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Halo 3 | 
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| From: Microsoft
Category: Video Games
List Price: $59.99
Buy New: $50.00
You Save: $9.99 (17%)
New (36) Used (11) from $44.98
Avg. Customer Rating:  448 reviews
Sales Rank: 53
Platform: Xbox 360
ESRB: Mature
Media: Video Game
Edition: Standard
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Age: 17 - 20 years
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 5.3 x 7.5 x 1
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
MPN: 9UE-00001
Model: 9UE-00001
UPC: 882224444477
EAN: 0882224444477
ASIN: B000FRU0NU
Release Date: September 25, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Expands on the franchise and adds a wealth of technical and gameplay advancements | | • | Unparalleled first-person shooter experience and the most compelling story of the trilogy | | • | Builds upon the social multiplayer experience and innovative, evolving, online gameplay of Halo 2 | | • | Loaded with high-definition visuals, enhanced AI, an advanced lighting engine, new weapons, characters, and challenges |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Halo 3 is the third game in the Halo Trilogy and the thrilling conclusion to the events begun in Halo: Combat Evolved. Master Chief returns to finish the fight, bringing the epic conflict between the Covenant, the Flood, and the entire human race to a dramatic, pulse-pounding climax. The Covenant occupation of Earth has uncovered a massive and ancient object beneath the African sands - an object whose secrets have yet to be revealed. Earth's forces are battered and beaten. The Master Chief's AI companion Cortana is still trapped in the clutches of the Gravemind - a horrifying Flood intelligence, and a civil war is raging in the heart of the Covenant. It's all been building to this -- a desperate, final war that leads to a soul-shattering climax of epic proportions. Take control of Master Chief to defeat the Covenant and destroy the Flood to prevent the annihilation of the human race.
Amazon.com Product Description
Adding to Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, the epic saga continues with Halo 3, the amazingly anticipated sequel to the highly successful and critically acclaimed Halo franchise. In this third chapter of the Halo trilogy, Master Chief returns to finish the fight, bringing the epic conflict between the Covenant, the Flood, and the entire human race to a dramatic, pulse-pounding climax. 
Get ready. The Chief is back. | 
HDR lighting, self-shadowing, and more make Halo 3 look and feel realistic. View larger. | 
Mystery abounds with the return of Cortana. View larger. | 
Earth is conquered. The Covenant is everywhere. Halo 3 promises to be an epic journey. View larger. | Game developer Bungie announced that Halo 3 will be released for Microsoft's Xbox 360 sometime in 2007. The game was revealed to the world at the Microsoft press conference held at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, CA in May 2006. To gamer's delight, the announcement was a complete surprise. The rumors have been abound for the past year, as everyone wondered when the next installment would be ready. Bungie and Microsoft did a stellar job keeping their lips sealed, and fans benefited from their first glimpse of the hallowed third and final installment. The short presentation was delivered in real-time on the Xbox 360 using the current version of the Halo 3 game engine. That's right, no studio production video, Bungie and Microsoft delivered the real deal: what they showed at the announcement is what gamers will see when they play Halo 3 in 2007. The HDR lighting, self-shadowing, GPU-run particle system and many other effects are rumored to show up in full effect in the final game. Needless to say, the gaming community is salivating. CJ Cowan, Bungie's director of cinematics discussed one of the most startling moments of the presentation: the return of Cortana. "Given the variety of character and story arcs at the end of Halo 2, we wanted to boil down our announcement to a few key threads. Cortana and the Chief being a galaxy apart is a situation we haven't seen before, and is something that is a powerful component to Halo 3. We are using her transmissions in the demo to give the viewer a few subtle clues to her situation and state of mind, without revealing any specifics we want to save for the game itself." Graphically, the game closely follows in the tradition of Halo 2, although it has been upgraded to take advantage of the Xbox 360's more prodigious visual abilities. As art direct Marcus Lehto explained, "[The presentation] was intended to be an understated announcement of Halo 3 -- the tone is that of mystery and suspense -- the calm before the storm. I wanted to make sure that we reintroduced the Chief, showed that Earth was thoroughly conquered, with Covenant everywhere, and that there is a glorious, ancient artifact buried under the Earth's crust which will provide Halo 3 with the epic journey which we all want." Taking full advantage of the power of Xbox 360, Halo 3 expands on everything that has made the franchise great, adding a wealth of technical and gameplay advancements. The game design has evolved with next-generation, high-definition visuals, enhanced A.I., an advanced real-time lighting engine, and, of course, new weapons, characters, and challenges. Halo 3 promises an unparalleled first-person shooter experience and, in the end, the most compelling and engrossing story in the franchise's history. Last, but certainly not least, Halo 3 builds upon the unique social multiplayer experience and innovative, evolving online gameplay of Halo 2. Rest assured, you'll still be able to run with your clan and battle with (or against) your buddies from coast to coast.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 443 more reviews...
