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The Wii - Is the Magic Gone?
Posted by
Zonk
on Mon Feb 19, 2007 01:31 PM
from the do-the-clowns-always-cry-when-you-pack-up-the-paper-sky dept.
from the do-the-clowns-always-cry-when-you-pack-up-the-paper-sky dept.
Computer And Video Games asks the tough question: is the Wii's magic gone? After the flurry of excitement around the launch, lackluster ports and a persistent inability for Nintendo to keep units on the shelves has made it hard for gamers to sustain their enthusiasm for the system. It doesn't help that most of the good games slated for this year won't be out for months. In some cases, there's doubt they'll even make it out this year: Reggie Fils-Aime appears to be backpedaling on Metroid Prime 3 by Christmas, which would be a shame. GigaGamez has additional commentary. Are you still as excited about the Wii as you were when it launched?
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Nintendo Promises 4 Million Shipped Wiis By Year-End 69 comments
Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime wants to share some good news and some bad news. The good news is that by the end of the year Nintendo expects to ship 4 million consoles. The bad news is, they still expect to sell out. From the article: "Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime hyped up the console launch, saying, 'Because of demand, we're urging shoppers not to get complacent. The level of demand we're seeing goes beyond the ordinary. Retailers are telling us a significant fraction of customers pre-ordering Wii are nontraditional gamers...' The company expects to ship 6 million Wii units globally by the end of March 2007, on par with Sony's worldwide shipment targets for PS3. Microsoft has sold 6 million Xbox 360 units to date since its launch in late November 2005, and hopes to sell 10 million by the end of the calendar year." So, fewer units than the analysts wanted. Still an impressive number.
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Nintendo Talks the Future of Wii 134 comments
Via Eurogamer (which offers a highlight reel of the article), a long piece at MTV Games where Stephen Totilo sits down for a chat with Nintendo of America's Reggie Fils-Aime. Unlike some other question-dodging executives, Reggie shares some interesting details. We have release dates (WarioWare in January, Mario Party in March, Mario Galaxy sometime after March), confirmation that they'll try to bring GoldenEye to the Virtual Console, a few details about the first online game for the Wii (Pokemon Battle Revolution), and word that there would be several Wii-related announcements in January. From the article: "For Fils-Aime, some of the projects he'd love to see happen in the U.S. can only be executed by his bosses in Japan. As a result, part of his job is to lobby for what he thinks American gamers want. 'The piece that I am more and more involved in is really looking longer-term and making sure the full range of games are being brought to the Americas. Making sure we have core gamer games like 'Metroid,' like 'Galaxy.' Making sure we have our types of market-extension games not only for Wii but for DS. Where's our analogous cooking game? Where's our analogous 'Brain Age 2' for DS?'"
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Imposter!!! (Score:5, Interesting)
Seriously, even as I like the Wii, I can see some "cracks in the armor". It's missing out on a lot of potential. Here are some things it needs:
a) Real calibration. Actually be able to tell it where your screen boundaries are located so that where you're pointing is a lot closer to where the dot is, enabling shooters that don't show your crosshairs. Preferably in the OS.
b) The Wiisaber. That alone will double sales.
c) Games that involves holstering the wiimote to one or more limbs. E.g. a dancing game or a bounty hunter type game where you have to hit a button on your arm to launch a rope. (I know Konami has a DDR like the former coming up, but sooner would have been nice.)
d) Online play.
Also, Zelda should have required you to pull back to load an arrow, so it's more realistic.
Store Shelves (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Store Shelves (Score:4, Interesting)
Where I live, it's hours after a shipment.
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Re:Store Shelves (Score:4, Funny)
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Re: (Score:3)
Within days? I've heard reports of minutes and hours, but I haven't come across a report of Wii's staying stocked on the shelf until even the next day... Do they last on the shelves longer by you?
Re:Store Shelves (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:Store Shelves (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, I'm sure Nintento execs are crying themselves to sleep at night about how bad things are going as compared to, say, Sony who has no problems meeting demand.
The demand doesn't vanish mysteriously once you can meet it with supply. It may dip as the buffer of people waiting to get one is emptied, but the steady desire for the system remains. The only thing the Wii and DS shortages accomplish is reduced sales for Nintendo.
Supply isn't free, or even cheap. Bringing new manufacturing capacity online takes time and investment. Making that investment when it may only be needed to satisfy short-term demand isn't necessarily a wise business move. In this case, who knows. But I'm pretty sure that Nintendo, who knows the actual costs involved, has a better idea than you.
