It amazes me that so many people still believe the Wii is a fad or that it doesn’t have staying power.
The latest story I have come across is from ThatGamingSite.com who firmly believes that all gamers will finally get bored of the Wii and move back to the real consoles (360 and PS3).
They also basically believe that the Wii is only popular thanks to the new motion sensitive controls. Which is possibly true but that isn’t a bad thing.
How much of the PlayStation’s popularity was originally based on the rumbling controller or the Xbox’s popularity purely down to online ability of the console.
The thing is the Wii isn’t going anywhere as it appeals directly to a much larger market than the hardcore gaming market and while the graphics are not as good, most people don’t care.
Nintendo are going to win this generation for one reason and one reason only… They targeted the enjoyment value of gaming, which is what the star of our last story should have done.
Last Updated: July 21, 2008
Steve
July 21, 2008 at 15:46
Mate how can you put success down to rumble controllers th is just stupid. The Wii is just a fad get used to it.
doobiwan
July 21, 2008 at 15:54
The problem with the Wii is not that it’s a fad, it’s that it’s a toy. People buy it to shut their kids up and give them an avenue for “easy” licensed shovelware presents.
The Wii, long term, is going to scare more peoples away from gaming than it is going to “open the market”
http://www.doobiwan.com/2008/07/nintendo-are-officially-evil-again.html
scrumpyjackson
July 21, 2008 at 16:02
based on some serious research (I asked my friend who has a Wii) Wii owners are indeed getting bored and desiring a more fulfilling gaming experience.
SlippyMadFrog
July 21, 2008 at 16:17
The problem is that the current owners who’s getting bored already bought the thing. If you don’t own it, it looks very fun and the whole family wants in on the action. Once you own it and it starts to gather dust in a month or two, it’s too late, Nintendo already got your money. They should put a warning on the box for uninformed buyers 🙂 .
bokka1
July 21, 2008 at 17:37
Had it and sold it. I don’t have time for two consoles. Am I the only one that don’t like motion controllers. My arms got so tired waving the wiimote in the air that it just was not fun. If I game I want to relax and be lazy.
Thomeval
July 21, 2008 at 20:25
Dictionary.com defines “fad” as: A “a temporary fashion; a craze, interest or activity that (some) people follow enthusiastically, but lasts for a short period of time”. I don’t exactly see how 1.5 years can be seen as “a short period of time” – especially since its likely to remain around for much longer.
If the Wii is a fad, it must be the most popular and longest fad in the history of mankind.
JimBob
July 21, 2008 at 21:25
For once I agree with Slippy – I know many ‘casuals’ who bought the Wii and scarecely play it anymore now than the novelty has worn off. They also don’t buy too many games – they’ve bought Wii Fit and they might buy Sports Resort, but that’s it.
As for the hardcore crowd, well my Wii collection stands at about 5 games and I’ll maybe buy one or two more this entire year. I haven’t switched it on since I got bored with Boom Blox.
The traditional franchises, like Mario and Metroid, are still awesome, but most third-party games are shocking and waggle is an annoyance.
larch
July 21, 2008 at 22:36
*cut and paste starts* 😈
I was trying to avoid the whole debate about Nintendo’s showing at E3, but then I decided what the hell why not add my 2 cent opinion to the whole debate. First off let me start by saying I don’t care for words like “core gamerâ€, “casual gamer†or the ever popular “hardcore gamerâ€. Personally I think these are just labels, as it seems people like to stick those on everything they can’t define as either black or white. If I enjoy a game I will play it I don’t care if it’s Cooking Momma or Resident Evil and that’s how I define it. If I enjoy playing games it makes me a gamer first and foremost, it doesn’t matter to me what platform or what type’s games as long as I enjoy them then that is all that matters. And I think this ties in with the topic at hand. Now a lot of the “core gamers†were disappointed at what Nintendo had to offer at this year’s E3, and to some extent I agree with them. But then again its the same people who complained about the fact that Nintendo is currently the only company brining out top tier games for its console.
