In the last week and a half, Nintendo's new arrival and I have bonded over late-night sessions with Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess. I've made a fool of myself playing Wii Sports. I've purchased and downloaded vintage console delights. And I've even spent a few hours with Rayman: Raving Rabbids. Now that the Wii pre-launch anticipation has faded into comfortable post-launch familiarity, I'm ready to share some select thoughts about our special time together.

I'm sticking primarily to the hardware features, though. As much as I'd love to regale you with tales of my toilet plunger projectile accuracy in Raving Rabbids and my intrepid exploration of Twilight Princess' dungeons, the games deserve their own articles. The same is probably true of most of the Wii's interface and online features, which to date haven't even fully launched. So I'm focusing on the plastic and silicon, as well as the Wii's Virtual Console and backwards compatibility features. Read on for details.

The Controller

Let's start with the aspect of the Wii that sets it apart from any current or past gaming system: the controller. The tiny, understated remote, at first glance, looks much like any standard TV remote. It fits neatly into the hand, granting easy access to several buttons and a D-pad, and as a pointing device it's no more complicated to use than a basic laser pointer. Yet looks can be deceiving. The Wii remote's reassuring simplicity belies the fact that its motion tracking capabilities are anything but familiar.

Even after about 20 hours with the Wii I'm still coming to terms with the fact that when I'm holding the controller the system knows exactly where my hands are and what they are doing. With the Wii controller, gaming takes on a whole new dimension, one involving actual physical space. And depending on the particular game, this space can include the immediate area around my hands or expand to fill the space between me and my TV. So it's not just about pushing buttons and control sticks. It's something entirely different.

You've probably noticed that there are wildly divergent opinions about the accuracy and practicality of the Wii controller out there. The control system is occasionally described as imprecise or characterized as physically demanding. For the most part, I've found it to be neither, but it really depends upon how the controller input and movement are implemented in individual games.

Some of the Wii Sports titles, for example, encourage large-scale, energetic physical movements that don't always create the expected in-game results. And within the Wii's own system menus, I've noticed minor pointer/cursor flickers and jitters. Both Twilight Princess and Raving Rabbids demonstrate smooth and precise target reticule movement, though. And Twilight Princess accurately and reliably replaces traditionally button-assigned actions with subtle and quick controller movements.

I can't help but note how alien the remote/nunchuck combination seems, at least when I really think about it. The thing is, when I'm playing a game I'm not thinking about it. I'm just playing. For every game I've played on the Wii, the hardware and control schemes have faded from my conscious attention as soon as I've tackled the learning curve. For some games the curve has been steeper than others, but in the end the interface has always eventually become transparent. And that, I think, is the defining quality of a good interface. As strange as the Wii's controller technology is, you eventually forget that it's there.

As far as the controller hardware is concerned, it seems well-built and relatively durable. The control stick and some of the buttons don't have the industrial-strength feel that I've grown accustomed to with the 360 controller, but for the most part everything feels solid and responsive. The inclusion of a speaker inside the remote was an absolutely inspired design choice, and even though its output is on the tinny side it still lends itself to some amazing effects. There's nothing quite like hearing the slice of a sword or crack of a baseball bat up close and personal, especially when accompanied by the remote's vibration feature.

The issue isn't whether or not the Wii's breakthrough controller technology works. It does. It's how well it gets applied in games. And like any other new technology, it's going to be a while before we see its full potential exploited. To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure if gamers' dreams of realistic Wii remote lightsaber duels will ever be fully realized. At this point I'm just pleased to confirm that the potential is there, and that I'm confident that creative and careful developers will find some amazing uses for the interface.

The Console

There's less to talk about in terms of the console unit itself. Yes, it's tiny, even when perched monolith-style atop its angled plastic stand (as Nintendo apparently prefers it to be displayed, given as that's how it's always pictured). When in its stand the Wii is quite stable, owing to a clear plastic disc that clips onto the bottom and provides a broader base of support. The front of the Wii features a trayless disc slot that easily accepts Wii and GameCube discs. There's also an SD card slot up front, behind a hinged plastic cover. Note that game data files can be saved and transferred between the Wii's internal memory and removable SD cards, so if you like you can swap save game files with others.

