Superb Timing

Spring has sprung and for students spring means exams. The joy of dedicating most of the best years of my life to education means that for a few months of the year I spend my days writing essays and studying the most obscure of facts known to man. Sounds like fun? It’s brutal and astoundingly tiring, I try to work a 9-5 day of studying with the evenings left for me to keep my sanity. Sanity involves gaming with my lovely partner and occasionally with the community as a hardened criminal or as a zombie. Such was my horror on the evening that our team began their world record attempt that my 360 decided to ruin my beloved method of relaxation at the one time of year that I needed it most.

The word I’ll use here is “unlucky”… the word I used at the time was fruitier. Well nothing could be done and it’s now in its coffin awaiting the UPS undertaker tomorrow. Hopefully E47 hasn’t got them too inundated and I’ll be back in action soon. In the meantime, though, I need something to keep me sane in the evenings. With no money for a PS3, I have three options. The first is my trusty laptop, which is, alas, not up to the job of running much these days. Second is the Wii which actually got a sneering look from me when I saw the Red Ring such is the malice I hold for the cash I spent on that console. I was bereft, then it hit me. The third choice has been by my side this whole time and, alongside the consoles and the PC, is probably the most rounded console I’ve ever seen.

What beauty, the inclusion of a camera only cheapens what is a truly brilliant execution of classic Nintendo principals. Take a console and make it all it can be whilst keeping it affordable and reliable (take note of the latter Microsoft). It’s a joy to use, ergonomically perfect and never feels like a burden when you kick back on the couch for a game. The games library is rounded and will sate my thirst for real hardcore gaming, the likes of Grand Theft Auto: China Town Wars, Advance Wars DS and Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow will ensure that. If I fancy something a bit different it can offer that as well through Japanese oddities like Ouendan or a thorough session of Brain Training.  It’s perfect and I feel like I’ve been ignoring it and viewing it as just a handheld when in fact it’s good enough to stand next to the home consoles with pride. The saddest part however is my earlier dismissal of the Wii, as I had high hopes that the Wii would turn into a great console through the DS style. It too introduced a new way of playing and after a rough start it began to deliver quality games eventually bringing a rounded library even on a system underpowered compared to the competition. If the Wii had done this it would now be spinning a game in it whilst I had a great time on my TV… what went wrong?