Oh sure, there’s plenty of cool things always going on at Nintendo.com, but here’s two great things a Wii owner can do over at Nintendo’s homepage to extend their gaming experience on the Wii!

1) Register your Wii! Every Wii owner should head on over to Nintendo.com and first off create an account there so that you can login and track things like games you’ve purchased and systems you own. One benefit of registering your games is that after so many, Nintendo will offer you bonus items or discounts on certain things. Register 3 games and you get 3 free issues of Nintendo Power for example. You can also qualify for 12 issues of Nintendo Power for only $12 a year. The best thing for Wii owners about this is when you register your Wii, you get an extra 90 day warranty on your system! That’s right, a 1 year + 90 day warranty total on your console just for registering the system with Nintendo. All you do after you have an account is enter in your console serial number and voila, you will be automatically updated in their system and qualify for the extended warranty. Didn’t have to spend a penny!

2) This little tip will cost you though. A whole $3-4 including shipping. You know that little flimsy cardboard holder Nintendo sent the US versions of the Wii’s with to hold Sports? You can replace that with an actual white Wii game case for a measly $1.50 for one case or get 5 for $7 right here at Nintendo’s online store. I grabbed one last week and it took about 3 days to arrive and after shipping cost me around $3. Yes, it sucks the system didn’t ship with one, but it’s good to know the cases are available and they are the standard white Wii cases. What you can do after you get your case in is grab this image file of the actual Wii Sports case(warning, it’s around 4 megs big) and have it printed out on a fine color printer. Now you have a great case with the actual Wii Sports case insert to go along with it. Here’s a sample of what the cover looks like below, shrunk down to fit the blog:

BONUS TIP WHILE IT LASTS! Nintendo.com also has Nunchucks shipping around December 18th if you need to grab one. Might be easier than going store to store in your area or spending the extra Ebay bucks for one.

Ok I hope at least one of these little tips was helpful to someone out there with a Wii. While Nintendo’s products have been spoton for the most part over the years and free from serious defects, it’s still good to know you have an extra 90 day warranty available for free. It also felt good to replace that stingy cardboard holder with an actual plastic, sturdy, and more presentable game case.

Whether you are playing solo or with three others for some four player Tennis action, Wii Sports: Tennis offers some great fun for you and your friends. Never before has the game of Tennis been so interactive, tactile, and flat out fun. Read along and see why I think the Tennis game inside Wii Sports is my number two favorite game on the disk!

Much like the Bowling game on the Sports game disk as well, the Tennis game loads up very quickly and has some nice presentation in both the graphics and sound department. Getting into the game boils down to deciding how many people will be playing then selecting how many total games you would like to play. You can play a single game, best out of three, or best out of five against the CPU or against up to three other friends. The matches are always 2 on 2 so you will actually be playing with a friend in four player multiplayer action against your two other friends. When playing single against the computer, you control both players on your side of the court. When playing one player versus a friend, you control two characters and your friend (your opponent) controls his two as well. This may sound a bit much at first, but in Wii Sports: Tennis, you don’t control the characters movements, you only control their swing. No longer do you have to worry so much about getting the player to the ball, you simply have to swing the remote in time to volley the ball back across the net. This allows you to focus less on certain aspects of the normal tennis game and tosses some new gameplay elements at you given the fact the computer will always run to the ball accordingly.

The game allows you to use one of your Mii’s you have created as a player on screen and uses only the Wii Remote without the nunchuck. Once the number of players has been selected as well as the number of games, the match is on! To serve the ball, you can hit the A button or make the motions of tossing up a ball with the Wii Remote in your hand. You will then need to swing the remote again while the ball is up in the air at it’s apex to actually strike and serve the ball. If the ball is coming towards your character, you will need to swing the remote to volley the ball back to your opponents as well. This is harder than it sounds as you have forehands and backhands that you must carry out the motions for and since you don’t run the character to the incoming ball yourself, which one you will need to use is up to the computer. You will sometimes arrive at the ball in position to return the ball with a backhand swing while other times you may need to use a forehand swing. You will also need to take the angle of your remote into account as this will determine things like rise, spin, and angle when you are returning the ball. Swing too early or late and you just may send the ball into a wild direction you didn’t intend. Don’t get under the ball enough when you return it and you may send the ball straight into the net. The gameplay mechanics force you to focus on these factors when playing the game instead of worrying so much about running your character to the ball. You will need to first decide between a forehand and backhand return, then ensure you hit the ball properly and not send it out of bounds. This continues until someone makes a mistake and a point is scored.

Wii Sports: Tennis plays by standard tennis rules and the game is over once one person or team scores the 15, 30, 40, and then final point over your opponent. Games can sometimes go on for a good while stuck with one team trying to score that final point. When it comes to four player action, Tennis on the Sports disk has all other games beat with Bowling in a close second place. All four of you standing and playing virtual tennis in you or your friends living room has proven to be very exiting and fun, creating some intense and action filled moments as the players work on perfecting their returns and serves. One wrong return can ruin it for you and your team and it’s always a blast to see a long volley between the teams going on. We played the Tennis game with our friends and had an absolute blast and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun single player tennis game or to a group of 2-4 people looking for some great multiplayer action. Don’t forget to give this one a look when you pop the Sports disk into your Wii and be sure to fasten those wrist straps!