 A Must-Own - But Not Perfection September 30, 2007
64 out of 81 found this review helpful
Halo 3 was, in a way, doomed before it was released. No matter how well it did, people are going to judge its "wow factor" against how amazing the original Halo felt to play back when it first came out. Now that we are used to the weapons, races, environments and plotline, nothing is as cool as it was that first time. It's the same issue that plagues any series, be it Dune, the Matrix, Star Wars, etc.
Halo 3 does get a boost in that it is released for the 360, so you get an automatic upgrade in abilities there. We're playing on a high end HD TV, and yes, it looks really nice. The backgrounds look like a painting in motion, with swirling clouds and dancing dust storms. From the light glinting off the metal surfaces to the detailed shadows in the rocks, it can be really gorgeous. Is every detail as beautiful as every detail in, say Gears of War? Maybe not. Different developers focus on different items. There are always trade-offs for speed and visual appeal reasons. For a Halo world, I think they did a good job.
The sound and dialogue are really great. I like the background music, and I find much of the dialogue hilarious. There are some conversations that have me laughing out loud. This is a good game to play with your surround sound stereo system hooked up, and of course the subwoofers.
I hated the ending of Halo 2. I dislike it when a story finishes with a "and now wait a few years to find out what happened." They can at least have you feel like you achieved something, and ended a chapter. For that reason alone it's good to have Halo 3 here to wrap everything up.
Unfortunately, with all the time they spent in development, this third outing is a bit predictable. I really enjoyed the multi character play in Halo 2. I thought that was a great touch. They completely removed it for Halo 3, setting you back into a Master Chief only mode. To be honest, I really thought we'd get THREE races this time around, and get to play as the Flood too. Why reduce ourselves to just one?
Also, while there are a lot of "missions", some of them are maybe 5 minutes long. That's a bit on the short side. I realize you can go back and replay on harder and harder levels to challenge yourself - but they could have put more depth into the basic story line.
Now, all of those things being said, the key to any game in modern times is its multiplayer ability. No matter what single player game you play, it's pretty much a limited time game. Multiplayer is completely unlimited - and you're not stuck with the formulas built into the AI brains. Halo 3 is definitely the best multiplayer experience of the three games - the most balanced, the most fun, the best graphics. You could literally play this for years and not get bored of it.
So to summarize - if you don't have XBox Live, you could rent this game for a week, get through it and have a lot of fun. You'll be able to see how the story ends, get your Halo fix in and be happy. But if you do have XBox Live, you'll want to own this. Between replaying the base game on harder levels to improve your skills, and playing multi-player in a variety of maps and set-ups, you'll be happy for a long, long while.
There are many games we write a walkthrough for that we have to push ourselves to get through, but when we did our walkthrough for Halo 3, we really did have fun :) So that's always a good sign!
