCube, which just seems flimsy and fragile.

Ok, the display is doing something now.  Set the language, the date, the time and country of residence and we’re away.  You also have to give your Wii a nickname!  Not sure why yet but I’m sure I’ll find out soon.

The standard Wii menu comes up, with 6 “channels”:

• Disc Channel
• Mii Channel
• Photo Channel
• Wii Shop
• Weather Channel
• News Channel

More channels can be added (2 free channels were available from the shop straight away, plus an Internet channel - more on that later).  There was also a Wii options button.

The next thing I did was set up the wireless Internet connection.  Again, surprisingly painless.  It found my wireless router easily and asked for my security key.  This was the worst bit - I hadn’t adjusted the sensitivity of the Wiimote, and I was still a novice anyway, so entering a long key using the on-screen keyboard was a bit of a lengthy task.  I’m not sure yet if there is a button on the Wiimote that is equivalent to Backspace which would make things easier and quicker (I should probably read the manuals!)

Once the Internet connection had been set up the Wii conducted a quick connectivity test (it passed OK) and then started to download the latest software updates.  As I found out later, a mail icon appears on the main menu.  In here you will see messages from Nintendo informing you of any new updates.  This was a little confusing at first because you will be sent a message about each update from the beginning, asking you to update there and then, but they have already been done from the first “main” update.

I decided to quickly explore the options menu, primarily because I wasn’t happy with the response I was getting from the Wiimote.  I found the sensitivity setting (which I think must act as a basic calibration as well) which asks you to change a slider until only 2 of the 4 dots which appear on screen are visible.  Once I’d done this then the Wiimote operated much more easily and accurately.

Ok, so now I was ready to try a game.  Naturally I decided to try the game that comes with the Wii - Wii Sports…

* Note that I would never actually rip the box open!  Me being me, I carefully peeled off all packing tape and kept all of the many cellophane bags and cable ties that covered every single item in the box.

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