Nintendo Wii Buying Guide

January 30, 2008

Are you a serious gamer who wants to enjoy the latest and most innovative games today with thousand of other like minded players?

Yes, there are hundreds of games and game gadgets to choose from. From your cellular phones to your personal digital assistant to computers and the internet, there is no limit to games access wherever you are.

But to truly enjoy gaming like doing the real thing, for instance playing a racing game with your friends, there are only a select few top of the line gaming gadgets that can deliver crystal clear images and thundering sounds to pump adrenaline.

One of these gaming gadgets is the Nintendo Wii. The Wii is the phenomenal direct successor of the equally phenomenal Nintendo Gamecube. In the top three places of high end gaming consoles, Nintendo Wii shares the limelight with Sony’s Playstation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

Buying your new Wii may give you many points to consider. One of these is how much you are willing to spend because aside from the main Wii gadgets, there are many other accessories and upgrades which are very enticing.

So, it helps to know the Wii very thoroughly and this guide will hopefully answer some of your questions.

Processors:
The Nintendo Wii is powered by a PowerPC central processing unit called Broadway. Although Nintendo has not yet confirmed its speed, reports have it that the Broadway is clocked at 729 MHz. This processor is made with the 90 nm SOI CMOS process.

Graphic Processing Unit
The Graphic Processing Unit for the Nintendo Wii is the "Hollywood" graphics processor made by ATI Technologies. It has a reported clock speed of 243 MHz.

Nintendo Wii Bluetooth and Universal Serial Bus (USB)
Nintendo Wii is packaged with Bluetooth and at least 2 USB ports. Bluetooth allows you to wirelessly connect external devices like game controllers. USB on the other hand requires a cable to connect external devices but connection is as easy as inserting the tip of the device which is easily detected and becomes functional in an instant.

Memory
The Nintendo Wii has a 512 MiB built-in NAND flash memory but you may want to expand storage with the SD card memory up to 2 Gigabytes.

Audio
Although the Nintendo Wii has an excellent built-in speaker and controller, you may want to install Dolby Pro Logic II for maximum sound enjoyment.

Nintendo Wii Nunchuk Controller
This is the main controller attached to the Wii via a remote cord about 3.5 to 4 feet long. It is called a Nunchuk because it actually looks like a nunchaku. This can provide an accelerometer for tilting and axis motion sensing.

Nintendo Wii Classic Controller
Introduced in 2006, the Nintendo Classic Controller plugs to the Wii Remote with a cord. This is similar to the Nunchuk but this has two additional analog sticks and the ZL and ZR buttons.

Wii Zapper
If you want war games that rock, then you may want to buy this accessory. The Wii Zapper is a gun shell peripheral. It looks like a shot gun with a trigger hole. A revised new design looks like a submachine gun.

Wii Wheel

This peripheral accessory is scheduled for release during the first quarter of 2008 and will be packaged with the Mario Kart Wii.

Glove Kits
The Glove kits will allow you to get a better grip on the Wii Remote. You can choose from many colors and glow in the dark looks. Some gloves even change hue depending on the heat of your hand.

Steering wheels
This is a third party accessory and is bundled with certain games like Monster 4×4 World Circuit and GT Pro Series.

Wii Sports Package
Another third party accessory released by GameStop, the Wii Sports Package includes a golf club, baseball bat and tennis racquet.

Wii Boxing Gloves
This is a specialized glove for boxing. The Wii Remote and Nunchuk controls are placed inside each glove to simulate punching.

Hori Fighting Stick
The Hori Fighting Stick is especially designed for arcade style fighting games.

Wii Chargers
Since rechargeable options for the Wii Remote are not offered by Nintendo, but you can choose from third party chargers. You can buy a direct charger system from Nyko that can accommodate two Will remote units. This is powered by an AC adapter with a special battery pack.

Another company is Joytech which sells a pass-through connector charger to the Wii power cable.

Brando Workshop has come up with USB powered charger. This features a combination charging stand and NUnchuk cradle.

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