So I got a Wii

[Malcor Sylverwood]

My hope is that the Wii will slowly start changing the casual games into hardcore gamers. And I mostly posted the Zero Punctuation because everyone should watch it...it's funny. And, yes, it's even funny when he trashes games I like.

I'm not so sure the Wii is the future. While things like motion capture will be phased in more and more, the system itself does seem to be selling almost as a novelty item. While it will no doubt move more consoles than it's competitors, I don't think (and I don't have sales data to back this up atm) that its games are moving very well at all. The people I know that have a Wii have just a couple of games beyond Wii Sports. On the other hand, people who have the other systems seem to have dozens. Just a thougth, wouldn't be completely surprised to be wrong...

-Malcor "Yahtzee" Sylverwood

[sir archely]

Wrong about what?

hang on, back up...why is the Wii good? Or rather, why is the Wii better than ps3 and 360? You've totally lost me...as far as i can see the only reason why you hail Wii as the "console to get" or rather "the future"...is what? because of money? because of sales? what?

Okay, so, i'm not saying that the Wii is "the console to get" at all. I'm saying, get whichever console you personally feel is the best. That's fine. I'm also not saying that the Wii is necessarily "better" than either the ps3 or 360.

What I am saying is that given the impact the Wii has had on the console market, there are aspects of it that game console developers are going to emulate in order to capture a larger slice of the pie next time around. As a company, appealing to a wider audience gets you more consumers, and more consumers gets your company more money. I think it's a reasonable assumption to make that video game console manufacturers are in it to make money, and will act in such a fashion as to maximize that goal.

It's not about what any individual, you or I, think about which console is the best. It's about which is making the most money, and Wii has won this round, despite serious hardware flaws.

What is it about the Wii that you think ps3 and 360 need to learn about that they don't already know?

Basically i'm saying the wider appeal. Imo, the ideal next gen system is this:
-Motion capture tech. It's here to stay. We know it can be done better than the Wii is doing it, and chances are all of the "flailing" criticisms can be eliminated with more precise and responsive controls. This leads to...
-More intuitive control schemes. Instead of 20 buttons and piloting characters by remote control, playing as the character. This also makes it easier for...
-A wider audience. Part of the appeal of the wii is that the learning curve on how to play many games is very gently sloped. There is very little barrier to entry on a video game if the concept is, "do it like it'd be done in real life." Compare to, push > ^ > ^ A,B,A,X, Z+Y to execute a move. That said, the system must also...
-Have a robust hardware suite. Prices of electronic components continually come down. Better graphics and load times means more...
-Appeal to traditional gamer base. and it also means...
-Large and wide ranging catalogue of games. Instead of simply offering more 'adult' games or more 'kid/family-friendly games', how about both?

Now, obviously, that's a fairly tall order. I think that would be the perfect storm console for next gen. It doesn't really matter whose name is on it. (Though i will say that since i have a wii, i personally have some motivation to hope it's a nintendo, and they keep with the backwards compatibility.) It may be that what i've outlined is just impossible for any company to pull off well. I don't know, i'm not in development to know what the costs are.

However, if it isn't possible to appeal to everyone and include hardcore old-school gamers in the mix, i see most companies falling on the side of appealing to wider audiences, because that's where the money is. If that happens, hardcore gamers will probably be a niche market for a generation or so if a console decides to go that way, but it will ultimately fall to the home PC to take up the slack.

I am not a company, nor are you or any of the people that buy consoles, we're consumers and fans...gah i wish fckers would stop putting a dollar stamp on everything and making it substandard so as to appeal to the masses rather than genuine fans of the product.

Nope, we're not companies. I'm hoping it's possible to combine the best elements to appeal to both the large group of casual gamers and the "genuine fans." But i also acknowledge that consumers and fans this time around have spoken, and the Wii has won the battle. This is primarily why it's the future, it won the money battle. I stated a few reasons why i think it did so (mass appeal, innovative and intuitive controls) and what i think will be carried through to the next-gen.


This article makes some good points, probably better than me. Read especially the last two points. The gist is that while PS3 and 360 beat up on each other for a smaller share of the pie, Wii went and found a new audience. Next-gen everyone will want a part of that audience.

