Nintendo - "Everyone is a Gamer"

There's nothing that excites gamers like statistics; pie charts and graphs dominated the opening of Nintendo's E3 conference. Fortunately, the event had more than just business to discuss. They unveiled a 'Wii Zapper' housing that allows the Wiimote and Nunchuck to combine into a light gun, which will retail for about twenty bucks. They showed off a number of third party titles to prove the outside-the-company commitment, such as a Soul Calbur and Medal of Honor (which will be playable online) designed specifically for the console. Hardcore gamers were the focus of the early portion of the conference: Smash Brothers Brawl has a launch date of December 3rd in the US. They heavily hyped online play, with several EA titles and a Pokemon-like Dragon Quest title. Mario Kart for Wii will be launching early next year, will be playable online, and will have a Wiimote driving wheel housing packaged with the game. With the hardcore discussed, the attention shifted to mass market games. A new channel, 'Check Mii Out' will allow for a HotorNot-style voting mechanism and contests to make the most realistic celebrity Mii. There was much discussion of the Nintendo approach to expanding audience; Super Mario Galaxy was brought up as bridging that gap, as a second player can 'assist' the primary player in various ways. Galaxy will be launching on November 12th. Targetted more directly at this 'outside the norm' group was WiiFit, which uses a dedicated device called the Wii Balance Board. It allows for a daily exercise routine, can track data over time (and compare it to other family members) and includes some simple minigames like a soccer heading game. The press conference ended with Reggie Fils-Aimee revealing Nintendo's goal to make videogaming one of the pre-eminent forms of entertainment, across all age groups.

What gamers?

There's nothing that excites gamers like statistics; pie charts and graphs

That's just outreach to all the hardcore gamers in accounting, obviously. Feel welcome guys!

Re:What gamers?

That's just outreach to all the hardcore gamers in accounting, obviously. Feel welcome guys!

Nah, accountants build their own games in Excel, such as the ever-popular hits:

Function Call of Duty
Age of Accruals
The Balance Sheets of War
Extreme Audit III: Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance

Re:What gamers?

Don't forget EvE Online. A Giant spreadsheet...in space.

Two years ago

I remember when the big 3 was announcing their forthcoming console. The Xbox 360 press event made it to slashdot's front page. So did the PS3, while the Wii was tucked away in the game section. Forward two years from then, and it's Nintendo press conference that made it to the front page, while Sony and Microsoft are nowhere to be found. How things changes...

Re:Two years ago

Forward two years from then, and it's Nintendo press conference that made it to the front page, while Sony and Microsoft are nowhere to be found. How things changes...

Nowhere to be found [slashdot.org], eh? Microsoft's conference was last night. Nintendo's was this morning. Sony's is next. Slashdot will cover all three.

Re:Two years ago

I'm betting that Nintendo is a one trick pony

Considering that both the Wii and the DS are smash hits at the moment, I'd say that Nintendo is a "Two Trick Pony". Unless you count the continuing success of the Gameboy Advance. In which case Nintendo is a three trick pony. That is, unless you also count their unrivaled success with the Super Nintendo. In which case they're a four trick pony. Oh, but what about the original Gameboy? Make that a five trick pony. Six if you count the market-reviving, competition-stomping powerhouse that was the NES. Oh, but what about the games?!? Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros., Mario 3, Zelda, Metroid, Starfox, DK:Country, Mario Kart, Link to the Past, FZero, Mario 64, Starfox 64, Ocarina of Time, FZero X, Metroid Prime-- oh to hell with it. I'll just give you a grand total.

By my count, Nintendo is a 3,421,978 trick pony.

I can certainly see your point. By my count Sony has innovated much more than Nintendo with a grand total of... erm... two tricks. 1.5 if you believe in Sony's (rather confusingly put) "more than 10 years" philosophy of console design.

Different Market

But every PS2 is also a sale that "could" be going to the PS3.

I doubt it. People buying a 100$ console and people buying a 500$ console are an entirely different market, I think.

I don't think the PS2 is competing with the PS3. If anything, it's competing with the Wii.

GOW2 seems like a big hit for Sony. But why isn't it a big hit for the PS3? I doubt that every PS2 sold is a lost Wii sale. Nintendo last time I looked was selling every Wii they made.

Which actually means that a lot of people looking for a Wii may end up with a PS2 instead. They wouldn't pay twice as much and buy a PS3, but they might pay half as much and buy a PS2. I doubt it happens often, but it seems more likely that the PS2 is stealing from the Wii than from the PS3.

A pretty dull presentation

There was precious little news in that conference. No indication of how multiplayer networking will be improved, no striking new games to talk about, just video montages of people raving about their Wii. The reveal of plastic steering wheel was its lowest point, reminding me of something you might get in a Happy Meal. The balancing pad looked as though it might have some fun uses though.

