I acquired a second Wii-mote for playing Monkey Ball and some other games and have been having issues.... It seems very difficult to connect the wii-mote to the wii and keep it there.  The wii-mote that came with the system is perfect, unflinching in its ability to connect and stay connected.  The new one I purchased last week seems reluctant to connect and when I do get it connected will not stay connected when I load the "game channel".  I can then get it to reconnect after loading the game (with some effort) and then play the game with no problems. When I exit the game, the store bought controller then shuts off again needing to be reconnected.

Anyone got any ideas?  I suppose I could read the instructions and find out what I am doing wrong, but that seems too easy.  I might assume that there is something the red "sync" button in the battery compartment.  I suppose that is my best option.

I could not buy Wii Play yesterday and snow has impeeded the process of looking for it today.  I should not have even driven to work today, but now that I am here I find that no one else tried and I have plenty of time to catch up on here.

I have been traveling through Zelda quite tirelessly (snow yesterday made me miss work to play more Zelda).  Its a good storyline and has some interesting stuff in it.  I am happy to report a significant lack (so far) in "running around".  No back tracking just to talk to one person and then come back.  The flow is fairly good.

....snow sucks...

**UPDATE**

Apparently reading the instrcutions does help.  I found something about sync-ing the new wii-mote to the console.  I will try it when I get home tonight.  (It was that little red button, apparantly there is one on the console too.)

I have been trying to pour through Trauma Center so I could have it completed before I started ZELDA.  I failed.  I could not wait any longer and I could not really determine how many more operations there could be in Trauma Center.  I sat down last evening and put in Zelda and played for an hour...  I could tell I barely scratched the surface.  I am excited.  I can see the Wii-mote being both a blessing and a curse in the game, but I think it will work nicely and not hinder the gameplay.

I had a Super Bowl party and my parents and sister came over.  Before the game my sister wanted to show my parents what the Wii had to offer.  My sister has never bought a system of any kind and only plays on occasion.  She is considering actually getting a Wii herself.  The only real party games I had were Wii Sports (obviously) and Wario Ware.  My mom and dad had not played a game since the Original Super Mario on NES and both of the died at the first goomba.  They were impressed, and a little winded, after a few boxing matches.  So we toned it down a little and decided some bowling was on order.  I only have one Wii-mote so group play had to be selected carefully.  My parents really liked the bowling and we were having a good time.  I think I might start organizing Wii parties or something.  Just for fun.

COLTS WON THE SUPER BOWL!!!

I have been playing through Trauma Center with relentless ambition.  I continue to save lives and mend wounds through the games numerous surgical events.  The storyline itself seems absurd, but the actual game play is very well done and explained.  I have a bit of trouble using the nun chuck of the Wii to select what tool I need in the heat of moment, but it hasn't hindered my progress to the point of being a flaw.  I loathe the "Healing Touch" super power Dr. Stiles receives in the game due to a virtual impossibility of use and almost no situation where its use is absolutely necessary (on easy or normal modes).  I cannot do it "on-the-fly" and cannot usually perform the simple task on the first try.  It usually takes about 5 attempts before it actually works.  I have discovered, though, the larger I draw the Star required, the more likely it is to work.  I suppose I should just practice it more...

I also have made a once over of Wario Ware.  While almost the entire single game mode takes very little time to work through, the mini games are so spastic and outrageous that replay becomes almost inevitable.  I still have much to unlock in the game and will return to it soon, but I want to finish Trauma Center first and Zelda keeps staring at me from the shelf wondering why it has yet to be played.  I know that once I start it, I will do nothing else until it is completed.

I also am waiting for Wii Play to come out in two weeks.  I will have to work that in sometime also.

I thought I had one more day to spend on Call of Duty 3, but I was wrong and my Wii console showed up at my doorstep today.  It was sitting in the cold on my front porch for who knows how long and any looky-loo could have seen it, but there it was in all its glory.

I am thrilled to get it and have been playing Wii Sports just to get used to the controller.  I dont understand the boxing very well... I dont know if I just dont get it or what, but I cant ever seem to make the boxer do what I want... I played about 6 rounds and won them all somehow.  This one might go on the back burner so that I may start my epic quest of ZELDA, or save lives in Trauma Center.  Either way I am set on games for a while.

Ahh sweet satisfaction....

My Wii Code is: 8647-2258-4543-6097

So I recieved my 5 games for my Wii today... I suppose thats good... But I seem to be missing something... Oh right, uh... I still dont have the system.. Thats okay though... the end of the week or next Monday by the latest... I just have to stare at the games till then...

On another note... I beat Resistance: Fall of Man... It was great... I should write a review or something... I have to say that it was pretty good, but I wasnt overly impressed with some of the weapons, though... It was a pretty good story, but the ending was not quite complete, I guess, but not to ruin it...

I could spend time trying to unlock all the bonus content, but I dont think I will be doing it anytime soon, because I have already started Call of Duty 3... I am actually disappointed in it.  It has some problems with framerate and AI that make it annoying... The enemies arent too bad, but the AI on your team just get in the way... and the weapons dont aim as well as I remember them doing in Call of Duty 2... Maybe its because I just got finished with Resistance and am compairing the two... I would have to say that, so far, Resistance was better than Call of Duty, but I am only about a third of the way through, it could get better... and when it does, I'll be ready...

I get a Wii in 7 days.........

COLTS IN THE SUPER BOWL!!

Not ten seconds after my last post did I got to Walmart.com and find that they had just the Wii + 6 games available to order!!! This was the best deal I've seen yet, except there really arent 6 games I want for the system yet, but that didnt stop me from ordering it...The 6 games I got are:

Zelda (obviously)

Wario Ware (Sweet)

Elebits (eh.. probably will play)

NFS: Carbon (Not a race fan)

Trauma Center: Second Opinion (wanted)

and.... SC: Double Agent (eh... we will see)

This seems to be okay, because it doesnt come with extra controllers and memcards that I dont really want right now... no year warranty I dont need (knock on wood)... just 6 games... I figure I can return them to walmart if I dont want them (unopened) with "no receipt".

