THE WII

New console releases from Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo will determine the future of video games for the next half decade. Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 late in 2005 to get a head start on the competition--Sony and Nintendo will launch their new consoles this year. The Xbox 360 sports excellent hardware and a robust Xbox Live online platform, plus Microsoft has pockets deeper than the Mariana Trench. The PlayStation 3 will be just as powerful, with advanced Nvidia graphics, a custom-designed IBM Cell processor, and new Blu-ray drive technology. And Nintendo will have a new controller that bares a striking resemblance to a television remote control.

If there's one console manufacturer that marches to the beat of a different drummer, it has to be Nintendo. The originator of the modern console-gaming era has been a traditional player in every single console generation, first with the Nintendo Entertainment System, then with the Super NES, then with the Nintendo 64, and now with the Nintendo GameCube. But Nintendo promises that its next console system, the Wii, will be a major departure from the current console CPU and graphics-hardware arms race.

Instead of putting together an expensive box with impressive hardware specifications like the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, Nintendo decided to set its Wii system apart by offering innovative gameplay with a new motion-sensitive controller. The Wii's gyroscope controller will take users away from the gamepad interface and make game control more intuitive. For instance, we're used to pressing buttons in a certain sequence to cast a line in a fishing game, but on the Wii, expect to pull the controller back and then whip it forward in a real casting motion to get that line out. It's this kind of gameplay that will make the Wii completely

Nintendo has been fairly secretive about its new console after announcing it at E3 last year. We know it has an IBM processor and an ATI graphics chip. It's rumored to be two to three times as powerful as the GameCube, but we may never discover the final hardware specifications because Nintendo believes that comparisons should be based on the quality of the games, not on numbers in a specification list.

Nintendo is wise to leave its spec sheet at home, as the forthcoming Wii will likely not be able to compete with the PlayStation 3 or the Xbox 360 in terms of pure silicon brawn. The PS3 and Xbox 360 have specification sheets a mile long, littered with numbers and lots of technical jargon, some of great import and others of little consequence.

(The wii has a simply looking backside)        (A top panel opens to reveal memory and game cube ports)

Nintendo's hardware won't let it run with the big boys when it comes to powering high-resolution displays like HDTVs. While the Xbox 360 renders graphics at 1280x720 (or 720p), and Sony claims that the PlayStation 3 will render at 1920x1080 (or 1080p), the Wii will output at 853x480 (or 480p). The good news--you won't need a brand-new HDTV to take full advantage of the Wii.

The Wii will have a Wii Channel menu system that will offer a selection of information and communication applications designed to make the console a daily visit for everyone in the house. Nintendo demonstrated a forecast channel that will report local weather forecast information updated over the Internet and a news channel that will display the latest news information. Built-in applications include the photo channel, which will let Wii owners view and edit photos stored on an SD memory card, and the Wii message board, which will let people leave messages for each other on the Wii system. You can send messages to other Wii owners via the free WiiConnect24 service. For an undisclosed number of Wii currency points, you can purchase an Opera Web browser that will let you use the Wii to browse the Web from the Internet channel.

On the gaming side, the Mii Channel will let users customize their own personal avatars that they can use to insert themselves into Mii-enabled games such as Wii Sports. Users will be able to store their Mii avatars in the Wii controller for easy transport to another console. Nintendo will also give Wii owners access to more than 20 years of games by making Nintendo Entertainment System, Super NES, and Nintendo 64 games available for purchase online via the Virtual Console. Once a game is downloaded it will appear in the Wii Channel menu as a launch selection. At the 2006 Game Developers Conference, Nintendo announced backward compatibility for the Sega Genesis and Hudson's TurboGrafx-16. The Wii will also be able to play GameCube games, and Nintendo will release a Wii edition of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess with special controller support.

-The ReVoLuTiOn....

((Some of the games pictures of WII))