I was gonna write a blog post but can't remember the sets of passwords for CMS access (nor the web address!) so we'll discuss here instead I came home to see my parents and completely forgot my sister had a Wii, so I installed the latest BBC iPlayer app for it and got watching. But then I realised, it's a games console, not a flashy HTPC (it cant even play DVDs), and nosed around for bits. What could I find of interest? Nothing. It's all ****. I tried the latest Final Fantasy Chrystal Chronicals demo. Utter ****. The GC one was a great coop game and now it's become some half arsed strategic platformer that I got bored with just sitting through the very long tutorial. I nosed briefly through the shopping channel and nothing interested me. Then I thought, what else have I seen the Wii do recently? It's a games console after all? Again, Nothing. Honestly, I, like others I suspect, was only interested in the Wii before it came out and with the few games that arrived with it. Nintendo was happy to be "the second console" but it's basically vacated the gaming market, which, for one of the oldest games companies out - one that has gone through and won the "Sega versus Nintendo" battle of 80s and early 90s - imo it's pretty ****ing insulting to gamers who rode with them over the years. I doubt people will give Nintendo the same nostalgia they still give Sega and the DC. Of course they are completely within their own right to suck at the new and juicy teats of the casual games market all they want, and selling millions of Wii fits does well for them, but compared to the consistent game launches of both xbox and PS3 it seems like Nintendo PR and marketing department are taking a long holiday. I'd be surprised if they even launched a new console in the future - or even called it a games console - and concentrated on rinsing the DS brand for all its worth. What is the Wii now? If bringing BBC iPlayer to your channel is the biggest thing its done in recent memory, that's getting pretty desperate. Not to mention even less "gamey". Im not sure what I think of the fact that Microsoft and Sony are also heavily promoting the sans-controller "stand up and dance around like a moron" route of gaming in the future as well. So many of us have tried the Wii and gone back to sitting on our arses twiddling our thumbs, will it make for just a more diverse XBL/PSN experience or another encouragement for us to change our ways? I still dont want to get off my backside. Im not 5 years old, I want to sit and be lazy on the sofa.
For me, the Wii is a casual gamer thing and my main obsession is with PC games. The most recent thing the Wii has done was the new Punch-Out. I'm still running through it and it definitely struck a cord with the nostalgic characters and sprinkling of new foes and tactics. Other than that, I revisit MarioKart once in a while. The other games I have bought for it were play-and-forget games, where once you beat it, you were done with it (ie the Lego series). I am going to agree with you that it is not holding up a candle in the war of the hardcore gamer platform, but that's not why I bought it.
I have a Wii (not a personal purchase, it was a gift), and I can say without bias that it definitely has it's uses. I would never, ever spend money on one myself, but now that I have one, it's a great console for casual, social games. You have a bunch of friends over, some of whom are hardcore PC gamers like yourself, some who aren't and some who're women (let's face it, not too many of them game at all) - that's where it really shines. PS3 and XBox are a bit expensive and 'serious' for social and casual gaming, but the Wii's low cost of entry and relaxed gaming are pretty awesome for parties or small kickbacks.
I play the Wii often (Wii sports and Mario Kart Wii) I never play it alone though, only when my daughters want to play it. It will never compete against our PC, 360 or even the Nintendo DS for serious gaming.
But Nintendo can't surely justify the Wii by everyone buying only 2 games a year? I can see that it's a kids thing - but I also thought Nintendo wanted to shrug off the childish appeal of the GameCube? All those games mentioned have been on sale for ages - it's akin to people saying they only bought a 360 because they love to have a splash at Halo 3 now and then. There's nothing that drives an interest in it, let alone for it.
I installed the BBC iplayer channel just the other day after missing sundays episode of Top Gear. Fail..............................!!!!! Stop start, Stop Start, then fell over four times and I had to stop start all over again. In the end gave up and watched it on my wifes PC that has the BBC download manager installed on it.
