The Wii
www.engr.uvic.ca/~tubewire
TUBES AND WIRES
by Logan Volkers
should you care?...
A2
...DIS-orientation?
get spring started right...........A1
THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF STREAM B DIS-OREIENTATION. AGM @ ELW WII-KLY REVIEW
Volume S01 Issue 1 January 6th,2007 Ed: P. Reimer feat. Logan Volkers
Not since the lowly days of Frosh has there been such a noteworthy event for newcoming Engineering students. In recognition of the bridge students (“Bridgies”) that have recently landed here, we will be hosting some events to stir the pot. All Engineering students are welcome, but there will be special privileges given to Bridgies.
#1 – Post AGM Felicita’s Pub-stall
#3 – Party! Location to be announced. Use the contacts that you develop at the first two events to find out the mystery location of an event that could go toe-totoe with Beerfest.
What better way to spend a Wednesday afternoon than with some new friends and free beverages. Join us after a tedious AGM and Dean’s BBQ for some real fun at Felicita’s. #2 – Movies! No one has homework on the first Thursday, right? Stroll on over to ECS 124 at 6:00pm for some snacks and a Democratically chosen movie on the big screen.
Tubes and Wires, dolt! The fortnightly communique of the Engineering Students Society (ESS) for the B Stream. One of the longer running student society papers, established in
TUBES & WHUH?
“Tubes and Wires is the best publication I’ve ever read.”
-Some guy in the ECS, now $20 richer
Engineers, please join the ESS, Co-op office, and Engineering faculty for a solemn, dignified set of presentations followed by a rigorous layout of who does what for you throughout the term. Big changes are coming for the ESS, and you wouldn’t want the wrong guy in the right spot. Following this is $1 BEvERages, assuming you attended the rest. $2 burgers too!
by Aaron Trueman
For those of you who were living in a hole, cave or cocaine drug grotto and may have missed it, the next generation of gaming is upon us. Sony’s Playstation 3 sports the cell processor, which if it were available in 1997, it would have been the world’s most powerful supercomputer, Microsoft’s XBox 360 sits at a dismal 3 processors :( and Nintendo’s Wii is Important: January 10th (Wed.), pretty much a renovated Gamecube. 2:30pm To the average schmo the Wii may
“I heard they ran a crossword one time?”
therefore seem like a complete rip off. However, once you sit down and play one, your world will be changed forever. (cont’d A2) VICTORIA WEATHER
Today: High 9 Low 3 Rainy W Th F Sa Su : : : : : 0:4 -4:0 -5:-1 -5:1 -5:0 flurries sunny sunny cloudy rainy
1909, right after the invention of “the wire”, and directly before the horrible Tube scandal of 1910. The engineering faculty has seen many changes since then, and Tubes has been there to capture every one of them. There is a secret, however, and that secret is reader
participation. -Logan Volkers Written articles are nearly always included, and great suggestions often followed up. Send any content, on any subject, in any form to tubewire@engr.uvic.ca. This keeps Tubes fit as a fiddle, and just the way you like it.
Why does the Wii kick so much ass? Well, take an infared triangulating sensor system, built-in speaker and internal 4 kB of memory and you got yourself a wonder controller to shake hands with. Wait... doesn’t that still sound like a rip off from July 3, 1985? Yes it does, but now a rip-off with Bluetooth wireless communication technology and an uber-cool accelerometer integrated circuit. Nintendo’s big push for innovation has appeared to hit a soft spot in grandpa’s hip replacement. This reporter was out on co-op in Vancouver when the Wii launch occurred. Frustrated by a failed attempt to get one on launch day, and caught up in the hysteria of suddenly absolutely needing this ripe new machine, Redflagdeals.ca said HMV at Robson
Upon my arrival home, only to be confronted by my roommates, “TV is reserved for Monday night football”. Crap. By the time I did get to play it... my roommates laughed at me. Then, I handed over the controllers and never got them back. I came home on several occasions to find them slouching on the couch playing golf. What suddenly changed? Well, it’s easy to play. You swing a club to golf, you swing a racket to play tennis. I even brought it to my friend’s house over Christmas to show her family, and her mid-50’s parental units played it for hours while the turkey over cooked itself. Yeah, so it’s pretty clear by now that Nintendo did a few things right. Instead of focusing on high quality speed, graphics and audio to sell new products, they adopted a wise busi-
“It’s pretty clear by now that Nintendo did a few things right.”
and Burrard happened to get in a few units that morning. I sneaked out on work and ran with my skinny little legs halfway to HMV, then stopped. Because I hadn’t exercised in weeks, I ran out of breath. I wheezed for a bit while passersby curiously watched the 19 year old stick in a business suit breathlessly mumbling to himself “wii... wii... must... w... wii”. Well, 10 minutes later, I was walking out of HMV with a brand new Wii. ness model that incorporated customer feedback to develop their product. They made Sony and Microsoft look like lame, dollarless ducks and they are still pawning off older technology to an insatiable market. Watt’s and flip flops don’t matter anymore. It’s all about the gameplay. To any of you whom doubt the Wii, I challenge you to an hour of Wii without having “piss-your-pants-atgraduation” fun.