The Wii's life is almost over, what are your concluding thoughts?

[MaxiP62]

Nintendo Wii 2006-2012

The Wii has been very popular with some and very unpopular with others. It appeals to the casual market and has been so successful that almost no one could have predicted it. Most people seem to dismiss it as a 'kids' console or just for the 'casuals', however in its twilight hours; what are your thoughts on the white little box?

Did you like Nintendo's direction?
Can motion controls be the future of gaming?
Did the lacking specs affect your opinion of it?
Despite its setbacks, where the exclusives up to standard?
Did you own one?
Overall, what are your opinions on it?

I know for sure that in spite of everything, I loved the console. It still had some amazing games, many of which most people never knew about. And the first party games were also up to the usual high standard of Nintendo's past games, I also kind of liked the motion controls, Nintendo's method of execution was very adaptable, you could design a whole game around motion controls, or design a game where they're not used at all. I think Nintendo pulled it all off very well, especially better than Kinect or Move, not success-wise, but in gameplay.

So with the Wii U on the horizon, has Nintendo made the right choices? If not, are they back on the right track now? What do you guys think?

 

[distortedreality]

Personally I think it's been great for gaming.

Has brought more people to gaming, new control interface, some great games...

Don't think it's done a whole lot wrong. I wouldn't buy one (edit - for myself)- but bought the missus one and she loves it. Think it has showed the gaming doesn't have to be as serious business as some people take it.

 

[number2301]

In brief (cause I'm on my phone and I hate virtual keyboards) the main thing the Wii did for me is prove that motion controls aren't anything more than a gimmick. I've not seen a single compelling core experience which required motion controls.

Well done Nintendo, the Wii printed money, brought people who were never gamers into your target audience, and had the other companies scrambling to copy you. But lets move on.

 

[MaxiP62]

In brief (cause I'm on my phone and I hate virtual keyboards) the main thing the Wii did for me is prove that motion controls aren't anything more than a gimmick. I've not seen a single compelling core experience which required motion controls.

Well done Nintendo, the Wii printed money, brought people who were never gamers into your target audience, and had the other companies scrambling to copy you. But lets move on.

I see what you mean, but here are examples of core experiences that used motion controls (pointer included) well:
- Red Steel 2
- Zelda: Skyward Sword
- Metroid Prime 3
- Zack & Wiki
- Warioware: Smooth Moves
- Pikmin 2 (Wii controls worked much better than Gamecube)

 

[number2301]

In brief (cause I'm on my phone and I hate virtual keyboards) the main thing the Wii did for me is prove that motion controls aren't anything more than a gimmick. I've not seen a single compelling core experience which required motion controls.

Well done Nintendo, the Wii printed money, brought people who were never gamers into your target audience, and had the other companies scrambling to copy you. But lets move on.

I see what you mean, but here are examples of core experiences that used motion controls (pointer included) well:
- Red Steel 2
- Zelda: Skyward Sword
- Metroid Prime 3
- Zack & Wiki
- Warioware: Smooth Moves
- Pikmin 2 (Wii controls worked much better than Gamecube)

Uses motion controls well is rather different from 'couldn't have happened without motion controls'. I just can't get over the imprecision and overall pointlessness of it.

 

[MaxiP62]

In brief (cause I'm on my phone and I hate virtual keyboards) the main thing the Wii did for me is prove that motion controls aren't anything more than a gimmick. I've not seen a single compelling core experience which required motion controls.

Well done Nintendo, the Wii printed money, brought people who were never gamers into your target audience, and had the other companies scrambling to copy you. But lets move on.

I see what you mean, but here are examples of core experiences that used motion controls (pointer included) well:
- Red Steel 2
- Zelda: Skyward Sword
- Metroid Prime 3
- Zack & Wiki
- Warioware: Smooth Moves
- Pikmin 2 (Wii controls worked much better than Gamecube)

Uses motion controls well is rather different from 'couldn't have happened without motion controls'. I just can't get over the imprecision and overall pointlessness of it.

That's true, in that sense I do see your point. However I think it's the same thing as all advances in video game controllers.

