Wii is awesome

[Oscar]

Having been a member of glorious xboxic for some time now I have noticed that there is a slow but gradual acceptance of the Nintendo Wii as a good console... I was one of the Wii's biggest critics when it arrived on the market with it's lack of power and what I saw as a gimmicky control system, however I am now the proud owner of a Wii and would just like to take a little time to say why I now love the Wii and think it is one of the greatest innovations in the console market to date...

Ok so I'm sure I will have pissed plenty of people off with my opinion of the Wii already (especially that last sentence) but having previously been a critic of the console I feel it is only fair that I give balance to the whole situation and take back the uneducated assumptions I had previously made.

There are several reasons I like the Wii and I have listed them below:

1) Cost - From the console itself (if you can find one) to the controllers and games the cost of the Wii is less than its competitors with the Xbox 360 not far behind and the PS3 almost pricing itself out the market (I guess the BR player gives some reasoning to the high price).

2) Size - The Wii is small enough to fit in your granny's handbag which I dare say some people couldn't care less about but I personally do.

3) Fun - Now this is where I'm sure I will get a lot of comments to the contrary but when I say fun I mean laugh out loud fun which I have found myself doing with the Wii more than any other console (you can't help but laugh when you see your mum playing Marion and Sonic at the Olympics).

4) Family appeal - I am indeed a family man and as such I find the Wii more inclusive of all the members of my family from my little boy all the way to my grumpy old pops which is a major factor in the success of the Wii.

5) Backwards compatibility - Yes I was and still am a Gamecube owner although it has been gathering dust since I got my Wii for obvious reasons, I find the backwards compatibility of the Wii a true master stroke from Nintendo who seem to be the only manufacturer to realise that we want to play all the old games we have and not just a select few.

6) The Control System - When a game is developed with the intention of using the Wiimote control system (rather than ports that are hastily bodged with little thought as to how the Wiimote can be used) I believe you get a game that stands head and shoulders above anything on the market as far as player involvement and intuitive control goes. Take Res4 on the Wii for instance, after playing this on the Wii and switching back to any other format's incarnation of the game you instantly loose something from the game and find yourself feeling less of a part of the game and more disconnected from the action.

Now I'm sure there are a lot of people out there that do not agree with my reasoning and will comment on the lack of multimedia capabilities of the Wii or the domination of the 360 and PS3 in the power and on-line stakes however I'm only expressing an opinion that I feel should be shared by more people and would be if everyone just gave the Wii the time and respect it deserves!!

_o_ All hail the Wii _o_

[Rossko_UK]

Hmm interesting. I respect what you are saying, but I have to disagree with a couple of points.

1. PS3 isn't pricing itself out of the market. Not only has it come down a lot in price, it offers the cheapest Blu-ray player out there as well as a host of other excellent multimedia experiences. Personally for me price never comes into a decision when buying a console, the games do (wait, I bought a PS3, what? Blu-ray!).

2. Size is never an important factor to me, and although you can supposedly fit it in your Grandma's bag (a suitcase?!), you still need to get the wires and all that junk around with you. So even if you shove it all in one bag, I could do that with my 360 or PS3 too, it'd just be slightly larger. It's still not portable, put it that way.

3. Personal preference here I suppose. The Wii for me was fun for about a day, then the gimmick wore off and I wanted my hardcore games again. I can see why some people find it fun, and I will pick up Smash Bros. Brawl when it hits, but generally it's not my idea of fun. Gimme CoD 4 any day.

4. Can't argue with that.

5. Yes it's a good move my Nintendo, but they aren't the only ones. MS have their select few games backwards compatible, and the PS3 initially launched with a PS2 inside it (in the US/Japan) so it was 100% backwards compatible, as well as PS1 support. Admittedly Sony have dropped this support now, but were there that many Gamecube games you can say "Hell yes, I need to play that again"? Only Mario Kart for me.

6. Again personal preference. I don't like the idea of flailing around everywhere. I'm a lazy person, I want to sit on my sofa with a pad in my hand that responds when and how I need it to. The Wii controls can sometimes be hit and miss, through user error as well as hardware error. With a pad, it's always my fault.

I don't know why I responded in so much depth thinking about it, but at the end of the day, everyone wants something different from their gaming system. Full respect to you for loving the Wii, but I will still hold my criticism as it's just not what I want from a gaming experience.

[Oscar]

I just believe there are many misconceptions about the Wii such as the flailing around (I sit on my arse when playing Res4) when you play it and the general idea that without eye watteringly good graphics a game can't be as good... For me it's all about gameplay and the Wii is giving me what I desire for now (admittedly in limited variety). I fully admit that a lot pf games are best suited to a controll pad for now but for FPS's the Wii has the capibility to take on a whole new lease of life (If Nintendo ever get over their fear of violence?).

[Ivan Joidherpus]

The Wii is an excellent sidekick to either of the real systems.
Its a blast to play, and will get 'non-gamers' playing too. Its great for drinking games, or just to relax and have fun with.

The 'real' gaming gets done on the other systems, but the Wii is difinately a good compainion to the others.