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Re:Store Shelves (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, maybe. They claim that they've ramped manufacturing up to a million a month. They've left the PS3 in the dust and they're shipping units faster than Microsoft was at the same point. They are also experiencing shortages with DS's. These are selling at three times the rate as the Wii. The company's last quarterly earnings announcement could be summarized as "We're printing money". Game makers are changing their plans to include Wii releases.
They could have anticipated the demand. But to be fair - no one else did. They could bring additional manufacturing facilities on-line. But it's not clear - given the cost and lead time, that it would currently make sense to do so. So bottom line - they're doing pretty good. I'm sure Sir Howard would gladly trade places with Iwata.
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That's it! (Score:5, Insightful)
I am not sure anyone really expected the Wii to be selling at the rate it is, especially when its described as "a minor upgrade over the PS2 and a reinvented light pen". I wouldn't be surprised if most games companies banked on the high graphic consoles taking the market and therefore never really included the Wii in their plans. With the way its selling, I am sure there are many companies that are revaluating their plans.
What we learn from the Wii, IMHO, is that if you get the price point right and the right kind of innovation, then people will buy. While Sony will continue to sell consoles, their price point is wrong and they have the wrong kind of innovation. What I mean by the wrong sort of innovation, is that high quality graphics is already being catered for by the Xbox 360 and BluRay is a passable extra. Sony gets more points deducted for a difficult to develop for games platform, where Nintendo makes it easy by keeping it simple. Sony will probably be seeing the great games that really take advantage of the console eventually, but the graphics engines need to get there first, since few programmers truely master highly multithread develpment.
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Re:Store Shelves (Score:5, Interesting)
That's true. I was really excited about getting a Wii last November, I've been trying to find one since then with no luck. Let's just say I'm starting to get severely annoyed with the lack of supply, an xbox 360 is looking more and more appealing every day. I am really loosing my patience with Nintendo, I wanted a fucking Wii pretty bad, but now I'm just fed up and annoyed that I can't find one, and that turns me off it altogether. I wonder how many other people will buy another system instead because Wiis are no where to be found.
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Re:Store Shelves (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Store Shelves (Score:4, Insightful)
Actually, the fact that you commented you might buy another system could very well mean you aren't the demographic Nintendo was after. They've been pretty clear that while they'd like the hard core gamer, they're really after people who aren't really gamers or people who are no longer gamers. I wouldn't even consider a 360 or a PS3 because that just feels "been there, done that" to me. It's not how I get my kicks these days.
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Re:Store Shelves (Score:5, Interesting)
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Re:Store Shelves (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:Imposter!!! (Score:4, Informative)
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Have we given up on the Wii? (Score:5, Interesting)
I want one as much as I always have, but there is no way in hell I'll get it through walmart.
So I wait.....
Persistent Inability to Keep Units On the Shelf... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Persistent Inability to Keep Units On the Shelf (Score:5, Insightful)
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Since they still fly off the shelves.... (Score:5, Informative)
Ask again when you can walk into any Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Circuit City, etc and find them sitting on the shelves at any given time.
Sales and Magic (Score:5, Interesting)
Exactly. It's interesting, if you could only judge by the "hardcore" mainstream gaming media, the Wii has never done well, will never do well, can never do well. The same litany of GameCube criticisms comes pouring out--too focused on children, not enough brutal online competition, graphics fall short. The Wii adds the "it's a gimmick!" to that list.
And yet the systems continue to sell.
World of Warcraft and Gears of War shifted some serious units to hardcore gamers... but everyone wants a Wii. No matter what "$up4 1337 haxx0rz" say about 1080p and pzwning n00bs and how gimmicky the controller is, Moms don't listen to haxx0rz. Moms listen to Dr. Phil, and spend their money accordingly. This article is proof that the "magic" isn't gone even if the initial launch hype is finally settling down. Why doesn't the article ask if the PS3 magic is gone? Everyone's played the one or two games that made it worth buying. You can get a PS3 without even trying. The Wii, games and accessories occupy top spots on Amazon.com.
And that really is the point. Gaming media makes their money on ad impressions. You don't run stories criticizing a system many gamers have completely written off. You don't run stories about systems that are being critically panned by the mainstream media. You run stories about the biggest, most enticing system out there, even if it means finding something to criticize. Because those stories generate controversy, and that generates hits, and hits make money.
