Nintendo Ice Hockey

Medium guy, skinny guy, fat guy. That's usually how I describe Ice Hockey from Nintendo when I try to talk to someone about this classic 8-bit game. That's all it takes to jog people's memories. While the game is light on graphics and strategy, it is downright heavy with action and some of the finest twitch-gaming around.

And now, even more people can enjoy this game since it has been released on the Wii's Virtual Console. This game is definitely best played by 2 people. The 1-player mode is lacking depth, but still fun. The 2-player mode is actually more like an evolved version of Pong rather than ice hockey. The speed (at its fastest level) is slippery fast. Pass and shoot. That is all you have time to think about. Add in having to control the goalie when you switch to defense and you have a recipe for mayhem.

It's fast, fun and best of all, anyone can pick it up and play. One button passes, the other shoots. Nothing complicated. Ice Hockey is simple non-stop fun.

The only thing that could be better than Ice Hockey on the Wii would be online Ice Hockey on the Wii. Nintendo has already stated that previously released Virtual Console games can be updated, so how about it Nintendo? How about updating this classic game to include online play? So far, the only game that has been updated has been Military Madness. And that was to fix a bug in the emulation. Let's hope we start to get some real game updates soon.

Check out gogamego Games for some cool Ice Hockey stuff!

Mii Channel: A Surprise Hit!

During Thanksgiving, we had the Wii going the entire day. Everyone was playing: gamers and non-gamers. People loved bowling and tennis. And had a lot of fun with boxing. But what captured people's imagination as much as anything was the Mii Channel. When the rest of the family saw the Miis we had already created, they were eager to do their own. Boxing is cool, but when you are pummeling a cartoon version of a family member, it becomes so much more fun!

Nintendo definitely has a hit on it's hands with the Mii Channel. Let's hope Nintendo is already preparing an update to the Mii Channel that will provide much more variation. To date, my wife has logged in more Mii time than Wii time. And I'm guessing a lot other have as well.