G-pinions

The strangest thing happened last week: I got a job. Yes, the Tom you loved is now dead. But from all bad things some good must rise. For twenty minutes a day I will resurrect my lifeless course and give you a taste of the magical world of video games. Yes, those fools entrusted me with a PC of my very own, complete with fully equipped keyboard and ready access to the internet, so I will update the G every day as my lunch period quickly winds down. We'll call it Lunch With Tom. No 1,500 word, anti-war/CoD rants here, just a quick note about whatever is on my mind. As an added bonus, I'll even keep it video game related.

What should I talk about today? I am knee deep in Lego Star Wars II, but I'd like to finish the last campaign before I offer my opinion. Since that's all I have been playing lately, I'll have to open up my bag of belated news and see if some major event happened last week that has not yet been discussed. There has to be something, right?

Oh look! Nintendo announced the official price and release date for the Wii! How could I forget such a thing? For those who haven't heard, we Americans are getting the system in just two months! While most of us have already marked November 19th as the day the 49ers squash the stupid Seahawks once and for all, there is now another sport entirely to look forward to on that day. Nintendo was kind enough to take away all matters of consumer choice for their new system and pack in a game with the system itself. How old school of them. Nintendo is actually forcing people to get a little bit of exercise with their new toy. Wii Sports - complete with Wii Bowling, Baseball, Boxing, Golf and Tennis - is included right with the system. Will it be as enjoyable as Super Mario World? Only time will tell.

You also get one system, a power cord (!), at least one A/V cable, and that fancy controller you may have heard about. Oh, and they even included one Stodgy as well.

If you are thinking, "Boy sir, I would gladly pay $250 for such a package!" you are in luck. Nintendo jacked the price $50 higher than rational beings expected. I know I've been saying for years that I've never bought a system for more than $200 and don't plan on starting anytime soon, but you are fully aware that my hypocrisy knows no bounds when Nintendo comes calling to play. Yes, I am quite pissed that greedy Nintendo is gouging it's fine customers out of 50 more dollars, but that will not deter this rabid fan for even one moment. It's still frustrating that I will have to shell out so much money at launch. $250 for the system, plus $50 more for Zelda, and then an additional $60 for an extra controller. And don't shake your judging head at me. I don't have an extra X360 controller because the darn thing actually goes online. You can't expect something like that on a Wii. If I want to play two-player Tennis I have to get another controller. I know every system has those darn games/accessories that bump up the price, but I was really banking on bringing home all those gadgets, in addition to Wii Sports, for under $300.

I've been hearing some reports that 3rd party developers are quite peeved with Nintendo for including one of their own games with the system. I understand from Nintendo's vantage why Wii Sports makes for a good pack-in, but there is no question 3rd party sales will be hurt. I can't imagine buying another game with the system now that I have Zelda and Wii Sports to keep me occupied, and I'm sure there are many other people out there who won't pick up Monkey Ball or Red Steel because of this. Of course, we all know Nintendo's systems are built on 1st party software, but it would be nice to have a system with a diverse lineup of games for once. If I were a 3rd party developer, I would have already pushed back my launch games until at least mid-December to avoid overkill. I know Nick is crazy enough to pass on Zelda at launch, but most people will be content with The Greatest Game Ever for at least a few weeks. By the time people finish that 100-hour epic quest, Red Steel won't look nearly as shiny sitting on that shelf. That Lord of the Rings editon of Sonic coming early next year could turn into a mega hit now. It looks damn fun, and it should be arriving just when people are waking from their Zelda Dream. See GRAW and Oblivion for examples of post-launch software selling a ton.

Of course, my mind is still overflowing with Wii-Pinions, but I must end this mini-rant soon or my boss may explode. Tune in tomorrow when I talk about more video game stuff!