Half Way into the Experiment: Your views on the Wii so far

[The Revolution]

With the advancements of the current consoles and the sheer money placed into the development and production of each (so much so that companies as big as Sony are now feeling the pinch), it's a safe assumption that the turn over rate for current gen consoles will not be as quick as they were before. So, enjoy what you got.

However, one market decided on an entirely new approach. Instead of going for us, the cliched market, Nintendo went for a world wide market. As reviews go, few games on the Wii have even touched 9.0, A's, Five out of Five, or whatever review score you like. But these are hardcore, NES and Sega Genesis born game reviewers viewing the Wii product from a lifelong gamer's perspective.

Even Now, Now almost two and a half years after it dropped, some markets still have problem with Wii supplies. Although for the large part, we gamers are not impressed, one can not just overlook such data as how many more millions of people are flocking to the technically inferior Wii and DS.

So, The Playstation dropped in 1994. The PS2 dropped in 2000, and the PS was dead even if it was still bleating. That gives us around six years to play with, and the PS dominated that console generation. So, two and a Half years is a bit early, but it's soon enough that we can start musing on the success and over all experiment of the Wii.

As a Gamer, and as intelligent people, rate the Wii. Tell us how it thrilled you and disappointed you as a lifelong gamer. As an intelligent person, was this a brilliant move by Nintendo? Will this experiment be the last of it's kind, or could it be possible that it would be replicated in the future with higher end tech as compared to the Wii, but without the need of being the current console powerhouse but just pushing out games to affect the masses than you and me? Is the Wii successful enough that not only Nintendo will continue the trend, but other game companies will also begin to damn us and our expectations to cash in?

[Luisfe]

It was a bold move, but it has paid off greatly.
At least from a profit standpoint, it was sold at PROFIT since the very beggining, and due to its gargantuan sales (no small part of that was the wider appeal to a wider demographics in the campaign market) it was definitely something succesful for nintendo.


It also proved that a linear progression in power for the consoles was not everything. The other two consoles followed that path, which lead to higher developement costs and exponentially higher risk, their gamble was far less succesful than Nintendo's apparently last ditch effort.

[scorpion]

the wii is a great console but it's lacking games that really take advantage of the motion control. I find wii has a few good games that are worth playing but most of them are just gimmickie games(grey's anatomy wtf) what the wii needs is a solid rpg that takes full advantage of the motion controls.

[moogle]

I was one of the people camping out to get a Wii. There were a good number with us. But every time someone walked past (this was the afternoon before), they asked if we were waiting for the PS3. I had visions of it failing worse than the Gamecube. I never expected the opposite could have been as bad or worse than my dismal prediction.

At the time I thought the fact that it was underpowered didn't matter. For the longest time I've held the belief that graphics don't make the game. But I think that's part of what really opened the door for the multitude of shovelware titles and way too few quality third party games. I kind of wish they went with "true" next-gen hardware, and supported HD. Cross-platform from PS3/Xbox360 to Wii is all but impossible, and those who only own a Wii (me) miss out on a lot of great games.

I'm also quite disappointed in the way the VC and WiiWare was implemented. First of all, the restrictions that tie games to your individual Wii are horrible. I literally have to bring my Wii with me to play certain games, instead of taking a disc, card, or logon information. And you're only given 512MB flash memory, which is far, far too small. And don't go telling me the latest update fixes that, because it doesn't. You have to copy an entire game from your SD card every time you want to play it. Flash memory only lasts for what is it, 10,000 writes maybe? A heavy user could use that up in just a few years, I suspect. Besides, it's a hacky work around in the first place. You'd think Nintendo would have the common sense to allow us to play games directly from an SD card to begin with.

The Wii gets a 6.5/10 from me. I love it and I hate it.


Also, if you think the PS1 was dead when the PS2 came out you're crazy. Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy Chronicles, Final Fantasy Origins, Arc the Lad Collection, Tales of Eternia, Persona 2, Breath of Fire IV, Dragon Warrior VII, Spyro 3, Colin McRae Rally 2.0, and Fear Effect 2 all came out after the PS2 was released (thanks Wikipedia). Plus many that came out right around the same time.

