Where did the Wii go wrong?

[Nigh Invulnerable]

I think the main problem I have with the Wii is that most of the games it does have that might appeal to me are done better on other consoles. Plus, the motion control gimmick gets old and doesn't really suit half the games they try to force it into.

 

[BiscuitWheels]

20 quid says if I did a similar thread like this, I would get done for trolling.

Teh PS3 came around and kicked it's ass.
I was really dissapointed when I tried it out for the first time. The motion-controller was crappy and so were the graphics. PS3 FTW!

Teh PS3 didn't come and kick anyone's ass. The PS3 came and shot itself in the foot and started haemorraging money on every console sold.

What's next? You going to tell me that the Jaguar kicked everyone's ass?

Ouch, at least compare the PS3 to the 3DO - It's trying to push boundaries and it's seen as expensive.
The Jaguar was horrible. One look at the controller and I knew I wasn't going to pester my mum for one of those.

I had a Jaguar, dammit. So I know just how painful that system was. I happen to own a PS3, as well, so maybe I just have rotten luck with backing the wrong racehorse. Seriously, though, the Wii didn't 'go wrong' or else it wouldn't be the marketplace leader.

 

[Svenparty]

Nintendo have never made out they wanted to compete with 360 or Ps3 they had an aim which was to get "People who don't game, gaming"

Which basically means "Sell rubbish games to easily amused people*"

*The Public that are not into games

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

The fact that it is a gimmick using horribly dated tech is probably where it went wrong. To make the most of it all you can do is make millions of rhythem games.
Sadly, it hasn't really gone wrong. It's sold 50 million and doesn't seem to be significantly slowing down. However, Nintendo have shot themselves in the foot for their next console, as the audience they have this time around will not buy another console as they are happy with just one. Plus, no bluray and with net speeds not being up to scratch, downloading games doesn't seem realistic. They may have won the battle, but not the war.

I didn't think it would take long for you to swan in here with your trolling and implications of future proofing or lack of.

We've been through this before. The generation of children that have bought the console now, will be more likely to buy the next console if they thoroughly enjoyed it. http://gameoverthinker.blogspot.com/2009/02/episode-nineteen-third-way.html (Obviously that link isn't bible, far from it, but it has some truth to it)

You keep implying that without Blu-Ray, neither microsoft or Nintendo's consoles can succeed. At the end of the day, Nintendo could just use Dual-Layered DVDs, what stops them from doing that? The net speeds can be fixed easily, and you know this. They made a conscious choice to forego advanced engine technology for advanced motion sensing technology, and it paid off for them.

 

[Quantana]

at the start i think.

 

[Cowabungaa]

Where it went "wrong"? Well, too much shovelware for easy $$$. It's nonsense that there aren't any good games out there, they're just harder to spot because they're drowned in crap.

@crazyhaircut94:
Well it's mainly the gamedesigners not utilising the wiimote properly. It has potential, but it's barely used. Mario Galaxy apperantly does it good (so I've heard from a few friends), Metroid Prime 3 does it good, just to name a few. It's a shame though, you can do so much.

 

[JacOak]

I'm not sure it went "wrong" per se - there are just a lot of people who were very "anti-Nintendo", and, seeing something that they ignorantly felt would "poison" their "elite" hobby with the common man, the used it as fuel for a big ignorant fire of rage. And, as these people were the ones in the limelight, people listened to them and conformed until they honestly beleived it too.
This is what happened to the prequel trilogy - everyone, whether they liked EP1 or not, conformed until they beleived it - and then that warped their perception of the next two.

But, to be frank, Nintendo does need to police game quality more - but I suppose we, as the "real" gamers, must identify good things and bad things.

Also, NIntendo keeps its old franchises because hipocrites look at a new, zany franchise, and, no matter what the game quality is, drop it like a sack of flaming dog doo, screaming "It's new and fresh and I don't understand it, and it looks cute so it must be for kids - it's baaaaaaad and eeeevil and must die!". Pretty much what happened with Pikmin and Chibi-Robo. Sniff.

 

[Woundingisfun]

20 quid says if I did a similar thread like this, I would get done for trolling.

Teh PS3 came around and kicked it's ass.
I was really dissapointed when I tried it out for the first time. The motion-controller was crappy and so were the graphics. PS3 FTW!

Teh PS3 didn't come and kick anyone's ass. The PS3 came and shot itself in the foot and started haemorraging money on every console sold.

What's next? You going to tell me that the Jaguar kicked everyone's ass?