See Also:My Thoughts on Wii Sports: Bowling

After reading many people across the internet tossing out the argument that the Nintendo Wii is nothing more than a Gamecube with slightly better graphics, I thought I would list out 10 ways the Wii is different from the Gamecube. An alternate version of the argument is that the Wii was not necessary and we should have instead just bought the controller for the Gamecube as an add-on! Read along and see just what the Gamecube couldn’t do that required a whole new system to achieve Nintendo’s goal. To keep things fun, we won’t even mention the new fangled controllers, we’ll instead focus on items that maybe aren’t so well known or obvious.

1: A Much Better Interface - The Gamecube didn’t have quite what the Wii has when it comes to operating system and it’s GUI. The ability to upgrade the firmware and more would not be possible on the Gamecube in it’s current state.

2: 512 Megs Internal Memory - Only on the Wii. The Gamecube had no internal memory and supported memory cards only.

3: SD Memory Card Support - Once again, the Wii has this and the Gamecube does not. It would require a whole new add-on or modification of some sort for the GC to support SD cards.

4: Built In Wireless Internet Support - Sure, the Gamecube had an add-on that you could buy that would allow for internet access.. We see how well that was supported by both the gamers and the developers. Did you purchase one? Perhaps not and due to the fact there was little to play using it because it was an addon that was bought in limited amounts. Perhaps the Gamecube didn’t do online very well. Either way, the Wii does and it’s got Wifi built in and is ready to go online out of the box. Something the Gamecube was not able to do.

5: Online Shop With Virtual Console Games - This stuff is kinda stacking up as this is dependant on the Wii’s operating system, built in online, and internal memory. It still exists as something the Wii offers that the Gamecube simply could not have. Play older NES, SNES, N64, even Turbografix 16, and Sega Genesis games on the system thanks to the online store and the Virtual Console.

6: Channels - Something else dependent on many of the other items listed, but yet again still something the Wii offers. Photos, news, weather, and soon Internet and more available on your Wii and never available on the Gamecube.

7: Mii’s - As small as the Mii system may seem, it’s actually a very neat addition to the console. Countless hours will be spent making Mii’s in our likeness and of famous celebrities only to be seen in some of the very games we play on the system. Entire online websites will be devoted to people sharing the Mii’s they have created. Something the Gamecube did not and could not offer.

8: Much More Attractive and Acceptable Design - It may not matter to some, but the design of the Wii alone is going to push those that didn’t want the Gamecube based on it’s looks alone over the edge and possibly into purchasing the system now that it doesn’t look like a Mattel kids toy. The purple cube shape may have been just enough to cause some folks to miss out on the system and in turn some great games. Now that the Wii is here and sports a cleaner, more “Apple-y” look that is very aesthetically pleasing, more folks may be inclined to purchase it and even give those older Gamecube games a go.

9: Friends and Messaging - Something the Gamecube didn’t have nor ever plan on supporting outside any games that did. The Wii has the ability to store your friends in a list and messaging between you and them. You can send and receive notes to people over the internet to and from any email address as well. You can email Wii users pictures which they can store and manipulate on their system. All kinds of little things you can do on the Wii that could not be done on the Gamecube.

10: More 3rd Party Support - Given the fact that the controllers are not simply some add-on that a majority of the market probably wouldn’t buy and that the Wii is the complete system that it is, 3rd party developers are going to be more inclined to develop new and original games for it that simply won’t be found on other systems. This is also something the Gamecube didn’t have. As a matter of fact, the Gamecube had so little 3rd party support, it was seen as one of the reasons for it’s lackluster success in terms of sales numbers.

The Wii has much, much more to offer than the Gamecube does even if you simply made the Wii controllers available for the Gamecube. There is so much to the Wii, it would be a shame to miss out on it’s goodness due to the fact you think all the Wii is is a Gamecube with slightly updated graphics and a tacked on control scheme. Considering you can also play Gamecube games on the Wii, it’s almost a foregone conclusion that when faced with which one to purchase at this point, the Wii is the clear winner. For those folks that may not have come to know the Gamecube and the Wii will be their first Nintendo console purchase since the N64, they are in for a real treat. At the price point the Wii is set at with everything it has to offer, it’s a great buy that will allow you to not only enjoy the Wii games, but also the Gamecube collection and the Virtual Console games as well. Enjoy the Wii!

The Wii is here, the online system is up, and the friend codes are here to stay. Some see the way the Nintendo DS handles online play with it’s friend codes as a stumbling block, but the Wii at least changes things up a bit and uses one friend code per system as opposed to a friend code for every game. It’s a much easier process overall than the DS version and actually has a few very good reasons for existing.

