Wii Finds Its Place
The News
Apparently, the Wii has gotten to the point that developers don’t want to make games for it anymore. Well, you’ve got to expect that is going to be the case when you have such an underpowered piece of kiddie gear. But as long as sales are up, the developers will come, right? Unfortunately, sales have been falling too.
The Rant
So my wife says to me, “Should we get the kids a Wii for Christmas.” Well, regular listeners to the podcast can predict my response. But my hatred of all things Wii is really not enough to convince the spouse who isn’t about to be swayed by the lack of “real” games on the “shake a stick at the TV” console. Instead, I used what always convinces the masses – personal examples.
We have friends with Wiis… a lot of them. They were all gun hoe about getting them and excited to play. So I call a few of them up. “How’s the Wii doing?” I ask. “It’s just fine, it’s in the closet. If you want to bring your kid over and play, we’ll get it out,” is the response. Universally (within our group of friends), the Wii has become the party console. It was cool at first but now no one plays it unless they have someone over. The kids generally fall in two camps. Either they get way too crazy when they play it so their parents don’t let them very often (if at all), or they have long since lost interest. I’m not saying that my friends are a representative sample – they aren’t. But they are representative enough for my wife and that’s good enough for me.
The real problem is that we’d be buying a whole new console just for the kids. Frankly, I just don’t feel the need to play any game that has ever been released on the Wii. As I said in a recent podcast, I’m all about co-op gameplay. And since I rarely if ever have people in the room with me, it is all online. I’ve already got that with the Xbox and the PS3 so I don’t need the Wii. Since my wife likes to seriously limit the amount of time the kids play games (and frankly, I do too), it just doesn’t make sense to buy a whole new console (not to mention all the peripherals) just for a 2-4 times a month game session with the kids.
In summary – my home is now officially a Wii-free zone and looks to say that way for years to come.
Well, I can’t argue that the online portion of Wii is so weak that it is basically non-existant. There are two ways to play Wii: alone, or with other people who are physically in the room with you.
I enjoy single player, personally, so there are some great Wii games for me. Zack & Wiki is probably my favorite – amazing and very unique. Metroid Prime Series, Zelda, Mario Galaxy, Elebits, No More Heroes, Okami, Super Paper Mario, Trauma Center, Mad World, Wario – those were all great single player games, so I feel like I’ve certainly got my money’s worth with the Wii. I’m looking forward to Red Steel 2, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and No More Heroes 2.
For local multi-player, the Wii Sports games, of course. Super Monkey Ball, the Rayman Raving Rabbids games, the Mario Party games, New Super Mario Bros., Excite Truck/Bots/Bike – all a lot of fun. And the Guitar Hero games are selling the most units on Wii, so those are a hit if you don’t already have them on 360 or PS3.
Without question, if you favorite thing to do is play online with friends, the 360 is the best choice. Xbox Live is definitely the best online experience, so it makes a heck of a lot of sense for a lot of people.
The Wii really has had a slow year this year in terms of game releases. There weren’t really any big 1st Party Nintendo releases, so there hasn’t been much to get excited about on Wii. I still love it. There are games on Wii that I wouldn’t want to miss and they aren’t available on any other system. But I have a 360 and a PS3 too. Each one offers something different and I love them all 😀
Anti-social much? The Wii is the only gaming system I would break out at my house at parties. I know of no females that want a PS3 or a 360. However, I continuously listen to my wife and other women say they want a Wii.
Wii Tennis? Wii Bowling?
Two words – Rock Band. It’s on every system and it is the ultimate party game. I’d take it over balloon-headed caricatures playing baseball any day.
The Wii is the “pet rock” of this decade.