Super Mario 64 COULD have been done without an analog stick, however it was done BETTER with one. This was proven with the DS port.

 

[WoahDan]

On the plus side it brought new people into gaming and has helped legitimise the hobby.

On the other hand its motion controls have always felt gimmicky to me, they can be done well but its pretty rare to see a game where you can genuinely say "yes this game would be much worse without the motion controls", suppose thats not totally a bad thing its proven that that particular avenue of game creation is ultimatly pretty shallow most of the time, useful data for future generations to make use of.

Its exclusives weren't really worth it to me, but I don't hold that against it I'm not really their target audience so its not a surprise (im simultaneously too young to be part of the generation that likes Mario et all out of nostalgia, and too old to start liking most of Nintendo's roster because they legitimately appeal to me).

I think the wii has made a useful contribution to the medium, but its sales figures massively overstate how important it will actually turn out to be to the medium (way too many of those wii's are collecting dust or are owned by people who have no intention of buying another console in the future).

 

[Catfood220]

From a personal view, the Wii was the Nintendo console that broke my heart. It had the potential to do something great, usher in a fantastic new way to play games and what did they do? They smothered it with mini game collections and lousy ports with shitty tacked on motion controls.

Yeah, it had some decent games, but not enough for me to remain in interested and I switched to the PS3. Which is a shame as I was a Nintendo fanboy for pretty much my whole gaming life, I especially loved the N64 and Gamecube despite the fact that they were never that well received.

I will wait and see what the Wii U brings.

Also: Charles Schwab describe this brand with any words. Errrr...excuse me Mr Capcha, but who or what the fuck is Charles Schwab?

Edit: Oh, shit over priced clothes apparently

 

[Scrustle]

The Wii was alright. Good, but not brilliant. It had some great games which were pretty unique to the console, but they were few and far between.

I never much cared for motion controls, and I don't think they are a good way to control games as we know them today, but there were a few examples of games where the motion controls were inoffensive. But I never really felt like I played a game in which they were essential to the experience, or improved it in any way. And of course we can't ignore the fact that 95% of Wii games were just shovelware waggle-fests which didn't make decent use of the motion controls at all. But my point is the few that did make as good use of them as they could never really felt like they were really worth the effort. They could have worked either just as well or better with traditional controls.

But I don't want to be too negative. Even though my Wii library is completely dwarfed by my 360 library, and I barely play on it I'm glad I got the console and feel like it was worth it. I've had good times with it. And as much as I don't enjoy motion controls I respect Nintendo for standing out and trying to do something different, while bringing a lot of money and positive attention to the industry at the same time.

 

[LilithSlave]

I loved the system. It had more games I cared about on it than any other tv console this generation.

 

[scorptatious]

I liked the Wii. Granted, I didn't really play very many games on it, but I don't think that's the system's fault. My tastes have changed over the years, and some of Nintendo's IP's don't appeal to me as much as they used to. Well that and there was a bunch of shovel ware games as well, but what system didn't have those kinds of games.

As for motion controls, I do feel they have a place in the future. Skyward Sword showed me how much potential motion controls have, and I bet if worked upon a bit more, they can lead to something ground breaking that a vast majority of gamers, casual, hardcore, or whatever will love.

 

[StriderShinryu]

While I would never argue that the Wii was bad for gaming overall, it did absolutely nothing for me. Motion control, even years on, still feels like a gimmick in it's current state and has actally shown that it's worse for gaming as opposed to better in the vast majority of uses. Nintendo's own software feels like it hasn't evolved or improved since the N64 days, or even earlier when considering basic gameplay, and the non Nintendo software for the Wii has been generally lodged between "meh" and embarassing.

Put simply, the Wii is not necessarily a terrible machine but it is near 100% not for me, both in terms of hardware and software, and Nintendo is going to have to go an extremely long way to win me back with anything they do in the future.

 

[Halo Fanboy]

It wasn't very good imo. It didn't have the power for most big console games this era like Bayonetta or KOFXIII, and it didn't have many games going for it, with it's best games being ports (SnSIII, GGXXAC, RE4, HoTD and everything in VC). Most low res developers chose the 360 over it for whatever reason.