Now this is pretty ironic when you take into consideration, that the strongest showing for Nintendo at E3 was from the third party developers the very same people that the “core gamers†hate. And for good reason, as they are the companies that are currently flooding the Nintendo Wii with shovelware. But personally I think that this years E3 was one of the strongest that Nintendo had so far concerning third party games, I also think to many people were focused on Nintendo’s conference and in doing so missed the bigger pictures which was the sum total of the four days which made up E3. Yes I agree Nintendo’s showing at this years E3 was poor, but then again neither was any of the other console company’s performance anything to write home about. Then there was the huge build up to E3 with rumors surrounding Nintendo games and hardware flying all over the place of which 80% were proven to be false in the end, and I think this build-up was one of the reasons why the “core gamers†felt disappointed at Nintendo’s showing at E3. They were eagerly anticipating announcements like the next Kid Icarus or StarFox which did not happen.
And we know gamers on the internet can never be satisfied. When Nintendo says they will reveal a new title for “core gamersâ€, which they did with Animal Crossing the Internet simply said “well that game doesn’t count†simply to justify being unnecessarily angry at Nintendo for not unveiling what they wanted. But has anyone considered the possibility that Nintendo’s press conference was toned down to allow 3rd party developers to step in and show us what they have planned for the console. One of the biggest complaints is that the Wii doesn’t have good 3rd party support, but a lot of the 3rd party games that come out like No More Heroes aren’t bought by Wii owners who are holding out for big name Nintendo franchise titles. And this has had a impact on me, as I am now more excited about 3rd party releases than Nintendo releases, officially announced ones anyway. So let us take a look at the list of 3rd party titles that were either shown or announced:
* The Conduit
* MadWorld
* Little King Story
* Mushroom Men: Spore Wars
* Ruin Factory Frontier
* Spray
* Dead Rising
* Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers
* De Blob
* Skate It
* Castlevania Judgement
Now I am sure I missed a couple of titles but honestly look at that list and tell me there isn’t at least two or three games that peaks your interest. Stop saying Nintendo failed because they didn’t announce any titles we where wishing and hoping for. You have the entire life cycle of the console to look forward to new game releases, not just during E3. Next let us take a look at the titles that Nintendo released at E3:
* Wario Land: Shake It!
* Animal Crossing
You will notice that I left out Wii Summer Sports and Wii Music as I don’t care much for these titles and they don’t interest my in anyway. But having said that I know there is a market for these games out there, and me bitching and moaning about them won’t make them go away. So I only listed Wario Land: Shake It! and Animal Crossing. Speaking of Animal Crossing it is pretty ironic that most of the comments about this game being for kids are made by kids, who know little or nothing about the game itself. And finally the new hardware for the Wii that was announced at E3:
* Wii Motion Plus
* WiiSpeak
These two pieces of hardware will have a big impact on future games that will be released for the Wii, as The Conduit has proven by supporting WiiSpeak for its online aspect of there game. The same goes for Wii Motion Plus, with games like Wii Summer Sports that is already boasting support for the Wii Motion Plus hardware. I am obviously the exception, but I was quite happy with the conference. I realize that none of the games were really tailored towards me, but I can see why they chose to show them. I think Nintendo’s E3 conference was more about the direction Nintendo is taking, and showing new ideas and developments in that direction. From that perspective, the conference for me was a success. We gaming/internet addicts should be happy based on what games are actually coming up, not what Nintendo choose to show at their E3 conference.
I regularly chat to Mr Anon online and after watching all three E3 conferences he had this to say which pretty much summed up E3 in a nutshell:
-Anonymous – “While delivering a lot of good content, Microsoft proved that they’re struggling to define themselves, like the old Mongol legend of the serpent with six heads, every head pulling in a different direction, Nintendo’s just out to congratulate themselves and totally missed E3’s target audience, and Sony is once again proclaiming the year of the PS3, that won’t materialize again.â€
*end of cut and paste* 😈
larch’s last blog post..My thoughts on E3 and Nintendo’s Conference
larch
July 21, 2008 at 22:40
5 games ? then I doubt you are looking hard enough, my current collection stands at 16 and tomorrow I will be picking up to more games. And I spend around 4 to 5 hours playing on my Wii.
Shocking third party titles ? I currently have 5 HQ third party titles in my collection not to mention the titles that are still being worked on: http://larcho.wordpress.com/2008/06/21/exclusive-wii-third-party-titles-to-look-forward-to/
larch’s last blog post..My thoughts on E3 and Nintendo’s Conference
larch
July 21, 2008 at 22:43
Well how do you explain people like me who have owned the console for more than 8 months already and still play on it every day. ?
larch’s last blog post..My thoughts on E3 and Nintendo’s Conference
larch
July 21, 2008 at 22:57
Actually I think the so called “hardcore” gamers are running scared and feeling a bit intimidated by the the “casual” gamer market, hence all the prophecy’s of impending doom floating around about the Wii killing the industry.
