I had my first Wii experience today when I got to play ExciteTruck at my local EBgames. The kiosk was casting it’s blue light into the hallway, but no one else was ensnared by its gleam. I walked up to the counter and said, “Can I take this for a test drive?” Gave the guy my license and was handed the Wii Remote. First impression, “Man, this thing is small .. but fat!” I walked back over to the kiosk where someone was looking at it saying, “Where does the controller go?”
ExciteTruck was loaded up already, so I hit 2 to start, waited (kinda longish load time, but far less than an Xbox or PS2), and the race starts. Initially the control had me flying all over the road, but I quickly adjusted to steering with just a slight tilt and not as wildly as when I started. After a little while someone was watching me, “Have you played this before?” “No!” “Well, you’re pretty good!” “It’s really not hard.”
Quickly, there was a crowd of 5 or 6 people watching. One mall thug was pretty impressed with the control after he realized the way I moved it was actually controlling the truck. “Man, I’m’a get me one of these!” But then his buddy told him he was nuts and to, “…be a man and get a PS3!”.
ExciteTruck was fun, but I hit a LOT of trees. It almost made me doubt that the game would ever be “easy”. Regardless, it was a good time and I can’t wait to play again.
The part of my experience I keep thinking about was the exchange between the two tough guys. It caught me off guard and I’m left wondering… Do you think peer pressure will have an effect on who does or doesn’t buy a Wii?