Say you want a Wii-volution

When I first heard about the plans Nintendo had for the Wii (formerly codenamed "Revolution), I was convinced the people in charge had taken a few too many magic Mario mushrooms.\nIn the middle of Microsoft and Sony's pissing contest to have the most powerful, high definition system, with the latest and greatest disc technology, and online services that will replace porn as the greatest thing about the Internet, Nintendo announced a system slightly more powerful than a current generation Xbox that uses DVD technology and a controller unlike anything console gamers have ever seen before.\nAnd while graphically the Wii games shown so far are completely outclassed by what Sony and Microsoft are doing, I'm a lot more excited about the possibilities on Nintendo's upcoming console because of the sweet controller.\nThe Wii-mote as it has been dubbed looks a lot like a TV remote with a digital bad and a few familiar gamepad buttons, but what makes it really special is the motion sensor inside, that opens up limitless gameplay possibilities.\nAt E3, the video game tradeshow where companies show off all their games for the next year, the public got its first glimpse of just what this thing is capable of. Ubisoft's "Red Steel" showed that the Wii-mote could be swung like a sword as you hack away at waves and waves of enemies. It's not a very violent game (think the current James Bond games), but just imagine a game in the future where you use this thing to hack off limbs as blood spurts everywhere. That's the type of game that could give Senators Hillary Clinton and Joe Lieberman seizures.\nFor slightly more traditional gameplay, there's also an analog stick attachment which turns the Wii-mote into "the nunchuck." This frees up to remote to handle control over camera, or offer control in first person shooters such as "Metroid Prime 3: Corruption" that could end up rivaling the mouse and keyboard combo.\nThe real stars of E3 Wii show were the Nintendo games though. Wii Sports is a collection of basic games like tennis, golf and baseball, all using the controller as the racket, club and bat respectively. \nNintendo has never really been known for its sports games, but with this new level of immersion, the Wii could be the system for superfans. Even EA is developing a special edition of Madden that uses the controller as a football for ultimate pass control.\nNintendo's "big three," Metroid, Zelda and Mario will all hit around the November launch in games taking full advantage of the new hardware. Besides enhanced control, the aforementioned Metroid game also features a grapple beam, so when Samus grabs on to an object you actually pull it towards you with the remote.\n"The Legend of Zelda: Twighlight Princess" has been completely reworked from the Gamecube version shown at last E3 so that when Link pulls out his trusty bow and arrow, you pull back on the controller like drawing an arrow and let it fly towards enemies. \nThen there's "Super Mario Galaxy," a classic 3-D Mario platformer where the Wii-mote acts as the famous plumber's hand, allowing him to interact with objects onscreen. Besides the games that will take advantage of the new technology, Nintendo also showed some games that won't take advantage of the motion sensor, but looked impressive for other reasons, such as "Super Smash Bros. Brawl."\nThis sequel to the N64 and Gamecube that has taken dorm rooms by storm showed off new super smash moves, new Nintendo characters such as Wario and Pit from "Kid Icarus," and an additional character no one expected, Solid Snake from "Metal Gear Solid." The possibility of Sonic, Mega Man, Simon Belmont and tons of other characters from other companies is now open and fanboys everywhere are no doubt frothing at the mouth.\nOh yeah, and the whole thing is going to be online too.\nAs far as pure power goes, the Wii just can't compete with the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 (it's not going to cost anywhere close to $600 either), but the games shown so far look damn fun to play, and isn't that why most of us got into gaming?\nThe original "Super Mario Bros." on NES looks like crap today, but even now it's fun to play. It's like gaming has gotten way off course from this original purpose and into this weird place where all that matters is the latest graphics and physics technology and a console that can do everything but get you laid.\nNintendo promised a Revolution and it looks like they are well on their way to delivering. Forget the hype of Xbox 360 games that barely look better than what you can get on your current Xbox, and stop paying attention to all the Blu-Ray and HD you don't need crap Sony is trying to sell you.\nThe Wii is the real future of gaming.