The delivery date is set for between 6 to 11 days from today, so thats not bad and gives me time to finish of some PS3 stuff (Resistance and COD3)...

On a separate note:  GO COLTS!!!

There is a website (www.towerrecords.com) that has ALL their games and software and other titles at 25% off.  Normally this would not be worth noting except that includes all PS3 and Wii titles.  I am sitting here contemplating buying some Wii games.  For those of you keeping track, I dont not have a Wii yet.  I plan on getting one as soon as possible.  I am considering buying games for system I dont have yet just so I can get them on sale.  Is that bad?  I could get 4 games for the price of 3... thats a pretty good price... hmmm....

I'm a foolish soul

In a testament to the older generation consoles, the Virtual Console (including XLA) allows us to play games once lost to our memories.  We get a renewed sense of achievement and purpose delivered to us through downloads.  We get to play games that raised us and motivated us to continue our gaming quest.  It returns us to a simpler time, a good time, a time of fewer buttons, epic quests, and 8-bit graphics.  It allows the younger generation a chance to see what we played in our youth.  I am happy to see the return of some of the classics. However, a disturbing trend has formed with the virtual console: The Re-Review.  I find it disturbing to treat theses games as "new releases" and rate them as you would any other new release.  I know Mario is great.  He was great 20 years ago and it still hasn't changed.  Fine, good.  Its just like it was.  Grasp for all the nostalgia you need, but actually giving it a tangible rating seems a little over the top.  We rate it by different standards, but put it on the same scale as recent games.

I was shocked to see so many XLA games make it into the GameSpot lists for Games of the Year.  One even went so far as to win an award! (Best Fighting Game)

In conclusion:

Virtual Console = Good

XLA = Good

Reviewing Games that we reviewed in their prime = Bad

I suppose I just hadn't complained in awhile.  I wanted this to be meaningful, but I think it turned out poorly.  I hope I at least conveyed my point clearly.

Upon the recent purchase of a PS3, I spend the first few hours setting it up and playing in the dashboard.  I set up the internet and then started shopping the online store for free goodies.  I came across 2 particularly interesting things.  First the GTHD concept gameplay.  I raced for awhile and found that it looked amazing in 1080i on my 62" DLP TV.  That was cool. Second I found Go!Sudoku.  I downloaded it, which took very little time, and decided to give it a whirl.  Its Sudoku and no matter how you dress it, its still the same thing.  I sat there staring at the first puzzle and thought to myself that I was using my very expensive game system to play something they give out for free in the newspaper everyday.  Not only that, but it was in 1080i, sweet.  Technology has come a long way.  There was a problem, though.  With all the visuals they added it was hard to actually focus and see the puzzle.  The background was swirling with dark colors that blended with the tiles and numbers... I could not focus and could not look at a Sudoku the way I normally would.  It was distracting.  I looked for a way to remove the background and just have the puzzle remain to no avail.  After one puzzle I stopped and put in (finally) Resistance: Fall of Man.

Unfortunately for me, I am not that great at FPS with a controller.  I usually am on my PC using a mouse and keyboard (not WASD).  I usually save the consoles for games that require less... precision.  Resistance is a fun game though and I am enjoying it.  Its kind of a strange story about Nathan Hale, the only guy on the planet that cannot be totally infected by the chimera.  The first couple levels (areas) are fairly difficult because you have no way to regenerate any life.  So if you take a lot of damage at one point you better aim well and have some luck.  The chimera are decent shots and seem to use cover fairly well.  After a while though you get a little bit of a regen ability and the ability to use chimera medical supplies, making living a little easier.  And its all explained in the storyline why you can regenerate and use chimera meds.  I really like what they did with the health system.  I like this game so far, but I want to get deeper into it before I draw any final conclusions.

I also played a free-for-all mêlée on the internet, but was somewhat disappointed, because there were 28 people playing and sometimes you would respawn right next to people, making one of you an easy target.  It seemed cramped.  It ran smoothly, though, and still looked good, maybe I just got a small map.  I wonder if the more single player I get through, I will unlock more multiplayer stuff: maps, weapons, etc?

I want to upload some video of it, but I don't have good way of doing it besides a web-cam aimed at the TV at a horrible angle.  I also want to get into the video blogging but I have a tendency to ramble and be incoherent (if you have yet to notice).  My PC might not want to keep up with that either especially with just a crappy webcam... I need to invest in a good video camera, but I am broke for now and would rather save the little money I do have for a Wii...

I waited outside of Best Buy again this weekend only to be disappointed again.  They still had no Wii's.  They said they got some on like Wednesday and sold them all... They are of ZERO help when it comes to telling you when they might get some.  They are like, "They could come in any day around 11."  That's Helpful.

On another note, I gave in, possibly making myself a hypocrite, I did find a 60GB PS3 and bought that.  Best Buy had about 30 or 40 of them.  I got mine at Target though, because they opened earlier than Best Buy (I was looking for a Wii).

So I give up.  I will no longer search for a Wii.  I will just wait until I stumble across one.  I figure Zelda will still be awesome in March and by then some more games will be available.  (And I might have some more MONEY!)

As for the PS3, I haven't even had a chance to play it due to the New Year and stuff like that.  I had a chance to hook it up (with the $30 HDMI cable I had to get separately), and let me tell you that dashboard looks sweet on a 62" TV in 720p (note the sarcasm).  I hope Resistance looks as good.  I only had a chance to get it hooked into the wireless internet.