The Wii's top panel features two additional hinged covers that open to reveal four GameCube controller ports and two GameCube memory slots. I was a bit disappointed to find that unlike the SD card slot, the door to the GameCube card slot can't be closed when there's a card inserted. And don't think you'll be able to transfer your GameCube save games to the Wii or an SD card. GameCube data stays on GameCube media. I was also disappointed to discover that if you want to keep the unit horizontal and still have access to the GameCube slots and ports, you'll have to remove the plastic covers entirely, because the unit won't lay flat when the covers are open.

The Wii's cooling fan is very quiet, and the optical drive isn't noisy enough to be noticed while gaming. My unit gets just slightly warm during regular use. The Wii has a standby mode that allows it to maintain its wireless connection while powered down. Oddly enough, mine still gets fairly toasty in standby, and I've even ejected discs that I've left in the unit overnight that were hot to the touch.

The Wii's sensor bar is inconspicuous and easy to set up, provided that you follow the instructions. It can be above or below the set, but it has to be even with the edge of the television screen. The sensor bar wire is very thin, and it's the one cable included with the Wii that seems fragile. The standard RCA-type video and audio hookups are of decent quality, as is the power cord. The Wii's external power supply is big, but not especially so.

It should come as no surprise that Wii's visual output is nothing to write home about. I haven't seen anything from Twilight Princess, Wii Sports, or Raving Rabbids that rivals even the best GameCube graphics out there, and the Wii's 480i signal results in typically unsharp edges and undersaturated colors, especially with standard TV input. Still, games like Twilight Princess are stunning at times, owing primarily to the art direction.

I haven't personally checked out the Wii's component 480p output, but from what I've seen and read online it's a noticeable step up. Granted, with the Wii you're not going to need a high-end video setup to reach the point of diminishing returns in terms of image quality, but if you've got an HD set and can get your hands on a component cable I'd certainly recommend it.

A final word on the Wii's built-in Wi-Fi capability: I've managed to connect with my budget home wireless router, buy Wii points, and download game and system updates without any problems.

Backward Compatibility and the Virtual Console

If the six games I tried are any indication, the Wii plays GameCube titles just like the GameCube does, at least once you get them running. You have to use the Wii remote to load up the game, then switch to either a GameCube controller you've plugged into the console, or one of the Wii's universal controllers (which I haven't tried) that you've plugged into the back of the Wii remote. Once you've got a GameCube game running, you have to eject the disc and reset the console in order to get back to the Wii menu.

The Wii's Virtual Console channel currently sports a growing selection of vintage titles from the NES, Super NES, Nintendo 64, Sega Genesis, and TurboGrafx-16, downloadable for between $5 and $10. Purchases are made with "Wii Points." Like the Microsoft Points used by the Xbox 360's Live Marketplace, they can be purchased via credit card through the console or redeemed via a store-purchased card. Unlike Microsoft Points, Wii Points translate to real dollars easily so you know how much you're actually spending: one point equals one cent.

The three titles I've downloaded--Super Mario 64, Donkey Kong, and Ecco the Dolphin--look, sound, and play the way I remember them, with no noticeable emulation issues. They also come complete with detailed documentation. The remote flipped sideways serves as a decent NES gamepad, but the D-Pad doesn't feel as smooth and responsive as I remember it on the NES. It gets the job done, though,

Conclusions

Let's get this out of the way: I'm disappointed that Nintendo didn't create a console with a little more horsepower under the hood. Disappointed, but not surprised. And I'll get over it. In fact, I usually manage to get over it just a few minutes into games like Twilight Princess or even Ecco the Dolphin. In the long run, I'm willing to accept Nintendo's comprises if it means the Wii will provide me with great games.

As noted earlier, the Wii's controller is its standout feature, and it puts the console in a league of its own in terms of the potential it offers for unique gaming experiences. In essence, the Wii is the console cousin to the DS Lite: a sleek, solid, and affordable piece of hardware that compromises significantly in terms of graphical and processing standards but offers a novel new interface. Will the Wii see a similar measure of success? It's too early to tell, but I think it's reasonable to conclude that the hardware is an intriguing foundation for Nintendo's next cycle of console gaming. And with abundant developer support, the future looks promising.