'twas lame

For nearly all the gamers that actually watched it, this conference was a disaster. They didn't really reach out to hardcore gamers, they basically told them to shut up about online, and yes, the three or four games you already knew about are still coming out. Yay. The rest of the show was about how people who don't normally game were getting into the Wii and DS. That's great for Nintendo and the shareholders, people who would classify themselves as gamers were basically shoved over to the MS/Sony side of things. Then they trot out Miyamoto, the genius that is the only reason Nintendo still exists, especially in the minds of regular gamers, and then reveal his amazing new project! Wii Fit. It's basically a two pad DDR pad that's pressure sensitive. There was even a horrible DDR-style step exercise program, it was pathetic. The only mildly entertaining thing in it was the Soccer headbutting mini-game. Good to kill a few minutes at a friend's house, but not something to replace, you know, a real game. Oh, it had a scale function too! Now THAT'S Next-Gen!! You can find out what your BMI is!!!! Nintendo is making Super Rub-A-Dub look like an epic. And this is what Miyamoto's doing now, coming up with new ways to disguise a gaming system to sell to people who don't want to play games? For all the gamers I know, Wii Wept.

Not bad

Didn't get to watch it live since Gamespot was having some kind of issues with their live stream and I couldn't find another one for free. Guess I'll have to check on google video for it later. I did read through about five different live blogs to get a good feel for the presentation though and overall I think they did alright.

I would have liked to see more focus on some of the third party exclusives that were being brought to the Wii, something that seems a little lacking. I know that a lot of companies have pledged support and are releasing games, but a lot of them turn out to be crappy ports that no one's interested in. They probably should have shown something from Square Enix in more detail.

I'm glad that Mario Galaxy and Smash Bros. are dated now and it'll be nice to finally have some AAA games coming out. Hopefully, I'll be able to stand the wait between now and then. Announcing Mario Kart for 1Q 2008 also helps to let everyone know that there won't be another gaming drought, at least not for a while. Hopefully there will be some good AAA third party releases by then to start picking up the slack.

I'm glad they made some announcements about expanding online play in games on the system, but I still want to know more about it and how all of it will work. I'm not a huge fan of friends codes and would prefer that they used a set-up more akin to Xbox Live. At least they're finally catching up to Sony and Microsoft in terms of online play.

The Balance Board and their new light gun look like some interesting additions. I can see how the light gun adaptor would help to break down some of the barriers between casual and hardcore gamers. I also suspect that WiiFit will do a lot better than most people will give it credit for.

I'm going to go see if I can find a stream for the Sony conference now.

Check Mii Out sounds cool

I'm rather proud of my Pete Townshend Mii that I created. I modeled him after the way he looked at Woodstock.

Same Message, Different Reception

The press conference ended with Reggie Fils-Aimee revealing Nintendo's goal to make videogaming one of the pre-eminent forms of entertainment, across all age groups.

Revealing? They said the same thing last year (and I think they said it two years ago too), but I suspect the number of people who are taking them seriously has increased a hundred fold.

Just don't kill MP3

Just release Metroid Prime 3 (when it's ready) and I'll be happy. I rarely ever buy a Nintendo console for anything else than Zelda and Metroid. All other games are just bonuses.

Now if only they'd add MPEG-4 video support (H.264, even) along with external USB drives, people could use their Wii as a media system as well. Rip DVDs to 500GB USB drive and you got a DVD library on your TV with the help of the Wii.

I find myself less and less interested in Nintendo

...because they seem less and less interested in me.

And as someone who has owned literally every Nintendo console ever (yes, even the Virtual Boy, though not yet the Wii as it hasn't yet sold me) that makes me pretty sad.

Of course I understand why they're doing this from a business point of view. But as a long-time, moderate gamer, I don't really care - I'm a fan of their games, not their business - I just want good, engaging, and deep games to play. And that's not the direction they're going. I have seen the future and it's a collection of mini-games.

Sorry Nintendo, but Wii Yoga isn't going to win me back. I see a lot of new experiences for non-gamers, but for all its promise the Wiimote has yet to really add anything compelling to traditional gaming (waggle doesn't really count). I didn't see anything in that conference to convince me otherwise.

Re:I find myself less and less interested in Ninte

Of course I understand why they're doing this from a business point of view. But as a long-time, moderate gamer, I don't really care - I'm a fan of their games, not their business - I just want good, engaging, and deep games to play.

Well, at least you understand why they're doing it.

As someone whom gaming has been steadily leaving behind in terms of skill dexterity (and patience), I'm glad to see someone is accounting for the fact that old geezers like me still want something to pick and play with in short bursts, and doesn't need 40 hours/week to play or preternatural dexterity to control 15 buttons simultaneously in a fast-paced game. I last about 10 minutes on a modern game, get frustrated, and stop playing it altogether.

Nintendo does seem to be abandoning you as a segment. But, in order to sell more games with a wider appeal, they're focusing more on other segments (those without l337 gaming skills). Give it time, if the Nintendo platform keeps selling as it has been, the other game makers will have to start releasing their more "hard core" games on the platform.

Unfortunately, the choice seems to be between "amazing graphics but unplayable for many people" or "moderate graphics, but playable by anyone". There's obviously more people interested in the latter category.