I found that site while searching for an answer to malcor's comment about the Wii being a novelty and game sales. There are some interesting things on that site about sales.
One interesting thing, if you look at top video game sales all time (this includes all systems and PC), Wii has 6 titles in the top 50 (Sports, Play, Fit, Mario Kart, Smash Bros Brawl, and Mario Galaxy) while 360 has 1 (Halo 3) and PS3 has none.
If i'm reading the information right, it looks like 360 has moved the most software, with Wii behind it, and PS3 less than half of the Wii. Probably 360 buyers are buying a wider range of titles, whereas Wii owners are all buying the same titles. Even so, given that Wii controls nearly 50% of the market share, and has twice as much game sales as PS3, I would put them out of the realm of novelty.


Just as one further note to illustrate things a bit more maybe. If I had simply chosen on my own which console to get out of this generation, I almost certainly would not have gotten a Wii. It would have been a difficult decision with regards to 360 or PS3, but it would have been one of those two. HOWEVER, this fails to take into account my wife. We got a Wii mostly because it's the only console she would want to play. Since we're spending both of our money, and it was one or none, i agreed to the Wii. Since then i have enjoyed it immensely.

[Anita Blake]

I'm just going to say I finally got Wii Fit, and I love it. Of course, you must bear in mind that over that past couple years I've become ridiculously lazy, and I figure if I spend 30 minutes a day doing some moderate exercise, I'll at least stem the tide of atrophy that's coursing through my muscles (muscles? what muscles?!).

I laughed because my boyfriend mocked my intense desire to buy it, questioning me with such silly questions as "why don't you just exercise for real?". Silly boy! Because it's more fun when there's a device measuring your every leg quiver and praising you for your excellent balance! Then, when I brought it home (he said he'd have offered to help me carry it, but that would defeat the whole point. I said ) he racked up more time on it than I did!

Well, I like it. That's all. It's fun. I hope they release a version 2 though, with more exercises and different games, like an expansion pack. But EA has a game coming out soon that looks pretty good that utilizes the balance board. Also, if you download Tetris Party, there's a Balance Board mode which lets you play tetris with your body! No more tetris thumb for me!

Yeah, I'm a nerd. But that Wii Fit Parody video that I think Apoc posted a link to made me laugh, and it made me want it more.

[Arianna]

the wii measures your BMI by weighing you when you stand on it (you enter your height). a friend of mine (a man) is fairly short (5'9'') and very muscled, so he weighs quite a lot but is by no means fat. at all. and his wii character is obese b/c it can't tell the difference btwn muscle and fat. silly wii.

[Eyreplenh]

In wiis defense, neither does a lot of doctors...

[sir archely]

i have the same problem with our fit. i'm about 5' 8'', and fairly muscled for my height, so the wii thinks i need to lose about 20 pounds in order to be healthy. i'm rated at 24.50 or something like that usually, meaning i'm just barely under obese, which is not the case at all.

the age thing is completely bogus as well. i do think that if you stay with it and treat the exercises like they are intended (because it's ridiculously easy to "cheat" at them) you can still get a decent workout on the thing.

[Anita Blake]

no. no, 24.5 isn't under obese, it's under "overweight". It's like "you are treading dangerously close to the high-end of being 'normal' weight for your height, so watch it buddy, or soon I'll be calling you fatty!"

I am also on the high end of normalcy, treading just under the dreaded "overweight" line.

I do kind of dislike the "wii age" because it seems so very incredibly random. Like, hey, today you kind of sucked at this 30 second test, guess what, you're an old person! But yesterday, you rocked at it, so hey, you were young then!

I'm pretty sure that if the wii could hear my crunching knees when I did the one arm stand exercise, it would have set my age at 75. That's one that I probably won't do again. I was almost crying at the sound of my poor knees (they didn't hurt that much, but honestly, it sounds like pants ripping, or paper being crumpled. It's a really gross sound. And it was LOUD!)

[sir archely]

oh, right. the very first time i got on the thing i was "overweight" and have since gone down a bit to the 24.5 level. but my little dude on the screen is still extremely chunky. heh.