The Mysteries of Wii

When it comes to video games, I'm not a fan of the ultra violent, shoot-'em-up or war titles such as Call of Duty or Halo. I prefer thinking games, like Myst or Rhem which require the player to solve puzzles that mesh with the environment and move the game forward. (Okay, and anything with zombies. We all have our weaknesses. . . .)

Monday night while browsing through the Wii games, wondering what to buy with my gift card, I walked by the Wii demo unit. The game on display was The Malgrave Incident, one that I'd passed up many times but always returned to because it sounded interesting -- trying to figure out why everyone deserted small Malgrave Island. The main reason for passing it up had to do with some of the gameplay. It's a "hidden object" game -- different scenes of mountains or jungles or rooms, overflowing with bizarre objects. The game provides a list of specific objects to find in order to move to the next scene. I've played a few similar games and found them to be quite boring. But seeing this title in the demo unit piqued my curiosity. So I picked up the Wii controller . . . .

15 minutes later, Caesar was tapping on my shoulder. I'd become so engrossed in what was happening on the display screen that I'd zoned out everything else. The game involved much more than simple "hidden object" screens -- and even those are devilishly tricky -- and I quickly grabbed the last copy on the shelf and bought it.

I spent an hour and a half last night playing the game, with Caesar helping to find some of the hidden objects. So far, it's turned out to be a worthwhile purchase. But you may not hear from me again until it's finished. :)

Image from Spong.