Notice how many negative articles ran about the PS3 leading up to its launch--price too high, too few units, controller just copied the Wiimote, so on and so forth. The negative press is still out there, but it's gotten to the point where no one cares, because everyone knows the PS3 is nowhere near as successful as we all thought it was going to be--while the Wii has wildly exceeded even most Nintendo fanboy's dreams. I was excited when it consistently sold out through January. I never would have guessed there would be shortages through February, with no end in sight.
You can't maintain "launch hype" through an entire console's life. The Wii is doing splendidly, and although Nintendo has failed to completely stave off the drought we all pretty much knew would happen, more games are coming, and I imagine they will be great. And you have to admit, Smash Brothers with online play is all it is going to take to get the hype going again.
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We're in the hall of mirrors (Score:4, Insightful)
So true. The danger of being inside a community of like-minded masters of the universe is that you can't see beyond the bubble you're in. Enterprise IT pundits didn't see Linux until it had already infiltrated the enterprise. They'd all been too busy talking about "soup to nuts solutions" to read the writing on the wall. The same thing is happening with games.
Hardcore gamers don't realize that their pastime is mainstream now. Just look at the term "games." When I was a teenager, "gamer" meant someone who carried the DMG, the Players Handbook, and the Monster Manual in his backpack at school. Now pencil and paper games have gone mainstream in the form of console and PC games. Adults play these games. Females play these games. It is madness! The inner sanctum has been breached!
Wii is doing great, and it will continue to rack up impressive sales, until eventually even gamer media will adapt their thinking and broaden the appeal of their own offerings.
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Not Flamebait, That's Cool (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, I didn't intend the term "everyone" to include each individual on the planet (how many people still have no electricity?) so much as to include "all demographics," in other words, "you don't have to be a gamer to want a Wii, you can be pretty much anyone at all." My apologies for failure to be more specific.
And if you do not like the Wii, you are certainly entitled to your opinion and you are certainly not alone--as I mentioned, mainstream gaming media seems quite frustrated to find that for all their criticism, the supposedly underpowered Wii is mopping the floor with the PS3. Indeed, if the future of gaming is to be the future of which they dream, there is a very real sense in which "powerful and beautiful and expensive" must beat "entertaining and simple and cheap." If the Wii truly wins this generation--and it may not, though I doubt it will lose to the PS3, because the 360 is quite popular--but if the Wii truly wins, a lot of those dollars that once went to make Halo and Final Fantasy and Gears of War beautiful graphical masterpieces may get diverted to making lots of simple accessible games in which "pzwning n00bz" is neither the primary nor secondary pursuit.
But your criticisms are interesting. Is the Wii poorly named? Even if I grant that it is, can you explain exactly how a bad name makes a gaming system worse? Worse for marketing, perhaps, but how does this make the Wii bad for games?
"Sub-par gaming system" also seems a little hasty. You quickly clarify "graphics" and "processor," but as it turns out, the Wii looks about the same as the PS3 and the 360 on the vast majority of televisions available. I can't afford a PS3, let alone an HDTV to enjoy the beautiful graphics. I like graphics. But I'm surprised to hear a self-professed gamer claim that what makes a system good or bad is the graphics. Graphics definitely play a part, but I'm not sure the difference between the PS3 and the Wii justifies a label of "sub-par."
Finally, you talk about a "novel gimmick" in the controller--kudos on managing to spell "gimmick" right, by the way. Can you explain why this "gimmick" was copied by Sony? Why the "gimmicky" DS is currently dominating the entire video game market? Games are gimmicks, in the very strict sense that every form of media is to some extent all about catching your attention. You say this "doesn't overcome it's (sic) other weaknesses." That's because the controller isn't there to "make up" for anything. The controller is there to change the experience completely--in some sense, to take some of the work out of gaming and put some fun back in.
I appreciate that, and as I said, your opinion is certainly a valid one. What you don't seem to realize, though, is that you just told me that you and unspecified dozens of others have written off the Wii because of its name, because of how it looks, and because it is different, which is textbook prejudicial behavior. What you think you want is "more of the same, only bigger and better." You want eye candy, you want horsepower, you want familiar control schemes, you don't want your peers to make fun of you for having a system that sounds juvenile. That's okay, those are valid desires.
But the rest of us want fun games, simple pleasures, affordable luxuries, and novel approaches. And that is why, despite what the gaming media may say for you and your "gamer" friends to parrot, the Wii magic is still there and the Wii is still selling like mad. I suggest that, whatever your prejudices, you give the Wii an honest chance--if not now, then maybe when Metroid Prime or Smash Brothers hit. You might find you like it more than you believed possible.
