Wii: Unfillfulled potential or just unfortunate?

[Da Robot]

We are probably past/near the 4.5 year anniversary of the Wii . . .
We are on the eve of it's successor's reveal . . .

In the end do you think the console was all it was cracked up to be?

In terms of "revolution" (think back in 2006 cue blurry flashback effect)

. . . it was amazing and filled with potential, and the added promise of Wii Connect 24 . . . (finally Nintendo has a truly online console!)m

"What we are aiming for is a system that is new every day."
Satoru Iwata on Wii Connect 24 More about the lost potential of WiiConnect 24 can be read there.


And that motion control! More potential! Oh wait, it's not that accurate . . . Motion Plus! 1:1 gaming Oh goody! . . . Hey where are my games USING MP+?

Actual when you think about the Wii, the console just screams potential/innovation!


What did we get? Mostly crap/more of what we usually get served up/spin offs of bigger games from the "next gen" consoles.

The whole idea of console games with lower budgets and big ideas, never really happened, when developers became so scared of try to come up with some innovative for the fear "it won't sell on Wii."

WiiWare? Screwed over anyone who made a game over 40Mb and then due to the lack of people even knowing the Wii could go online, limited that market even further.

There's been some good games through out the Wii's lifecycle but is there any real Wii game that really, really used the console features to it advantage?

Eg something that wouldn't work on any other console?

Also the pointer was the most innovative feature of the Wii, FACT!

---

Oh crap this became a rant. Screw it, this forum needs some more discussion.



Well what does everyone else think of the Wii so far?

[TV Eye]

Yep, the Wii's been a little underwhelming in terms of expected awesomeness. We did get some contenders that people really went crazy for (Super Mario Galaxy, Smash Brothers Brawl, Twilight Princess) but in the end, I'm sooooo looking forward to the next console, but it's not gonna be a day one purchase for me...

[Arcadenik]

I hate to admit it but I think I am not gonna buy another Nintendo console. I mean, the only reason I wanted the Wii was because of Brawl. Though I am very happy with other Wii games like Mario Galaxy 1-2, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Prince of Persia, and especially Okami. <3 I am disheartened by the majority of Wii's game library. Too many of them are children's games, poor man's Wii Sports knockoffs, and exercise games. I am afraid I may have to sit the next console out unless the next Smash Bros. is announced. I gotta be more responsible with my spendings, you know?

[Nester the Lark]

I don't think the Wii fulfilled its full potential, but I still love it, and most what I could say about it will sound a lot like my old GameCube spiels.

I'm probably one of the few Wii owners that still wholeheartedly embraces waggle controls. I played Sonic Colors entirely with the Remote+Nuncheck, which means I had to waggle anytime I wanted to use a Wisp power. But it honestly didn't bother me.

However, I also feel that "proper" uses of motion control were few and far between. Way too many games either used waggle as a replacement for a button press, or ignored it all together, while games like Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers and Metroid: Other M were able to utilize it in an intuitive and natural way.

But what I think bothered me most about the Wii was that before this generation, there was this mantra, or belief, that gameplay was more important that graphics. Nintendo took that to the bank and weeded out a distressingly high number of posers, because no one would shut up about the Wii lacking HD graphics.

At the end of the day, however, whether or not the Wii "lived up to its potential" is kind of a moot point. And if you don't understand why, then I guess not enuff people understood why I spent so much time promoting third-party games.

[8bitretroshit]

Yeah the Wii's... okay. I liked some of the Wiiware, the Virtual Console's a good addition and Nintendo's own releases were good for the most part. Had to buy another console (PS3) to play the non-Nintendo games I was actually interested in though, which was a first. Hopefully this won't be the case with the Wii2 (aka it should be more powerful than the PS3/360. If it has the same or little more power then it's pretty much the same situation when Sony/Microsoft release their follow ups a few years later)

[Koopaul]

Gamecube never gave me a proper sequel to the DKC franchise, but the Wii did. And for that I'm grateful.

[kirbychu]

I have all three of this generation's consoles, but the Wii is definitely my favourite even if it's not the one I used the most. The 360 had more games I liked than the other two, but the Wii had more games I loved.

[Prince~Of~Light]

From all the stuff said above, this is why I'm having sucha HARD time when buying new games for Wii. The budget games are more than to be found. (->_<-)
In our nearest store, Zumba Fitness-program has been turned into a Wii-game, and it's the best seller of that store!!! and near it are those bunch of fitness clones and other stuff. We need innovation!!!! I don't want to think that in the end Nintendo are just scrapping the Wii near it's end of lifetime by letting bunch of crappy developers make so much budget stuff.

Sometimes it makes me even think that Wii's treated as a console for families and crap-ass losers. Maybe it's embarrasing to play it near my friends who respect me as a cool guy.

Thats just WRONG!!!!!!!!

Glad though Nintendo knows it's console very well(duh) and when producing mostly those "Nintendo-pure" games, they're almost always successful. (-lvl-) Nintendo's first-party games are also worth mention.

Skyward Sword's coming.

Kirby Wii's coming.

Rhythm Heaven Wii's coming!

And for that while I'll kill my time by playing Sin & Punishment 2 and Super Mario Galaxy 2. Not meaning I seemingly am neglecting other gaming companies' products, but to get the best of their quality, I must buy the other consoles. (Xbox 360 for Konami-games and PS3 for... uhm...)

