What can you learn about a person by snooping into their Wii?
What can you learn about the Wii and about how people really use the system?
The Nintendo Wii is the only game console I own that logs every minute I spend using it. Maybe my PS3 and 360 do this too, but, if so, they’re not showing me the numbers. The Wii’s internal calendar does.
So what did the system reveal about me in January? What can you possibly conclude, for example, from a Wii day like the one I had two weekends ago?
Sunday, January 19
“Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn” - 00:15
“Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn” - 00:32
“Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn” - 00:01
“Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn” - 00:03
“Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn” - 00:44
The revealed truth is not just that I’m primarily a weekend Wii player As you will see below, my colleague Jason Cipriano, is, in contrast, clearly a weekday Nintendo gamer. It’s also that, honestly, I can’t find a “re-load my last save file” button in the Wii strategy role-playing game “Fire Emblem.” So every time I mess up in a mission, I re-boot the game. The system thinks I’m starting a new session each time. Fans of the series will take that as proof that, yes, I’ve sold out and am using the series’ new casual Battle Save system. Notice just how much trouble I was having that day, re-booting the game after just one and then three minutes.
But there are such grander answers to be revealed by those who transcribe their Wii calendar. Is the Wii really a system that people buy, play at parties, and then leave dormant? Do system owners primarily play Nintendo-made games on it? Does anyone actually use the Photo Channel? The calendar is not a lie, people.
Check out my and Jason’s Wii calendars below. And then try this experiment too. You may just learn something about your Wii — and about yourself.
Jason Cipriano’s Wii January
Tuesday, January 1
Shop channel - 00:02
“Bubble Bobble” - 00:13
Everybody Votes - 00:03
Thursday, January 3
“Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games” - 0:48
“Bubble Bobble” - 00:16
Wednesday, January 22
“Furu Furu Park” - 00:52
Everybody Votes - 00:04
Metroid Prime 3 Preview - 00:01
Friday, January 24
“Bubble Bobble” - 00:17
TOTAL: 156 minutes (Two hours, 36 minutes)
***
Stephen Totilo’s Wii January
Thursday, January 3
Forecast Channel - 00:01
“Zack & Wiki” - 01:52
Friday, January 5
“Zack & Wiki” - 03:37
Saturday, January 6
“Zack & Wiki” - 00:59
Forecast Channel - 00:01
Friday, January 11
“Zack & Wiki” - 00:48
Saturday, January 12
“Zack & Wiki” - 02:08
Sunday, January 13
“Zack & Wiki” - 01:13
“Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn” - 00:36
Forecast Channel - 00:01
Wednesday, January 16
“Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn” - 01:30
Friday, January 18
“Endless Ocean” - 02:15
“Endless Ocean” - 06:33 [NOTE: This was me leaving the game on pause for a looong time]
“Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn” - 01:30
“Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn” - 00:17
“Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn” - 00:26
Saturday, January 19
“Endless Ocean” - 01:03
“Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn” - 01:04
“Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn” - 00:06
“Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn” - 00:12
“Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn” - 00:12
Sunday, January 19
“Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn” - 00:15
“Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn” - 00:32
“Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn” - 00:01
“Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn” - 00:03
“Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn” - 00:44
Monday, January 20
“Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn” - 00:33
“Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn” - 00:43
“Endless Ocean” - 01:09
“Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn” - 00:25
“Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn” - 00:51
“Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn” - 00:09
“Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn” - 00:58
Friday, January 25
Forecast Channel - 00:01
TOTAL: 1905 minutes (31 hours, 45 minutes)
***
OK, folks. Jason and I have gotten that off our chests. Now you know how we spend our Wii time. Don’t you thank you should confess too?
January 28th, 2008 at 10:53 am
You’re gonna make me late to work with this …
Wii Fit (JP) - 00:48, 00:47
Chocobo’s Dungeon (JP) - 00:56, 10:45 [left on overnight], 05:42, 00:04
Zack & Wiki - 00:02
Wii Sports - 00:33
Super Swing Golf Season 2 - 05:03, 2:50, 0:17, 00:39
No More Heroes (JP) - 02:36, 02:32, 00:20
Bonk’s Adventure - 00:01 (music check)
Endless Ocean - 00:22, 00:33, 01:42, 02:10, 02:46, 03:13, 01:28, 00:01, 01:51, 01:36
Super Mario Galaxy - 00:34, 01:59
Wii Shop Channel - 00:01
No More Heroes (US) - 01:17
It has been a good month for Wii.
January 28th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
No No More Heroes for either of you? For shame.
January 28th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Bruin,
You’d think someone who played as much Zack & Wiki as I did this past month would catch a break. But apparently not. For shame indeed. You better be playing Geometry Wars: Galaxies as I type this.
-Stephen
January 28th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
[...] Article here [...]
January 28th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Hm, I was actually finishing up NMH as you were typing that, haven’t made my way to Geometry Wars quite yet. Yeah, props for pimping Zack and Wiki, that game doesn’t get enough love in general. I just hope you can make it to NMH soon, it really is great. Not quite what I expect, less of a good character action game and more of a brilliant piece of satire. It’s relentless.
January 28th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Apparently I’m the only one addicted to trying to come in #1 out of 50 on the Check Mii Out Channel (actually I’m just pretty happy to place, but I’m fascinated by what people choose for the top 50, and how much you can really do with the limited Mii creation tools).