[The Revolution]

Your point is taken about the PSone having good games come out for it even after the drop of PS2, but the fact remains the majority of the focus was shifted towards the PS2. I feel when a company shifts focus, it's like being diagnosed with Terminal anything. Just a matter of time, hence the Bleating comment.

Personally, in my experience, the Wii controls never worked correctly. But I do chalk that up to human error, as everyone else in the room got it to do whatever they wanted. It was even commented by others that I was doing exactly the right thing and holding it exactly the right way... yet it still didn't work.

Admittedly, this experience somewhat soured me on the system. I've played it several other times, and games that don't really require motion controls play fine. Shooting games seem to be easier than all get out on the Wii, but I never had on experience where the motion controls felt intuitive or natural. I've found that even if I move my hand progressively away from a point, the reticle seems to snap back at an exact same point until I severely turn my hand, throwing my shot or whatever way off.

But this is a personal experience. I've heard literal life changing experiences from Wii Sports and Boxing. People actually looking up courses and following through. That to me is amazing. There's an actual, palpable population of people who's actual lifestyles have been changed for the better due to a gaming mechanic. That's huge.

I do believe this is not the last foray down this innovate road of gaming. Will it be the same motion controls, who knows? Hell, we may finally get those motion glove controls that every cyberpunk movie of the 90's swore we'd have by now.

Gaming is a business, pure and simple. Sony designers and businessmen can tout how many more times powerful their console is compared to the Wii, but they can't even touch the demographic that the Wii has. That's what drives business. Obtaining and maintaining clients. The Wii might not score well with us, but it scored well with those who make the gaming decisions.

I don't expect the next generation to be so much of a power race. Or, if so, they will start the race when all the materials, technologies and the like are more accessible so they can be more affordable. That alone will also push back the generations. Maybe we are now seeing the Second Renaissance that a lot of us old fogies have been begging for; Less Tech, More Substance. Time will tell. But I'm sure of one thing. If it is the beginning of the Second Renaissance, we will have Wii to directly thank for it.

[Cyrus the virus]

The Wii is great for the market it's aimed at.

For me, I hate it. I've found few games on it that I really enjoy and would consider purchasing (Smash Brothers, Mario Kart) and even those I prefer to play with the Gamecube controller. I dislike the feel of the Wiimote and never feel like I have total control over my characters. I even find myself annoyed by the wires.

I gave it a chance and I'm not very satisfied. Then again I'm not satisfied with the 360 for its hardware issues. I'm not not too thrilled with this generation's consoles, though the PS3, despite its price, seems the most reliable. And the software selection has gotten more robust, too.

[Luisfe]

The Wii is great for the market it's aimed at.

So, it is great for pretty much everyone?

Because that's pretty much the point of the wii, it is aimed to all demographics, not just a single one that plays videogames, it tries to be an all-inclusive console.

[freeflow^]

So, it is great for pretty much everyone?

Because that's pretty much the point of the wii, it is aimed to all demographics, not just a single one that plays videogames, it tries to be an all-inclusive console.

it's primarily aimed at casual gamers, little kids, 'non-gamer' girls, and other groups of people who don't devote much time to playing.

it's breaking the mold on what video games can mean to casual people, and it's removing some societal stigmas that gamers carry. i have sevel girlfriends who adore the wii for it's wii fit, and wii sports games, but they won't every feel the urge to pick up zelda, cod, etc... and play it. to me the wii represents a very inclusive system, but one that is often very surface-value in the gameplay of it's games. of course there are great games, but there are loads of shit too. i haven't heard anyone hear say the overall selection of good games on the wii to be satisfying, and we're part of 'everyone.'

[Cyrus the virus]

Yeah, I was going to say it's aimed at casual gamers. Or people who don't play a lot of games, have never played games, or don't consider it a serious hobby. Also people who might not play games because they admire the software, the art direction, the process of creating a living breathing world.