I am growing tired of the fanboys downplaying the Wii as a toy and a fad, when in fact its a console just like the others. People here seem to have forgotten the huge amount of shovelware that was found on the PS1 and PS2 once it a gained popularity.
I find it even more amusing that a “toy” and “fad” is outselling the so called “power house” consoles. 😛
larch’s last blog post..My thoughts on E3 and Nintendo’s Conference
larch
July 21, 2008 at 22:58
For a fad its doing pretty well in ripping MS and Sony a new one each month. 😛 And you would think if it was a fad people would take note stop buying and selling there consoles by the bucket load 😛
larch’s last blog post..My thoughts on E3 and Nintendo’s Conference
JimBob
July 21, 2008 at 22:59
I’ve given up looking. Why do I want to play Wii shovelware when I can play high quality games in HD on my PS3 or 360? The Wii’s games are still the most poorly reviewed and scoring if you look at a source like Metacritic, the high-quality first party titles like Zelda (actually a Cube game) and SMG notwithstanding.
larch
July 21, 2008 at 23:03
I like the biased opinion there 🙂 what about titles like Zack & Wiki, No More Heroes, Okami, Resident Evil 4, Bloom Blox what does metric say about them 😛
larch’s last blog post..My thoughts on E3 and Nintendo’s Conference
JimBob
July 21, 2008 at 23:07
All opinions are biased. I played Okami on the PS2, which is by many accounts better than the Wii version. Zack & Wiki is good, Resident Evil 4 is a rehash of a game I played several years, Boom Blox isn’t all that.
LazySAGamer
July 22, 2008 at 00:29
I was wondering how long it would take for you to arrive 😉
I had to leave my Wii behind when I moved and I have to admit that I miss it terribly. Everytime I walk past a store I have to restrain myself from buying a new one..
Apparently bedding and food is more important at the moment 😕
But I will be getting another one as soon as possible.
larch
July 22, 2008 at 07:11
Well don’t me I just rant when I hear the same regurgitated crap being spewed out about the Wii every single day. And its getting very tedious not to mention the fanboys are starting to sound like a broken record. Difference is a broken record can be fixed.
People should realize that when you don’t like something, it doesn’t make it automatically crap or anything less than it was designed for.
But in the end Nintendo will once again prove everyone wrong, just like when people where laughing at the Wii before launch and at the name. There is a crap load of things I don’t like about the other consoles but I don’t care I will rather play on my platform of choice and enjoy the games.
larch’s last blog post..My thoughts on E3 and Nintendo’s Conference
SlippyMadFrog
July 22, 2008 at 09:27
Well larch, there are exceptions of course. Some people are hooked on the Wii but imo its the minority.
SlippyMadFrog
July 22, 2008 at 09:42
larch, I must admit I didn’t read your post but I’m going to reply anyway.
The Wii is a revolutionary piece of hardware, no question. The problem is that, imo, all it has for it is the motion controls, thats it. On-line is bad, graphics is bad and Nintendo haven’t put nearly as much effort into the console war as Msoft or Sony. In a way I don’t blame them since they are winning easily but still. They don’t get me excited as the Xbox360 does. I see them as being complacent.
Gazza ZA
July 22, 2008 at 11:27
Please lets be honest here, Dont give me that shit about nintendo proving anyone wrong, the best games coming for wii are all third party, as far as nintendo is concerned, they seem to think they can now just brush aside the fans that kept them in business during the gamecube and focus on “broadening horizons ” and shit like that ie: the casual market. I think E3 was more than enough proof of where nintendos heart now lies – it’s not with their fans, its in their back pocket. Sure we will see another mario game, and probably another zelda, pikmin is coming I just dont think thats enough. I just wish nintendo would treat its real fans right and not the spoiltbrats, ipod generation yuppees and people who dont really care.
Gazza ZA’s last blog post..How to: Unlock other classes in Too human demo
Thomeval
July 22, 2008 at 17:38
^^^^
Seconded.
Steve
July 24, 2008 at 22:06
yeah it can be fixed if you buy a new one… jesus get a new saying. The wii isnt all that. The young primary school kids love it. Get over it