Cheers

Re:I find myself less and less interested in Ninte

I don't understand how a "long-time moderate gamer" who has owned every Nintendo console (a description that nearly fits me) could say that a company that's releasing Twilight Princess; Mario Galaxy, Party, Paper, and Kart; Super Smash Brothers; and Wii Sports (have you actually played it?) is "ignoring you." What exactly do you WANT?

from eprsonal experience

My wife and eldest daughter are the only "non-gamers" in the house, but they both love the Wii.. from playing with Miis, to Wii sports to Wii vote they love the thing.. so now while i'm fragging away online they can play the Wii.. win win!

Mii Hot or Not?

Maybe this sounds racist but I think most Miis look pretty much the same. I don't own a wii so maybe it's been updated since the last time I've played with it but the options seem pretty limited. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy it for what it is and I made one with a beard that looked halfway like mine but if they are going to make a contest on creating the most "realistic" celebrity I think we're going to see a whole lot of nearly identical miis that don't look all THAT much like any particular celebrity.

It's a very rough caricature. How realistic can people make them? Someone will make Madonna and when it's pointed out I might even agree that it kind of looks like her but if I would never have looked at the mii and immediately thought MADONNA!

My nephews own a wii and they created a mii for everyone in our extended family. They did as good a job as anyone could do but I couldn't pick out who people were because the options would have to be a lot more detailed to distinguish between my nose and my brother's nose, for instance. So how are people going to vote on celebrity miis? This one's head is a LITTLE bit bigger. That one has a slightly darker skin color. How do you decide which is better when they are all nearly identical?

Re:Mii Hot or Not?

Check this out [kottke.org]

Re:Mii Hot or Not?

Ugh. It's like someone mixed "The Sims" with XBox Live.

Personally I'd hate that. I still don't see the benefit of micro-transactions other than as a way to fleece a couple extra bucks out of the customer.

SWEET!!

"They unveiled a 'Wii Zapper' housing that allows the Wiimote and Nunchuck to combine into a light gun, which will retail for about twenty bucks"

I have been waiting for this for ages!! now playing a shooter will make far more sense on the Wii!!

Overlooked real target for the fit board

Did no one else look at this thing and instantly think "Tony Hawk"?

Come on - medium sensor board, that's light and wireless, detects weight and pressure both?

Slap a shock-absorber attachment on the bottom so that it doesn't snap in half when you come down on it and you have an instant virtual skateboard. Hell you could even make a velcro attachment to the WiiMote so you could strap it to your leg to mimic pushing off.

Yes! We're all gamers!

I'm not.

A Heretic

Kill the non-believer!

Expanding audiences again?

"There was much discussion of the Nintendo approach to expanding audience..."

There's always talk of expanding the audience at Nintendo conferences these days. They're reaching out to the casual gamer, they're growing the gaming market, they're making gaming mainstream and they're doing it in style, or so they say.

Last generation, the gaming market was somewhere around 150 million console sales in total, and 100 million+ of that was PS2 sales. In order to grow the market, they're really going to need to sell more than their rivals last sales total of 100 million consoles, right? And something makes me wonder exactly how many Wii customers are first time buyers...

How much of wii is covered by patents?

I'm not a gamer but I did play wii tennis one evening, great fun.

Just wondering if there's a game equivalent of Amazon's one-click patent for games (be surprised if there weren't). It seems to me that the wii is the first console to implement several "obvious" concepts; will the other console makers have to license any of them?

Nintendo should be ashamed

Nintendo should be ashamed that you still can't go into your local big box store and buy a Wii off the shelf. Almost 9 months since release and they're still as rare as a cow grazing in a field.

Problem with the zapper...

Within 5 minutes of getting my wii i realized this and while shooting games are easier and more fun on the Wii, its not an exact pointer. You cant aim the wii-mote, its not exact, its relative to the screen and the sensor bar and behaves much like a mouse. So unless theres some kind of calibration for it that hasn't been done in any other game, i see the zapper only causing problems.

Wii Balance Board + Tony Hawk = Cool Game

Please, please, please, please... Even combining the balance board with the Zapper could provide a cool way to duck and move with an FPS.

I've still never even seen one

This thing launched what, eight months ago? And I've still never even seen one on a store shelf. Amazon still doesn't have them, the few sites that do seem to be still only selling them as fat, expensive bundles. I have never had an opportunity to just pick up a wii.

Now, no, I'm not sleeping outside of stores. I'm not waiting for the circulars with their coded statements that they have 5 in stock and rushing down to get in line. I'm a grown-up now and done camping out for products like that. I'll buy one when I can casually walk into a store and pick one off the shelf. I would expect an initial sell-out of a hot new product, maybe a month or two or three before stocks become readily available. But we're coming up on a year now and I've still never seen one, and neither have any of my friends. It may as well not exist for most of us - the people who don't have "connections", aren't going to wait in line all night, and don't care to get raped on ebay.

