The Digital Pulse 04.13.07: I Want Me Some Wii
Posted by Joshua Richey on 04.13.2007
All I wanted was a Wii... is that too much to ask?
I don't want to come right out and say that I don't have time for you people this week… but, yeah, that's pretty much the case this week. It's that time of year again: the temperature is getting warmer, the summer blockbusters are making their way to your local movie theatre, and final exams are on the horizon for us students. I must say, I've kicked a lot of ass this passed semester; but the dark days are upon us. I'm getting an increasing amount of work in my math class that is really taking up a lot of my free time; I've got a paper and presentation due on Tuesday about Racial Disparity in Sports – which I've not even started yet.
So, basically, I don't really have the time to dedicate my standard 1-2 hours writing this column. Lets just call this The Digital Pulse Lite.
Besides school, do you know what else I'm tired of? Not owning a Nintendo Wii... that's what. I'll admit to being one of the Wii's biggest skeptics... but dammit, I was wrong and now I want nothing more than to play me some Twilight Princess; perhaps even some Wario. I apologize to Nintendo fanboys everywhere for not jumping on the bandwagon earlier. The problem now is that I cannot find one anywhere.
Honestly, I have been looking to purchase a Wii since its release last year. Its revolutionary gameplay mixed with the incredibly affordable price makes it very appealing to even the biggest skeptics. Those same traits are also appreciated by casual gamers as the Wii has already moved over 6 million units and is still taken from store shelves immediately.
I don't have my first class until 9:25 on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Well a few months ago, I was at the local Meijer at around 8 in the morning - just wasting time until I had to goto school. I have this tradition of going to Meijer to 'clear my head'... don't ask. Anyway, this one particular morning, I go into Meijer and I come across three Nintendo Wii's in the Gaming Department. Obviously my first reaction was (!!!!!) and then I looked around for a Meijer associate to complete the transaction. A funny thing happened as I began my search for a Meijer Employee.... I began to think. I was going to have to goto school immediately after leaving Meijer and felt uncomfortable leaving the Wii in my car. There were three Wii's and it was early in the morning... surely at least one would still be there when I get off for my lunch break, right? Somehow I convinced myself that that was indeed the case. So I left...
IDIOT!
... Once I get out of my class at 12, I sprint to my car and haul ass back to the Meijer. Low and behold NO Wii's. If I hadn't stopped believing in a God before that day - that might have done it for me. I tell that same story to my friends and they burst out in laughter. What's worse is that I have to constantly relive that day. Nearly all of my friends own a Wii by now. They all laugh and joke about making their Mii's - and share their Wii Sports stories... but me? I'm forced to constantly remind myself that I walked out on the Wii.
QUICKIE: In honor of Guitar Hero II coming out on the Xbox 360, I'm going to go ahead and declare it my ‘quickie' for the week. I'll be honest with you, I've not played the 360 version of the game; nor do I plan on playing the Xbox 360 version. I'm not one of those that feel that GH is one of those landmark achievements in gaming. I mean, yeah, sure it's fun and all… but I think that it gets old pretty quickly. It is a great party game and the casual gamers seem to love the hell out of it… it's just not my thing.
However, if you've not gotten the chance to play GH on the Playstation 2 – or if you're just looking for a great game to play with your friends – you should check out Guitar Hero II, which is now out for the Xbox 360.
Final Score: B
EYE CANDY: I know that I've done more than my fair share of pimping for Starbreeze Studios new title ‘The Darkness', but it seems that with every screenshot, every movie, every preview that is released by 2K my anticipation for this game grows a little more. The games Intro hit the net this last week; and after watching it 5-6 times, I'm not sure I can afford to get any more excited for the game.
PIMPIN': If you've not been fortunate enough to see Grindhouse yet (which according to the movies box office numbers from its first weekend… you've not) than I am highly recommending that you do so. The Weinstein's are so disappointed with how the film has done thus far that they are contemplating separating the two films [Planet Terror & Death Proof]. It would be a real shame if that were to happen. These are two great films that are great for two completely different reasons. Planet Terror seems to embrace the cheesiness and cliché that you'd expect from those straight-to-video ‘B' movies. It's great. It basically has every key component that a moviegoer would want in a film. There are zombies; there are defected penises, Bruce Willis, and a little kid shooting himself in the face.
Death Proof isn't as over the top as Planet Terror – but it's just as good. Death Proof is more of what you'd expect from a 70's thriller. There is a lot of talking, which is the biggest complaint that this film seems to register. But oddly enough, I was totally fine with it. I think that the talking sessions really made you appreciate the action more than you usually would. And the character of Stuntman Mike (played by Kurt Russell) is one of THE best-written characters I've seen in a while. His presence is short and sweet.
Still, my favorite thing about the film Grindhouse is still the fake trailers that air in between of Planet Terror and Death Proof. The inclusion on these is nothing short of genius. My only disappointment is that these films aren't in the process of being made yet films like Baby Geniuses 3 are. Though rumor does have it that Robert Rodriguez will release what he shot of Machete on DVD.
It's really a shame that the film did such lousy business this last weekend. So do yourself and the future of Hollywood a favor and go check this one out. It's by far the coolest experience that I've ever had in a movie theatre.
CLOSING ARGUMENTS: Whew, I didn't even intend on writing that much. Well I guess that'll be all for me this week. I've got to get busy on doing my Racial Disparity project and that'll probably extend into taking up my entire weekend.
Oh, I do feel the need to mention (or brag) about my latest purchase this week. On Wednesday I bought a Dell Inspiron E1705 from the Dell website. I've never been a ‘computer gamer' so you can imagine my reaction when I found out that the E1705 is actually a really badass gaming device. I probably will end up avoiding World of Warcraft and all that jazz… but I am looking forward to dabbling in Computer Gaming for the first time. If you've got any good suggestions as to what I should start off with – throw me an e-mail.
