Update: May 22, 2011

Hey guys, I bought a system! 

We've finally acquired a Wii. We bought it used, so my first impression was that it's a royal pain to set up.

We bought it from a Hock Shop in Orillia, ON. and it was a pretty wicked deal; $100 with 2 games and Wii-mote with the Nunchaku attachment, and we got a second for another $35, which is a steal because they go for almost $70 new.  If it were any other pawn shop, or EB Games/Gamespot, this wouldn't have happened.

So, we take it home, clean the schmutz off of a controller and then...have to deal with a parental lock, which is the reason why I thought it was a pain to set up - so this is something that's going to transcend to just about any used system after the N64.

This is significant because the parental lock can stop you from web-browsing - let alone connecting to a network to do so, and with a secure Wi-Fi setup, this is a heck of a roadblock.

This is the first used console that I've bought from the current generation, and to be honest, I thought they all just came with a master reset button.   That would be practical, but that isn't the case.

To fix this, we had to go to YouTube, krutz with the Parental Lock controls and then call Ninty to uncensor our Wii.

To anyone selling a console, I impore you, please - please - do your fellow gamers a solid and remove the parental lock codes if you've set any. You have no idea how much a pain it is getting something home and not even being able to use it because someone forgot to uncensor the system before getting rid of it.  Also, it wouldn't hurt to clean the cheese-whiz off the controllers with a damp cloth and some Lysol.  Yeah, it was just a little gross. 

Luckily, the second controller was not only clean, but in near-mint condition.

After we got the parental lock removed, everything went smoothly and I've downloaded the browser, which I used to write this update. I wouldn't recommend doing that because you can only read two lines at a time - which is why I'm editing it on my PC.

However, the browser is more than functional, and I wish I had this on my 360.  I can go to any webpage (that I normally go to, go Doomworld!) and if the text is too small, I can zoom in and out as I need to, and the Wii-mote is like a mouse.  Unfortunately, the placement of the buttons on the Wii-Mote are not conducive to everything it does and using a keyboard is not as user-friendly as it could be because the Wii does not support text highlighting and the Home and End functions don't work.  Feh.
So, yes, I'm late to the game with a Wii, and there's not a whole lot of Wii games I want. But the Virtual Console has River City Ransom and Kirby's Adventure for less than I'd pay for the cartridges.  And I can get Ys I and II for the TG16 so I can actually play the series up to the third game (which is the only one I've played, on my SNES).

And despite the derivative gameplay of Quantum of Solace (one of my two free games - what can I say, the selection sucked), I REALLY like using the Wii-Mote for first-person shooting. That alone is a wicked-sick selling point, and from the Wii games I've played over the last couple years, I know it's been squandered.

So I'll be getting a few games on the VC, maybe get the Goldeneye remake, and I will definitely be holding out for New SMB Wii (it's a little too expensive for me at the moment).  And probably Super Smash Brothers Brawl.

The Real Life Gamer also recommended The Conduit 2, and apparently Sangoku Basara: Samurai Heroes is available in North America, so there might be some more titles I'll be checking out.  And remember, it's all free game for reviewing.

Being that it also plays NGC games, I'll also eventually be getting Super Smash Brothers Melee, Phantasy Star Online and maybe Viewtiful Joe.

And now there's a new system to add to my Now Playing articles.  I'll also be adding my DS to that feature, too. I've had it for a couple years, but I hardly use it. And now I'm working through Breath of Fire 2 again.  Go figure.  Long story with that, and I'll tell you when I run the next feature, so you'll want to stay tuned for that.

I'm still working on the Games as Art article, it needs a lot of editing, plus I'm still in the process of tracking the graphics down, so I hope it will be done within the coming week.  As far as reviews go, I'm more than 3/4 of the way through Bionic Commando, so that review will be ready in a week or so.  You'll definitely want to stay tuned for that.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!  Happy Victoria Day to my fellow Canucks, and if you have a Wii, don't use it to write blog posts. Even as a lark. Oy.