I'm a Nintendo fanboi all the way back - have 6 working consoles from NES through gamecube in my house - but what a colossal fuck-up the whole thing has been. Eight plus months and the store employees still laugh when you ask if they have any coming in. They not only misread the initial demand, but they've been utterly unable to ramp up production to meet it over the very, very long time now since launch.

Sorry, Nintendo, you lost me about six months ago. I got tired of trying and now my interests are elsewhere.

Wii Net Play Killer

The thing that really frustrates me is how the DS and Wii are setup for net play. The whole concept of getting friends codes from people is horrible. Keep in mind except for kids who can ask other kids in school to trade, you're basically screwing over the entire "18-30" geek niche who have little to no friends or know noone who has a Wii.

I like how Id games do it. You can connect to a central server, get a list of open games and open people and just play. after a while you can gain (game friends) and it's easier to setup times with people you've at least talked to before.

Meanwhile after adding countless friends codes and knowing NONE of them, it's VERY VERY rare to get a game with anyone. So it virtually kills net play for me. The only game I've had any luck playing online with was Animal Crossing for DS.

I know people are going to respond "it was designed to be safe for kids to keep sicko's away" and I can see that as a valid point. But don't make games like Metroid, and market to everyone and impose this rule that destroys the online gaming experience. If I was a parent I would monitor my kids gaming, don't hard code it so everyone is screwed. Done venting, lol.

Hardcore Gamers are idiots

2004- When the DS was revealed, they laughed at it. PSP would destroy it, and Nintendo would go third party.

2005- When the "Revolution" was revealed, they laughed at it. "Nintendo cannot compete." Meanwhile, they went 'ONE CONSOLE FUTURE' to the Sony Killzone 2 trailer and Microsoft's Xbox 360 showing.

2005- (TGS) When Nintendo revealed the Wii controller, they laughed at it. They compared it to the Powerglove and that it would flop. They hailed Xbox 360 launch as start of 'high definition' generation.

2006- When the Wii name is announced, hardcore gamers laughed and considered the Revolution to be 'dead' on arrival. After all, who would play the 'Wii' when there were much cooler names like Playstation 3 and Xbox 360?

2006- Nintendo's excellent E3 showing was not worth thinking about, they said. After all, Nintendo fans go ballistic on every Nintendo E3 presence. PS3's brand name would sail it past very fast. And while PS3 was expensive, you got so much value in it! Wii wasn't future proofed.

2006- Wii's $250 price shocked them and they declared it too expensive for any reasonable person to buy. The bundling of Wii Sports would destroy third party software sales. Don't bother pre-ordering since you can walk in the afternoon and buy it anytime.

2007- Wii is still selling out. Obviously, it must be a fad. A novelty. Hardcore gamers believe they are the mainstream after all. PS3 is not 'dead'. It is just 'slow' in starting. It will overtake the market in time. It just has too.

2007- Wii Balance Board? "Nintendo is DEAD as a gaming company!" they proclaim. "I don't even turn on my Wii anymore," they keep telling us. Obviously, the end of Wii had come and everyone will rush to get Xbox 360s and PS3s.

The pattern shows that Hardcore Gamers have been 100% wrong on Nintendo ever since the DS. Why should we listen to them now? They're wrong then, and they are wrong today.

Hardcore gamers say, "I understand Nintendo trying to expand the audience. But why don't they listen to us?" It is because hardcore gamers ARE the problem with gaming. Microsoft and Sony listened to them and look at where that got them. The more Nintendo defies the hardcore, the more their success.

You know...

You know gaming is heading downhill when Smash Bros and Pokemon are considered hardcore gaming on slashdot...

Wii Pron?

"The press conference ended with Reggie Fils-Aimee revealing Nintendo's goal"

I think I saw that movie, Reggie Fills Aimee, and I must say it wasn't exactly Wii material if you ask me.
However, pron with the wii-mote could be interesting...gives a whole new vision of the old C64 game, Stroker...

I'm sick of the damn Wii

I know that this is going to be modded down as flamebait (and rightfully so) but I'm sick of the goddam Wii and the watered-down bullshit games for it. The games are fun, but they're shallow and the fun doesn't last long. Everyone that I know that owns a Wii, had an absolute blast with it for the first few weeks they had it and they became bored by the overly simplistic gameplay and the Wii sits unused in their living rooms. You can offer the arguement that it has widespread appeal and it's not for the hardcore gamer, but that's a crap arguement. Popularity is not a sign of quality. As someone once rightfully said, "The masses are asses." Michael Bay keeps on making movies that financially successful, but that doesn't mean that any of them are worth a damn. That being said, the DS is a wonderful device with a wide variety of games that manages to cater to thetaste of pretty much any gamer. More DS, less Wii.

Across all age groups my ass....

The press conference ended with Reggie Fils-Aimee revealing Nintendo's goal to make videogaming one of the pre-eminent forms of entertainment, across all age groups

I call bull-shit on this remark. If they actually mean across all age groups then why can't I as an over thirty gamer play Manhunt2 in it's original form. What a crock of shit.

To the tune of "Everyone Has AIDS"...