VC was the best thing about it, unfornutely the only wii i've played belong to my brother who choses to leave it connected to an HDV like an idiot lol. I haven't had any serious time with the VC ports or even some of the more promising original games like Gradius Rebirth.

Better than PS3, way worse than 360 imo.

 

[oplinger]

The what?

....Oh! ...right, that thing. Jesus. Haven't turned it on in years.


...okay, seriously. I love the Wii, I think potentially it was an excellent springboard into a different era of gaming. And the WiiU is a neat second step. Yeah, mistakes have been made, but I think overall it's been a positive experience.

I really look forward to the next steps nintendo takes to do something different.

Though I've had more fun with the Wiimote on my PC than on the actual Wii.

Imo, for my limited library of Wii games, Skyward Sword has the best motion controls, and i' have loved to see -that- earlier than the end of it's life. So maybe other games could have followed suit.

 

[BreakfastMan]

To answer your questions in order:

Did you like Nintendo's direction? Certainly was interesting and kept me always guessing what they would do next. If they had gotten out more good core titles to go with launch, I would have liked it even better...

Can motion controls be the future of gaming? No, I don't think so. Yahtzee explained it pretty well, but I will sum up for those who have not heard it: performing a movement is always slower than pressing a button, and has less immediate feedback. I honestly think motion controls are, by and large, a dead end.

Did the lacking specs affect your opinion of it? Nope, don't care about that. 'Sides, have you seen Donkey Kong Country Returns or SMG2? Damn sight more pretty than a lot of other games this gen.

Despite its setbacks, where the exclusives up to standard? By and large, yes, what exclusives I have played generally seemed to be up to the Nintendo standard.

Did you own one? Yep. Had it for about a year or so.

Overall, what are your opinions on it? An interesting, but failed, experiment. I applaud the big N for having the balls to do something so different from the norm, but I don't think it entirely payed off in the end. Also, needed way more good core games.

But, yeah, it was okay. I just really hope they buckle down and work on getting more third party support and good core games for the WiiU.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Did you like Nintendo's direction?
No since they left the core gamers in the dust while they put their attention to the casual gamers.

Can motion controls be the future of gaming?
Possibly but it will require the right balance to when motion is needed and when it's not needed at all.

Did the lacking specs affect your opinion of it?
Yes. I hated while the Xbox 360 had Gears of Wars 3 and PS3 with Lost Planet 2 and what did the Wii get? Another Mario party game.

Despite its setbacks, where the exclusives up to standard?
Pretty much since I love Xenoblade Chronicle, No More Heroes and Super Smash Bro Brawl.

Did you own one?
I'm currently still own the same Wii I bought on release day.

Overall, what are your opinions on it?
To sum it up I should of bought a 360 instead. There had been many times when I had experience gaming drought due to the Wii has more casual games than proper games. Nintendo need to keep the flow of good/ hype up games nicely like Microsoft and Sony not having a few months of good for nothing games to be out.

 

[Aircross]

It was a decent console in its own right...

...but the ocean of shovel ware and lack of quality control didn't help at all.

 

[TehCookie]

Did you like Nintendo's direction?
I did, Nintendo has always been the kiddie console and I liked how they decided to attract new gamers rather than try to appeal to the old ones which are now adults. I also had no problem with their gimmick, it's fun.

Can motion controls be the future of gaming?
No, its a fun gimmick, just like DDR or Rock Band. They're great to play when friends are over or if you want to mix it up but it won't replace the standard controller.

Did the lacking specs affect your opinion of it?
Kind of, the first party titles look great but 3rd parties struggled with it. Some

Despite its setbacks, where the exclusives up to standard?
I would say it had the best exclusives since it had a lot of good ones. Sure the others may of had a few great ones but the Wii is the only one that had quantity and quality.

Did you own one?
Yup and I love it. One thing Nintendo did better than every other console is backwards compatibility. Even if I'm not playing Wii games I love using it as a Gamecube since I never had one.

Overall, what are your opinions on it?
A great console for kids and parties.