well, its official. my once loved and coveted Nintendo Wii and i have had a falling out. the last year has been a pretty ugly one for the two of us. it started as love at first site on launch day back that fateful november 18th in 2006. however, after a great 6 month honeymoon, things started sliding. the slew of ‘casual games’ kept coming and coming, drowning the very few good AAA titles (of course Nintendo titles, Zelda, Super Mario, Metroid).
finally, it happened. i cheated on my Wii and got a PS3. since my PS3 purchase, my wii and i haven’t spoken very much. i’ve taken the cowards path and been avoiding this day for quite some time but it had to happen….
yes, i have sold my Wii to my pal and his family.
why?
like many have recently blogged/ranted/complained about, nintendo has forgotten us who got them where they are now: the ‘core’ gamer (i know, you’ve probably have heard this term WAY too much recently w/Nintendo’s very pathetic E3).
yes, we know that the blue ocean strategy was your plan from the begining but who helped you convince those non-gamers to get a wii? us core gamers who loved the idea of playing their parents, siblings, grandparents, co-workers in video games. my parents still have a wii, most of my pals do too. why? because i got one on launch and praised the wii’s innovative take on gaming; not being just a graphics upgrade but a new way to play.
funny how things come full circle, eh? almost 2 years after being launched, the wii still outsells the ‘hardcore’ systems each month and is still hard to come by but the new way to play seems to have turned to more gimmicks than innovation. horrible ports, minigames and the seeming arrogance of Nintendo themselves towards us ‘core’ gamers seems to be the new trend for them.
i really want to still be friends but… i don’t think i can. i’ve grown up and you haven’t. my wii looks like absolute crap on my hdtv and dolby system. all the latest games are just gimmicks on the wii-motion controls. seriously, 1:1 control is sweet but what good is it if you never have a game that utilizes it beyond a mini-game or wii sports resort? i almost got Wii Fit but realized why? i haven’t turned on my wii in over 5 months.
nintendo friend codes and their borked online play is huge for a person like me. the lack of a storage solution also kills any future. plus, i know how nintendo rolls; we’ll see a wii 1.5 soon which probably won’t have HD graphics or a harddrive but prob just more colors (ie DS and DS lite). plus, i’ve spent more on my Wii setup than my PS3.
i’m sorry but i think we have to each go our own ways. my parents still love you for your bowling goodness but i want more. i’ve played MGS4 and Gran Turismo 5; i love my online play w/Warhawk and can’t wait for LittleBigPlanet. its 2008 now and once you get a taste of HD you can’t go back.
thanks for the fun and i hope things work out for you but i don’t think this is going to work anymore.
Although I love my wii, I still agree with all of your complaints.
It doesn’t look great on HDTV. It doesn’t do surround sound. The majority of the games are cheesy. The friend system is burdensome. The hardcore gamer is being ignored on the wii.
That being said, it is an amazing system just as a party machine if nothing else. A few adult beverages and a bunch of mini-games make for an excellent evening.
Plus, the Mario line continues to be exceptional fun.
Here is my speculation. Even if all those hardware complaints were fixed, you still would not be happy with the wii. You enjoy the blockbuster, hardcore game. Most wii game designers have taken the quick and easy way out… and game quality has suffered. Why spend time and money on sweet graphics and gameplay when you can figure out how to use the wii remote in a new interesting way?
That’ll only last for so long. I hope.
Left by davak on July 18th, 2008