Everyone plays Wii!
Wii Wii Wii!
Wii Wii Wii Wii Wii Wii!
Everyone plays Wii!

And so this is the end of our story
And everyone is playing their Wii
It took from me my best friend
My only true pal
My only bright star (he's addicted to his Wii)

Well I'm gonna march on the E3
Lead the fight and charge the brigades
There's a gamer inside of all of us
I'll make them see everyone plays Wii

My father (Wii!)
My sister (Wii!)
My uncle and my cousin and her best friend (Wii Wii Wii!)
The gays and the straights
And the white and the spades

Everyone plays Wii!
My grandma and my dog 'ol blue (Wii Wii Wii)
The pope has played it and so have you (Wii Wii Wii Wii Wii)
C'mon everybody we got gaming to do (Wii Wii Wii Wii Wii )
We gotta break down these baricades, everyone plays
Wii Wii Wii Wii Wii
Wii Wii Wii Wii Wii
Wii Wii Wii Wii Wii
Wii Wii Wii Wii Wii

.

Mario Kart for the Wii Preview from E3

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1ThIBLy1tYg [youtube.com]

Try not to fall asleep at the sound of the guy's voice...

Wii Fit the next Wiimote?

An in-depth analysis of what Wii Fit might mean to gaming can be found here:
http://www.standandcount.com/index.php/a-year-late r-are-wii-ready-for-more-16 [standandcount.com]

Re:wow

The proper reference is Voltron.

Or Beowulf clusters if you want to strech it out a bit.

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

"It has gotten to the point where I feel like I am forcing myself to turn it on once a month or so. It does get the occasional use when someone comes by and they haven't seen the system yet, but the number of people who haven't heard about the Wii is pretty small now. And it seems like most people are extremely interested at first and then their interest rapidly diminishes to zero."

I think it also depends on your age group. If not for /. I'd probably not know what a Wii was. Most people I know my age are too busy to mess with gaming much. And in their free time, they like to spend it out..dining out, seeing a movie...clubs, bars...festivals, etc.

When I want to veg out at home...I like to just veg, which means listening to the stereo, or watching something on the projector (movie, tv show)...veggin' to me is a passive thing.

When I want action...I go out.

I used to like computer games, and I think I might still play the occasional one if I thought of it. But, back when I used to play them alot, while I had more free time, I also had less income to go out and do things. Now I can afford to go out and do things, which eats up more of my limited time I have these days.

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

Some of us find the abstract concept of "outside" very fascinating. Maybe one day we can design experiments to yield observable results that might prove the existance of "outside". Until then, we can only speculate as to its nature.

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

The "given up on it gamer"........

Which as the article states is the audience they are now going for.

I totally hear your sentiment, I was one of them too. Hell, I even picked up Zelda and was disgusted after spending 30 minutes to get a goddamned fishing rod and threw it out... But Tuesday night mahjong in Beijing with my far ranging expat crowd has now been replaced with Tuesday night Wii bowling league or Wario Whatever madness.... Laughing the whole time about how my bowling alley serves the finest wine and provides footwear par excellance ;)

Have you actually played this thing? One of our friends just got back from a 4 week stint in the States and it was the first thing she mentioned. I cant even make the word of mouth marketing on this thing up.

Sorry, im sold. This thing is Just Plain Fun -

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

Sorry, im sold. This thing is Just Plain Fun -

Yeah, if you have friends.

You types creep me out.

Re:wow

will there be something to combine your Wii and N64 into a zord as well?

Don't give them any ideas.

...

Wait... Did you say zord? As in "MegaZord"? As in "Giant Robot"? ... !!!

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

I am the same way to a certain point. However, I've been more interested in downloading the classic games and that is where I spend 90% of my Wii time. I had the same attitude with my DS when it first came out. I played it for about a month or two and then it sat on my desk collecting dust. Then games like Meteos, Kirby, and Castlevania came out and I started playing again. The Wii has the problem right now where there are no new good games. Give it till the end of the summer when metroid comes out.

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

I invented a word for that feeling -- "enwii".
But I am definitely not feeling it.

The News and Weather channels were a fast-fading gimmick for me, and I haven't used the browser to play all those Flash games or anything, but I'm still very happy with the console.
Super Paper Mario was a game my wife and I had a lot of fun playing together, and I even just dusted off my old copy of Trauma Center that I never finished. Also still enjoying the Virtual Console stuff and making Miis. Looking forward to all the cool new toys.

I guess I'm their target audience.

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

I still play WiiSports with my nieces all the time. I still play Mario Party 8 with my wife often. Resident Evil 4 is even more fun then when I played it on my cube and I just got a few new VC games with some gift cards from a few friends.

So in short: yes.

Re:wow

Can you say 'inspired by Power-Rangers'? will there be something to combine your Wii and N64 into a zord as well?

Hold on a second there, Mr. Know-It-All. Last I checked Power Rangers was an American remix of sentai Japanese television shows (Ultraman, anyone?) and, to an extent, Voltron; and Nintendo developed the Light Zapper in the mid 1980's, this is not a far stretch in terms of the zapper's evolution.