1: Ease of Use - This time around, Nintendo was aiming at getting more people playing their games in a broader range than your typicle hardcore gamer. Part of doing this meant Nintendo had to keeps things fast and easy so your average Joe would find it appealing. The player can get into the online portion of the games without having to fill out any forms; no credit cards needed. Simply trade your console’s unique code with a friend and you’re playing in minutes, or, much like the DS online games I am sure they will include the randomly matched games as well in certain games in which case you don’t need to give or enter any codes at all. It’s easy to get into and worth a shot for those wanting to try out the online gaming options.

2: It’s More Secure - No, not for you, Hardcore Gamer, for the common player. Ok, for the kids. With the consoles using codes instead of names, Little Johnny doesn’t get to play against some of the more vulgar named player names I’ve seen on other consoles and PC gaming. Not to mention the only way to add a friend at all is to trade the codes, there is no invite system. The system doesn’t even let you know if another player has added you and this too, is by design. This is so a spamming pedophile doesn’t start adding friends like mad in hopes to get Little Johnny to simply accept his invite.

3: Allows Everyone to Play as Mario - It’s true and contrary to some people’s beliefs, the friend code is not what you know your friends by. Once you enter in your friends code, you can change their name to whatever you wish. You can even choose to name yourself Mario, or Link, or whatever you’d like to be called. You don’t have to be DonkeyKong12 or anything like that which is what happens when DonkeyKong is already taken on other platforms. The system works much like a cell phone where once you give people you’re 12 digit code, they can rename you and know you as that and not by your friend code number.

No, it’s not the best or most wanted solution for the hardcore gamer, but it’s a solution that in the end will appeal to a broader range of gamers new and old. It’s not the exact same as the other solutions out there currently available on other consoles, but it does have it’s roots in reason and I doubt it will hinder Nintendo’s online plans in the grand scheme of things. Making online easier for the mainstream is the goal here and unfortunately for some, it’s at the detriment of making it perhaps annoying on the hardcore gamer. I personally don’t mind the system and enjoy the different approach Nintendo is taking, let’s see how it all plays out when they do get some online games.

Since getting our Wii, I’ve been putting in a few hours a day on Wii Sports playing the various full on games and training exercises. Out of all of them, I find the Bowling to be the game I enjoy playing the most single player. It loads up very quickly to begin with, allowing you to press A to skip over most minor intros and chimes with the remote speaker when it’s your turn to bowl. Once you virtually step up to the lane, you grasp the Wii remote (the nunchuck is not used in this game) adjust your stance and aim. Using a combination of the A button and the digital control pad, you can shimmy your Mii character left and right and aim his/her direction to allow for any spin you may put on the ball. In case you weren’t aware, all of the Wii Sports games are played with the Mii’s you and your friends have created. When playing single player, any Mii’s you have made your favorite will also be in the bowling alley sitting behind you cheering you on as you bowl. Once you have your aim and alignment properly accounted for, you can prepare to bowl the ball towards the pins using the Wii remote. Sending the ball along it’s way is carried out much like in real life:

1: You raise the ball (controller) to your chin.
2: You press and hold the B trigger button on the remote.
3: You swing your arm backwards alongside your body in a sweeping motion continuing to hold B.
4: You bring your arm forward again, releasing B when you feel you are ready to release the ball.

I found this process very easy to get used to, intuitive, and immersive in the sense that it involved more than simply pressing buttons to send the ball down the lane. It’s actually so dead on, that I found I was having the same problems in this version of bowling that I do in real life bowling. I have a killer spin to the left that must be accounted for by moving my Mii to the right and aiming to the right as well just a tad before taking my shot. The controls are dependable as well meaning that you can count on them to feel reliable to the point that as you get used to the game, you can and will get better. It’s not at all like a random action that is played out once the Wii senses you’ve gone through the motions. It takes speed, spin, and other factors into account so get into the game and give it all you’ve got! The bowling is very accurate and the scoring is as well, keeping the standard bowling rules in play. Once you go through all ten frames, you will be presented with the score totals and other information regarding your Miis.

Wii Sports Bowling keeps track of your scores for each Mii you play as well as a running total of points that can be used to judge your overall skill. These points are an accumulative score based on what you scored in game, but not the actual score you got in game just compiled over time. It’s more of a judgment based on your current amount of points and how well you played the game at hand. Once you reach 1000 overall points, you reach Pro status which means you score an average of around 170 or higher in each game and in turn you get rewarded with a new, cooler bowling ball to play with. Your Pro score is in constant check however so you will find the score fluctuating depending on how well (or not) you play. It *is* possible to fall below the 1000 point limit and lose that ball and your Pro status.

Overall, Wii Sports: Bowling is a very fun game solo or with up to three other friends. The graphics get the job done and have a definite style to them that while simplistic, does not detract from the game in any way. In this game, the gameplay very much overshadows the graphics, which is just how we like them here. I would highly recommend this game and introduce it to anyone from age 4 to 100 seeing they are physically able to swing the remote in a bowling fashion. Most folks that have given the game a go have fell in love and this includes personal friends and family of mine. Whether you are into bowling as a sport or hold any interest at all in the Wii Sports collection, definately give this version packed with the Wii a go.

Stay tuned for my impressions on the other sports and eventually the training modes for the WIi Sports game!

See Also: My Thoughts on Wii Sports: Tennis