I have a love-hate relationship with my Wii. I was initially blown away by it... and then
became increasingly frustrated by the absence of third party games that actually utilized
the Wiimote properly. There has been a complete lack of any coherent online play in most
titles coupled with the absolute s*** graphics (due mostly to a lack of effort). Oh, and the
fact that there isn't nearly enough HD space means that Wii owners get gimped versions of
games like Rock Band.

Why is the best boxing game on the system still Wii Sports, which itself is little more than a
tech demo? Why are most releases just shovelware from the PS2 with tacked-on Wii
controls? Finally, why does it feel like many first-party titles are being dumbed down (see
Mario Galaxy's laughable difficultly).


[i] This may look like a still image, but it's actually a real-time feed of SSBB being
played online... [/i]

That said, the recent releases of Boom Blox, Mario Kart Wii and WiiWare have given me
some new hope. After SSBB's travesty of an online mode, Mario Kart Wii actually got it
right; and at least the game *tried* to have some major Wiimote functionality. Boom Blox
is pure awesomeness, and is one of the best uses of the Wii controls yet.

Which brings us to WiiWare. The only title I've downloaded so far has been LostWinds,
which I beat last night. If this game is a hint of what's to come for WiiWare, then get
excited! It's original, features beautiful art design, and makes excellent use of the Wii's
controls. If you own a Wii, you really ought to download this game.

Now if Nintendo would only solve the HD problem (maybe by allowing games to run off of
SD cards?), Wii owners could be in for a much brighter future...