I’ll try to fess up my time when I get home, but immediately I’d point out that the Wii doesn’t record GameCube time…and I’ve spent over a dozen hours this month playing Tales of Symphonia after learning of its existence.
January 28th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Quote - “Endless Ocean” - 06:33 [NOTE: This was me leaving the game on pause for a looong time]
Its a good thing you qualified that amount of time as being paused. Otherwise I would have been worried about how much you were enjoying the petting.
January 29th, 2008 at 1:10 am
I am surprised you don’t know the quick way to reset a game… Say in Fire Emblem you want to restart a stage or load from your battle save… press the Home button on the remote, and instead of Wii Menu, choose Reset.
Tada….
I also found this useful once in Streets of Rage when, midway through the game, I wanted to restart to play 2 player with my wife, and didn’t want to sit there while my dude with tons of lives on Easy difficulty died over and over again — Reset gets rid of the Wii Save without having to do a hard boot…
January 29th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
I was going to note the – Home button, reset thing – but someone beat me to it… simple and effective and it takes less time to be up and playing again!
Ok, I went through My Wii this morning and here’s what I have (sans Gamecube of course so there is probably some Smash playing I have forgotten about).
Now this is with a 9-5 job, working on Saturdays, karate a minimum of 2 nights a week, Hockey games to watch and play on Saturday nights as well… Also this is during a time when I was pushing to complete Radiant Dawn.
Jan 1
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn 3:11
Zack & Wiki 0:52
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn 1:55
Jan 2
Forcast 0:02
News 0:01
Jan 3
Mii Channel 0:02
Jan 4
Scarface 0:13
Scarface 0:54
Internet 0:06
Jan 5
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn 3:28
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn 1:01
Jan 6
Scarface 2:54
Check Mii Out 0:03
Mii Channel 0:08
Check Mii Out 0:04
Internet 0:01
Scarface 2:09
Jan 7
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn 1:12
Jan 8
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn 3:29
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn 0:57
Scarface 0:18
Scarface 0:16
Scarface 0:16
Jan 9
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn 2:15
Jan 10
—
Jan 11
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn 1:50
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn 1:05
Check Mii Out 0:06
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn 0:26
Scarface 2:37
Jan 12
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn 1:11
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn 0:19
Rayman 2 0:11
Super Mario Galaxy 0:22
Jan 13
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn 0:32
Check Mii Out 0:02
Check Mii Out 0:11
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn 3:22
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn 2:32
Jan 14
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn 2:04
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn 2:32
Jan 15
—
Jan 16
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn 2:30
Check Mii Out 0:01
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn 0:38
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn 1:50
Jan 17
Super Mario Galaxy 1:00
Check Mii Out 0:02
Mii Channel 0:04
Forcast 0:01
Everybody Votes Channel 0:03
Jan 18
Super Mario Galaxy 2:53
Check Mii Out 0:02
Jan 19
Check Mii Out 0:02
Jan 20
Super Mario Galaxy 1:11
Scarface 0:57
Scarface 1:40
Scarface 2:45
Internet 0:28
My Sims 1:12
Mario & Sonic 1:38
Jan 21
Mario & Sonic 0:36
Super Mario Galaxy 0:28
My Sims 0:47
Jan 22
Mario Strikers Charged 0:23
Link’s Crossbow Training 0:12
Super Mario Galaxy 0:05
Jan 23
Super Mario Galaxy 0:21
SSX Blur 0:15
Mario & Sonic 0:37
Internet 0:09
Jan 24
Scarface 0:29
Forcast 0:01
Wii Sports 0:13
Jan 25
Internet 0:01
Super Mario Galaxy 0:49
Zack & Wiki 0:14
Internet 0:10
Pokemon Battle Revolution 0:27
Jan 26
Super Mario Galaxy 0:22
Jan 27
Internet 0:02
Super Mario Galaxy 0:41
Battalion Wars 1:00
Jan 28
Rayman 2 0:18
Super Mario Galaxy 0:45
Internet 0:06
Plus over the last week or so there is about 13 hours of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
January 29th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Oh, mine works out to be about 86:06 total… man I play Nintnedo A LOT!!! Clearly Sunday’s are my big days though as it’s the only day I get off a week…
January 30th, 2008 at 12:16 am
Here’s my “True Wii Confession”…
Tuesday, January 1
Mii Channel - 00:43
Check Mii Out Channel - 00:03
Super Mario Galaxy - 00:23
Wednesday, January 2
Check Mii Out Channel – 00:07
Wii Shop Channel – 00:02
Internet Channel – 00:07
Friday, January 4
Super Mario Galaxy – 04:52 (left on pause)
Check Mii Out Channel – 00:09
Dungeon Explorer – 00:09
Saturday, January 5
News Channel – 18:54 (left on)
Super Mario Galaxy – 02:24
Sunday, January 6
Alien Crush – 00:37
Friday, January 11
Metroid (old-school NES version) - 01:14
Check Mii Out Channel - 00:19
Mii Channel – 00:02
Everybody Votes Channel – 00:15
Saturday, January 12
Super Mario Galaxy – 03:01
Check Mii Out Channel – 00:23
Metroid – 00:38
Sunday, January 13
Metroid – 00:25
Thursday, January 17
Check Mii out Channel – 00:09
Super Mario Galaxy – 00:28
Monday, January 28
Wii Shop Channel – 00:01
Check Mii Out Channel – 00:13
Tuesday, January 29
News Channel – 00:26