Review for Non-Gamers September 27, 2007
16 out of 19 found this review helpful
I'm not a gamer, just a regular 30something who wants an easy way to take out my frustrations. This review is probably most helpful to middle aged men like me, not hardcore gamers.
I have tried many other games but Halo is the only one that doesn't tax me too much with choices and complicated controller requirements. I give the Halo franchise 5 stars because it is so simple, one mission, kill everything in sight. You don't need to investigate, open your pouch, choose between a million weapons, read maps, or think for even a second. It's the only game I've found which I can stand for more than 5 minutes and which is completely uncomplicated. And you can skip the story and all that nonsense by just hitting the main button.
As compared to other Halos: I'm not crazy about the weaponry. The needlers run out of ammo and the other guns don't do much. You also need to press a button to reload some weapons, it seems, whereas before they would reload if you walked over the same kind of weapon. THere are 3 kinds of grenades, which is unnecessary and just harder to switch between. You can also only carry 2 of each instead of 4. Since the new grenades stick like the plasmas, they don't add much and just add another layer of choice and button-pushing. Too complicated. Also, the little bonus things like flares and landmines are gimmicky and add too much comlpication. Again, advanced gamers probably love it, but I'm too old to learn all this new stuff. Just give me a gun and some grenades.
In previous games you'd come across more types of things to do, like a lot of sniper rifles so you could sit on a hilltop picking off aliens or use other strategy. In this game you don't find a lot of useful weapons, so there's a lot more direct hand to hand, on the ground type combat. I've also found that it's easier to kill things and easier in general to solve the levels. Also, it uses the "follow me" arrow and the voice gives you suggestions if you seem to be missing the point, which I like, since in previous Halos I've spent hours wandering around wondering what I'm supposed to be doing. No such problems here. They've sufficiently dumbed it down.
I've had a few graphic glitches in this one, which has never happened before. I've also gotten stuck and unable to get out of things twice. THe sound and graphics are great, of course. I've never paid any attention to the story, unless it required me to, so I can't comment on that. Kusdos to Bungie for making it easy to skip over.
Overall, this is the same experience as the others, though it seems easier than Halo2. As little thought as that required, this one requires less. I've not had to think at all about weapon choice, strategy, or anything, Just pull the trigger and kill! I wish there were more FPS games like this -- fast-paced, completely intuitive hand controls, easy storyline, simple mission, and FUN.
All around greatness September 26, 2007
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
The original HALO is what caused me to trade in my Sony for an XBOX, HALO was that good. HALO 2 on the other hand was traded in on the same day it was released, the graphics were simply old and no good. However, I played HALO 3 yesterday for 3 hours on co-op, and the game is truly great. Are there better graphics in other games, yes, but overall they improved the graphics on this game to keep me happy. The action as always is intense and so far the game has not let me down. I'll be finished with the story by this evening, but this game is a keeper.
Return of the King September 25, 2007
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
Halo 3 - Circa 2007
GOOD:
- Four-player online (or offline) co-op Gameplay allows two; three, or four players play through the game from start to end. A co-op player can come into the game at any time and leave at any time (note only one of you will play as the Master Chief, while another will play as the Arbiter, and the other two players will be Elites that work with humans)
- Great looking graphics and animation, that look even better then Halo 2, F.E.A.R. and just as good as Bioshock, while these graphics might not look as good as Gears of War do to some people these graphics still are some of the best seen to date.
- Intense multiplayer action online through Xbox Live with matches as small as one on one and as big as 16 players (and offline with out using Xbox Live using either spilt screen, or system link). Halo 3 is set up similar to Halo 2 in the sense that you're given a rank when you play multiplayer (this rank can go up or down at any time) this rank is representative of your skill and your matched with others of your skill type, that way new unskilled players and hardcore veterans will not often play against one another, unless they make a special match themselves that ignores rank.
BAD:
- Confusing plot to new players of this franchise - Playing Pervious games and read the Halo Novels will fill you in on the details, if you are incline to learn them.
