3 Jan, 2011
An article about the infamous “boys night in”!
I can understand why people find a gathering of 18 to 19 year old boys in someone’s house kind of confusing; we should be out partying but to be honest with you if I could have more nights like this New Year’s Eve… that would be amazing!
There’s nothing better than having a few good friends, copious amounts of alcohol and something which a lot of people who know me will be quite shocked at: a Nintendo Wii.
Why? Well, I’ve not been a massive fan of the Wii since its inception, I find it kind of gimmicky something you play for two weeks when you first get it and then it sits and gathers dust the rest of the year till your friends come over and you make the suggestion “let’s play the Wii for a laugh.” That’s really the only reason me and the Wii don’t get along but I do understand that it has the potential to be a good console in the right hands, I do know devout “Wiiers” (yeah, I made this word up unsure of what to call them) who play everyday but I just see the Wii as a party console, the thing for which I’ve most often seen it used.
Now the only reason I love the Wii on these sorts of nights is for a game I’ve been a huge fan off for a long time: Super Smash Bros. That game and four lads filled to the brim with Dutch courage can spell nothing but a good time. Not only do we pick our favourites (mine being Toon Link) and receive a massive amount of verbal abuse on the fact that those characters are our favourites but we also coin the infamous phrase “fortune favours the brave” by selecting the random option and being assigned with unfamiliar characters.
Nights like these will probably become the future for hardware like Xbox Kinect; a spring chicken compared to the more mature Wii. It looks like Kinect is set to rule the roost though with its advanced features such as: motion sensors which eliminate the need for controllers, vocal response which allows you to control the box through speech and drop-in drop-out multiplayer which can seamlessly integrate players into the current session.
So, I bet now you’re all wondering about where I’m trying to take this article and what I’m actually doing; here it is, next time you’re faced with the same choice why not give it a go? A night filled with stupidity and games doesn’t just have to be reserved for men or the Wii, it can happen on any console and for anyone. It could be four girls, four guys or even a mixture of the two playing Smash Bros, COD, Guitar Hero or anything for that matter. Win or lose, I bet you’ll be surprised about how much fun you can actually have surrounded by your mates with a beer (or any other beverage) in one hand and a controller in the other.
The Wii is a GREAT social console. It’s innate silliness lends itself well for those situations. I’ve spent many hours with friends doing Wii Sports, Smash Bros., and Guitar Hero. Alcohol’s not really required to make the experience fun in my opinion, but to each his/her own!
True, it may not help that the only time we ever seem to get the Wii out is on those sort of occasions though. I’m sorry.
I salute you though, Wiiers really fascinate me as a gamer, not in like a “I-must-study-them-to-understand-them-way” but more a “Hmmmmm, I wonder what they’re up to” approach.
Honestly, I think the only time my Wii is actually going to see any action is when I move in with friends later in the year; I can see some drinking sessions involving Rayman Raving Rapids or something coming up!
Not to say the Wii isn’t good in it’s own right though, it just doesn’t have enough games which have single player appeal (in my view). Have barely touched my Wii since Sakura Wars: So Long My Love.