When the Nintendo Wii came out in the fall of 2006, people of all ages, shapes and sizes were struggling to get their hands on one and stores were back for months, unable to keep up with the demand. Nintendo was going to revolutionize the way games were played by having a motion-sensing wireless controller that involved the player more than ever in the game. A host of new games that used the Wii’s interactive capabilities excited gamers with the expectation of having the console to themselves. On the outside, it sounded like the Wii had beaten the PS3 and XBOX360 by far: It was just $250 compared to the PS3’s $600 and XBOX 360’s $400 and had the added benefit of working out while playing. Now, two years and a few months later, the allure of the Wii seems to be wearing off. People still had good things to say about the system, but are they really still playing it?
When I went to a friend’s New Year’s party, his girlfriend turned on her Wii with a couple of friends and they played Cooking Mama for half an hour. As I watched, I realized how childish Nintendo had become in making games that only appealed to young children and older people; people, who normally don’t play games. Not to mention the fact that few graphics improvements have been made since the jump from GameCube to Wii, at least not as much as PS3 and XBOX360. Attracting a large demographic and getting all the consumers that PS3 and XBOX360 missed out on might sound like a good idea, but when you think about it, people who own a PS3 or 360 are much more dedicated to their consoles and play more than causal . Wii owner. Nintendo has also kept up its long tradition of having short, childish games that don’t appeal to gamers who grew up on old-school classics like Chrono Trigger on the SNES.
Wii Fit failed to live up to expectations; people thought it could actually be considered exercise. Trying to combine fitness and video games is like trying to eat peanut butter spread on a steak; the combination doesn’t work, or at least it doesn’t work yet with today’s technology. Call me old-fashioned, but I actually like to enjoy the game I’m playing and not have to worry about breaking a sweat. If I want to exercise, I go to the gym or go for a run.
While the console itself sold well, the Wii doesn’t have the robust library of games that the PS3 and XBOX360 have. In addition to the large number of Wii Fit, Wii Tennis, Wii Music, Wii Don’t Care games, there are no memorable Wii games that give players a rich gaming experience. Most of the games are short-lived themed games that focus on quick bursts of multiplayer gameplay. Of course, nothing is more fun than having friends over and playing Rock Band until the neighbors complain, but I also enjoy an engaging single-player game with a deep story and complex characters to keep me enthralled on screen; Wii just doesn’t cater to that type of gamer.
The Wii continues to release game after game that they market to a casual crowd who, more often than not, only play the game once. If you want to exercise, go outside, or at least develop technology as such that we can play games while wearing virtual reality headsets; and kids already have games made specifically for them, they’re in those commercials where the kid gets into a bat-shaped controller and tries not to hit on TV while playing baseball. Game consoles need to stick with the people who made them successful in the first place. So while the Wii consoles gather dust next to the DVD player, I’ll happily wait for Final Fantasy XIII.