The PS3 is still kicking ass in the gameworld. It is in my opinion, except for the computer, the best fucking console on the marked today. The reason the Wii sold better then the ps3 is that Sony released it way too early with next to no games avalable.

Discuss the Jag with someone who have lived longer then me.

I'm glad it is in your opinion. It's the most powerful console on the Market Today, but to me in comparison to the 360, which has more exclusives, the PS3 isn't living up to it's potential at all. For all the graphical prowess they are claiming (which barely enhances the games at all) we have hardly seen anything that couldn't be done on the 360.

Plus The PS3 was released a week before the Wii, and the Wii did the exact same thing, only it had a few more games.

I thought the Jag would be a little out of your range. How about the Dreamcast?

P.S. While I am planning to get a PS3 later this year or early next, I disagree that it is kicking the Wii's ass. It just has games that look prettier.

I bought an Xbox 360 pro a couple of months ago and that might be one of the more regrettable purchases in my history of regrettable purchases. First of all, I need another goddamn router to play online. (This is no problem for the Playstation for it has one built in.) Second, I realized the games for the 360 except for the Halo games and Gears of War is also avalable for the Ps3 and I don't see why I should buy those games for the 360 rather then the Ps3.
Meeeeeeh.

I live in f*ckings EUROPE (Norway) so ofc. the bloody thing was not released before march 2007 while the Wii was released in december 06.

I have only tested out the Dreamcast at a friends house belive it or not, but my first real gaming experience was when I got the Ps2 for my birthday (This was when it first came out.) I guess you could say I have been quite the little parasite when it comes to gamestations, for I have always gone to my friends when I wanted to play Ps1, Nintendo 64, or the Xbox whenever that came to Norway.

I would definitly buy the Wii if the controller was a lot more sensitive to movement so that it would feel that you were actually control the character or whatever instead of just waving it around hoping you'll do something good.

Now if you would EXCUSE ME I am going to go hug my ps3 until it FRIGGIN BREAKS! <3

 

[MisterLillie]

The Wii never had a chance to go wrong. It was always wrong.

Nintendo went wrong with the Wii

 

[GonzoGamer]

Buy Madworld? Or No More Heroes?

And Wii didnt go wrong.

First of all rent MadWorld and IGNORE No More Heroes. The first is short the latter is unbearably boring.Seriously, no more heroes would've been considered shovelware on any other console, it's just one of the few wii games with blood and cursing but all the blood and cursing in the world couldn't save it from the tedious minigames and vapid overworld you spend half the game in.

Second of all, as an investor I don't think Nintendo did anything wrong this gen. On the contrary, they made me a lot of money with the Wii and the DS.

I must confess though that I don't play with the Wii nearly as much as I play with the PS3.

As regular gamers we may not like or may not be satisfied by most of the games on the Wii but we should be happy that they've expanded the market. Now old people and parents and politicians play video games so they can't very well demonize them anymore can they?

 

[Jabbawocky]

I've noticed that apart from No More Heroes and Madworld people keep using games which were release in the previous generation as excuses for why the Wii hasn't gone wrong. Pure and simple the Wii hasn't gone wrong it's just found a different market to pander for, I wouldn't be suprised if the next Nintendo console will be bottom because all the hardcore fans they alienated and the fact that casual gamers won't buy a new console everytime a new one is released.

 

[Anton P. Nym]

The Wii never had a chance to go wrong. It was always wrong.

Nintendo went wrong with the Wii

No, it didn't. Nintendo just decided that chasing after the hardcore crowd wasn't worth the effort anymore; ever-increasing demands leading to spiraling production budgets without much of an increase in revenue to compensate. So they decided that trying to one-up Sony and Microsoft and fight for a slice of that narrow demographic wasn't worth the effort. They instead chose to focus on a neglected sector of the market, one they viewed to be larger than that of the hardcore audience... and given the sales figures, they appear to be right.

That this segment doesn't include you is a pity, but it's not a mistake... it's a calculation that the hardcore audience is the tail that's wagging the game-industry dog.

I think Nintendo was right; they're trying to "grow" the market, and the Wii draws in more new people to gaming than the other plaforms. (Maybe even all of them combined though the PC's vast selection of 'casual' games, if counted, would dwarf even the Wii's impact.) It was a far-sighted business move on their part, capturing a new market and ensuring that there'll be a larger base of game players for the next generation of games.

-- Steve

 

[wgreer25]

I have one word for you...

