While Manhattan may be an island, I’m not used to seeing sand in Times Square. Today, Nintendo was busy promoting Wii Sports Resort – the sequel to Wii Sports. Kiosks were playing the latest Nintendo hit, which is not available until 7/26/2009. While kids of all ages huddled around the flashy screens, others were relaxing in lawn chairs. I’m always impressed by the nonchalant attitude of New Yorkers. The majority of the populous can handle most unusual circumstances with nonchalance. In the middle of a busy city intersection. I didn’t see a whole lot of commotion, not a whole lot of fuss, just a cool event in the middle of a hot city.
While the original Wii Sports had five games, Wii Sports Resort has twelve – Archery, Frisbee®, Basketball, Cycling, Canoeing, Power Cruising, Table Tennis, Air Sports, Bowling, Swordplay, Golf and Wakeboarding. I didn’t have enough time to play, but I did get to see the new game in action. The action on the screen didn’t equal the reaction from the players. As I looked around at the crowd, there were a lot of mesmerized faces.
But is it good enough? Right now, Wii Sports Resort is not on the top of my list of must have video games. The novelty has worn off. I’m moving into PlayStation 3 territory. Yet, there’s a certain allure by the sheer cuteness of Wii Sports Resort. It looks like a relaxing game and it’s family friendly. I’ll probably pick up this game in the future. There’s also the added benefit of the Wii Motion Plus add-on, which is designed to increase the sensitivity of the Wiimote. I have little doubt that this is going to be a popular game for the holiday shopping season. It’s a great gift idea for those who enjoyed the original.
If I owned a Wii this would be an exciting game to have, I’m interested in the swordplay mini-game. I’ve always been interested in sword-fighting, and few games can actually mimic the slash & gash or the slice & dice of traditional swordplay. But with the unique-ness of the Wiimote I think this would be an interesting game. Imagine playing online and facing your screen as if you were actually sword-fighting somebody…