- No Clan Support (like in Halo 2) - This might get fixed in a future patch
- Game is considered short to some (Campaign Story Mode).
IF IT FITS YOUR TASTE:
- A Sci-Fi First Person Shooter with quick pacing and vehicle combat.
- Co-op and online versus/team games is the big draw here.
- NEW MODE: Forge is a mode that lets you edit all the maps in Halo 3, while you cannot rebuild the maps themselves you can in this mode, add and take away any and all of the objects from vehicles and guns to spawning points and flag zones. This is all done in real time and you can invite friends to this mode while your customizing the map(s), they can play a multiplayer game while your doing this (instead of just waiting for you) and if you want you can forgo editing the map and join the game at hand as either a player or the map editor (who looks like 343 Guilty Spark), while playing as the map editor you can still add and take away any and all objects from vehicles and guns to spawning points and flag zones any time you want.
- NEW MODE: Theater Mode is a video editor that lets you record and play back any and all matches from Campaign, Multiplayer, and Forge modes from the point of view of any player either in first person or third person (even in a orbit-cam where the camera circles around the player) all in real time (you can also pause this at any time as well as fast forward and rewind), even use your camera to fly around the match and see the match from any angle you want, Don't forget you must save your videos before you turn off the game or you will lose said videos. Also you can take a picture at any time and save it to your Xbox 360 then download your picture at Bungie.com.
GAME ITS MOST ASSOCATED TOO:
- Halo 2 (Xbox)
- Halo (Xbox)
- Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3)
- Bioshock (360)
- Gears of War (360)
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- There are bonus items scattered through the Campaign Story Mode called Skulls getting these "Skulls" will make the game harder (by doing things like turning off radar for the rest of the Campaign Mode your playing it) but will also greatly increase your meta game score for the Campaign Mode.
- There are two different limited collectors editions of this game. One is called the limited edition, which comes in a metal tin and has a bonus disc (with behind the scene videos and such) and also comes with an art book. While the other limited edition (called Legendary edition) you will find an art book a mini poster two bonus DVDs (with behind the scene videos and such as well as a collection of all the cut scenes form Halo and Halo 2 and themes you can download to your 360) And the it comes with a plastic Master Chief Helmet to keep your DVDs in (Helmet as big a volley ball).
- At Bungie.com you can sign up and pay a small fee to upgrade your Halo 3 account (default is free) to hold more space on their serves for your videos/pictures/clips that you made.
A very worthy way to finish the figh March 18, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I have been waiting for Halo 3 since the day Halo 2 came out. I have listened to every Bungie Podcast, and read every Bungie weekly update. That being said, my hype for this game was way higher than that of the average user. Based on what I'd seen in the beta and read/heard from Bungie, I knew the game was going to rock. I just didn't know how much it was going to rock. I will say it right now: Halo 3 is the best game that I've ever played on any console or computer. Period. And I've played a LOT of games. From the epic story to the amazingly in depth multiplayer, the game delivers extremely well on all fronts. I have no doubt that every gamer (or even somebody who's not a huge gamer) will love Halo 3. Due to the complexity of the game, this review consists of two main sections (Multiplayer and Campaign), each of which is broken down into subdivisions.
Campaign
--Story: 10/10--
If you've played other Halo games, then you basically know what the story in Halo 3 will be like. I can't really say too much about the story without spoiling anything, however the story starts out strong right where Halo 2 left off, and goes on strong. Bungie learned from their mistakes from Halo 2, and the story takes place only on Earth. The game does use an excessive amount of cut scenes, however they use the same engine as the game, so it never really feels like you are out of the game at all. Note: Be sure that you stick around to watch the credits, because there is more to come afterwards :)
--Graphics: 9/10--
The graphics in Halo 3's campaign are some of the best graphics I've ever seen on the 360. When you consider the fact that you can play 2-player co-op on one system with the same graphics and framerate, it is really amazing. The lighting and particle effects in the game are probably the best on any console game I've ever seen. Overall, the graphics are probably slightly worse than Gears of War or BioShock, but again, considering what this game does, the graphics are absolutely amazing. Loading takes place only in between levels, but the loading screen looks so amazing, you will probably wish you saw it more often.
