Game console? hardly (Nintendo Wii)

Member Name: iamasadlittleboy

Product:	Nintendo Wii
Date:	17/08/09 (38 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun, big mainstream appeal

Disadvantages: Not enough games, not enough games and not enough good games

The Nintendo Wii was released in in the United States on November 19, 2006 and later launched in the United Kingdom on December 8, 2006 and has been seen as a revolutionary system which has gained wide spread mass media attention. The console has sold over 50 million units world wide as of March 2009 meaning it's this generations leading console, turning around the fortune of Nintendo's previous two console which were seen as commercial failures and we're both beaten by their rivals. The Nintendo 64 losing to the Playstation (but beating things like the Sega Saturn) whilst the Gamecube came behind the Playstation 2 and X-Box consoles, Nintendo had to do something to get the public interested in their games consoles once again. With things like Pokemon, Zelda and Mario Nintendo had successful franchises to base games on knowing the loyal customers would buy the console for it, but outside of the loyal fans few seemed to turn to the previous consoles. Nintendo had to do something different and stand out against the powerful juggernauts of the PS3 and Xbox 360, they also had to do it at a reduced price to the competition.

The Wii was their answer, a console with a fun approach to playing games with a wand like control based on motion sensors, the Wii-Remote (from now on called "Wiimote") was seen as a revolutionary concept to the mass markets. The consoles technology wasn't a leap forward graphically or sound wise, but just a step forward this allowed the console to use a lot of existing components leaving the consoles price low and more affordable than the rivals. The game packaged with Wii Sports retailed at $249 in the USA and £179 in the UK on release date, which when compared to the Xbox 360's $399 for the full system, and Britain's £279 meaning the Wii was £100 ($150) cheaper than it. With the PS3 yet more expensive, the low price attracted new people to the console, with others getting it as a secondary console to whilst having one of the other two as a main console.

The Wii which (as previously said was released with Wii sports) had managed to not only sell, but it flew of the shops, with a shortage of consoles in Britain, which again gained more publicity with the news reporting the sell outs almost working as free advertising to what had quickly become the must have device of 2006 and 2007. The release before Christmas of 2006 had meant that parents we're out trying to get their children the newest console in the gaming market, leading to rushes to shops, the pricing penetration idea and the newly designed control idea had ripped up the hand book and lead to mass appeal. Helped by the apparent easiness to play and the idea of a family console it was now no longer gaming for geeks in their bedroom, but gaming in the living room with with every one from Uncle Bob the alcoholic or Grandma Dorothy and her dodgy knee's every one wanted to play it. The idea of waving your arms around may have made you look a little silly, but the fact is everyone else was doing it so why would you feel silly?

After the consoles release though the class games we're dripped out with still very few really top quality games, games like Mario Kart, Zelda, Mario and Super Smash bros. Being among the very limited list, whilst the bulk of games were sold on other things such as playing with the family or fitness based devices.
Things like Mario Party became the norm as opposed to the occasional game whilst the other consoles went for realism in their shooting games like Call Of Duty and Gears of War where gritty violence was the order of the day Nintendo appealed to the parents, the ones with the money to buy the consoles.

Games like Mario and Sonic at the Olympics we're massively marketed and sold on the basis of being "fun" energetic and seeing both Sonic and Mario in the same game, something gamers had been wanting to see since 1990 when Sonic debuted on the Mega Drive/Genesis. Although the game's sales proved a massive success the actual longevity of the game was narrow and short, whilst the playability was energy sapping and despite being imaginative, it quickly got repetitive and left in the cupboard.

Wii fit was the next to fall under the banner of huge success with none gamers, the idea of having a way to get fit whilst playing games wasn't a new idea (those of a certain age who can remember the biking machines in the arcades in the late 90's will know what I mean), but doing it in the home was a new idea. The idea the game could help you get fit was brilliant appealed to the market that wouldn't be thinking of playing games, the people who aren't even big fans of fitness still found this as a must have. Again the unit sold out adding more demand to it, with it quickly being seen as the next great innovation in gaming, but sadly the game was often found as barely even being a game. The exercises made it seem more like a fitness video than a game, where as games are played for fun, the concept here was to be played to get fit, the idea had no place in the gaming markets.

Wii music did the same, as a challenge to the popular Guitar Hero series the game gave you a host of in game instruments to play with. Sadly the game lacked the solid features and the none stop fun playability of the Rock Band and Guitar Hero games, that had made them such a success. The licensed music of big hits was missing as well as the definite form of the much better games. To many it felt like a rip off, to others it was a waste of time, money and a poor man's alternative to the much superior games.

With more shovelware (games that are cheaply made and thrown out one after another, looking for a cheap profit) such as EA's Playground, Carnival games, Party games, Beach Sports and the such released quickly with effectively a multitude of poor quality mini games. They are the sort of things that used to be seen in a game as hidden bonus' rather than sold as true games, the appealed to the more cash strapped folks who don't look beyond the cheaper cut price games. The sort that appealed to those unwilling to buy second hand classics, and that claimed to make brilliant use of the Wiimote. Sadly these had a playing life that rivalled that of a May fly, with most gamers quickly trying all the games on the disk then sticking it in the cupboard and not bothering with the poorly made collection.

Aside from the new games that do occasionally have the excellence and quality you'd expect of a modern console game, the Virtual Console gives you access to classics. This appealed with retro gamers wanting to once again play the old games of their Childhood like Mario Bros from yesteryear. To gamers this was more like it, real games that were fun and memorable, before the creation of games for seriousness they were fun, enjoyable and exciting. Things like Streets of Rage and Streets of Rage 2 from the Sega back catalogue were included as well as Nintendo classics giving gamers a lot more options than they would have had other wise. The clever addition was also done by Xbox Live on the Xbox 360 and was equally as successful drawing in the older gamers as opposed to those jumping onto the ever growing band wagon.

On the whole the consoles lack of graphics and processing power doe hinder the advancement of pretty games, though this doesn't stop the occasional brilliant title from coming through. But on the whole the mass amount of multi-player party games aimed at the family do hinder it from being a gamers console unless your willing to go to the classics. The occasional game that is worth playing so far makes the console rather limited and not something to go out and buy unless you already have one of the other two as a gaming console and want something extra. This may seem like a silly suggestion, but if you have an older family member with one of the others you may well be advised to get this and play with each others consoles as thats almost what the Wii is based on.

To the non-gaming gamer this is a perfect console it features the short term games that don't ask for commitment, it features to occasional game that will have you playing it none stop like Mario Kart and it features "non games" like Brain Training and Wii fit, which are aimed not at gamers but at the market that want to improve themselves, either with their fitness or their memory skills. On the whole you will likely love the console as opposed to getting some deep and thought invoking games as seen on the other two consoles which will keep you entertained for weeks. The lack of a Grand Theft Auto on the console for now sees the console lacking the adult edge that the console perhaps needs a big more of. Despite the excellent Resident Evil 5 the lack of those sorts of games does make the console seem more like a kiddy console than a gaming console.

Perhaps the best idea before making a decision is to look into the future and see what games are being released for the console before you make your move into the gaming market. With Xbox 360's now available second hand for less than £130 in the UK the price advantage of the Wii is no longer there.

Summary: Personally I wouldn't buy one yet.