The wireless in the wii is complete fail, honestly it's terrible. If you hack your consoles like me then you'd have access to stuff like mplayer wii which you can use to stream media from your PC to your wii and unless your wii is really close to your router or connected via LAN then don't expect uninterrupted streaming As for the console itself I have one, was extremely excited about it. I was a nintendo worshipper since the gamecube because the ace games available for it and the SNES was also awesome but Nintendo's whole attitude is wrong, they are trying to get non gamers to play games but what that does is ruins the enjoyment us gamers can get out of our console. I want to play the fantastic games I had on my gamecube, not some family **** where I need to stand around waving my arms to hit a ball or standing on a fudging board and "pretending" to snowboard or actually just work out on it Nintendo have abandoned most of their followers by releasing games aimed at the whole family and not their fans from previous generations I really miss the old nintendo and if it carry's on this way I'll buy a wii 2, mod it and use it as some sort of media centre (if it's even powerful enough rofl) then wait for the zelda, metroid, pikmin and mario games then let it gather dust ^_^
I have a wii, havent used it at all this year but its still sat next to the other consoles and the htpc. IMHO nintendo lost their way/the plot after the N64, which was and probably still is my favourite console ive owned. They're putting out endless titles all the same, all shite. They might aswell sell themselves to EA
Other than Brawl, Mario Kart, Twilight Princess, and Galaxy, there's not much to say about the console. Its not powerful enough to port games, the control scheme is difficult to implement in a meaningful way, and the cheap-as-chips angle is fading into irrelevancy with lower priced competitors and a mediocre software lineup. Boo, Nintendo. Boo.
The Wii is nothing more than a fad. It had its moment in the limelight with a novel way of control and a low price. The fact is the games were appalling and were reviewed very poorly as publishers rushed out games to take advantage of its popularity. Now the PS3 and XBox have slashed their prices, with new quality titles coming out for them and the list of things they can do is ever expanding. I can't see a future for the Wii in todays market.
The other problem with the wii is it cant go anywhere, I mean the 360 and PS3 can both add the control systems etc.. that the wii has. But the wii cant add what the other 2 have. I know several people that were going to buy a wii but held off, now they've decided on 360's instead. Because mainly for the fact that others have said they are about the same price as a wii. The other thing that put them off where the nintendo adverts, showing all the games that they wouldnt play which left them wondering just what games there were worth playing.
I wouldn't mind having one because games like WarioWare are awesome fun, but TBH, the DS has a better selection than the Wii. The DS is worth it for the Phoenix Wright series alone. There are other things higher up on my list of things I want for Christmas
I have a Wii, excellent for party funtimes but I haven't used it that much lately. Once I get my PC I'm gonna move it up to my room (too much competition for the 46" downstairs - PC, 360 and PS3 ) and play through Metroid, finish Madworld and House of the Dead and then wait for Red Steel 2, which should be awesome.
Nintendo never meant to compete against PS3 and X360 for pure gaming. They were targeting the masses. And they suceeded. Serious gamers do not comprise the majority of people who buy consoles. If you look at the history, the Wii has targeted the people who would never pick up a PS3 or X360 controller to begin with. They started with the inovation of the 'tilt sensing, movement' controller, and it was a complete hit. Do you have any idea how many 50+ year olds played bowling during the first year that the Wii was released? Fast-forward to now, and they are suckering in the preppy crowd with the Fit board. And last I knew, Wii sales since launch still outpace the other 2 by miles. So there you have it. While X360 and PS3 battle it out to win over the serious gamers, the Wii has been targeted for everyone else. Damn straight the Wii cant hold a candle to the other 2 for great games, but that was the sacrifice Nintendo made to keep the console on budget and yet still be inovative enough to win the sales of millions more. As for me, the PC will always be the best game platform. Nothing beats a mouse/keyboard for controls.
Software sales is where all the money is in consoles though, they don't sell much software per console, the majority of people just buying 1 game, or even not buying one and just having Wii Sports. They might be selling more consoles but they won't be making as much money.
I know what you're getting at, but I really have to say it - you know the wrong women! I think the only non-gaming women I know are my Aunts in their 60s/70s... I still have my Wii, but it doesn't get used so much anymore. I was playing Animal Crossing on it on a daily basis and visiting my mate's village (read: gossiping) but then she couldn't catch a Tarantula and so doesn't want hers to go past August until she gets one. Meaning mine is still back in August too and I don't want to lose all my hybrid flowers and catching up will take weeks. So much for being a 'casual' game, it's like a bloody job with no pay!