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

If the conference is anything to go by, their strategy is to produce a continuous stream of add-ons. Gun "zappers", steering wheels, balance mats and so on. The wheel was just silly, the gun zapper wasn't much better since aiming down the barrel isn't going to work plus the awkward position of the nunchuk. I could see a mat that could weigh you and do other things having potential though.

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

As someone who grew up with the NES and SNES, Nintendo has always been "gadget-happy" and looking for alternate interfaces. I know back home I have the following:

NES: Zapper, Power Pad, Advantage (Arcade joystick styled controller), Max ("Analog" style controller.. also has wings like a PlayStation controller)
SNES: Mouse, Super Scope

More Nintendo peripherals isn't anything new.

Re:WiiFit

This signals that Miyamoto has moved from "legendary game designer" to "batshit crazy." I'm sorry, but Nintendo is going to get hammered for this move.

Remember what you (may have) thought about the Wii controller when it was announced. WiiFit is very much in line with the Wii philosophy, and shows promise. I suspect this will be a million seller in 3 months or less.

Re:WiiFit

If you had said "I disagree with him", I doubt you'd have been modded as a troll. But calling someone "batshit crazy" ain't exactly the way to start off a conversation. As Jules Winnfield once said, "Personality goes a long way."

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

I still play my Wii at least 10 hours a week (got it about a week after launch). I'd play more, but my limiting factor is that I'm currently unemployed so I can't go out and buy game after game (I currently have 5, all of which have at least some, if not a lot, of replayability). Every time I go to a relative's house, they're still begging me to bring my Wii so they can bowl (and some of them have dozens and dozens of rounds under their belt). There are a couple games out there that I still want to get and there is at least one more on the near horizon that I'd like to try (Metroid Prime Hunters is set for next month... I haven't played Metroid since the original, so I'd like so see where things are now).

In a way, your post reminds me of the hardcore raiders back when I was playing EQ. They'd burn through content as fast as possible and then spend the next 3-5 months bitching that there wasn't anything to do. Meanwhile, I played just as much as they did but spent more of my time in the depths of EQ doing quests, exploring, etc that they never did because it wasn't part of the raid game (and thus didn't matter and might as well not exist). So, rather than fix current content, the pressure was always on to come out with another raid oriented expansion to keep the people who raid 40 hours a week happy. The game became mostly about raiding at that point. Keep raiding to keep up, burn out your guild, replace them with people from the next level down raid guild, rinse and repeat until most raiders are burned out and gone and most casuals are sick of being left behind... and where does the population of EQ stand today because of the decisions SOE made due to the pressure from the hardcores that rushed through a quarter of the content and ignored the rest? mmogchart data seems kinda stale (last EQ numbers are a year old) and it shows that almost 2/3rds of the peak number of subscribers have left.

Perhaps the problem is that you aren't the demographic Nintendo is trying to capture with the Wii... I'm thoroughly happy with mine (and so are all of my family members who haven't played a game since pacman on the Atari, if ever). I'm happy with the direction things seem to be going and the pace isn't too bad for me. Then again, maybe I am the demographic they are targeting (30 year old retiree from hardcore gaming who still wants to sit down an hour or two a night to play a game, especially if it means playing with pretty much anyone of my friends or family).

Re:NinTardDuh

Artificial demand? Looking at the numbers [vgchartz.com] I think that the problem is just that they can't get them out the door fast enough. They've almost sold as many as the 360 which had a yeas lead over them. In fact on closer inspection [vgchartz.com] you can see that the 360 gets a boost due to the launches of the Wii and PS3. Without that effect (essentialy help fro Nintendo and Sony) they would have already sold more.

Re:WiiFit

Yeah, well I bet you thought "Wii" was a dumb name as well. It didn't do the console any harm. And WiiFit seems to fit in (pun definitely intended) alongside Wii Sports, Wii Play and Wii Music [wikipedia.org] nicely. You might not go out and buy it, buy there are a lot of people who will. Apparently it's all about the casual gamer now; and for me that's good as I seem to like games aimed at the casual gamer; probably because I am one, I just don't have time to dedicate a 20 hour gaming session to my latest game (unless it's Civ, but that's another matter; we all have our vices ;p).

Hardcore Gamers don't really matter

Nothing Nintendo has shown today really rekindled my interest in my, dusty, Wii.

Mario Kart Online? No? really?

I can't really imagine what they could come out with for the system that will bring back that hype I felt late last year.

I think you're missing what created the hype in the first place. It wasn't you. It wasn't the gamers. It was the old people playing videogames for the first times in their lives. It was the parents, gaming with their kids. It was the kids, getting off the couch and jumping around. It was was the soccer moms, touching a videogame controller twenty years after they last played Pong.

The Wii Fitness thing may very well be huge. This may be the next Nintendogs, the next Brain Training, the next Wii Sports. The fact that most "hardcore" gamers don't really care doesn't factor in at all.

Metroid, Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros, Mario Galaxy may all seem like important games, but it's possible that they won't be able to compare to the importance of something casual like the Wii Balance Board.

