Views on the Wii

August 6, 2007, 10:14 PM

The Wii, Nintendo's golden boy contender. Sleek, innovative, and far outselling its current competition. But even though it's devistating it's competition, is it really everything it's cracked up to be?

For me, the Wii is nothing more than a portal which allows me to play games from the days when Nintendo produced their best works. Amazing mindblowing blowjob-rivaling games that would hook you the second you slammed that cartridge in place. Those are the games Nintendo used to produce. I look at the list of the current and upcoming games for the Wii and I'm simply not impressed. Nintendo doesn't have the games, the power, or the pull that it needs to impress like they used to. Even the best games on their release schedule pale in comparison to games like Chrono Trigger and Super Metroid.

Don't misunderstand. The Wii is fun. Very fun. Just not the powerhouse it needs to create the stir Nintendo really needs. They need new franchises, old franchises they lost ages ago, and they need it from out-of-house developers. Games like Twilight Princess, Mario Galaxy, and Metroid Prime: Corruption are no doubt games that shouldn't be missed by any hardcore gamer. Even so, the list of titles that would do better on the Wii than on another console is pretty short. The wiimote does make for fun and unique gameplay but companies aren't always willing to modify their games just to suit that playstyle... and they're definitely not willing to take such a crucial cut to visual power of the Wii, especially in an era where aesthetics mean so much.

So while Nintendo really may be getting the financial backing they need simply because of fans support and creativity, I'm not really sure they're "winning" this console race. To get that money, you need buyers. And while they're doing a great job at retaining loyal fans and even recruiting old fans of their franchises, they're not recruiting anyone for future franchises. I don't think Nintendo is dead yet... but they're still hurting badly. With as much as we've seen how companies buy exclusivity, Nintendo doesn't have as many rupees as they used to... Link snorted it all away.

Steam · August 6, 2007, 10:20 PM

Nintendo's gaming division is the only one out of the Big Three that is making money, and the success of the Wii and the DS is ensuring that it's by a very substantial margin as well. Nintendo are in no way losing or being damaged by this direction they're going in and that won't change even if they don't win the console war, the only people that are being affected by this is the so-called "hardcore" gamer with the casual games like Wii Sports being the big sellers atm. But let's be honest, Nintendo have never really gone along by anyone else's rules and it's paid off so why change?

August 8, 2007, 12:58 AM

The Wii is great. However, I wish they will start getting more action games that utilize the Wiimote well. I like how Nintendo is also marketing to a non-gamers with titles like Wii Sports, Big Brain Academy, Wii Play and Wii Fit etc that is fun for all to play but for the gamers, there hasn't really been much. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was great. Call of Duty 3 was pretty bad at utilizing the Wiimote. Super Monkey Ball was the worse one out of the series. Resident Evil 4 being a remake of a game that is 2-years-old.

Also, the online is pretty bad. Nintendo are trying to be over protective of young people playing that it is almost impossible to communicate and I was also told that with Mario Strikers, you can only play online within your region.

I am probably being a bit too critical just now as it hasn't been out for long but I wish they would put as much thought into more "gamer's games" as they do into the "family games" if that makes any sense. Not that I'm against there being family games as Wii Sports was excellent but it seems they are putting most of there effort on that part of the industry rather than actual games. This console has amazing potential but hopefully we will be seeing more games as Super Smash Bros. Brawl and NiGHTS are coming to the console.

Steam · August 8, 2007, 9:31 AM

Sadly except for probably Nintendo and Capcom at the top of my head nobody has really tried to push themselves with the machine, mostly because the casual games are the best-selling on the console still and there are still some doubt of the selling power of the Wii beyond the year.

Hopefully when the bigs guns roll in then those lazy arsed companies will get the thumb out and make some proper games along with the mini-game titles. And by that I mean more than ports with waggle because as great as Resi 4 is I'd prefer something new but I'd only really complain about this if we were in the same situation a year from now. The Wii is not even a year old yet and the PS3 and 360 were/are in a similar state in terms of games, give it time.

August 8, 2007, 9:58 AM

Its more of a console for parties if you ask me, with the exception of Twilight Princess I rarely play on it alone. The multiplayer is amazing and loads of fun. I cant wait for the new mario kart and smash bros to come out, even sonic/mario olympics. But for single player games I will stick to my Xbox360 and PS3.

August 8, 2007, 10:06 AM

I don't personally own one but my old flatmate had one and someone who I'm moving in with has one as well. So far, I'd say I've been a bit underwhelmed by it.

I'm not a huge Zelda fan so Twilight Princess wasn't enough to get me to buy one, and I didn't really enjoy Wii Sports or Play that much. Asides from that I watched my flatmate play Electoplankton ( I think that's what it was called ) and wasn't overly impressed by it, the gimmick wore off after 10 minutes or so. Wario Ware is the only game I've played where I though "Yeah! This is groovy."

Then again, we're all game students, so we're not exactly short of games to play either, the Wii perhaps just needs a couple of killer titles to fully win us over, Brawl or Mario Galaxy may do the trick.

August 8, 2007, 10:12 AM

Mario Charged Strikers and Pangya Golf will give you that gaming buzz in multiplayer.