The Nintendo GameCube was a powerful gaming machine for its era, but after all the efforts Nintendo had put towards it, the system ended up alone and unappreciated. Most publishers focused their attention on creating games for the other two systems, the PS2 and Xbox, leaving Nintendo’s poor “lunch box” aside.

Nintendo, being the ingenious, down-to-earth company they had always been, soon realized they had to think outside the box. And they did! In November of 2006 they launched to the market an innovative gaming system that would make everyone talk – the Nintendo Wii.

The Wii is unique because of its motion-sensitive controls. Though Sony and Microsoft are about to jump onto the bandwagon, the Wii was the first home entertainment console to successfully offer players a realistic gaming experience based on movement and gestures.

The Wii Remote almost feels like an extension of your arm; it can detect the player's movement via infrared and accelerometer technology, reproducing those moves onscreen and allowing you to play tennis, golf, or sword fight as you would in real life.

Almost four years after its release, the Wii continues to be one of the best-selling home entertainment systems ever, with over 70 million sales worldwide (Dec. 2009 data). However, the Wii fever is wearing down a bit, as gamers don't want to get off the couch anymore in order to play a good adventure, and the novelty is wearing off for casual players.

Needless to say, the Nintendo Wii is still a great gaming system that's both fun to play and very rewarding, not to mention the great appeal it has for those of us who were gaming in the Eighties and still haven't gotten over good ol' Super Mario Bros.

Here are some of its key features:

•    Nintendo Wii is a family-friendly system, with the biggest amount of software targeted towards children and teens, as well as the entire family.

•    Its motion controls are unique, offering players a more active and realistic gaming experience.

•    The menu interface is very easy to use for both children and adults. Each feature is placed on the screen as if it were a TV channel, and using one of the channels is as easy as pointing and clicking on it.

•    The Wii has an SD memory card reader. You can insert your memory card into it and view photos on the TV screen. Kids can also get creative and edit them or do funny collages on the Photo Channel.

•    The Internet Channel lets you browse the Internet, watch YouTube videos, etc.

•    The Weather Channel lets you view the entire Globe, check out the weather in different regions of the world, or focus on your own area and view the weather forecast for the next few days.

•    Other Wii channels let users participate in local and worldwide polls, create Mii avatars, and vote for the best designs.

•    Netflix has added their Instant Streaming service to the Nintendo Wii. Netflix subscribers can simply request the Wii streaming disc from the website and use it on the Nintendo Wii to watch an extensive library of movies at no additional cost.

•    Some of the most memorable gaming franchises can only be found on Nintendo's console. If you like Super Mario, Metroid, The Legend of Zelda, Mario Kart, and many other Nintendo favorites, you ought to have a Nintendo Wii!

•    The WiiWare service adds new, low-cost downloadable games to the Wii library every week. In addition, there are also “Virtual Console” games for purchase, letting players relive the games they used to play on the NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, SEGA Genesis, SEGA Master System, TurboGrafx 16, Commodore 64, Arcade, and NEOGEO back in the day.

•    In addition to Wii retail games, WiiWare, and Virtual Console, Nintendo Wii is compatible with GameCube games. In fact, it has four GameCube controller ports and two memory card slots. There are plenty of GameCube games that are still worth playing, so this is a nice added feature.

Cons to keep in mind:

•    The Nintendo Wii has a maximum video output of 480p (Progressive Scan). While it supports widescreen ratio, it doesn't offer high definition (HD) graphics. This means games on the Wii will never look as sharp and realistic as they do on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or the PC. However, they're better than the visuals found in last-gen systems such as GameCube, PS2, and Xbox, so it is still a visual upgrade.

•    The Wii's internal memory is small. With only 512 Megabytes, there isn't a whole lot you can store in it once you've downloaded a few channels and games from WiiWare or Virtual Console. You can save them on a high-capacity SD card if you start running out of space, but there always needs to be enough internal space to transfer the games you want to play and then launch them.

•    Some developers tend to misuse the motion-controls, creating titles that are more of a chore to play, rather than being a source of enjoyment. Shaking and waving the Wii Remote can be far from entertaining if implemented poorly, so consumers must be careful with the software they buy. Stay away from “shovelware!”

•    Wii games can't mimic movement at a 1:1 ratio, so don't expect perfect controls. If you want a 1:1 experience, you'll need to buy a separate attachment for the Wii Remote called Wii MotionPlus. However, this device is only supported by certain games.

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