I caved...

After almost a full year and many changes, including a new job, new home, and new climate (I've received over 10 inches of rain in the last two months alone and 8 of those inches fell in 24 hours!), I finally caved in. I weighed the costs versus the enjoyment as well as the capabilities compared to other systems and decided the time was right.

I got one of these:
Yes, I finally joined the plethora of people who have a Nintendo Wii. My sisters both got one shortly after Christmas of '07 and the C's got one shortly after they hit the market so I was no stranger to the enjoyment value these things bring. Perhaps I was also living out a childhood dream that my parents (smartly and thankfully) wouldn't let us fulfill; owning a first-generation NES (you know, the console that up-up-down-down-left-right-left-right-B-A-start would give you 30 lives in Contra?). Besides, I needed SOMETHING to do on those nights I'm staying up to prepare for my rounds of graveyard shifts...I can't play guitar for 8 hours without losing a finger or two to blisters!

The competition I had was the PS3 and the XBOX 360, both of which I gave serious consideration. I have a PS2 and purchasing the PS3 would have allowed me to have 1080p BluRay DVD capability AND still be able to play my old PS2 games. The XBOX 360 had much more consideration as I would have loved to play the Halo games against friends up in Amarillo and I fell in love with Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas II right before I moved down here. However, in the end it was the fact that I would have to physically move to play some games on the Wii that sold me in the end. There is something about actually having to swing the controller to hit the tennis, golf, and baseballs as well as being able to play many of the original favorites that hooked me on video games in my early childhood (Super Mario Bros., Contra, Legend of Zelda, and MegaMan to name a few). After having experienced on-line play in Smash Brothers Brawl and MarioKart, I felt it was too good of a system to pass up since this would finally allow me a chance to whup up on my friends back in the Top o' Texas (and eventually my sisters if they would hurry up and get their Wii systems on the internet hint hint).

In a month or so I will hopefully have enough $$ saved up to go and purchase a Wii Fit so I can get ready for ski season (and will hopefully not have to keep dealing with sore arms from all the swinging playing tennis and boxing). Having already tasted what the Fit is capable of, it is one of those things that I think will help improve the lateral stability in my legs. In other words, I'll sacrifice some fun and games in order to get my knees and thighs ready for the hope of hitting the ski slopes this winter. Those that have played will understand. Those who haven't...welllll...as soon as I get one you will have to give it a try for yourself!