Its fun as shit, and that's the honest truth. I love it.

[Law]

I love my Wii. Love it to death. And yes...I did wait 13+ hours in line to get it back on day one at midnight, Nov 11th, 2006. I was one of the very first 20 people in town to take it home and play till 5am as only Wal-Mart was the only place that started selling at midnight. All other stores waited till the next morning when they opened at their normal times. :P

All in all...it's a great system. I have a family myself and between the GameCube and the Wii...it's some amazing family time. My boys can play a lot of the games and they love it (they are both about to turn 3 and 7 over the next few months). SSBM was pure sex on the GameCube. My friends and I spent so many countless hours upon hours in that game...and it never does get old for us. I imagine that Brawl will be just the same.

1. It's priced right (although a controller and chuck is another 60 bucks...but when we bought our Wii, we bought 3 extra controllers and 2 extra chucks...we have a lot of gamers that visit us and we play all the time...it was a must for us). The only reason I would buy a PS3 is for it's Blu-Ray capabilities. I haven't seen too many games that are extreme amounts of joy...nothing that is a system seller. The 360 is an awesome system in and of itself...but for me, it's more of an FPS system. And if I'm going to play an FPS...it's going to be on my computer with the keyboard and mouse...that is until I played Metroid Prime 3 ;) The ability to play our large Gamecube library and the Virtual Console has just made the Wii an invaluable system for us though.

2. It's small enough. I don't like my systems to be huge bricks sitting in my entertainment center that don't allow any room to store the controller next to it or anything...everything gets cluttered. So I do appreciate the fact that the Wii is small and slick...but I wish it would have come in other colors.

3. The Wii is just a lot of fun. But it's the most fun for when you have a lot of friends or other people to consistently play games with. My gaming friends aren't online...they are here with me in real life so I can punch them or jump in front of them when we need to fuck with each other. FAR more fun than listening to obnoxious little shits scream obscenities at me over a headset...

Don't get me wrong. There are plenty of great and fun single player games to be had on the Wii as well. But any gaming is better when you have others to game with you.

4. I have a family...and it's awesome for group gaming. In fact, my bro had his wedding reception/party at our house over the holidays...the Wii was on for hours as the entire family and party all took turns playing Wii Sports and some other titles. It was fantastic...I've never seen any console do that before.

5. We love our GameCube and have a large library. The Cube is actually in my son's room, but it is old and so well fucking used that it is having issues reading discs anymore. It's been fixed once before as well...ahahaha. I'm glad the Wii plays the stuff for us too.

6. Who says you have to flail around? The only game that I have found where it is beneficial and more fun to get up and flail around is Wii Sports :D Other than that...I love to sit and play Galaxy or MP3 or RE4 and sit quite comfortably on the couch next to my wife and just point and play. It's fantastic...and my hands aren't forced to sit 4 inches away from each other...I can get in to far more comfortable positions and still be able to play. Cuddling and playing at the same time fucking rocks. _o_

The Wii is an awesome system. I really don't see it as a gimmick at all. All the gimmick nay-sayers will see when future generations will try and duplicate or do something similar...maybe not the very next generation, but the ones after that. Sony already tried to hastily add in the "6-axis" stuff to their controllers and games, but it was a last minute move. They saw how popular the idea behind the Wii was and tried to benefit from it. But they didn't pull it off right and none of their games barely use it and the ones that do...it's not used that well.

Go Wii!

[charmed699]

You waited a lot longer than I did for mine and here I was thinking waiting 9 hours for a Wii on launch day was long. ^__^

Did you get the new Nights as I did yesterday and it is just pure gaming magic!

[Law]

Heh...yeah. Our 13+ hour wait was good. We were number 18 out of 20. There were 17 people there waiting far longer than we did. ahahaha.

I haven't seen or played it yet. I have heard a lot of mixed things about it...I think I might push for a rent first. I need to buy Sonic and the Secret Rings though. Rented it and I loved playing it.

[Oscar]

At last..... Nice to see the Wii getting the praise it deserves for once!! I think that as time goes on more people will start find their early criticism of the Wii is nothing more than fear of change (as I did), nobody really likes when something we know and love is changed, like when they re-named opal fruits starburst or called marathon snickers.... It took time to get used to the idea like it will take time to get used to the idea of the Wii controll system but over time people will grow used to it and stop making unfounded remarks about it being a gimick or not for real gamers without ever trying it themselves as a lot of people do?

Go Wii _o_

[Law]

Oh..and I must also say, that being able to play good light gun games in the comfort of your own home with your friends...truely amazing. RE:Umbrella Chronicles is a pretty kick ass game ;) And they are working on House of the Dead stuff as well...that's awesome. Maybe we can get a Time Crisis port or something at some point.

