Happy Birthday, Wii! You're Two Years Old!
Nov. 19
It would be impossible to let November 18th pass without noting that today is a very special day: it's the Wii's birthday! Today Nintendo's Wii has turned two years old, and I'm realizing I've had mine nearly that long (mine showed up as a Christmas present, but got bought during the launch wave).
This seems like as good a time as any to ask people: how do you feel about the Wii right now? Are you happy with it, or have you long since sold off your console because you weren't using it? Do you have one that collects dust, or do you still play your Wii every day? Are you still a fan of the Virtual Console and WiiWare, or are you bitter and angry about floods of low-quality titles?
Basically, what I want to hear is everyone who reads this post sounding off with their opinions of the Wii on its anniversary. No real reason besides me being curious. I'm still pretty happy with my Wii, all things considered, but I think there are a few things Nintendo could be doing a lot better. I wonder if you guys are noticing the same stuff...?
Comments
I'm in the "collecting dust" crowd. I was so excited about the system when the motion controls were shown at E3 2006! I thought it was going to be great. As it is, though, I just can't seem to find anything of interest on the system at all.
The only thing keeping me from selling or trading it off is Tatsunoko vs Capcom next month, sadly.
This is just a sad reminder to me that it's been two years and I still don't have one. Maybe once winter break hits and I'm free of the choking responsibilities of school, I'll pick one up...
It's been two years, Wii is still the system to own. Still everyday I ask myself why. Really I'm not a fan of motion controls. Big deal once the novelty eears off. When ever given Classsic or Cube control I opt for them. Besides that it's painfully obvious Nintendo doesn't care or listen. Instead they keep rolling out costly add ons. Wakeup Nintendo WiiMusic is a bomb. Oh, it's a cute idea but such a week song list. Why can Sega add songs but you can't. Storage issues this proves my point on Nintendo not caring. Wiiware and Virtual Counsel games are awesome, getting better all the time. All this robbing Peter to pay Paul due to storage lack of space is a joke. I'm on my second 1 gig sd card already. Shame on you Nintendo for not responding fast enough on storage. Every game downloaded should be availiable for immediate play. Now comes Wii's version of Animal Crossing is this 3 years of work after Cubes version? It is totally lacking anything original. Proving again the easy way has become Nintendo's new direction. I'm a gamer neither casual or hardcore. I love Nintendo indicia, but I demand better content. Shame on Reggie for calling out 3rd parties. Reggie of late they have released better games then the big N. This holiday lineup from Nintendo is sad. Reggie your to busy counting your Wiifit dollars. Why people bought and continue to by this boggles my mind. Yet, more broken promises from Nintendo, where's all you extra support for the balance board. Wait I forgot you really don't care. Remember this Sony sat on top of the world for years. Bang now they are 3rd. Unless better product, better graphics, better storage happens soon, Wii will fail fast. X-Box 360 199 I Bought one and I'm finding myself playing it more. Wii still can rock this world. First stop the flood of crap titles. Then Nintendo need to bring out beloved games totally rebuilt. Invention where are Wii's new properties??? 2009 will be make or break it's all up to Nintendo. Hey, the system is 2yrs old stop acting like it was just released. Bring the Wii to 2009 standards of loose us who support you.
I still haven't got one due to my depressing continued lack of income, but I still want one very much and hope that they reverse their seeming determination to make the online gaming process as difficult and not-fun as possible.
I'm only at my apartment half of the week and I've got other things to do half of that time, so I only get to play a bit. We got our console about two weeks after launch, and I've played through a good number of titles. I'm one of the "buy a lot of software" people, so I've got a backlog of things to play right now (currently finishing Okami, starting Dokapon Kingdom with my wife and roommates), but I am slightly concerned about future software. My "wanted" list has shrunk considerably, and there haven't been very many new additions that jump out at me and scream "must have!"
I've begun to turn contemptuous towards Nintendo's online network, and the support by both first and third party developers. Sure, Virtual Console is a great idea and Wii Ware gives another outlet for smaller developers to get their games out there, but it's not like those are revolutionary new services or anything. Browsing for older-released-on-VC titles is less than ideal, though. The onboard storage situation is terrible, and I stopped downloading new content after having to remove two or three things. The new SD card update may help, but that's yet another add-on that I have to purchase if I want a decent level of functionality... the cost of this system with all of the accessories has gone beyond the point of getting rediculous. It remains to be seen how WiiSpeak will operate, but I don't have huge expectations for it. The lack of downloadable demos and trailers is also laughable.. wow, one whole trailer for Metroid Prime 3. This should be a common feature that is used to advertise new titles.
Why after two years, with the first built-in wireless home system, is there minimal to no support for WLAN gaming? Where are the Wii <-> DS games? Hell, just port Four Swords and Pac-Man Vs over, at the very least. If the focus is casual and party games, where is the support for WLAN parties? They even built this feature into a few titles like Battalion Wars II and Mario Strikers so they could demo what the online play would be like, but then they pulled the feature from the final release. Wha?
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The channels idea is a decent one, but it is too limited. How about a larger screen resoultion, so I can get more channels displayed on a screen at once? Barring that, how about a directory structure for Virtual Console downloads (by system) so I only have to use one of my main channels on all of my downloaded titles? When is the last time most people used the sporadicaly updated Weather Channel or News Channel? The Internet Channel is better than it was at the beginning, but it's still not a very good way to get information if you've got access to a PC (or even some smartphones, now). Everybody Votes, Check Mii Out? Did that "Nintendo Channel" where you can vote on games and it records your stats and such ever get released in North America?
I differ from a lot of people's opinion in that I like motion controls. I played button mashing or combo games for over 20 years, and I like that I can control some games by using point and click on my big TV. Sure, it doesn't work for every title... that's why a quality developer will give players the option of which control type they want to use.
I could go on (Friends Codes for games where you've already added a person's code for their system is simply rediculous, for example), but I think that's enough. I don't need cutting edge graphics if the games are still fun, but the shortcomings are detracting from the games themselves, and I've only got so much patience to go around. I even like the idea of retooling older games with (properly implemented) motion controls and releasing them again.
Wii is certainly a success from a sales perspective... it's already smashed the Gamecube, and it's pulled in entire new sections of the market. However, if no real work is done on any of the items that I personally have issues with, Nintendo is going to lose my time and money.
Bought a Wii on release date and so far... eh. It feels kinda Gamecube 2.0ish to me. A few excellent games and then long long release periods between stuff I'm interested in. The Wii at least has the VC and Wiiware to keep me a bit more interested, but considering that the 360, DS and even the humble PS2 have had more games I want this holiday season then the Wii is kinda frustrating. When it's on, it's a fantastic system, but darned if it isn't on very rarely.
I bought mine on launch day. Was so excited to get one that I went to 5 stores, and even enlisted the help of my Mom to get one lol. The first year I thought it was great with all the channels, and clean interface, and games coming out. But after Brawl, Galaxy, RE4, Zelda etc, I've run out of games I want to play. The upcoming launch list has me sad and not wanting to sink money into the games. My girlfriend still loves it, and likes playing things like The Price is right, Wii sports etc. As does my grandmother and the rest of the non gamers in the family. I moved on and bought a PS3, since none of the wii games were doing it for me. My girlfriend keeps it at her place, and we use it when I'm there or when family is coming over.
For turning non gamers into console owners it's been a huge success. And I love the VC. My VC games get more playtime then the disc based games I own. As for the full on games like RE4 though, stuff like that is few and far between. That is what prompted my jump to PS3. I got tired of waiting for new games that appealed to me, and the list kept shrinking.
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