Batshit Crazy Hammer Time

Yeah, they're going to get hammered. Hammered by money showers which... hammer money down on their... heads. Or something. Batshit crazy? Batshit crazy like a fox!

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

I've used mine just about every night in the last 3 weeks, mostly for Wii Sports (yes, it still hasn't lost its appeal even after 6 months), since I can just turn it on, play a few games and then turn it off again. I have plenty of games for PS2 and X-Box I could work on finishing, but I love being able to just turn it on, play for 20 minutes and turn it off. Sure there have a been a couple of stretches where I didn't use it much for a while, usually because I had a new PS2 game or something, but I always come back to it later. I can't think of any reason for any Wii to be getting dusty, especially since RE4 was just released, unless of course you're a student or unemployed so you have more than 2-3 hours of free time a day. Sure Wii has had a lot of mini-game type stuff released for it, but that's because its fits the casual gamer target audience. You could just as easily argue that the XBox360 has too many FPS games on it and are there really more worthy titles out for the PS3 at this point as compared to the Wii? Smash Bros and Mario Galaxy alone should be worth hanging onto your Wii for. 3rd party support is definately coming - it's just taking a while since a lot of developers anticipated the sales of PS3 and Wii to be switched and they have to figure out what to do with the new controllers. I think a lot of hardcore gamers and PS3/XBox fanboys fail to realize that part of the reason the Wii is selling so well compared to those is because a Wii is cheaper than both systems, works on a standard TV, and just about anyone can pick up the games and play. Would I like a PS3 eventually? Maybe, but it would cost me about $1500 to make it worthwhile even after the price drop because I, like most households in the US, don't have an HDTV yet, and other expenses have to take priority. No point in paying for a system with all those fancy graphics if I can only view them at 480i. Just an aside to anyone whining about the presentation this year being about business - that's what E3 is now. If you're looking for a presentation aimed at hardcore gamers, wait until TGS.

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

Are you kidding? In some days I have to fight people at home to play on a PSOne! We would kill one another if we had a Wii...

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

Yes, I play mine almost every day. My wife also plays it often, she is a sucker for anything Mario Bros. and loves Super Paper Mario. I currently have a stack of games that will take me at least 2-3 months to burn through.

I almost feel like the Wii was made just for me. I burnt out on the hardcore online gaming scene about 5 years ago, and haven't been able to keep interest in any serious games since then. It's not that I don't like new games, it's that I no longer have hours a day to invest in a game that takes 60 hours to complete. My gaming time has been cut down to an hour, hour and a half at a time max.

I even thought for a couple years that I was no longer a gamer, until the DS rescued me from that dark vision.

I guess if I was still a "hardcore" gamer and was into online play and FPS or MMORPG games I'd be underwhelmed by the Wii. But I'm not, my glory years of gaming are in the past and now I feel like there's a game company that understands that.

In short, I've become an old man.

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

I hear this argument about "my dusty Wii" all the time. Nintendo didn't make the Wii for you. Nintendo doesn't care if you don't like the Wii. Nintendo made the Wii for Casual Gamers and Families. Not hardcore gamers. So it was novel for you initially, and now it's boring. Fine. Good for you. You can play your PS3/XBOS360. But a casual gamer who really doesn't care about the super-extreme technical goodness offered by the PS3/XBOX360 is satisfied by the Wii, because it is FUN and it is something that the whole family can enjoy. My parents and my aunt and uncle, who never play games actually enjoy playing the Wii. This is more than I can say for any console that I have ever owned.

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

I don't own a Wii, so I only get to play when I'm at a friend's house, but we play almost every time we get together. I can see how it wouldn't be as fun playing with your Wii by yourself (sorry, couldn't resist). It's been great for us late-20's geeks, though.

Re:The preeminent form of leisure entertainment?

Yeah, but those aren't the current "pre-eminent form of leisure entertainment" - compare the number of hours Americans spend on those activities to the number of hours they spend sitting in front of the TV. That's what Nintendo wants a share of, not rock climbing and sex.

Although, they WOULD like your party scenario to come true - and heck, so would I, Karaoke Revolution totally made the New Year's party I went to this year, blew away the Pictionary from earlier in the night easily. Having a video game in the room doesn't reduce socialization, it's just one more fun thing to do with your friends.

Re:WiiFit

Exactly. I think people would call Suda51 "batshit crazy" after playing Killer7, and at the same time call him a "legendary game designer". I know I did.

City Life

"It's a beautiful day. Let's go rock climbing." "Hmm, sounds like fun, but I'd rather stay home and play with my Wii."

Well, let's think of densely populated metropolises like NYC and Tokyo, where access to rock climbing isn't quite available to everyone. In fact, where access to any outdoor activity is severely limited unless you get yourself out of the city and pollution.

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

The problem is simple, Zelda one of their flagship games was watered down, tiger woods was rushed to production leaving out many features and jumpy game play. They need games that would lend them selves to using a pointer, besides call of doodey, star wars games seem to fit the bill. The potential for great games is what people were sold on, it's now a 10 months since their release, and their best game is Zelda. It's not about revolutionizing the gaming industry it's about having quality games.