[badlad1888]

Its going to be game over for Nintendo when Sony, Microsoft or a third party better there remote or use of the technology...
That is the only plus point of the wii........:P

[Law]

Hardly. Even if they do make one better...it certainly won't be the "doom" of Nintendo. How many times in the past has everyone screamed that Nintendo was doomed and this and that...yet they are the only game company to turn profit, every year, no matter what. And not just a little profit...but HUGE profit. Please...go do a little research before you start spouting off lies ;)

[badlad1888]

Hardly. Even if they do make one better...it certainly won't be the "doom" of Nintendo. How many times in the past has everyone screamed that Nintendo was doomed and this and that...yet they are the only game company to turn profit, every year, no matter what. And not just a little profit...but HUGE profit. Please...go do a little research before you start spouting off lies ;)

I didnt say Nintendo were "DOOMED" but its always the handhelds that turn the profit.
I didn't say it was bust for nintendo simple meant the novelty sales will dry up for the wii..

[Law]

Actually..the handhelds do turn up a large profit. But the GameCube sold for profit. Every single one of them. ALL of them...even the ones that sold at the $100.00 price tag. Guess what...they were making profit on them. Combine that with the triple AAA titles that Nintendo themselves produce and sell, the Cube still made the company a lot of money. It was just overshadowed by the fact that their handheld business is nigh unstoppable. Every system that they have made through out their entire history has made them money...and that's why their stocks are so high and so coveted by investors. It's a win/win company.

Edit: let me take that back...not EVERY system they have made. ahaha...they did have some flops. But they have had enough success through the rest of their stuff to recover and not notice the loss at all. hehehehe

[badlad1888]

Actually..the handhelds do turn up a large profit. But the GameCube sold for profit. Every single one of them. ALL of them...even the ones that sold at the $100.00 price tag. Guess what...they were making profit on them. Combine that with the triple AAA titles that Nintendo themselves produce and sell, the Cube still made the company a lot of money. It was just overshadowed by the fact that their handheld business is nigh unstoppable. Every system that they have made through out their entire history has made them money...and that's why their stocks are so high and so coveted by investors. It's a win/win company.

Edit: let me take that back...not EVERY system they have made. ahaha...they did have some flops. But they have had enough success through the rest of their stuff to recover and not notice the loss at all. hehehehe

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/24/nintendo_results_h1_06/

[Oscar]

Its going to be game over for Nintendo when Sony, Microsoft or a third party better there remote or use of the technology...
That is the only plus point of the wii........:P

You had to go and spoil a nice Wii freindly thread you swine!!! :-(

Don't make me woop your ass for your Anti Wii Nazi opinions!!
Just because you're poo at Guitar hero III on my Wii!!

Aaaah well.... What are big brothers for?! :+

[Law]

lol Oscar :) But yes. Nintendo has posted losses here and there. You can't deny that. But they have never once been in danger of going out of business on any accounts or terms. And they have never had to rely on their gaming side of the company (heh..the only side) to support the rest of the company. Either way you spin it...Nintendo is doing just fine. They always have and they always will. Even if another company does something better...that doesn't mean anything. The GameCube wasn't the leader in hardware power. Nor was the N64. Neither is the Wii ;)

[charmed699]

Yes Law I got Sonic and the Secret Rings last year on launch day and it is an incredible game! I was number 4 in the wait for my Wii and it was fun as well because everyone brought their Ds so we all played Mario Kart the whole time. :)

As for the Nights honestly it is a very good game and it takes practise to get A ranks, specially using the wii remote only. ;)

[Law]

Oh man...I met some good guys hanging out in line with our DS's :) There was a lot of Mario Kart going on. I even found someone to play some Advance Wars with! I love me some Advance Wars. There was also a lot of Metroid Prime Hunters. And noone was using a hacked DS so it was actually fair play. ahahaha.

Does Nights control anything like Excite Truck? I played the hell out of Excite Truck until I had S's on everything except a few of the Challenge Courses. Some of those get really hard to complete with an S.

[charmed699]

I haven't played Excite truck yet but with Nights if your using the wii remote controls it is hard at first. It takes time to get used because your hand keeps trying to reach out of the screen and separate the link guiding Nights.

There are many other controls though that make it much easier and getting the ranks is very addictive. You can even upload them to an online scoreboard to see your position compared to other players. :)

[HylianHitman]

Hardly. Even if they do make one better...it certainly won't be the "doom" of Nintendo. How many times in the past has everyone screamed that Nintendo was doomed and this and that...yet they are the only game company to turn profit, every year, no matter what. And not just a little profit...but HUGE profit. Please...go do a little research before you start spouting off lies ;)

They probably won't die because they profit. They're self-sustainable, probably because they put relatively little into the development of the console, and more into trying to make their franchises interesting.

[badlad1888]

lol Oscar :) But yes. Nintendo has posted losses here and there. You can't deny that. But they have never once been in danger of going out of business on any accounts or terms. And they have never had to rely on their gaming side of the company (heh..the only side) to support the rest of the company. Either way you spin it...Nintendo is doing just fine. They always have and they always will. Even if another company does something better...that doesn't mean anything. The GameCube wasn't the leader in hardware power. Nor was the N64. Neither is the Wii ;)


I am sure there was a point when Sony nearly bought Nintendo due to money trouble. I believe pokemon saved Nintendo.

[Law]

Eh? No. Sony was never trying to buy Nintendo. lol