Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Just when Wii news started to pick up in the pre-launch excitement, divorce knocked the wind out of my sails. I know you may be tempted to offer sympathy, but believe me when I say that it’s old news by now. It’s more of a relief than anything else, and all signs point to things not being messy since there are no kids involved. Actually, I can’t believe how lucky I am that this is happening now and not later.
Of course, there are a handful of you that think, “What better time to get divorced? Now you’ll have more time to play video games!” You know, I thought that might be the case, but it is *NOT* true. I’ve been way busier now that the old ball ‘n chain has moved out. I am re-exploring social relationships, reclaiming my hobbies (including but certainly not limited to video gaming), doing home improvement, exercising regularly, and dating. I haven’t been this busy or this happy in recent memory.
Now, something that I had been meaning to write but never got around to was that I had grown lukewarm about getting a Wii at launch back in October. That isn’t to say that I didn’t want the Wii, but I believe that in particular the Wii offers a great opportunity for easy-to-pick-up, easy-to-learn gameplay. Very few of the launch titles demonstrate this (and almost none of the ones that I want to buy), and I’m not sure if I want to go off into some dark cave just to play Zelda by myself, only to emerge 70 hours later with a tired grin on my face.
Some of the games in which I have a strong interest are The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Red Steel, Elebits, WiiSports, and Trauma Center: Second Opinion. Out of these, I was most enthusiastic about Zelda and WiiSports, and I’m glad that I will at least be getting that one for free. But as for Zelda, can I really afford another adventure right now? I’m twenty hours into Okami for the PS2, and I’m going to have trouble finding another ten to twelve hours to finish it before I need to be outside my local Target with my dog and sleeping bag. And the game is reputedly 70 hours long without indulging in the extras. To be honest, I’m not sure if I’m capable of finishing a game that long. Ever. Does anyone else feel this way?
That being said, the recent unveiling of a technology to recognize hand gestures has further convinced me that the launch window offerings for the Wii will barely scratch the surface of what the controller can do. Without simple-to-use tools like these, it must be ridiculously hard to recognize gestures in 3D space. Any third-party company that manages to pull off tight controls on a launch-window game without the use of tools like this deserve to be applauded.
The Wii controller is designed to be non-threatening, but as early adopters are generally hardcore gamers, the launch window titles are mostly hardcore. There are a few that could probably be played by my non-gaming friends or potential mates, but most of those games aren’t exciting enough for me to plop down an extra $50 when I should be watching my money very closely. No, WiiSports might be it for me until I finish Okami or until WarioWare: Smooth Moves comes out in January.
Okay, who am I kidding. I’m getting Zelda. I just hope it doesn’t take over my life because, to be perfectly honest, I only recently just got my life back. 
Anyhow, I’ll wrap up this uncharacteristic entry by finally posting pictures of me in front of Nintendo that were taken in September (reader request). Enjoy this and this, and have a great weekend.
