The Nintendo Wii

Can we discuss the Nintendo Wii for a second? It's an amazing console. No doubt everyone on planet earth knows what the Wii is, but I wonder how many "serious" gamers have realized the true potential in this console.

I bring my Nintendo Wii, as opposed to my Gamecube, Xbox 360, or WiiU, with me to college each semester; it is so clearly my best option for many reasons, and after having spent the last couple of years playing the Wii to death, I can honestly admit that I would seriously recommend this console to any gamer looking for something different or new to play.

It could be that even after all of these years, you still have a Nintendo Wii tucked away in your attic or basement, gone untouched for the better half of the last 10 years. The Wii fell off from about 2008 - 2012, and considering that console generations only last for about 7 years, it's safe to say that the Wii suffered from a somewhat pre-mature death. Or at least that's what you may think.

First off, I'm going to take a moment to declare that there are so many more great games on the Wii then one might think. You have your Mario Galaxy, Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3, Guitar Hero 3, and Smash Bros. Brawl released within the first couple of years of the Wii's life, then everyone else knows about Mario Galaxy 2, Sonic Colors, and Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword, but I'm here as always to talk about lesser-known games, and let me say, these following titles are legitimately not only a few of my favorite games on the Wii, but a few of my favorite games of all time:

Kirby's Return to Dreamland

Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon

Excitebots

Sin and Punishment Star Successor

Pandora's Tower

The Last Story

Six masterfully crafted, must-have games if you own a Wii. All six are unlike anything I had ever played prior, and each are games unlike anything else offered on the 360 or PS3 during the same generation; I'm not saying these games are better than anything on the other consoles, but they hold up by today's standards and offer an inspired and wonderful gaming experience that has yet to be recreated by any other game I've played.

Right off the bat, six games to buy if you still have your Wii hanging around collecting dust BUT catching up on missed games is not exactly where the Wii earns it's $60 grey-market value.
The real hidden feature on the Wii that makes missing it a critical error in my eyes is the Wii's Virtual Console.

The Virtual Console is a free service offered by Nintendo with which one can use their Wii to download retro games for an extremely low price. I'm not talking only Super Mario Bros. to The Legend of Zelda, I'm talking everything from Mario Bros. to Golden Axe, to Megaman 2, then Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past, to Super Metroid, to Super Castlevania IV, to Secret of Mana, to Mega Man X, to Chrono Trigger on the SNES. After that, you've every must-play on the Nintendo 64.

92 titles from the NES - all $5
63 titles from the SNES - all $8
21 titles from the N64 - all $10
73 titles from the Sega Genesis - all $8
59 titles from TurboGrafx 16 - all $6
54 titles from NeoGeo - all $9
15 titles from the Sega Master System - all $5
and then hundreds of games released for download-only such as Sonic the Hedgehog 4 and Megaman 10

What must be understood about the Virtual Console is that it gives players easy access to the games for which collectors will easily pay $80+ dollars. Take Chrono Trigger for the SNES: Chrono Trigger is considered to be one of the greatest RPGs of all-time. Grey Market Price: ~$90. Virtual Console Price: $8.

Of course, collectors collecting for their retro consoles will never be interested in a digital copy of a game as opposed to a cartridge, but this service is perfect for gamers like me since I'm willing to sacrifice a cartridge if I get to save $82 in return- I'll just use the saved money to fill my car up so I can drive to all of the cool parties I get invited to...

THEN, you have 100% backwards compatibility with the Nintendo Gamecube, provided you got your Wii before 2011, back when all of the cool kids got theirs. No need to discuss how awesome backwards compatibility is, provided you've read literally anything else on this blog (I am quite fond of the Gamecube, if you haven't noticed). What is also noteworthy is the fact that while component cables that upscale video quality from 480i to 480p are impossible to find for the Gamecube, they can be found easily for the Wii. So if you've ever wanted improved video quality for your Gamecube games, get a Wii.

With the Wii (about $50 on eBay at time of writing), you gain access to easily 20 amazing games as well as the rest of the Wii's admittedly mediocre library, all of the Gamecube's library, most of the library of the NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis, a bunch of N64 titles, Netflix, Youtube, and Project M. It's an old console with very few hidden gems, and even a handful of it's first party titles are garbage, but this console has immeasurable value to gamers who, like me, may be looking to update their knowledge of retro games without making their wallets cry or are trying to get through the summer's gaming drought with some great original Wii games that hold up without question.

