05.02.07
Nintendo Wii - Real Live versus Virtual Life (0-1)
I just bowled a 279 on my Nintendo Wii.
That’s right 279. I bowled a spare. Then 9 strikes. Then a spare. I missed two pins.
Here is a picture
I think my best game in real life is probably a 165 or so.
For those of you that don’t know what a Wii is, it is a new game system from Nintendo that uses a unique kind of controller. The Wii controller is wireless, and you wield it about in your hand like a tool, replicating many real life motions in the games you play.
So, in the bowling game of Wii Sports, which comes free with the Wii, you hold the controller like the handle of a sword. You lift your hand, as you would the ball in bowling. You click the B button, below the handle of the controller, and while holding B down, you bring your arm back and then forward again, copying the kind of motion you are used to going through at an actual alley. If you twist your wrist along the way, you can alter the spin of the ball, so you can throw curling shots like a pro. It is a total blast.
To me, it has the thrill of a real bowling experience without the elbow and shoulder pain you get in real life from chucking the ball around. And you aren’t in a smoke filled barn full of hicks with classic rock blasting in the background. (Ok, so maybe you are, but how your house looks is your business buddy!)
On your Wii, you create a Mii, a personalized avatar that is a character you can play as in games. My Mii is named Monkey, and looks very much like what I looked like in my band days about 3 years ago. Check out Sahar’s Mii (codename Cutie).
Virtual Life fills a need not easily filled by Real Life - the desire to see oneself perfected in an abstract form. How beautiful the cut edges of a perfectly rounded jaw. How flawless the spin of a virtual ball shattering down the alley. But it’s not a contest. Not really. It’s just a different aspect of the human funktionlust.