Wii impressions: The console

Two of the things that struck me when I first saw the early images of the Wii was that it was a) pretty and discreet and b) a total Apple design ripoff. It is clearly the most attractive of the consoles with it's clean lines and very focused design, a move that was surprising coming from Nintendo. Next thing you know MS will produce a console that is not only small but quiet! The first images of the wii-mote were of course shocking but made more sense when the concept was clearly defined. Lookwise it could hardly be much more pleasing.

Upon holding it, touching it and looking more closely at it nothing really changed. It maintained my impression of subtlety and is an item quite easily placed in the living room. The wii-mote sits pretty well in the hand but took a little time to get used to. It was however perfect weightwise, feeling just right in terms of movement. I was also surprised at how little I noticed the accelerometer. The nunchuck was far lighter than expected but sat well in the hand. All the buttons were nicely responsive and the controllers were generally satisfying initially.

One thing I thought stuck out as unattractive in the design was the thin spindly wire between the sensor bar and the console. The sensor bar itself was however small and easy to hide. On the whole the look and feel of the components was mostly unified and lived up to my expectations, a reassuring fact when faced with a design that diverges from what has been the case previously. Nintendo have stepped up their game designwise and made their most appealing home console design since the NES pad.

I have yet to try the Classic Controller and the security strap hasn't been broken in my presence yet, but I asume these events will take place in due time.