--Sound: 7/10--
If you've watched the E3 2006 trailer for Halo 3, you've heard the music in Halo 3. Yes, the music is amazing, but Bungie chose to repeat the same song over and over and over again. The song always manages to fit what's going on the screen, but with Bungie's large budget, I'd have thought they could do better. As for the game's sound effects, they are absolutely amazing. Each gun has its own set of sounds, and they sound differently when they are far away or in a small area. The characters make some hilarious noises when they die, and the voice acting in the game can't be beat. Bungie has gone to great efforts to ensure that the voice acting is interesting, and they have really succeeded. Other than the poor variety of music the sound in Halo 3 is absolutely amazing.
--Gameplay: 10/10--
Gameplay is where Halo 3 shines the most. The controls have been perfected for the Xbox 360 controller. They may take some time to get used to, however once you do, you will see that the changes are amazing. Of course, if you refuse to change, Bungie does offer a Halo 2 control scheme option that you can choose. Some have complained that Halo 3 is too much like Halo 2, but that couldn't be further from the truth. There is such a large variety of new weapons, and characters that it feels like you are playing a completely brand new game, not a copy of Halo 2 like some have claimed.
--Online Co-op Play: 10/10--
It was only a few weeks before release that Bungie finally announced what everybody had been waiting to hear: 4 player campaign cooperative play over Xbox Live. Why did Bungie wait so long to reveal this feature? They needed to be sure it worked perfectly before they promised it to gamers. Let me tell you, thanks to co-op play with meta scoring (gives you a score based on your in-game performance), the Halo 3 campaign is going to be replayed, and replayed, and replayed over and over again for tons of years to come. To start a co-op game you simple choose campaign from the main menu, and then invite your friends. You can play with 3 people online, or you and a guest can play with 2 others online. Either way, you are ensured a great experience. During my play with co-op, it has worked much better than I expected, and only lagged when I was playing with a friend who had a bad DSL internet connection. I should tell you right now that you need to play co-op on legendary difficulty, because as you might expect, the game gets substantially easier when there are 4 people fighting. Also, the only time you revert to the previous checkpoint is if all 4 of you die at once.
Campaign score: 9.2/10 (an average of the above scores)
Multiplayer
9.2 is an amazing score for the campaign. But you haven't even scratched the surface of the game yet until you've heard about multiplayer. For the past 3 years, Halo 2 has remained the most played Xbox Live game. Nothing could beat it. Except Halo 3, of course. I am amazed at all of the features included in Halo 3, and I'm always finding new stuff every time I play. The Multiplayer will be played for tens of years to come. That's just how great it is. Now, lets dive right in and try to take a look at all of the multiplayer features:
--Graphics: 9/10--
For obvious reasons, the graphics aren't as good in multiplayer as they are in campaign. That being said, the graphics are still flippin' amazing. I have no clue how Bungie has pulled off these amazing graphics with up to 4 players split-screen with no framerate hitches at all. Every time I play Halo 3 online, I catch myself stopped in the middle of the action staring at the detail in the environments. No two explosions are alike, and you will continue to be amazed at the level of detail in the graphics for a long, long time. My absolute favorite graphical feature is the water. I have died countless times while staring at the water. At first glance, the water looks great. Its flowing realistically, with waves and sloshes, and all that stuff. Then you see somebody jump in the water. There is a realistic splash, followed by realistic ripples around the person. My favorite thing to do is to stand in the water, and just watch how it ripples around me. The water effects are seriously that great. And so are the explosion effects, the wind effects, the lighting effects, and the particle effects. Combine all these amazing graphical effects, with the option to watch everything over again in slow motion (more on saved replay's later), and you have what is probably the most visually stunning multiplayer game ever.
