I ordered a Wii!

[schmosef]

with my air miles points...

i've given up trying to find one in a local shop.

hopefully, the air miles guys won't take forever to fulfill the order.

i'm looking forward to connecting the WiiMote to a PC and using it for some of my XNA experiments.

[Fat Tone]

I suggest you buy yourself an extra remote (widely available) and a bluetooth dongle (if you don't already have one) for your experiments. You are gonna want a pair of remotes anyway.

And you don't neccessarily want the (badly named) sensor bar anyway. If you do want to experiments with pointing any pair of IR sources will do. You can even use a visible source if you remove the front filter and your screen is generally dark.

[schmosef]

I received a $50 FutureShop gift card for helping out at EnergizeIT on the weekend. Today I put it to good use when I picked up an extra controller, nunchuck and HD cable.

[Fat Tone]

Cool, but I don't see any booth babes

What did you do for the event?

[schmosef]

I was a proctor for the Vista Sidebar Gadget programming track.

[schmosef]

My Wii just arrived!

That was fast. AirMiles told me it would take up to 4 weeks.

The sad part is that I probably won't get to play with it until the weekend.

[lowlifecat]

what do you mean you are still having issues finding Wiis at local stores? I picked up mine a few weeks ago from the local EBgames. they no longer are selling out as before and the wiis will typically sit on the self for a whole few days before selling out.

I've seen them at a few different EBgames across town.

any event, gratz.

[Jessterw]

Quite honestly, I've never seen a Wii on the shelf at any store. They're continuously selling out at any store we happen to be in. Granted we already have one because my wife made me proud and beat off the crowds to get us one awhile back at a midnight sale.

Anyhow, congrats on the acquisition Schmo. There is a lack of really great games right now, but there are a few highlights depending on what genre you like. If anything you can swap Miis with the rest of us. Nothing like seeing a Claymonkey pop up during a game of tennis.

[lowlifecat]

really?!

if i had a camera phone i would show you guys all the wiis we have in stores here.

if anyone wants a wii and is willing to pay shipping, private message me: i'l see what i can do

[gt40]

Are you sure they have them in stock.
I went to Toys r us when I was looking for one - they had plenty of wii boxes, but they were all empty

[Jessterw]

Maybe the employees were busy, err, testing them for defects

[schmosef]

i couldn't help it. i set it up. i'm using the opera browser to type this.

[schmosef]

now i'm back at work...

so what game do i need to play this weekend? Zelda? Mario? Other?

are there any accessories that I must have?

[Fat Tone]

So far the Sports pacakage has entertained us the most.

We have Zelda (just because you have to), Excite truck (only played a couple of times) and Wii Play (don't bother, its just a bunch of games to learn how to use the remote).

For accessories, I think the most useful thing is a charging station. I got one for about half the cost of a game. It plugs in to the mains supply of the Wii, and provides two locations for charging the wiimotes. Obviously it comes with a pair of rechargeable batteries. In theory you can also stow a pair of nunchucks on it but I find that to be a precarious balancing act.

[schmosef]

Is there a way to extend the range of the WiiMote?

I have a 57" TV and my living room is quite deep. The range of my WiiMote seems to end about 2 feet before my couch.