Saturday, May 26, 2007

Havin' a Wii Bit O' Fun

I now understand how some physiotherapists are using the Nintendo Wii - that console is awesome! James H. had just bought one, and I went over for some BBQ burgers, beer and Wii. We chatted for a while outside on his deck, ate, then went Wii'ing. (image taken from Penny-Arcade comic, all rights are theirs, blah blah blah)

I suppose I should explain a bit. The main controller looks like a very very simple TV remote. No cords, either. You can then attach the nunchukas piece to the bottom of it if you want a controller in each hand. We just used single controllers each. The whole system is based around real-time movement, not just up/down/side but also forward and backward (in the case of playing Wii Pool and Boxing). Jimmy and I played Tennis for a while, laughing our asses off at our goofs, and getting way too into it. Nick jumped in for a bit when we started playing Bowling.

Then... the Idea. Nick: "What if we move the TV and Wii into the kitchen window so we can play from the back deck?" That met with unanimous approval, and it was done. It worked great. We played Golf for about 3 hours or more, then went back to Tennis for a bit, then James and I tried out a few other games, and took a look at Paper Mario. That game was nuts. You could go from 2-D to 3-D, though the storyline junk was more than a tad innane.

By 11:30, we were gettin' hungry (and had gone through about 20 bottles of beer), so we ordered in some food and carried on... until quarter after two in the morning.

In other news, been quite busy socially these past few weeks. Angie was up on Saturday for Suzi and Jamie's turducken feast (which was amazing). Then we went to Vankleek Hill with Adam to check out the May Show on Sunday, which didn't work. By the time we finished visiting with Michael and Tommy, Adam's old neighbours, the stalls and everything on Main Street were being put away. So we trundled down across the railroad tracks to Beau's All Natural Brewing Company grand opening. Saw some old faces: Steve-O (co-owner) and Jamie Kaufman (Ottawa sales rep). Good beer, fun tour, and a good chance to see what high-school folks have been up to. I also bought a 1/2 gallon of beer. Hey, 2 litres of good beer for $15? Giddy-up! Had a great and relaxing few days with Angie.

I came back from VKH on Tuesday, and had my first Black Company D&D game with Spencer and Tyler that afternoon/evening. All went pretty well, I think. "Will they escape from Roses? Will they be able to reconcile their diamentrically opposed views? Will Tyler stop rolling 1s? Find out!" Next game is next Friday. Wednesday was quiet day, and Thursday I got together with Roger, Scott and Kelly. That was fantastic, and makes me wonder why we'd never done it before. It's certainly something we'll have to do more regularly, at any rate. Yesterday I was obviously over at Jimmy's playing Wii and drinking beer, today I'm house-sitting for Suzi & Jamie, and tomorrow Aaron and I are meeting up with Gaston and Pat for a beer and geek-speek (ie, we'll be talking about computer games, reminiscing about DAoC, and arguing about future MMOs).

Next week... I start work. Yay for income! I've been getting a tad restless lately, though I've gotten quite a bit of writing done. Not as much as I'd like, but that's par for the course. I finished reading "The White Rose" by Glen Cook (the third book in the first trilogy), and need to try to find "Shadow Games" at a used bookstore. All the other books (there are 10 total) are in print... except for freakin' "Shadow Games", which is the first novel in the second related trilogy. How stupid is that?

Okay, I've rambled enough.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

So you ARE still alive. I look forward to taking more bad photos and hearing (in greater detail) about your game-y game.

PG said...

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

That's like an orgasmic yes in French, thinking of it... Uhm! Must be coincidence. But then, until 2 AM? PLaying VIRTUAL bowling? Uhm, maybe there is na orgasmic quality to this console..

Well, glad you had some fun! New micro-brewery? Always interesting. New table-top game? Definitely always interesting.

Drop me an e-mail and let me know what mysterious job you are taking on.

Take care,

PG

Anonymous said...

me too- I want to know where you are going to be working! :)

Wayward Mind said...

Yup, I'm still alive. Just without wireless at the moment at Hypoxiaddict's place, watching the house. Damn Aaron set up the wireless way too well, and everyone else in the neighbourhood is using WEP or WAP. Damn their security-mindedness! What happened to the good ol' days of seeing 5 "default"-named networks?

I'll be working 4 weeks for the Senate, in publishing. Will be looking for something more permanent very soon.

And Wii is fun, PG. It's honestly something you should look into for Thalia and Elia. They'd love it. Lots of movement involved. Hell, for bowling you actually have to be standing, raise your arm, lower your arm and swing it back up. Any curves or twists will cause the ball to replicate those subtle movements realistically. It's a great console for kidlets.

Unknown said...

Sounds like fun. The Black Company is an odd series. It goes from gritty realism to almost childish fancies at times. And has no qualms with killing off every character but Croaker and exactly one other (that I won't mention).

I think my boss Jim has the rest of the series. I can check to see about borrowing them if you like.

P.S. If a character has a name like "The Dominator", he's not (just) into whips and chains. Don't screw with him.

Andy

PG said...

Hey! I hear some of the Senators like little boys. Are you sure you are not too old?

Wait! That was the US Senate. Phew, you're safe.

PG said...

(And yeah, I think the Wii would be a cool console, but the kids are getting WAYYYYYYYYYY too much computer time as it is...)