The Countdown

Well, it had to happen eventually: I’m making a post about video games. While my time devoted to the practice of this under-appreciated hobby has waned since I was in school, my interest in the industry as a whole has inexplicably increased. And so it is with great anticipation that I will spend the next 17 days waiting for the Nintendo Wii.

I have spent the days leading up to the big event (“Wii-Day,” if you will) so far gleefully ingesting every morsel of information that my internet feeding tube presents before me. This includes the list of about 27 launch titles and 62 “launch window” titles, which is, I believe, Nintendo’s own neologism to describe the set of games that will be available within approximately 6 months of launch. An interesting metric, though far less useful than it would be if they had simply contracted its bounds to contain the games available by Christmas. I am not aware of anyone who buys games for St. Patrick’s Day.

Anyhow, I’ve pored over these titles (though I am admittedly stretching the definition of “pore” in some cases) and developed my complete plan of action for making Wii-related purchases. Which, incidentally, is basically a top ten list with commentary.

Andrew’s Complete Wii Buying Guide (Part 1)

1. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Just typing out that game’s complete name makes me giddy. Zelda is a staple of any serious gamer’s life. Nintendo has strongly indicated that this edition of their elf-crush-inducing franchise is not only the largest and most beautiful to date, but also the darkest and most sophisticated. I am a little concerned over the excess hype TP may be carrying due to its repeated delays (a topic I haven’t nearly enough space to rant on here), but if there’s any game out there that can live up to such inflated hopes, it’s Zelda. In short, I would expect Nintendo’s sales of Zelda to match that of Wii exactly; if not, the only explanation I can think of is that someone’s grandma needs a firm reprimand from her gift constituents.

2. Red Steel.

I don’t think any third party has so strongly supported a console on launch day as Ubisoft. I don’t know if Nintendo coated its promotional materials with special pheromones designed to act on the French or what, but with their current list of fourteen announced Wii titles, I would not be disinclined to believe such a scenario. Red Steel has received somewhat mixed reviews so far, mostly indicating that the control scheme left something to be desired. I’m not expecting miracles—I mean it is a third-party launch title after all, and they are not exactly known for being the cream of the generational crop. Regardless, I think Red Steel has by far the most potential for sheer awesomeness of all the launch titles (other than Zelda of course), so I plan to entirely disregard the negative previews and find out for myself.

Those are the only games I intend to buy at the same time I pick up the console. My list certainly goes on, but I will continue it in a separate post.