[Deleted]

I'll admit that this is definitely an issue of unfulfilled potential...however, the fact that there were so few proper games for the first three years of the system's life is an undeniable and significant factor. Sure, granny and grampy can get into the console, but how many decrepit old fogeys do you think even bother with a game console as opposed to - you know - gamers? The problem here is that Nintendo spent those first three years without balancing to meet its intended demographic and the proper gamers that had been buying proper games, and all of those proper games have come far too late into the console's cycle.

If Nintendo - and its 3rd party support - hadn't been keen on making a quick buck, then maybe there would have been more waggle control innovation. (And before anybody says anything, I know "making a quick buck" is just part of running a business.)

[kirbychu]

May 26, 2011 11:31:02 GMT -5 @sgtmajorkururu said:

Sure, granny and grampy can get into the console, but how many decrepit old fogeys do you think even bother with a game console as opposed to - you know - gamers?

Well, if the Wii's sales figures are anything to go by, granny and grampy bothered far more than gamers this generation.

Or maybe that's just because granny and grampy don't know how to pirate games like gamers do.

[Shadrio]

While the Wii has had its ups and downs, I know I've enjoyed the ups. It brought back DK, gave me a great Smash game (I didn't enjoy it as long as Melee, but I enjoyed it as much. Life wasn't as lazy as it was years ago), a great (yet highly overrated) Mario game (SMG, haven't played SMG2), gave me great Metroid Titles (and showed us how a metroid game could go wrong and right at the same time) and one of my favorite games on the console, Monster Hunter.

But probably the best part is that I learned that while there were moments in which one company didn't deliver, I shouldn't just idly wait until my gaming wants were fulfilled. I learned to expand myself and separated myself from the fanbois. Sure, I didn't buy a new console (and I really wanted an Xbox 360 up until a a few months ago), but with Steam, I'm more than satisfied.

So yeah, I don't care what others think, Wii did well, it had a lot of great games, it's just that the mediocre game quantity completely overshadowed the AAA title quantity. But if there's one thing my parents have taught me is that I should work with the best and ignore the mediocre.

Here's to the Café. I hope Mario and Samus get more of a break on this console, I really want an online F-Zero, a Starfox, Pikmin and another Monster Hunter, I really can't see how those game have recently been mainly on a handheld instead of a console. Online FTW (mainly cause I just don't have the time to coordinate get togethers with friends to play videogames for a few hours anymore. Univiersities tend to do that >_>).

[Fryguy64]

Did I buy the Wii because it was going to revolutionise the videogame industry and provide new gameplay experiences? No, of course not. I bought it because it was a Nintendo console.

And in that respect it has brought us three fully-fledged Mario games that were all awesome, at least one awesome Zelda game (still expect Skyward Sword to end up on Project Café), a Smash Bros. game, and revived Donkey Kong Country, Wario Land and Metroid, not to mention Sin & Punishment!

The Virtual Console was pretty awesome for getting old games that are too expensive or rare to find today, but it was abandoned too soon and the lack of any changes (e.g. leaderboard, online multiplayer) meant it didn't take advantage of its new system.

WiiWare has provided some great games, but I ended up skipping a lot of them. Still, most of the smartest uses of the console's motion control can be found through WiiWare.

All around, the biggest revolution the Wii brought was shaking up the industry and changing the playing field. The Wii was as much about creating games for new audiences as it was about creating games that used motion control. As a result of this, we have seen the return of pre-mid-90's era gameplay - solid game mechanics that were abandoned as the industry ploughed into developing 3D games.

And Nintendo's success in doing this has spread to the other console manufacturers as well. We are standing in a different world today to that of the GameCube era. Today, education software, guitar games and 2D platformers stand side by side with the latest Space Marine FPS and JRPGs at the top of the charts.

I applaud Nintendo for succeeding, and I hope they are able to dominate this new world they have built.

[Boo Destroyer]

Da Robot's got some good points about the Wii, but one thing that I liked most about it was that it had a lot of decent platformers. A platformer renaissance, so to speak:

A super-solid 2D Mario platformer along with two 3D Mario platformers, a platforming-oriented Paper Mario (love-or-hate), a challenging Wario Land, DKC Returns, Kirby (and then another one coming soon).....



Compare that to the GameCube, which was okay but didn't have as great a selection of platformers:

One 3D Mario game, a half-assed Wario game that nobody remembers, DK Jungle Beat, Luigi's Mansion...

[kirbychu]

I don't think you can call Luigi's Mansion a platformer. Don't platformers generally have a jump button?

But anyway, I agree. The Wii's been great for platformers.

[Fryguy64]

The 2D revival on Wii is both a blessing and a curse. It's been great for those of us who watched as the games we loved on 16-bit consoles died out for no other reason than they weren't 3D... But on the other hand it also proved the naysayers who said the motion control gimmick was a fad. Sure enough, we ended up with more classic style games than we did new play experiences.

But complaining about that seems ridiculous when it's given us so many GOOD classic game experiences.

Don't get me wrong. I loved the GameCube too... but there's definitely been more Wii games I've enjoyed. And I enjoyed them more. Galaxy beats Sunshine and Galaxy 2 beats Galaxy. Wario Land: Shake Dimension beats Wario World, and DKCR beats Jungle Beat (and I liked Jungle Beat).

And WarioWare: Smooth Moves 9-Volt boss battle beats the entirety of Star Fox Adventures!