The View From Wisconsin

I am now a very pleased member of the Wii Nation. I went out and got a Nintendo Wii console Saturday - not intentionally, mind you. I was looking at something else at yon Best Buy in Delafield, and made a comment to one of the blue-shirted gentlemen that I'd been anticipating Nintendo releasing a few more Wii consoles to stores, but was under the impression they wouldn't be in stock for some time. He then said the words that would dent my credit card: "Oh, but we do have some. Right here," as he points one out and I pick it up and carry it on out the door.

I've gone out and gotten the old-school controller, and the LAN adapter (so I can go online - no, I'm NOT blogging this using that stupid keyboard), and today I went out and got the Wii points card at Wallyworld so I could get the 'net browser and classic Ice Hockey for the virtual console. I'm not sure if I want to get a GameCube controller, because I'm not sure I'm going to be so gung-ho for games like that in the near future. I am, however, getting into the Wii Sports and the baseball game - the "Home Run Derby" is definitely my game.

I also dropped serious change on another product today: a new bike. My old one was giving me fits, mostly due to it being slightly out of alignment (or so I perceived). I was intent on finishing the length of the Lake Country Recreational Trail today, so I rode my old Wal-Mart special mountain-style bike from the Delafield side back East. I had issues at the hilly part just beyond WIS 83, so I wandered back. When I did, I realized the Lake Country Trail went right past the Wheel & Sprocket store on County C in downtown Delafield. I stopped in, had the gentleman look at my bike... and fell in love with this bike by Giant Bicycle called the Revive. It's not quite a recumbent bike, and it's not quite a recreational bike; it's what's termed a "hybrid" bike. It has an upright, adjustable seat, adjustable handlebars, and a luggage rack. Very cool, and very usable. It helped that it was a "closeout" model, which means the W&S guys were selling it for half the MSRP of $700.

I'll have to report back after using both of these things for a while. I'm sure I'll be using the Wii a bit more, now that it's September.

Labels: Nintendo Wii Giant Bicycle Revive