The Wii - Is the Magic Gone? 492
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?
Persistent Inability to Keep Units On the Shelf... (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes. (Score:3, Insightful)
Store Shelves (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Call me crazy... (Score:3, Insightful)
Sounds like they're buying them as fast as Nintendo makes them. And its lost the thrill?
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.
I wouldn't cite the DS as a benchmark (Score:2, Insightful)
Instead of buying a wii, I'm going to probably take the popular route of buying the xbox360 (not a fanboy of any system, really!), because of 3 reasons. Its affordable (bye sony), it's got the library i want, and its on the shelves (bye nintendo). Keep in mind, the last system i bought besides a ds lite was a sega dreamcast in 01 because it was 50 bucks and emulators were coming out so i could retire the nes without retiring its library.
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.
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.
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.
Newsflash: Wii is different than typical console (Score:2, Insightful)
My family and friends are still having fun playing Wii Sports, Rayman, and other games we purchased MAYBE 45 DAYS AGO at most!!!! I would worry more if I paid $50 for a game that only lasted me a week (or less).
Not everyone is a hardcore gamer who needs GameFly to feed their rabid consumption. The Wii seems to fail mostly in the eyes of that particular crowd.
Am I looking forward to Mario Party 8, Mario Galaxy, Metroid? Sure. Am I lamenting my Wii because those games are not available today? Not at all.
We're too busy enjoying/playing our Wii to lament what we don't have.
Re:Store Shelves (Score:2, Insightful)
A video game console being sold out is only rarely a good thing. Being unable to meet demand only means bad things for Nintendo. Imagine how much closer Nintendo would be to the 360's lead, or how much further head the DS would be, if Nintendo could only produce units faster?
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.
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:It's just hitting middle america... (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
Re:Yes. (Score:5, Insightful)
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
Sadly... (Score:2, Insightful)
Perhaps when Fire Emblem, Metroid Prime 3, and Super Smash Bros. come out. It needs real games too, established genres. I do like looking like an idiot playing Wario Ware, but I'd also like some regular gaming action, I want a decent FPS, and some decent RPGs, and a good fighter. These are the first games I generally acquire for any console, and the games that keep me playing them. I still break out the "obsolete" consoles to play these types of games, the Wii is lacking them completely except for TP. Yes its a new console, and these will come, but this leads to another worry.
One thing I didn't here many people talking about is how the Wii lack of power will cause people to stop porting to it. Looking through that Game Informer you can see many multi-platformers coming out, but they're all PS3/360, with a conspicuous lack of Wii support. I'm going to have to buy a 360 to get my hot Conan action, and my steamy Star Wars force fix. Thinking about this, I guess the GC had the same problem, but it DID have the staple genres, even if light on the RPG front.
Anyone who goes through my post-history will notice that I was pimping the Wii pretty hard, but now I'm starting to worry.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
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.
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.
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.
Re:Have we given up on the Wii? (Score:2, Insightful)
So, let me get this straight. The same guy complaining about straw men (et al) holds the view that, because he perceives one person (coincidentally born in the north and raised in the south) to have an attitude, all southerners are like this. Is this a fine example of northern idiosyncrasy? How's that work?
I once heard a girl from South Dakota complain about having to take a Speech class. It was at my alma mater in Louisiana. Her reason? "I'm from the north, where we already talk good."
I won't even attempt to topple your argument that humans south of the Mason-Dixie line "really hate freedom, as in you support slavery," as it would be too easy to do so.
Heh.
Re:Store Shelves (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Store Shelves (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:Persistent Inability to Keep Units On the Shelf (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Sure, if you've played it non-stop since Xmas. (Score:3, Insightful)
That's strange, I am 30 and I own the Wii and a 360. I'm too old to be messing around with my PC in order to make it even run games.
Re:Store Shelves (Score:3, Insightful)
Horsesh*t. Take a picture and post it somewhere. If there's a retailer that has a "stack" of Wiis on the sales floor, that has to be the world's dumbest retailer. I think this "magic land of easy-to-get Wiis" would be huge news on the gaming blogs.
In other words, I don't believe you.
------RM
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.
Re:Sales and Magic (Score:2, Insightful)
Most certainly not. I, along with dozens of gamers (hardcore or not) that I know IRL, have ZERO interest in getting a Wii. The common concensus amung most of us is that the Wii as a poorly named, sub-par gaming system (processor, graphics, etc), with an admittedly novel gimmick (controller). But no matter how novel that controller is, that doesn't overcome it's other weaknesses.
So the magic isn't suddenly "gone". For many of us, it was simply never there to begin with.
P.S. This is not intended as flamebait. It's just an honest opinion that many gamers I know have regarding the Wii.
Re:Store Shelves (Score:3, Insightful)
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Zonk is not a Nintendo fanboy... (Score:2, Insightful)
All you are seeing is a shift in Microsoft's marketing strategy. At first Microsoft thought their primary competitor as the PS3, so they attacked the PS3 relentlessly, even going so far as to promote the Wii console in their "Wii60" campaign. They've bribed bloggers, indoctrinated many fanboys to do their marketing unwittingly, and tainted biased news sources.
Now that they've bred a culture of FUD around the PS3, they're going on to phase two of their FUD campaign - targeting the Wii.
Microsoft is great at these sort of tactics. The Iowa case documents, the Halloween documents, all have shown Microsoft as capable of these type of antics.
Re:Store Shelves (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Store Shelves (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Store Shelves (Score:3, Insightful)
BTW, I say this as a happy Wii owner. I love everything about it except for the fact that any time I want to buy something for it I have to search.
Re:Store Shelves (Score:1, Insightful)