opED - Wii’s luster fading, everyone else taking advantage

As a long time Nintendo supporter, it pains me to say that I might finally be done with purchasing their consoles. The Wii was fun but it didn’t have the staying power I thought it would and if you think any other way you’ll be sorely mistaken.

I’ve come to realize that when it comes to gaming, nothing will ever beat the conventional controller. Sure, the Wii remote and nunchuk took things a bit further, offering motion gestures and the sort, but, in the end, controllers will always remain the preferred method of gaming. Let me tell you a story.

Back in the summer of 2007, I gleefully went to Futureshop one Wednesday afternoon and was surprised to see a sales representative holding a coveted Wii console. He was talking to a buyer at the time and I rudely interrupted him to ask if there were any more consoles to be sold. He told me there were more in the back and that’s when I made my first mistake - I gave in to impulse buying.

I purchased the console shortly after, brought it home, and played the hell out of Wii Sports. It was fun, provided hours of hilarity and tons of frustrating moments. Do I regret purchasing the system then? No. Do I now? Yes. I knew it was a fad. I knew the novelty would ware off eventually. I just didn’t expect it to be so soon.

The promise of a new Super Mario game, the promise of a new Smash Brothers and a new Mario Kart were still on the horizon - but not even they could save the system. All three games released within the coming months and gave gamers exactly what they wanted - titles to tide them over until the next rendition. Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Brothers Brawl and Mario Kart Wii hit store shelves, quickly left them and now can be found used at your local GameStop or EB Games. Why? You tell me. These “AAA” titles should be staples of any Wii owners library but not even they could keep out of the used-game pile at local retailers.

Don’t get me wrong - great games get traded in all the time and I enjoyed playing those three titles very much. I poured in 10 hours into each game, at the least, and found them well worth my money. But, as all gamers should know, Nintendo is known for rehashing ideas and changing the box art of games for future installments. The question for Nintendo Wii owners is now: What’s next?

The console has already spit out its Mario, Smash and Kart titles - not to mention Zelda and Metroid have been crossed off the console list. So, again, I ask you, what now? Owners can look forward to some original titles and Animal Crossing - but the Wii’s online capability is so crippled, AC could turn out to be a major bust.

At E3 this year Nintendo tried to breathe new life into its current console with the promise of better precision with the Wii Motion Plus peripheral. Uh, say what? I thought the Wii remote was already supposed to accurately convey player actions on screen. Now we have to pay more for a controller add-on too? Give me a break. The demo shown, Wii Sports: Resort, looked childish and seemed to me like a last resort to grab the younger market. Note to Nintendo: It isn’t only kids playing your console.

This is where the PS3 and Xbox 360 come in. Sure, the PS3 hasn’t generated any steam and the 360 continues to trail the Wii in terms of consoles sold, but, the future looks much brighter for both consoles compared to the Wii.

The PS3 is a multimedia powerhouse. It’s a Blu-Ray player. It has exclusive titles and will soon have an online component much like Xbox Live. Sure, it won’t be as good, but it’ll be enough. Parents can justify buying this for their kids as long as they can watch the occasional movie on it.

The Xbox 360, my dark horse to win it all, is a gamer’s dream. It’s affordable, provides graphics that rival, and often beat, the PS3, has lots of third party support and its successful online capability is just starting to appeal to more owners. Xbox Live developers have finally figured it out - releasing game content through it and giving players the ability to download original and retro arcade games, in addition to its price cut, has given the Xbox 360 much more momentum.

What does the Wii have going for it? Well - it continues to lack storage space, continues to have an online system no one uses, continues to release games that don’t support online features and gets PS2 ports because its GPU is inferior. It’s $269.99 price tag can’t be used as a selling point anymore - as the Xbox 360 Arcade bundle has dropped all the way to $199.99.

So, I repeat, what does the Wii have going for it? I’m sorry to say: Absolutely nothing.

Lets not be too hasty though - Nintendo is still winning the console wars. Its sold more consoles than both competitors to this point (remember the 360 even got a year’s head start). With that said, Nintendo might not feel the need to do anything about it. That becomes a problem for Wii owners everywhere.

As a former Wii owner, I could cry wolf about a hard drive solution, better third party support, downloadable content and less PS2 ports - but these problems have been well documented. Almost two years into its cycle and Nintendo hasn’t said a word to address any of them either.

My advice: Jump ship. Sell off your console while you can - because they sure aren’t sold out in stores anymore - and get back to real gaming. The novelty was fun but its time to move on.

September 29, 2008 · Filed Under General 
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