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Re:Not Flamebait, That's Cool (Score:4, Insightful)
Personally, I think the Wii is fine and will get one eventually. A co-worker though tried playing it and hated it because there was too much delay between the controller and the game he was playing. Clearly it isn't a problem for most people...but it is one of the more legitimate complaints I have heard about the system.
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More Reasonable Objections (Score:4, Informative)
In the interest of continuing this dialogue, I'd like to address some of these poins. What it mostly comes down to is that I still get the impression that you are judging the Wii on criteria completely removed from actually playing one.
The "resolution problem" presented by TVs is a real one for Nintendo and comes down to a simple consumer question: do we optimize for cutting edge technology, or for the technology our consumers are most likely to have? One major problem faced by the PS3 and 360 is that the more optimized they are for high resolutions, the worse they look on regular televisions. Smaller fonts, denser interfaces, and so on make the new systems gorgeous in HD, there's no denying it, but the better they look, the less readable they are on standard TVs. If you own an HDTV, and you can afford a game system worthy of such technology, it is understandable that you would want to "get the most out of it."
But HD is not being adopted in the U.S. (and even less so in Japan) at the rates everyone hoped. In some sense, the PS3 and 360 are actually ahead of their time, driving technology. That will be to their great advantage in, I don't know, anywhere from two to five years probably--so the Wii probably hasn't got the lifespan of a system like the PS2. But it's also profitable straight out the gate which puts Nintendo in a position to be researching and developing the Wii's successor well in advance of Sony or Microsoft's efforts. It's a different strategy, dictated at least in part by Nintendo's position competing with two enormous companies that can eat losses far beyond Nintendo's capacity as a games-only company. And apparently it is, for the moment at least, a winning strategy.
I agree that the name is unfortunate from a marketing perspective. But considering most places can't keep Wiis in stock for more than a few hours, any impact the name theoretically has had on demand is to this point completely moot. You don't like the name, we get it. But it turns out the people who haven't "moved on" are generally the people who need to insist that, despite its superior sales numbers and mainstream media reviews, the Wii "can't" be as good as the PS3 they bought for $2500 on eBay. The name is silly, we get it. Turns out the system is insanely fun anyway and has mass-market appeal.
At this point you come off very strongly as having no appreciable experience with the Wii. I'll grant that racing/driving games I'm a little skeptical of on the Wii, despite Excite Truck. But shooters? Personally I'd prefer a mouse, but after using the wand in Zelda, I have no doubt that it is superior for FPS controls to a stick or pad any day (Red Steel was just a bad game, can't really judge from that one d^_^b). Flight sims and fighting games are actually two genres I think will benefit significantly from the Wiimote, to say nothing of RTS (a genre largely nonexistent on consoles), RPGs (KotOR was much better with a mouse, in my opinion), and traditional "point and click" adventure games (a popular and accessible genre that is nearly impossible with a stick or pad). Fighting games is unknown, but do keep in mind that even Smash Brothers Brawl is probably not going to utilize the wand; there's no pressure to use the motion controls where they might actually detract from gameplay. There will always be those games that just get ported and "tacked" with motion controls, but
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Yes. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Yes. (Score:5, Insightful)
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I disagree. (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm a few hours from finishing Zelda, and I have to say I strongly disagree with your assesment of the Wiimote's addition to Zelda. The first few hours, I was thinking, "Yeah I guess this is kind of tacked-on." But as the game progressed, that really changed. The shield attack feels particularly immersive, as well as the bow and arrow, the rumble is masterfully employed throughout the game... I also turned off my Wiimote speaker one night to keep from waking up sleeping children, and the game felt much less immersive. I hadn't even given much thought to the sound in the Wiimote until it was gone. Now, if that can be accomplished with what amounts to a Gamecube port, imagine what's in store for future games?
Second, the sports games have held my attention far longer than I thought they would. There is sufficient hidden complexity to make them true games of skill, especially if you are playing against other skilled players. Yet they're also simple enough to be fun for children. My 3-year-old daughter (she's almost 4) loves boxing and bowling; she's not very good, but she's okay. Her other favorite game is Super Smash Brothers Melee (she plays as Bowser), but she has a hard time doing anything besides walking left and right and breathing fire, because the controls are too complex.