Now I know the Wii has a lot of imaginative games, worlds and all. But none of it feels especially complex. Every inventive game I've played for the Wii is based on something that might have popped into my mind when I was on drugs, and then elaborated on just a little bit. When I play Wii games, a lot of them feel very, very lazy. I don't get the sense the developers put a lot of thought or effort into their concepts because they just want to get the games out there for purchase. Does that make any sense to you?

But yes, Luisf, I am well aware of your love of the Wii as I think we've had these discussions before. I'm not hating on the Wii for the sake of hating on the Wii, I just don't like it. It doesn't appeal to me in any way and it doesn't have anything I want that I can't get on another console. What the hell use do I have for Wii Fit? Mario kart is fun but I have that on DS, 64 and SNES. Mario is neat but I prefer Mario 64, Super Mario World, Mario Bros. 3, etc. It doesn't give me enough compelling new software despite the potential.

[Luisfe]

What the hell use do I have for Wii Fit? Mario kart is fun but I have that on DS, 64 and SNES. Mario is neat but I prefer Mario 64, Super Mario World, Mario Bros. 3, etc. It doesn't give me enough compelling new software despite the potential.

You'd be surprised. It can even be fun (wii fit, I mean). As for the others, well, that's why the Wii is getting third party support again, after Nintendo not getting that at all since the SNES days. Developers ARE focusing at least some attention into the console, and there will be several third party titles that will be interesting this year.
The Wii is no longer going to have pretty much just Nintendo games of quality, other developers are putting some of their eggs in the Wii basket.

At least two of the "interesting third party" titles list have been released this year, and those are MadWorld and House of the Dead Overkill. If you are into jRPGS, it has several Tales titles, and it will eventually get Dragon Quest X, if you are into shooting games, it has the single best third person shooter so far made (Resident Evil 4, the Wii version is the definitive version, and after playing it, every other control scheme in a TPS feels clunky), it has the best light gun games (House of the Dead, Ghost Squad, Umbrella Chronicles, HoTD: Overkill, and Dead Space Extraction in the future), it even has quirky exploration games (Endless Ocean). It IS missing good nonkart racing games, though.
As for fighting games, it has some VERY nice ones (even if any control scheme other than Classic Controller stuff sucks ass with them), Guilty Gear Accent Core, Samurai Shodown Anthology (hell yes), Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, King of Fighters: Orochi Saga, etc.
Also, it is getting the Silent Hill reimagining (which is pretty much Silent Hill meets Penumbra) soon too.




If you say that the Wii doesn't have variety, or things that interest you, that is mainly because you have not bothered to look for those, and are dismissing the console instantly.

[Luisfe]

Also, your last statement could be read as "lol, Nintendo does rehashes", which can be valid, but on the other hand, their sequels tend to be evolutions and polishings of previous successes (with the exception of Twilight Princess, which was pretty much a step back from Wind Waker), building on previous ground and adding new features (sometimes they work well, sometimes they do not, example: Mario Sunshine, while a very solid title, the additions to the Mario 64 formula it had did not work as well as they should have). OF COURSE they will be similar, but at the same time, they are very different in many gameplay standpoints.

Again, those are evolutions on a formula that works, unlike what happened with Sega and the Sonic titles, instead of polishing what worked, removing what did not, and adding just a few more interesting gameplay additions, they kept piling on new features that did not quite work, and never properly ironed out the flaws (seriously, how the hell did the camera get WORSE AND WORSE since Sonic Adventure up to Sonic 2006, and the bugs, and the glitches?). I've read good things about Unleashed (ps3 and 360 versions), but their track record with the previous ones is not exactly very positive.

[Cyrus the virus]

I didn't mean to suggest the Wii lacks variety. Maybe my posts have been a bit too stream of consciousness.

What I mean to say is that the variety the Wii has doesn't appeal to me. I'm sure more third party games are coming, but as of now, nothing has so much as piqued my interest. Everything the Wii has I can get elsewhere, plus more.

