Sunday Thoughts: 24/01/10

Why the Wii will never be taken seriously.

Published 24/01/2010 at 12:00.
By newsbot.

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Last night, in a desperate attempt to find something to actually watch on television, I noticed PlayTV’s gorgeous EPG informing me there was a ‘Wii Special’ on one of the shopping channels. I’m not going to say which, but suffice to say that as far as I’m concerned the way the non-gaming public (and media) perceive the Wii has now officially become a joke.

Let me preface all this by saying that I’m Nintendo’s biggest fan. I’ve owned all their consoles (import and UK), hundreds of games and bought the Wii (as I did with the Gamecube and N64) on day one. I loved it – the innovate control methods were fun, inutituive and were sure to open up all kinds of new avenues for hardcore gamers. Except that never happened, did it, and Wii went all ‘Family’. And that’s where everything went wrong.

I’m not sure at which point this happened (and some may well say it was always like this) but apart from the last couple of weeks when I splashed out on some second hand titles I’d been completely neglecting the Wii (it was even boxed up and in the loft, for Heaven’s sake) because I was perfectly happy gaming on the PS3 and the 360, along with my portables. But promise of a new Zelda and the fact that Mario Galaxy is still awesome meant it was due an unpacking.

Decent ‘gamer’ games on the Wii are few and far between, and my library of 15 or so games probably covers most of the good ones. Madworld, Brawl, Metroid and the aforementioned Zelda and Marios, alongwith the usual crop of Mario Karts and such probably means that unless I’m interested in shovelware (or games available on other consoles) there’s little point hunting the shelves for something to give me a bit of a challenge.

Why is this? It’s because the fluff sells – and it’s probably due to the way the buying public sees the Wii, not helped by the way it’s sold on these TV channels. I kid you not, last night I witnessed a grown man laid stomach down stretched out on a sofa with his arms and legs akimbo pretending to ‘skydive’ by waving his extremities around whilst holding the Remote. “It’s exhilerating, it’s like real life” he said, his female counterpart egging him on.

No, it’s not. And making a fool of yourself by lying down whilst you do it isn’t going to make it any more realistic, and besides, he was clearly playing it for the first time and doing terribly. Whilst all this was going on, amidst the whoops and wails from the presenters (this is all live, by the way) the sales were ringing in – people wanted to be part of this nonsense and for £269.99 (the pack included 3 games and some plastic ‘accessories’) who could blame them?

Analysts are beginning to come around to think that the Wii has already hit its zenith, its peak, and the sheer saturation of crap for the format isn’t helping the few decent titles that the publishers make a gamble on. The Wii public doesn’t want Madworld, or No More Heroes, it wants to pretend it’s bowling and I’d imagine there’s a decent proportion of Wii owners that never actually buy another game after Wii Sports. To them, bowling is the Wii.

I like my Wii, I like the few hardcore games I have for it and the ability to play classic old NES, SNES and N64 games on it is a godsend. But with a mix of Ant and Dec and the likes of last night’s home shopping episode highlight the fact that whilst Nintendo can take all the initiatives it wants with classic brands and decent games, the majority of the stuff on the Wii is, in my opinion of course, tat - and it’s not going to change anytime soon.

Holding out for Zelda, then, is the only reason it’s not back in the loft.

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Doddsy | 24/01/2010 12:05
Totally Oscar Mike
1309 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009

This is the reason why I am uninterested in a buying a Wii.

Sure there are some good games on there, but for the cost of the Wii, and the aount of play it will get. Even the launch day of the PS3 is more value for money
- cam the man | 24/01/2010 22:42
  Member
  2901 TSA Points | Member since: May 2009
  
  Couldn’t agree with you more.
- Aitrus | 25/01/2010 10:06
  Member
  1663 TSA Points | Member since: Sep 2008
  
  My feelings exactly.
tonycawley | 24/01/2010 12:11
Member
1698 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009

I couldn’t agree more with this. I bought my mrs one for her birthday a couple of years ago. She liked it at first but very quickly got bored, so she asked me if she could sell it and use the money on something that she actually wanted (clothes). But i don’t think it’s ever been aimed at serious gamers. It has it’s place in the market, but not for me. Families with little kids, people who throw regular house parties, it’s good for such people, but if you’re after serious gaming, ps3 is the only way to go. People may argue xbox360 instead, but i’ll stick with sony. I can’t stand having 12 year old americans screaming down their headset, and that’s what you get on the 360.
Spotter5 | 24/01/2010 12:13
Member
1288 TSA Points | Member since: Forever

