Bilnick

The games (Tetris, Mario Kart, etc.) that are wi-fi compatible have the setup options. I don't think there is any way to access them without a wi-fi game.

I play this game. It is alot of fun, and I have not even tried the online portion of it yet. It seems that many of the people have supercars while I am still plugging along with a Mustang GT or Corvette at the moment. Some guy challenged me to an instant race while I was driving a 60's Camaro with his supercar....I saw him for about 4 seconds....whatever. I have only visited a small portion of the island thusfar, the scale of the game is really impressive. It was a smart move by the designers to allow warping to markers the player has already visited. Driving 10-15 minutes to get to a destination every time would not be fun. There is some popup, but overall a very good game at a very nice price (I paid around $40).

Pack in the new Zelda or Mario and charge $250 and you would hear no complaints. Nintendo has usually put a premier game as a pack in. Mario World on the SNES and Super Mario Brothers on the NES come to mind. Take Wii Sports out and charge $225 and I would be happier.

Thanks for the answers. I figured there would be a sensor or two to mount on my tv. I hope the cords are plenty long enough or at least a "standard" type connector that I can buy an extension cable if it is not long enough. I certainly hope the Wii has demos available for download. The 360 has spoiled me on try before I buy. I don't have to subscribe to the magazines with demo discs or rent a game before I try it. I noticed that many of the 360 demos are close to 1gb. I guess I should buy a 2gb card with the system.

Are there sensors that I am going to have to velcro to the top of my television for the motion sensing remote to work? If so...how many of them? I remember some older light guns (Sega Saturn era) not working very well with my projection television. What about this remote? 512mb of internal storage will not last very long if Nintendo makes demos available like the Xbox 360. The 20gb hard drive on my 360 seems small already less than a year later.

I would prefer they knock $50 off the price and let me choose which game I want with the system. How are games and downloads saved? Am I going to have to spend an extra $10-$50 for an SD Card to save my progress in Zelda or download Chrono Trigger? If so, all of a sudden my $200 console is approaching $300. Will there be any original games for the VC? My experience with the Xbox Live Arcade has been that I buy and play the new releases like Geometry Wars, Feeding Fenzy, or Mutant Storm more than Galaga, Smash TV, or Gauntlet. I already owned almost all the classic titles, the ones I did buy were mostly online capable. I think the motion control scheme will be good for "quick dose" games. Games that take 10-15 minutes each. I see it getting old for longer games. Online play....what is the story here? I have read that 3rd party games will not be online at all initially. True? I will attempt to buy one on launch day.

I do not think you have to worry much about a launch day console not being reliable. I will buy a PS3 and Wii on or as close to launch date as I can. No console manufacturer has a spot free record as far as reported problems. My Gamecube is the only launch day console I have ever had fail, died Christmas day 2005.

Has Nintendo even said how much anything will cost? I have read that the system itself will retail for less than $250, which I assume means $249.99. I have seen some people on here say $199, if this is true, why wouldn't Nintendo say the wii will cost less than $200?

On the Xbox 360 downloads are tied to the Xbox Live account. If you paid for a download, and later delete it to clear out hard drive room or whatever, you can download the same game again no charge. I have not tried logging into my Live account on another 360 and seeing if I could download the games and play them.

Ahh cool, I will have to call nintendo and see what they say. Its kind of funny that the company with seemingly the best reputation for building durable systems I have had the most problems with. My NES was just terrible after a while for reading games, but I think most people just accepted it. I have met very few people who did not have a problematic NES. My Gamecube worked fine one day, then poof, wouldn't completely boot any game. I tried a bunch of different discs, gently brushing the laser, etc.

Even after warranty? My launch day Gamecube crapped out the day after Christmas 2005. I just went out and bought a new one, kids wanted to play thier new games. My Gamecube is the only system I ever had fail, but I assumed since it was way after the warranty that to fix it would be more problem than it was worth.

