Gaming for the first time again

I just played the Nintendo Wii and I felt something that I haven't felt for a long time (no, not an urge to blog, but that fits in this equation too). Fun. It was like playing games for the first time again. The Wii brought my inner child to light and made me look like a fool swinging that Wiimote around, but I didn't care, I was too busy enjoying myself. Before the Wii, I had been in a slump, I had Xbox, recently purchased a PS2 and most recently, Xbox 360, but those just felt like there was something missing.

I had purchased a PS2 late into its life cycle, allowing me to catch up on a few games that I had been dying to play. I enjoyed them, but I was never really that into them, they felt like diversions and failed to hold my interest. The 360 was the first next-gen system to market and I had gotten one a couple months after launch, but never really enjoyed myself. I eventually sold it and came into another one just a month or so ago, but I still felt that void. The 360 offered nothing new, just the same damn generic games I've been playing all my life, except they were prettier, that's it. After completing Gears of War, which was enjoyable, albeit overrated, short and anticlimactic, I was burnt out. Shooting people had gotten old and I was in a rut that would need more than pretty graphics to fix. Enter the Wii.

A friend of mine got a Wii and invited me over to play it. Before this, I had only briefly tried Zelda at GameStop and wasn't blown away. Once I got there, we played Wii Play, a game reminiscent of air hockey, I got my ass kicked, but I was still learning the ropes. After this came something surprisingly fun, Wii Sports bowling. 4 people gathered around the TV, tossing virtual bowling balls down a lane and it was amazing. Golf, baseball, boxing and tennis followed. We all probably looked foolish, but it didn't matter, it was a blast to play and the simple gameplay with the new control scheme was indeed revolutionary. Learning the Wiimote barely took any time and I even bowled the first strike of the night. I had an incredible time and I couldn't believe that something so simple could offer so much fun. It's no wonder why the Wii won't stop selling, Nintendo hit gold here, offering something to draw in new gamers and to make sure the old, cynical gamers like myself have some fun. Laughs and smiles were plentiful and the exuberant amount of fun I had made me feel like I was playing games for the first time again.