Let me rephrase this point. In addition to making Zelda extremely engrossing, the Wii enables me to enjoy video games with my small children. This point cannot be overstated! Paying monthly fees to have online competition against griefers and bullies and people with enough time on their hands to master every nuance of the game no longer appeals to me. I did that for years. Now what I want is a system that can satisfy my desire for epic games like Zelda and Final Fantasy, while also providing entertainment for my young family. I'm very excited for online Smash Brothers and I'm all for deeper control schemes where appropriate, but the ability to pick up and play for a few minutes to have some fun with my kids doing something I've always loved--playing video games--is the ability I will pay money for.
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I was going to get one (Score:5, Funny)
Hype =/= Magic (Score:5, Insightful)
You have to think about it - developers have just been exposed to a massively, paradigm-breaking gaming concept. Give them time. Just because the hype has settled down, doesn't mean the magic's gone.
Typical Launch Problem (Score:4, Insightful)
Most game consoles launch in Q3 or Q4 of a given year and end up with a decent supply of games (for being new systems) because there is value in being the only game of a certain type on a system; its a great opportunity to create a new franchise because far more people will pay attention to 'Red Steel' when it launches with the system as compared to it launching at some arbitrary later date.
Q1-Q2 of the following year launch systems have a great deal of difficulty getting a decent supply of games; it is the typical slow part of a year and there are too few systems released (being that it is a new system) for most developers to release a game.
I would (personally) wait until E3 before I determined whether the Wii was having any problems
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Call me crazy... (Score:3, Insightful)
Sounds like they're buying them as fast as Nintendo makes them. And its lost the thrill?
Re:Call me crazy... (Score:5, Funny)
Obviously, you don't understand. Take the late, great Sega Dreamcast. Thousands of Dreamcast consoles were left sitting on shelves for months on end. It was such a magical time, that Sega went out of the console business. But, hell, they made up for the millions in financial losses with volume. Shenmue became such a must-have game that Sega just announced the release of Shenmue Balboa. In this, the seventeenth volume of the game series, Ryo Hazuki is a 65 year old hack boxer that fights a latter-day Mike Tyson.
There's no magic in the Wii anymore. There is too much demand. I'm waiting for the next system, the Nintendo Uus.
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Interest still high (Score:4, Insightful)
Also, some anecdotal evidence. Yesterday when I was looking through the Best Buy ad I noticed that Wii Play had been released. I called three local Best Buys and all of them had sold out of Wii Play.
I think the steady stream of classic games like Mario Kart, and Super Mario World are helping out too.
Yes and no.... (Score:5, Interesting)
That pretty much relegates the Wii to party-console for me. Not that I have a problem with that, I suppose. The PS3 looks like it will be (and has been) able to handle my single-player needs fine. Each console has its place.
Re:Yes and no.... (Score:4, Funny)
I've yanked the PS2 right off the shelf. It's not entirely my fault. I think the console cheats.
This wireless wiimote thingy gives me all sorts of new freedoms to hurt myself and others.
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Counterpoint: DS (Score:4, Insightful)
The DS took a while before it showed its full potential. The PSP took the initial lead, but the DS has pulled far ahead now. IMHO, the breakthrough game was "Kirby: Canvas Curse", which showed off the real potential for the touchscreen, followed by Nintendogs.
I suspect the Wii will go the same way. It already has quite a few games that show its potential. There are also a fair number of games that were hyped, but were rushed out the door to meet a Christmas release and had a poor control scheme (like Red Steel). As more games start piling up, the Wii should get a solid position in this round of console wars.
put-down article (Score:3, Insightful)
Nintendo's "inability to keep units on the shelves" is a good one. They're sold-out is what it really means. And not thanks to artificial shortage, Nintendo has shipped a lot of these machines.
Is the excitement still there? Not as in the first few days, which is natural. But I'm still enjoying it a lot, and so does everyone I've had over to play a game or three. It isn't the cure to cancer, but it's a great living-room gaming system, and I'm still proud of owning one.
Now, someone please send the poor author of TFA one so he can stop being all stuffed up.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Nintendo stands to make much more money meeting demand, both for the Wii and the DS. Demand doesn't magically vanish once it is met. I don't understand how forcing people to continually assail Gamestop employees at ungodly and inopportune times about the possibilities of Wiis in "the back" helps anyone. Nintendo doesn't make a sale, Gamestop doesn't make a sale and their employee
Non-gamer "hype." (Score:5, Insightful)
One actually went out and got a Wii and is very happy with the graphics. Non-gamers may see it as "good enough." You and I of course know that the other systems are far more powerful graphicly, but my friend wasn't about to go out and spend $700 to get a PS3 as his first game system. We had a new friend over as well. Another non-gamer. Even after I had gone to bed, they were up to 3am, playing Wii Sports Golf.