--Sound: 10/10--
We have already covered how great the sound effects were in the Campaign, but multiplayer is even better. Shoot in the water for a realistic sound, shoot a wall for a realistic sound, kill a person for a realistic sound (or yelp in some cases- you will see what I mean when you are playing). The sound in Halo 3 multiplayer is unbeatable. Period. It's really hard to describe sound, so the most effective thing I can say is: Go get the game and play it for yourself to see how sweet it is.
-- Multiplayer maps/game types/game play: 10/10 --
The multiplayer maps included in Halo 3 are the strongest maps to date. I've played over 1000 multiplayer games, and have yet to find a map that I dislike. They are varied in size and shape. This time around, Bungie has really strayed away from the symmetrical maps to more asymmetrical maps. The change is really nice, and you will definitely appreciate it for games such as capture the flag, as it provides more of a fun experience. As for game types, all game types from Halo 2 make a return, as well as some of the popular ones from custom games such as "zombies" (renamed infection). All of the games and maps seem to be balanced perfectly, and it is never too difficult to complete an objective thanks to this great balance. And of course, even in the rare instance that you get a game type that you don't like in matchmaking, you can simply press X to veto it, and if more than 50% of the players in the game agree, a new map and game type will be chosen. The game play is similar to that of Halo 2, although the old weapons have been balanced (the energy sword still owns, but now it owns in a fair way), and the addition of equipment really has a fun effect on the game. Equipment items include a bubble shield, a portable gravity lift, a trip mine, a power drainer, or power regenerator, just to name a few. These can be activated by pressing the X button, and are thrown sort of like grenades. They last for about 30 seconds or until somebody blows it up. Overall, the multiplayer experience is the best in any game, ever, and won't be beat until Bungie releases their next title.
--Online rankings/other extra features: 10/10--
The amount of extra features included in Halo 3 is absolutely astounding. First, you have saved replay's, which let you save a replay of any multiplayer (or campaign) game and watch it back from any angle, frame-by-frame. You may or may not think it sounds cool, but once you try it out, you will wonder how you survived Halo 2 without it. It makes your smack talk so much more powerful, and you can now prove to your friends that you "got a 100 kill spree last night." (or they can prove that you didn't). Of course, once you have your film, you naturally want to share it, so Bungie lets you upload up to 6 files to their server for storage and sharing with other members. Another great extra included in Halo 3 is Forge. Forge is a basic map editor. It lets you move spawn points, weapons, scenery, etc. You can edit basically anything other than the physical layout of the map. And after you get the perfect map, you can save it and upload to your file share for all to enjoy. It really is extremely amazing, you just have to see it to believe it.
--Lasting Appeal 11/10--
When you consider everything that I've mentioned in both the campaign and multiplayer aspects, its really amazing. You could spend an entire day exploring the features I've mentioned in this review, and still not have seen everything. Halo 2 never lost its popularity (even after the release of Halo 3, there are an average of 40,000 people playing Halo 2 online every day), and with all the exciting new features in Halo 3, it is going to retain its popularity for even longer. I know people are going to be mad that I gave lasting appeal an 11/10, but I firmly believe that by the time Bungie's "next project" is released, Halo 3 will still be my most played game.
Multiplayer Rating 5/5 (an average of the above scores)
Final Score and Thoughts
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Halo 3 is THE BEST GAME I'VE EVER PLAYED. I don't know how Bungie got this much game made in 3 years, but it is simply amazing. Everybody should purchase this game- you won't regret it. As a final sum-up I will offer some pro's and con's.
Pro's:
Amazing graphics
Amazing AI
Great sound
Best Multiplayer around
Con's:
Could use a better variety of music
Rewinding saved films is a bit awkward- you will see what I mean when you try.
