On Monday I received a text message that had perhaps one of the least welcomed post scripts ever.
“No, I had a sandwich, ps the wii is broken.”
I’d seen this coming for a while. Why? Our Wii was purchased used. Not “New in Box” used, but rather drug from the backroom of a Gamestop sans box or copy of Wii Sports but with plenty of dust from the prior owner. Add to this that Known Girlfriend and I used to smoke (heavily) in the living room in close proximity to the Wii, and soon the device wouldn’t read dual layer games like Super Smash Brothers Brawl.
It does that all night long...
Despite being at work, I had a pretty good idea that the filthy little white box had simply overheated. Heat is not only a enemy of mine, but overheating electronics is such a large trend in my life that a window fan is permanently parked behind my media center . To her benefit, Known Girlfriend is well accustomed to the drill. Shut the device down, adjust the fan, wait for said device to cool. And try again.
The Wii, brought back to life, is certainly starting to show it’s age. The fan, disk drive, or both, is now making a rather large racket, and the machine will intermittently shut down. For what seems like a lot of the internet, this shouldn’t really be a problem – most Wiis are reportedly gathering dust rather than choking on it. But not our. Our system gets a rather regular work out. And I like the Wii, or as it’s now known the ZomWii.
Mind you, the Wii isn’t my favorite system. I would love to have a console that can take advantage of the THX certified sound system and the HD television – I’m leaning PS3 over Xbox 360, but I’ll take either if anyone is buying – but the Wii has it’s role. It’s a console that Known Girlfriend and I can play together, and it has a small collection of games that put fun as the primary reward, rather than points. That and at one point I became a big fan of Tiger Woods games.
Knowing that our lone console is dying, and unlike a PC, pieces can’t be easily replaced by the end user, I decided to come Craigslist for some local deals – see if anyone was trying to let go of a system before Christmas. And there are many out there. And there are some incredibly optimistic people selling them.
How optimistic, pray tell? Try double the retail price. The offer touts extras, so the question is what extras? Perhaps all the good games? Guitar Hero? Rock Band (plus kit)? Nope. Actually, nothing extra. Everything listed is what comes with a standard Wii – a console, stand, Wiimote and nunchuck, Wii Sports. Oh, and a Wiimote glove. The seller will also hand deliver the device if you don’t live too far.
While this seems like a nice – albeit naive – play at cashing in on holiday greed, it’s actually how the advert is presented that really bothered me. If you’re thinking the old internet standby of all caps, you’re right! As even the newest internet users know, using all caps is the online equivalent of shouting. I guess fools parting with their money can be rather loud.
Of course, the rest of the market doesn’t look nearly so cut throat. There are plenty of Wiis out there going for a standard sales tax plus $20. I doubt they’ll deliver though. As it stands, my ZomWii is still limping along, loudly, but limping nonetheless. But if anyone else wants to drop $500 for a Wii, here’s a link.
Bradley Robb likes TV and books, and has an intense dislike for cinnamon. Once, Bradley stopped a Soviet T-60 with his middle finger. Bradley writes speculative fiction and edits Fiction Matters, and never really got the hang of talking about himself in the third person.