For No Reason At All

Sometimes, you just like a game for no reason. No reason at all. This usually happens when the game is mediocre at best, because let's face it, if the game was good, you'd have a reason to like it. Games that you like for no reason usually just have something about them that appeals to you and only you. For example, Yu-Gi-Oh! Eternal Duelist Soul is one of my favorite games for no reason at all. I love Yu-Gi-Oh!, and so you'd think that I would prefer the latest Yu-Gi-Oh! game over an old one, on account of it having the greatest variety in cards, but no - this one is special to me. For some reason, I just think that it is awesome. So what does this mean for the blog? Well, I can't really write about my opinions of a game if I can't justify them, so here is a list of games that I like for no reason with a brief description of why I might like the game. Of course, these are all Gamecube games:

Rayman Arena - This wacky game involves Rayman and his pals either fighting or racing. The fighting mode in this game takes place in a 3D arena similar to like, Custom Robo or Gotcha Force. The goal is to defeat your opponent using power-ups to deplete your opinion's health as many times as possible before time runs out. This really isn't as fun to me, though, as the racing mode is. This racing mode feels a lot like Sonic The Hedgehog meets Crash Bandicoot where you try to complete 3 laps around the large, fully 3D "track" before your opponent does. The environments of the tracks vary greatly from lava factories to dusky beaches, while the platforming and sense of speed just feels good. Allow me to point out that this racing is done on-foot. This is a great multiplayer game, but it is also just a silly game to check out on your own.

Extreme G3 - This game is hard. I actually can't even beat the first circuit of this futuristic racing game. The goal of this game, like all racing games, is to complete however many laps and cross the finish like before your opponents do. However, this motorcycle futuristic racer involves just as much combat as it does speed. Each bike can be upgraded and fitted with guns, bombs, and many other weapons for you to use to take out your opponent and possibly destroy his bike before he can finish the race. This game is hard, but really satisfying.



Naruto Clash of Ninja 2 - This is just a Naruto fighting game. I have this fixation on good sound effects as I have found that they can really add to the satisfaction that comes with punching someone in the face. Sometimes a good "thud" can be just as sensually stimulating as the image of watching a fist collide with a face, or in this case, kunai colliding with shuriken. The audio in this game is amazing. Naruto Clash of Ninja 2 is a fighting game that takes you through the story of Naruto the anime series up until a certain point. You can chose whether or not to care about the story, but the fighting just feels good. The controls and camera are good and the arenas are fully 3D with a lock-on as opposed to the 2D feel that fighters such as Tekken or Mortal Kombat can have. It isn't really complicated enough for hardcore fighter fans to be satisfied by, but it is accessible and easy to pick up if you're looking for something simple, yet rewarding.

Ultimate Spider-Man - Oh boy, I love Spider-Man games. Somehow, they are just so consistently good. This game has you playing as the web-slinger himself as you swing through the city taking out bad guys by exploring the open world while adhering to the story of Peter Parker who's best friend had turned into the other playable character in this game: Venom. This game has you switching back and forth between Spider-Man and Venom as the day turns to night, and night turns to day. Now, time does not progress on it's own, you do have to essentially just sequentially beat every mission the game throws at you in order to move forward in the game, but it doesn't take away from the fun. This game isn't long, nor is it's size as impressive as that of Spider-Man 2 the video game, but it is a certainly a fun game with a lot of
humor recommended if you're looking for something short and sweet.

Street V3 - Street V3 is a street basketball game that features young versions of basketball legends and teams. These young pros challenge guest stars Mario, Luigi, and Peach in a 3 on 3, from the streets to the hoop basketball game. This game plays like any modern basketball game, perhaps with it's age showing a little bit. The controls are not any better or worse than "fine", while actually playing the game is just fun. It's fun to sink 3-pointers or slam the ball through the hoop via slam-dunk. This is one hell of a multiplayer game, too. I remember a night where me and a few of my friends who know nothing about basketball played this game for hours just taunting each other as if we were in the streets, ourselves. The single player in this game is solid, though it can become repetitive after a little bit. If you're looking for a tight single-player experience, pace yourself when it comes to Street V3;       multiplayer is where this game shines.