QVC and Ideal World sell it now.. I wonder if they’ll sell the PS3 or Natel when they come out?
Daywalker | 24/01/2010 12:16
Member
1468 TSA Points | Member since: Jan 2010

I’ve always seen the wii a young persons system of gaming. The games are bright and bouncy and I doubt you will find some actual serious wii gamers.
MegaBonez | 24/01/2010 12:18
Member
333 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009

I got a Wii early on. I loved it and was hooked by the gameplay possibilities. But, when I got my PS3 I just realised that it’s much better to have excellent games than innovative controls. If you’re gonna make something as unique as the Wii remote, you can’t rely on that novelty forever. You need good games to play and apart from the ones you mentioned (Zelda, Mario, Brawl etc.) There aren’t enough to keeo the console going. Shame really, it could be something huge.
- G_The_Enemy14 | 24/01/2010 12:58
  Member
  1036 TSA Points | Member since: Jan 2009
  
  Thats exactly the same as me, i got the wii soon after release and i thought it was really good. I got mario kart, completed it, sold it and never played t again, now its more my sisters/mums even though it was mine! But i got my ps3 a year and a half ago and i love it :D
BLAGGER | 24/01/2010 12:19
Member
240 TSA Points | Member since: Jan 2010

I like the advert where they promote the multimedia iplayer functions with an episode of….Eastenders!
minerwilly | 24/01/2010 12:23
Member
1322 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009

Never impressed me from the moment it was announced . Nintendo and Apple are marketing genius’s making things seem desirable to be in the “cool” crowd . Hats off to them both .
- Jordaaaan | 24/01/2010 12:45
  Member
  1487 TSA Points | Member since: Jan 2010
  
  Nintendo aren’t making the Wii look cool in any way at this point. They’re aiming for 8-13 year olds, middle aged mums and old people trying to get fit.
  
  And all these markets are waiting for are Wii Fit 3, Wii Sports: Light Excercise Gym and the new awful Sonic game.
  - minerwilly | 24/01/2010 13:56
    Member
    1322 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009
    
    A few people that I work with of the larger size have got Wii fit but I have to be brutally honest none of them have lost any weight , still eating the same old crap and never breaking a sweat in work .
  - Aitrus | 25/01/2010 10:08
    Member
    1663 TSA Points | Member since: Sep 2008
    
    And I bet they are baffled that they aren’t loosing any weight since they spent a good 30 minutes on Wii Fit last night…
Rob92 | 24/01/2010 12:23
Member
2150 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008

I’m just thankful I have a real console to play on. With good new games to play. On a games machine. And not as you say, flailing around pretending I’m having fun when really you look like a prat. Nintendo aren’t doing themselves any favours, the machine isn’t taken seriously with the industry, and whilst Ninty are making millions of it, there will be a time when it comes back to them cause no one will develop serious games for a system where only the crap sells.

Oh, and another thing, when was the last time Nintendo developed a decent new IP? They just rehash the same stuff, same storyline and add a little bit to justify the release. Yes Galaxy was great, but even that was Mario saving the princess collecting stars, something we’ve done loads of time before.
cc_star | 24/01/2010 12:26
Team TSA: Writer
12535 TSA Points | Member since: Forever

My parents (63 & 61) have got one, they had great fun with the bowling they never got on with any other games in the Wii sports pack. I bought some block game for them which they liked for the first 5 levels or so, but then it got to hard for them to bother investing time in and now like 90% of the Wii’s it just gathers dust. I think I sell it for them and get a PS3 they’d get far more benifit from the Blu-ray player and the occasional PSN title.

My dad gets his gaming kicks from the thousands of free or nearly free games on his iPod touch, paying more than 59p for a game is an impossibility for him, he also knows his way around the Flash powered gaming websites. My mum is more than happy with DS Zelda and Professor Layton
Divine | 24/01/2010 12:27
Member
1048 TSA Points | Member since: Oct 2008

My N64 gaming time is unforgettable, and pretty much ensured I snapped up the Gamecube on release. What a mistake, the only game I enjoyed was RE0. It seemed obvious Nintendo was heading down the ‘family’ route with the direction of the Gamecube Zelda incarnation.
Nintendo died before the Wii was released imo.