Nintendo has hit the nail on the head I think. We might see the hype die off, but the hype that goes on is word of mouth. You know, plain old conversation in real life. Not everyone's primary mode of contact is email or web bulletin boards. I think this kind of "hype" goes far further in expanding the video gaming population than any ad campaign could.
Just launch-year jitters (Score:3, Interesting)
Ask me when... (Score:5, Insightful)
The magic is there, the mass media (NOT video game specific media) simply set their expectations HIGHER than hardcore gamers. The Wii had by far one of the best video game launches in history, thats a fact. Video game consoles suffer from a "drought" of games between 3~12 months (depending on who you ask) after its initial release, thats a fact. The Wii is just over 3 months old, thats a fact. When you compare the outstanding launch (Zelda + Wii Sports pack-in = Profit!) to the current lack of games (Warioware and Elebits are fun but they aren't Metroid or Super Smash Bros), of course you'll be extremely disappointed.
Re:Ask me when... (Score:4, Informative)
Video game consoles suffer from a "drought" of games between 3~12 months after its initial release.
"It's a fact."
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The "drought" doesn't matter for new casual gamers (Score:5, Insightful)
All you need to do is take a look at the DS to see where Nintendo is going with the Wii. You've got a ton of light, casual content, in the form of brain training, casual sims (Nintendogs) and light puzzlers. Plus in Japan, there are all sorts of "non-games" (cookbooks, dictionaries, etc.). In the meantime, because the userbase is there and so large, there's plenty of traditional "hardcore" content as well (Castlevania, RPGs, etc.) to keep the main fanbase pleased.
I think it's a bloody smart business model to adopt. However, it's going to take a while for it to take shape on the Wii, just like it took a year to develop for the DS. Just be patient, gamers. In the meantime, there are all sorts of other games to play on "those other consoles", if you prefer the traditional hardcore games.
Yeah, the magic's gone (Score:5, Funny)
All three! (Score:3, Interesting)
Virtual console? How about virtual arcade? (Score:4, Insightful)
R-Type on TurboGrafx-16 was probably the best arcade port of this game. However it's still not the real thing. And most arcade ports just plain suck, why play the SEGA Genesis version of Golden Axe or Altered Beast when the arcade version was much better.
There's also the fact that some games never had ports either, or on other older consoles. Such as Raiden Project on the Playstation. Or Slapfight/A.L.C.O.N. which was only released on C64 AFAIK.
And last, how about letting us play the virtual games on our Nintendo DS? They already have the emulator for the NES (I'm guessing, with all the GBA ports), we know that even the GBA is powerful enough (emulators exist), so why not let us play at least the NES virtual games on our DS? It can already download demos from stations in game stores, so we know it's possible.
Why do I want one? (Score:4, Interesting)
What are the "must have" games for the Wii? Seriously. I'm aware of Zelda, but ehh, I don't have much time to actually *play* a lot, so I'd probably get bored of it. My game playing time during the week is limited, and even on the weekends I might not have much time. On IGN half or mor of the reviews were for VC games - reviews of Mario 3 and the like. While that's cool and all, I don't want to spend $250 so I can download my old collection of Nintendo games, and I already know what those old games are like - I played the originals. There are the party games, but I'd only have a use for them maybe once a month or so - whenever we have a bunch of people over. The woman isn't interested in watching me play through a single player game, and she's not much into gaming anyway. Maybe if there were something she'd be interested in....
I could always go with the sports games, but that only lasts awhile, and why get a Wii if I'm just going to get Madden or some NCAA game? I'm interested in the potential of a Wii, but when I got right down to it, I had to ask myself - what would I get it for? Is it just the novelty and then it'd wear off? What are the must-have games everyone is talking about?
Ahhhh, it doesn't matter anyway. In my medium sized city, not one of the area stores has any in stock, let alone knows when more might come in. Bah. Maybe I've outgrown video games - that's depressing...
Re:Where was the magic? (Score:4, Insightful)
Have you actually looked at the iPod competitors? Almost all of them pack in more features at a lower cost. I'm not saying Wii will become the iPod of the console world, but most powerful hardware is hardly a prerequisite.
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Re: (Score:3, Informative)
I thought Wii Sports was a game!
Re:It's just hitting middle america... (Score:4, Insightful)
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