Tales games the Wii has, but so does the PS2. PS2 has Abyss which is great and 360 has Vesperia which is supposed to be one of the best ones (haven't played it yet). I played Resident Evil 4 way back when and am not interested in the third version or so. Light gun games suffer because of what I mentioned earlier, that the Wii isn't as responsive as an arcade machine and it feels sluggish - granted I have not tried every light gun game the Wii has and haven't tried any newish ones, so maybe it's gotten better. And to be honest, nothing else you've listed is very interesting to me, at least when it comes to a purchase.

I just don't find that the Wii's software is very compelling. And it's not like I don't play the Wii or give it a chance, I'm just never wowed by any Wii experience that isn't Brawl with my buddies or Mario Kart. Meanwhile I regularly play 360 and PS3 games that feel a lot more elaborate and involved and interesting. I'm not at all a graphics whore, so it isn't that, I just... Don't really like the Wii.

[Luisfe]

*shrugs*

At least you elaborated your point :D
And those things I cannot deny.

[Priest4hire]

Well, there's no doubt that the Wii has sold phenomenally. However, I own no Nintendo stock....

The Wii has been a bit mixed. The motion control was neat for the first few hours but it quickly becomes little more than a mouse substitute or an exercise in random stick waggling. I find it works best as a mouse substitute and that's how the best controlled games seem to use it. Certainly that's how it was used in House of the Dead: Overkill and Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop and Broken Sword. In DR the aiming works great great and using it for regular attacks works well enough; although it feels like button mashing using the wrist instead of the fingers. Likewise for BS as long as it was being a mouse substitute. The mini-games involving rotating the Wiimote were exercises in head exploding frustration. The precision needed to be that of a manual dial and it just wasn't there.

Still, I don't regret my choice to buy the Wii. It's a great little system and it has a large enough pool of fun games to satisfy me. It's a little weak in RPGs, especially compared to the Xbox 360, but otherwise it's fine.

[The Revolution]

So, to the second part of my original post: How many of you think the next generation will see a Wii-equivalent? And if so, would it just be Nintendo, or do you see imitators on the horizon? China already made the Vii (http://www.joystiq.com/2007/10/13/wii-vs-vii-sincere-flatterii/).

[Cyrus the virus]

I imagine there would be a lot of copycats from smaller companies, or companies not known for gaming. Like all of the Gameboy copycats there have been. I'm pretty sure Sony and Microsoft will both stick with traditional approaches.

As for Nintendo, I wonder what they'll do for the next generation. I don't know the hard facts or numbers or anything, but I'd imagine the Wii is enormously more successful for Nintendo than the Gamecube or N64 was. So that would probably encourage them to keep innovating.

[Sushi_b]

A lot of the reasons why the Wii is good or bad have been brought up already. I know for myself, I'm not big into party games and such so a large number of the Wii titles don't have any interest to me. However the Wii is the home of light gun shooters and a great fit for it. There are a nice number of games that are both fun and challenging enough to warrent the ownership of the system. Granted I haven't bought a Wii game in close to a year ( saving up for House of the Dead: Overkill and Madworld still), yet I think that the future will still hold some surprises for us. Punch-out!! looks like it should impress.

As for the future, I suppose we will see more motion sense ability across the board in the coming generation. Possible some other innovation that we haven't thought of. I don't forsee Sony and Microsoft completely abandoning the foundation that they have made with their current systems to jump ship for a slightly upgraded version of what we have now for motion ability. I would expect them to push the hardware even more plus add new features.

Not to rag on it, but I still think Wii isn't a great name for a system. Nintendo has never sold me on that name. Give me a break, "It's not you, It's not us, It's Wii". Right, how much of that money have you given back to me Nintendo? Wii my ass.

[moogle]

As for the future, I suppose we will see more motion sense ability across the board in the coming generation. Possible some other innovation that we haven't thought of.
I hope this is the future. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgKCrGvShZs#t=3m07s) (Youtube deep linked)

[Sushi_b]

That's really fantastic Moogle. Those are some pretty brilliant ideas, particularly the first one which gives you an interactive white board. I can see that being incredibly useful for teaching different math applications and such.