Inspired by Brian’s previous post, PS3, Lessons Learnt, I thought I would do the same for my newly acquired Nintendo Wii.
First of all the Wii is unlike any console before it, and to that end my first tip is unlike anything you’d read in a tip section on any other platform. Stretch! That’s right the Wii is a rather physical beast, after spending a little over two hours playing Wii Sports (which comes free with every Wii) I felt like I had a good workout. Two days later I knew I’d had a good workout thanks to a sore… well just about everything actually. So like all forms of exercise before having a long gaming session on the Wii make sure you take some time to do basic stretches, it will help ease the pain the next day.
Next up is get some friends. Unlike the Xbox 360 it’s not exactly easy to find friends on the Wii thanks mostly to a gamertag being replaced with 16 digit code (mine is 3917 0147 8445 8250) which you have to tell your friends via email, sms, phone call, you know the old school way. Once your friends have your code you’ll also need their code to complete the “transaction”. Needless to say this isn’t a perfect system but pulling off an Xbox LIVE competitor is no easy task.
Charge charge charge. The Wiimote (the controller for the Wii) doesn’t come with rechargeable batteries, just standard AA’s. The battery life isn’t great so you’ll consume batteries like Brain and Wugga drink orange juice at a Sony launch event. The solution, get yourself a good set of 4 rechargeable’s so you’ve always got fully charged set waiting. It’s a better way of keeping the gaming going and reduces the number of battery’s being dumped into the environment. On a side note if you want to check the battery life of your Wiimote without turning the console on, just press any button (except the power button) and the blue player indicator lights at the base will light up from 1-4 lights according to battery life.
Ok last one for today, change channel layout. The main interface of the Wii is based around the concept of channels, each channel is displayed as a button and by default is displayed in a set order. To change the order the channels are displayed in move your cursor over the channel you want to move, Press and hold the A and B buttons then move the channel to the desired location and release the A and B button.
Well there you have it, my tips on using the Wii. If you have any tips or tricks of your own you’d like to share with the class, please let us know in the comments.
[Update] To find your 16 digit Wii Code from the Wii main menu > go to the message board (icon in the lower right) > create a message > click on the address book > your Wii Code will be on the first page.