A matchmaking feature for custom games promised by Bungie has gone strangely missing :(
Overall Score: 5/5- PERFECT (overall impression, not an average of the above)
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The Nintendo Wii goes on sale on Sunday, November 19. Thanks to the inclusion of the simple--but infectiously fun--Wii Sports game, the Wii is the first console in recent memory that lets you have fun straight out of the box. Still, there are a few key Wii accessories you'll want to pick up to maximize your Wii experience--especially if you're buying it as a gift.
Extra controllers: Like all recent consoles, the Wii ships with just a single controller (well, one two-part controller: one Wiimote, plus one nunchuk). But the real fun of the system is playing the head-to-head Wii Sports games such as tennis and boxing. To do so, you'll need at least one extra set of controllers--and again, that's one Wiimote ($28.99) plus one nunchuk ($12.99). The Wii supports as many as four, but just the one extra controller set should suffice--at least for Christmas morning.
Rechargeable batteries: The Wiimote takes two standard AA batteries. They're included--with the Wii, and with the sold-separately version of the controller mentioned above--but avid players may find the juice draining pretty quickly, especially if they keep the nunchuk attached (it draws its power from the Wiimote). Instead of buying an endless stream of costly AAs, consider investing in a set of rechargeables. You can score a charger and four rechargeable nickel-metal-hydride batteries for less than $25.
GameCube controllers: The Wii is fully backwards compatible with the Nintendo GameCube, but there's a catch: to play the GameCube games, you'll need a GameCube controller ($15.99). You can even go wireless with the Nintendo WaveBird ($59.99). If you already have a GameCube, your existing controllers will work just fine--just plug them in to one of the four ports underneath the flip-up panel on the Wii's topside. GameCube controllers should also work with the Wii's "Virtual Console" games--which saves you the trouble of having to buy a Classic Controller.
GameCube memory cards: One other annoyance when playing GameCube games: your progress can only be saved to GameCube memory cards, not to the Wii's internal memory or to an SD card (we're hoping Nintendo fixes this with a future firmware update). Like the controllers, your old GC cards will work just fine--there are two slots right next to the GameCube controller ports. If you don't have any onhand (and you want to save your games on GC titles), you'll need to spring for a $26.90 (2GB) memory card.
Wii Points: One of the big attactions of the Wii is its Virtual Console, which lets you purchase classic games that originally came from the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), the Super NES, the Nintendo 64, the Sega Genesis, and the TurboGrafx16. By the end of 2006, at least 30 titles should be available, including Donkey Kong (NES), Super Mario 64 (N64), and Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis). To purchase the downloadable titles, you'll need to use a Nintendo currency known as Wii Points (similar to the Microsoft Points on Xbox Live), which currently have an exchange rate of 100 points per U.S. dollar. You can buy Wii Points directly through the console's online store, or use prepaid cards (2000 Wii Points) available in various denominations.
SD card: If you're close to filling the Wii's built-in 512MB of storage with your Virtual Console games, you can always expand your available space with an SD card. Nintendo sells its own, but any run-of-the-mill card will do. Fairly spacious 1GB cards are available for less than $20--even less with mail-in rebates--and they'll work in plenty of other gadgets as well.
Wireless access point: In addition to the downloadable Virtual Console games, the Wii offers online "channels," including news, weather, and even an Opera Web browser (head-to-head online gaming is said to be coming sometime in 2007). You can get online for free via the Wii's built-in Wi-Fi. To do so, of course, you'll need a nearby wireless access point or router. Alternately, you can plug the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector into any nearby PC on a wired network, and the Wii--plus your Nintendo DS--will be able to use it to get online instead.
Component video adapter: The Wii doesn't have the graphical horsepower to handle high-def graphics, but it can do DVD-level 480p video, which will look considerably better on large HDTVs. To see the Wii's games in 480p, you'll need Nintendo's proprietary component video adapter, which should run about $20. |
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www.seeker-wii.com | |