I think all the new systems will be very popular this holiday season. The manufacturer that can supply the most consoles will probably sell the most consoles this holiday season. I think Sony has said they hope to have 4-5 million worldwide by the end of the year (I could be wrong about that number) Considering Sony is having a worldwide launch, that leaves 1.5 million units for North America, and that is being optimistic. PS3's will be hard to find this year, even at a 500-600 dollar price point. Nintendo kind of concerns me. I have a bad feeling that the reason they did not tell us how much thier new console is going to cost, is because it is going to cost more than most people expect. If they were planning on selling it for 200 dollars they should have said so, it would have been even more publicity for them at E3. Who knows what will come with it? Will I need to buy the SNES/Dual Shock looking joypad for 40$ in addition to the console? Shell out another 40 dollars for memory cards? Suddenly a $250 dollar console cost me 300-350 dollars. Nintendo still hasn't set a release date, and they are having a worldwide launch, which sounds like shortages for this year as well. Microsoft seems to have put themselves in position to clean up this holiday season. Xbox 360's second generation of games that will be on the shelf will look as good as any PS3 game. Xbox 360 will be cheaper than the PS3. There should be plenty of 360's on the shelf, and a wider selection of games. But Sony is right, they will sell all the PS3 systems they can produce this year, I would be surprised if they didn't.

The Gemini controllers came with a Y connector to play 2 player paddle games with.

I would have liked to see both versions of Zelda running side by side to contrast the differences between the GC and the wii versions. I assume the wii version will be better graphically, Nintendo should have shown it. All I really saw was a new controller.

I semi watched the press conference on the web. Didn't hear alot that made me want to run out and buy the next Nintendo console. Most of the games I saw were sequels...Zelda, Mario, Metroid, Star Fox, Final Fantasy, Diddy Kong Racing etc. etc. etc. No different than Sony or Microsoft I guess. The controller sort of looked fun, but I hope you have a big living room if more than one person starts flailing about. I am still not sold though. If I really wanted to swing a tennis racket, I would just go play tennis. Most of the time, I just want to relax on my couch and unwind while I enjoy games, not hop around. No price? No release date? Can these games be played online? What does this do that the Gamecube cannot? What does it do that the Xbox 360 or PS3 cannot? (Hopefully it won't drain my bank account like the PS3 would if I choose to buy one.)

When the gamecube powers up, whatever position the stick is in is the neutral or home position. So if the stick is pressed one way or another (or a kid is messing around with it) when you power up your GC, the center position will not be neutral. Powering down the console is one way to fix it, and there is a button combination that will reset your controllers (but I do not remember it at this time).

If I had to get rid of all my consoles and keep only one I would keep my Xbox 360. Of all the systems I have right now, it is the one console that will probably have significant new game releases for the next 4-5 years, not to mention classic game compilations. The NES would be my choice for favorite system of all time, despite the fact that 1/4 of the play time is spent cleaning cartridges, and dealing with the idiotic toaster design.

I love the Xbox Live arcade for the 360. Geometry Wars Evolved is highly addicting. The ability to play Smash TV or Gauntlet online is a nice bonus. Trying before you buy is also great. Xbox Live Arcade is perfect for a quick 15 minute dose of gaming.

Vibration is certainly feedback, not force feedback. Force feedback would change the force needed to move or press the buttons or analog sticks/joypad. The vibration function does not exert any force on the buttons or analog sticks in any of the games I have played for the Xbox 360

Xbox 360 controllers do not have force feedback, they have a vibration function. As I unerstand it, force feedback would actually push back on the stick or buttons. Many steering wheels have force feedback, they push back when you turn a corner for instance. That being said, the 360 wireless controllers are excellent.

The Coleco Gemini 2600 clone came with these splitters. Each controller had a joystick and a paddle, to to use the paddle part, you connected the controllers to the Y connector.

The wireless controllers come with a module to hold two AA batteries. The rechargeable battery pack is not required. I still have the original 2 AA batteries in one of my controllers. (I got the system on launch day) I have the rechargable battery pack in the other. I think the manual said that AA batteries last for around 25 hours. Battery life for standard or the rechargeable pack seems pretty good. The plug and play kit has a USB cable and a rechargeable battery for around $20. Unless you think you will need to charge 2 (or more) controllers at once you only need one cable. The rechargeable battery by itself is around $10. (but of course you need the recharging cable first)

The article in the link was posted April 1st.......