Retro Wii!

I was browsing around online one day when I came across an image of a Wii-mote that was styled like an old NES controller. i though to myself "That is bad ass! I would so buy a Wii-mote that looked like that!" I began searching around online, out of curiosity. Soon, I came across a website called DecalGirl.com.

This site sells skins for just about every system there is. They have hundreds of different designs. But the one I cared about most was a Wii Skin that turns the look of your Wii into that of an original Nintendo Entertainment System. Normally, I'm not a skin kind of guy. I have a hard time putting stickers and such on my systems. I like the normal look, and am always worried about ruining it. But I just couldn't pass up the chance to retro-ize my Wii.

Bam! And there she is, in all her glory!

Now, there are actually two different "Retro" skins available at DecalGirl.com. I chose to go with the one that correctly resembles the style of the NES. The other one is colored similar, but does not match up with the original as well. I received my skins in the mail yesterday, and ran right downstairs to begin applying the skins to my Wii.

One thing I noticed pretty quickly is that the decals aren't stickers. Meaning, they don't have that very sticky feel to them. They are more clingy. Slightly stickier than a static cling, but not near as sticky as a sticker. Give you a good idea of how it feels? It's hard to be precise with them. I, of course, wanted to get them as straight as possible for the best look. Thus, I was constantly peeling them back off and reapplying them until I felt it was as straight as I could get it. The good news is that they peel off very easily, and left no sticky residue behind on my Wii. The website claims that this is how it will always be. I guess time will tell. If I leave these stickers on for a year, I'm guessing my Wii won't be completely clean. But I could be wrong. I hope I'm wrong.

One of my problems is that no matter how straight I put on each sticker, some parts still did not match up correctly. For example, notice the stripe that runs down the Wii's side (or top, depending on how you display it.) It gets a little crooked towards the front of the system. And that is not because I put the stickers on crooked, trust me. I tried so hard to get that line to match up correctly, and it just wouldn't. It has to be the way the stickers were cut.

Once the decals were all applied, I was generally impressed with how sharp the system looked. The mismatched line was just a small gripe of mine. Overall, I think it looks fantastic. The decals are very professional looking, and have a nice shine to them. The decals seem tough, too. Smudges from fingerprints wiped off fairly easy with cloth. I was very happy with how it turned out.

Aside from the Wii skin, I also decided to buy the matching Wii-mote skin. This one, I'm a tad disappointed in. Don't get me wrong, I do think it looks pretty sweet! And it matches the system well. But with the Wii-mote actually bearing a close resemblance in shape and design to the original NES controller, it just seems like they should have done a better job of making a decal to match the classic controllers look. But, this isn't bad. And I do like the way it makes my Wii-mote look.The skins for the Wii-mote also came with a few small decals for the Nunchuk. nothing special, but it does liven it up.

As a set, the Wii-mote and nunchuk look pretty sweet with their new decals. So, again, I am very happy with the overall appearance.

I'm very happy with my purchase. This really gave my Wii some life. While I was always a fan of the shiny white casing of the Wii, nothing beats the ability to customize it into looking like it's great great great grandaddy. I guess the question is, should I display it in the stand like I normally do, or should I lay it down to better resemble the NES?

Be sure to visit DecalGirl.com if you are interested in doing your own custom Wii job!