iRate: Wii never play it really!
Let me present you with a little list: a boxing bag, cast iron weights set, abdominal crunch machine and Nintendo Wii with Wii Fit. No, we’re not playing ‘The Generation Game’; I put it to you that this represents a fraction of the kit you have knocking around your house and garage that sits there, month after month, gathering dust.
I’m sure it was a great idea to buy it at the time, and I know you had every intention of using it daily “as part of a healthy lifestyle”. But let’s face it: you’d rather crack on the PS3 or 360 for some real gaming, rather than breaking into a sweat in front of your pixelated sprite whilst some obnoxious virtual Wii board berates you about how fat you are.
I must admit, I’m one of the few people in the UK who doesn’t own a Wii. Would I like one? Sure. But, being a lowly student I couldn’t warrant shelling out the money for a piece of kit that would essentially become my second or third console, and the ‘adult’ games currently available, whilst tempting, haven’t moved me to the point where I must have one. Resi 5, Ghostbusters and Call of Duty: World at War all look to be fantastic on the Wii; but I think I’m not alone in thinking that I’d rather play them in Hi-Def… on a proper console.
I can’t argue against the fact that the Wii has expanded the gaming market to include non-gamers. But am I the only one that sees this trend as unsustainable? Everyone and their mother has bought a Wii; usually as a fun little flight of fancy to crack out at Christmas or parties. But I have a box filled with board games in my loft that we only play at Christmas, and they’re just as much fun and cost even less than a Wii.
The Wii motion control was novel, even if it didn’t always work that well, and having played with the Wii motion+ briefly, it seems that the system really works well now. But who has the room to play even a two-player game on the Wii? I appreciate the Redknapp family can do it; but I’m not a millionaire ex-footballer with a multi-platinum selling singer wife, and my sitting room can only fit about four people in it, and only if they don’t flail around trying to hit a virtual tennis ball.
So what exactly is my argument here? Do I think the Wii is rubbish? Hell no! Mario Galaxy, Smash Bros. and Mario Kart, not to mention the Zelda series, are fantastic games that everyone should play. And certainly the Wii does things that other consoles don’t (yet!); but when you look at the number of games being released across all the consoles, Nintendo seem to be lacking the quality titles that would make their console a must have, rather than a nice-to-have-as-well.
Related posts:
Wii have a Wii and Wii never play it
Wii have a Wii and Wii never play it.
Also some Wii games that would look fine or even good on a standard definition CRT TV look horrible horrible on HDTVs.
The likes of Galaxy are fine because Nintendo know how to make a game look amazing but some developers just can’t do what Nintendo can with the limited hardware of the Wii.
To be honest I do still love my Wii even though I mostly play 360 now. Wii sports is still amazing fun, Galaxy is one of my favourite games ever, as is Lost Winds on WiiWare (which I will champion at every turn), but you’re right that there’s a lot lacking on the Wii.
Well said Sir!
I rarely use my wii these days too. Having said that there are still SOME worthwhile games. Obviously there’s the games that are actually made by Nintendo, as well as some of Sega’s recent offerings. I hear that Deadly Creatures is a pretty good game too.