Madworld

Hopefully this is the start of a trend to release good games that are somewhat original and (imagine it) fun to play.

 

[Daveman]

not enough gimics

 

[Sevre]

Is it just me,or are Wii ports worse than ports for the 360 and PS3?

 

[SpiritMacardi]

It's strange, I see the low-end graphics argument brought up a lot when downplaying the Wii. While it is true that it isn't near the level of the other current-gen consoles, allow me to set up a little scenario:

Imagine you run a gaming company, and one day you set out to make a brand new console that's not only extremely powerful, but also compact and easy to transport. The console is put on the market, and along with it some brand new games that are not only new and inventive, but also take risks your company has never tried before. Eventually the figures come in, and not only is the console not selling well, but people are calling it "kiddy" despite the bold new games. Obviously this would tell you that people don't care about originality and superb system specs. as much as they claim.

This was the situation with the Gamecube. Even though Nintendo tread into unfamiliar territory by producing M-rated software (Eternal Darkness) and first person shooters (Metroid Prime 1 & 2) the Gamecube lagged behind in the console race. After this, do you think Nintendo was in a hurry to make another powerful system with original titles?

It may not be a behemoth powerhouse, but the Wii does what it should: play games. Yeah there's a lot of simple games for it, but there's also some really good titles. Once Nintendo has faith once more that people want to see new, unique creations, I'm sure that's exactly what we'll get. Nintendo is a business after all, and they need to know that what they make will be profitable.

 

[Sevre]

The Gamecube wasn't exactly a behemoth powerhouse. Nintendo expands the market,but not the console, it sticks to its own games and characters and its trusted developers characters. So lets look at the checklist of games here.

Resident Evil ( Several Appearances on the Gamecube and Wii)
Star Fox ( Been doing the rounds on the majority of Nintendos consoles, hasn't hit the Wii yet)
Pokemon ( Started with the GameBoy before expanding to N64,Gamecube and Wii with Colosseum,Snap and PBR)
Mario ( Don't get me started)
Luigi ( Luigi's Mansion on the Gamecube, but hasn't made a standalone game on the Wii yet)
Sonic ( Sega released a few games on the Gamecube,with 4 or 5 so far on the Wii)
Donkey Kong ( That loveable ape who got the ball rolling after Game and Watch )
Metroid ( Exclusively Nintendo)

With the exception of Resident Evil ( Capcom) all the big names are made for Nintendo or brought in through Sega. The reason for this is Nintendo has a strict guideline towards publishing games and according to Square Enix charges more for publishing games than Sony and Microsoft which is why no actual sequels to Final Fantasy have been released on the Wii or Gamecube,just variations.

 

[SpiritMacardi]

The Gamecube wasn't exactly a behemoth powerhouse. Nintendo expands the market,but not the console, it sticks to its own games and characters and its trusted developers characters. So lets look at the checklist of games here.

Resident Evil ( Several Appearances on the Gamecube and Wii)
Star Fox ( Been doing the rounds on the majority of Nintendos consoles, hasn't hit the Wii yet)
Pokemon ( Started with the GameBoy before expanding to N64,Gamecube and Wii with Colosseum,Snap and PBR)
Mario ( Don't get me started)
Luigi ( Luigi's Mansion on the Gamecube, but hasn't made a standalone game on the Wii yet)
Sonic ( Sega released a few games on the Gamecube,with 4 or 5 so far on the Wii)
Donkey Kong ( That loveable ape who got the ball rolling after Game and Watch )
Metroid ( Exclusively Nintendo)

With the exception of Resident Evil ( Capcom) all the big names are made for Nintendo or brought in through Sega. The reason for this is Nintendo has a strict guideline towards publishing games and according to Square Enix charges more for publishing games than Sony and Microsoft which is why no actual sequels to Final Fantasy have been released on the Wii or Gamecube,just variations.

I didn't say the Gamecube was a powerhouse, I was just saying it was pretty amazing for its time. It was more powerful than the PS2 (X-Box I'm not sure, and I don't care enough to look) and was an example of Nintendo attempting to go outside its usual norms. But despite that, it didn't sell very well.

As for the licensing issue, I've never read any of that. Last I heard the reasons for the Square/Nintendo split were never officially released, only speculated upon. I've seen everything from personal issues between the presidents at the time to Nintendo's choice of cartridges given as reasons. I'm guessing it isn't all that bad though, since Capcom switched development of Monster Hunter 3 from PS3 to Wii due to it being less expensive.