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

Get some friends, then. If you're looking to just play with yourself, get something with the standard "joystick" interface.

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

I use my Wii every other day. News, Weather, modest internet browsing from the couch. Oddly out of all the gaming I have done I'd say 90% has been GC games, and some N64 games via Virtual Console. I've had mine since about Feb, and probably have clocked less than 4 hours of actually Wii gaming. But I still use it every other day. To my it's not just a console, but an wonderful appliance that can also plays games. Just need to find some good games.

So far the only 2 games I've liked have been Zelda and Elebits.

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

I still use my a lot: Mario Strikers, Elebits, Excite Truck, SSX Blur

Re:NinTardDuh

"Good job hoarding Wiis and DSes to create artificial demand, you scum-sucking marketing pigs."

Yeah, they delivered millions of machines by hording them.

It didn't make sense when Microsoft and Sony were accused of this, it doesn't make sense now.

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

Seems like this question keeps popping up. . .

Yes. Lots of folks still use it. I am still working through Twilight Princess for the first time. Yeah, the weather and news channels get old REALLY fast. I've also been playing my PS2, so I've never burnt out on the Wii. I'm also looking forward to Strikers Charged at the end of the month.

You don't give any hints, but generally the folks who are terribly bored with it are "gamers". The traditional gamer fodder just isn't on the Wii right now (if it ever is).

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

No, I'm in exactly the same boat as you. I read on a different post that someone was about to play Wii Tennis for 4 HOURS! 4 games is about my limit before I'm done with that snoozefest. Seriously, I quite like the voting channel, Rayman was a lot of fun until I finished it, and Bowling is good with a non-gamer crowd for half an hour or so. But it really has lived up to my worst fears as just being a big gimmick, and all I see from the E3 presentation is more of the same (steering wheels, guns and speak-your-weight machines).

Still, I'll keep it because my wife loves everything Mario, so she'll get SMG when it comes out. I'm working my way through DiRT and Forza.

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

My family does. Interestingly, the most ardent and consistent fan is my two year old, who'll sit on the coffee table with a wiimote in one hand while watching TV. He'll glance at the WII ever so often and flick the wiimote to "participate" in whatever he's got up on it's screen. My ten year old plays a couple times a week but it gets a serious workout when she has friends over. It is engaging enough that my wife's planning the kids a WII party and has tasked me with buying two more remotes as well as a new game (Mario, I think she wants). My teen came home on Spring break and had a whale of a time playing with her siblings.

Instead of seeing diminished use over time, I'm seeing the opposite. I, like the OP, had basically stopped playing after the first few week but the toddler has literally dragged me back to the WII and I now do find myself happy to spend a couple of hours with him on it over a weekend. I really do wish he'd stop thinking that 2:00 a.m. is a good time though...

Just in case I've given the impression that I've got screen-fixated, all-geek kids, let me hasten to note that the college kid sings, did the dance troupe bit, and parties hard with a (seemingly) alright clique, while the ten year old bikes, sings, roller blades, plays with bugs(!), does gymnastics and studies drums, piano and guitar. The two year old is active enough that my wife is insisting that we start him off at martial arts next year in hopes of bleeding off some of the boundless energy that makes watching him a tag team effort.

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

Interestingly, that is what I like about the Wii. Just like the DS, I don't feel I have to commit to a game (because I have to master it, or I will forget the goals of the game). I can pick it up and play for a while, forget about it for a few weeks, then come back to it. I understand that if you're a hardcore gamer that needs deep commitment experiences the Wii may not be the console for you. Maybe the PS2 and to an extent the X360 are better options. But remember, one of these days you'll become a casual gamer too.

Re:The preeminent form of leisure entertainment?

The Wii isn't designed to replace bars, parties, and hot sex. It's designed to replace "400 hundred channels and there's nothing on!!" or "Dude, I'm so bored" or "Let's go to the movie theater". I'd go out on a limb and say that that's the nightlife for most people 4-5 nights a week. The only people I know with a life like you describe every single night are college kids failing their classes.

(Disclaimer: I am not you. You might have a life where-in you do go out or have sex every night of the week. If so, congratulations. But that's not typical).

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

If you want to sell it, my roommate has been trying to buy one for a few months now. You could probably get the new system price out of him pretty easy too.

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

"It has gotten to the point where I feel like I am forcing myself to turn it on once a month or so."

It's a console six months after launch; is this any different than for any other system?

Myself, I've been playing my Wii almost daily since December. It's only taken a crunch-time moonlighting project to derail my Wii gamining time. I'm hoping to get things wrapped up before Mario Strikers and Metroid hit the shelves.

"I can't really imagine what they could come out with for the system that will bring back that hype I felt late last year."

If Metroid, Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Mario Galaxy, or Mario Kart can't interest you in the least, you need to get yourself checked. Super Mario Galaxy alone looks like a major leap forward in 3D platformers.