How You Can Use Your Nintendo Wii for More Than Just Playing Games

Apparently, playing Nintendo's own Wii Sports game increases energy usage by 60kcal (250 kJ) per hour compared with playing other consoles. Yet experts say Nintendo Wii is no substitute for real exercise.


You can use your Nintendo Wii as a stereo to play your MP3 music collection.


More than just a game machine, Wii also provides information and entertainment suitable for every member of the family. Some of the channels available include:

• Mii Channel - Miis are cute little caricatures you create to use as characters in a variety of Wii software. Store Miis on your Wii or load them onto your Wii Remote and take them over to a friend’s house to use on their Wii.

• Everybody Votes Channel - The Everybody Votes Channel is packed with national and worldwide polls. Answer interesting questions and have your say. Up to six members of your family can vote. Just choose an answer and check in later to see the results.

• News Channel - Wii might be great for games, but you can also use it to get updates on the latest news from across the Internet organized into easy-to-browse categories.

• Forecast Channel - Your Wii can automatically update you on the weather from around the globe.

• Wii Shop Channel - Download the Opera web browser and access games from classic consoles from the past. All you need is a Wii Points account.

• Virtual Console - Every Virtual Console game you download from the Wii Shop Channel appears in the Wii Menu as a separate Channel ready to select and play any time you like.

• Wii Message Board - Leave or receive messages for other family members on the calendar-based message board or use WiiConnect24 to send messages to people outside your home.

• Internet Channel - Just download the Opera browser for 500 Wii Points and within minutes, you’ll be a professional sofa surfer, pointing-and-clicking your way around the web with your Wii Remote.

• Photo Channel - Show off all your digital photos on your TV. Just insert an SD memory card into your Wii and away you go.

• Disc Channel - The Disc Channel is backwards compatible with Nintendo GameCube, so you can play all your new Wii discs, along with all your classic Nintendo GameCube discs too!


Or

3. Make a low-cost multi-touch whiteboard with the Wiimote

Why Nintendo Wii beats Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3

Nintendo's follow-up to their popular GameCube—number three in the Big Three consoles of the previous generation—is the Wii (pronounced "we"), which represents a very different approach from SCEA's and Microsoft's next-gen gaming offerings. The humble Wii de-emphasizes the absolute latest and greatest in graphics and game audio, supporting a maximum video resolution of only 480p, in EDTV mode. Instead, it offers innovation in game design and control. And you can buy two of these Wii consoles for the price of the stripped-down PlayStation 3 model.


Product Details: Nintendo Wii Console

• Platform: Wii
• Wireless Type: Wi-Fi
• HDMI: No
• Installed Memory: 512 MB
• Accessories Included: Wireless controller
• Processor: PowerPC
• Game Media: Nintendo GAMECUBE disc
• Slot Types Provided: Nintendo GameCube Memory Card, SD Memory Card
• Connector Type(s): 2 x USB 2.0, 4 x game controller, Component
  video output, Composite video output, S-Video output

Instead of putting together an expensive box with impressive hardware specifications like the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, Nintendo decided to set its Wii system apart by offering innovative gameplay with a new motion-sensitive controller. The Wii's gyroscope controller will take users away from the gamepad interface and make game control more intuitive. For instance, we're used to pressing buttons in a certain sequence to cast a line in a fishing game, but on the Wii, expect to pull the controller back and then whip it forward in a real casting motion to get that line out. It's this kind of gameplay that will make the Wii completely different from the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.

If you've been clamoring for an all-purpose next-generation multimedia box with blinding HD graphics, the Wii will be a disappointment. But Nintendo didn't intend to compete in that arena anyway: the Wii is focused squarely on delivering fun and innovative gameplay, leaving Sony and Microsoft to battle it out at the high end. The Wiimote and its motion-sensing, pseudo-virtual-reality controls are the biggest draws of the console, and its online capabilities, Wii Channels, Virtual Console, and GameCube backward-compatibility are just a thick, sweet layer of icing on an already tasty cake. Likewise, the Wii is the only home console that lets you play games featuring nostalgic Nintendo-only franchises such as Mario, Zelda, and Metroid. With a price tag of just $250--far less than those of its competitors--and the included Wii Sports disc that provides mindless fun out of the box, the Nintendo Wii won't disappoint.

The Wii is designed around a menu of "channels". There is of course the game-playing channel, where the Wii will play any Wii or GameCube game. Simply load the disc in and go. There is a Mii channel where you set up a profile and avatar to connect to all your game playing. The Photos channel lets you look at photos on your TV. Other channels for news, weather, and online shopping require an interent connection.

The 480p resolution is certainly not high def 1080p like the other two systems. It's something you accept when you're paying such a low price for the console. But really, it's not that big a deal. If they are going for the cartooney characters and environments, 480p is DVD quality and is quite good. If you really, really crave high definition super realism in your games, then the Wii might not be the best choice for you. However, if you're fine with playing games with a more impressionist, cartooney look to them, the 480p can show that quite nicely. For example, there aren't fans in the stands for baseball - there are colored blocks.

This thing is compact. If it were any smaller, I might mistake it for a portable device, the realm where Nintendo is the undisputed king. Still, it was a bit of a chore to integrate the Wii with my stack, as this is one of the last remaining analog-only source components in my home theater. I have four other video-game systems set up, their audio switched via a Joytech AV Control Center 2 to one optical input on my receiver. I recently pulled out the two-channel analog GameCube in order to make room for the Wii, since the latter is backwards-compatible with both games and controllers.