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Mary, After Wii:After talking to me about her views and experiences with videogames, Mary got her very first look at the Wii console. In almost no time, she was customizing her Mii, bowling (though she can't seem to shake her leftward spin), playing baseball against her kids, throwing cows, and skating downhill like a pro.
Suffice it to say, Nintendo managed to impress her. "I think it's fantastic, actually. As far as videogames go," Mary admits with a touch of enthusiasm. "I think that it's great for families, great for parties... I can't believe that I would actually consider going out and buying one, but I am. I almost wish I hadn't purchased a GameCube six months ago."
The best feature of the Wii is that it's not just staring at a screen and pressing buttons, according to Mary. "What I love the most about the Wii is the fact that it's fully interactive. I love the [Wii Sports] games, those are great!"
One of the problems with conventional controllers is that they look and feel complicated to those who haven't kept up over the last 20 years. Mary admits to feeling uncomfortable with the GameCube controller. "I don't really know what I'm doing," she says, shrugging and shaking her head, "it's like, hit A, B, A, B, A, B. I see that something's happening on the screen, but..."
She loves that the Wii Remote goes far beyond that in many ways, but despite it being more inviting and wanting to know how to use it, the ease of transition wasn't immediate. "I just haven't spent enough time with it. Given, even a week, I'd probably feel very comfortable with the controller. I would get the hang of it and get more comfortable. It's pretty simple logic, if you're going to hit the ball as you would, or if you're going to shoot, push A or move the controllers up and down or to and away from the screen... but its different because you're playing a videogame and you, not forget that it's interactive, but you have to remember to do those things."
About the Wii itself, Nintendo looks to have hit home on their goal to make it appealing to moms. "It's small and portable, I think it's really nice," Mary says. "It looks pretty simple to hook up and set up. It's great that the Wii is not a huge monster box."
Before getting to play any games, Mary was briefed on how to create a Mii. HairyMelon, a spoonerism of her given name, was born shortly thereafter. The idea of playing as yourself as opposed to a pre-made character hadn't really sunk in until I brought it up. "That's a great concept," she laughingly remarks. "Someone is obviously incredibly clever. You can create a character, play as your character every time, and it keeps track of everything that you do. That's a neat feature. It's awesome [having people you know on your baseball team]."
HairyMelon, bowling
Wii Sports is the obvious place to start when introducing Wii games to newcomers. Mary was smiling and having fun throughout her play time. Whether rallying a tennis ball or trying to pick up a spare, she managed the controls with minimal explanation. In fact, Mary even managed to knock me out in a round of boxing (and she also beat me down a course in Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, but that's beside the point). "I like them all," Mary responds to my asking which sport she liked best. "I was very surprised by the boxing, that I was actually sweating. I couldn't believe it. It floored me that I could play a videogame and actually sweat. The bowling is a lot of fun, they were all fun. Wii Sports is fantastic."
