Now, I’m sure I just pissed off some (if not all) of the RCG, but, well… deal with it. I’m sure your first reaction if to throw the Wii sales records at me, but you need to wait; you can do that when I have my rifle shouldered and I yell ‘pull.’
Hardware/Graphics
We all know it; the Wii has the equivalent processor of your Timex digital watch. Okay, so it’s not that bad, but when you consider its November 2006 launch date, its hardware is way behind the time. Granted it was relatively cheap ($280) on launch, the sheer lack of binary crunching this thing can do is shameful at best.
When you compare the data crunching abilities with the $500 Xbox 360 (Now $300, $200 for the core console; its cheaper, bitches) which was released a full year earlier, there isn’t even a contest.
All of these lowered prices/usefulness results in a shitty modern gaming experience. Had the Wii been 5 years sooner, it would be great, seeing as the graphics aren’t all that better than the GameCube. Well, that’s okay too, because the Wii doesn’t have HD capabilities.
“Who cares about HD, I don’t have an HDTV anyway.” Well:
1. You suck; HD is awesome and is becoming the standard.
2. Just because you don’t care about HD and a better gaming experience, doesn’t mean we should all suffer.
Now granted, not everyone is a (different levels of) graphics whore, but come on, have you ever played a text base game that’s as fun and addicting as anything current? I’d like to point out that the Wii HD (succor to Wii) is said be released 2010 at the earliest (or so rumours the internets). HDTVs have been publically available since 1998. Twelve years behind. Way to go.
Games & Play
The game play for the Wii games has fallen into a niche category. They are mostly fun, colourful kid games that the whole family can enjoy. Which I think is great. It helps bring families & friends together to laugh & have fun. This however, has no place in the video game industry.
This isn’t to say I think the Wii is bad, because I like playing tennis on it; its great fun. Do I own a Wii? No. Will I buy one? No. This is because the Wii isn’t for gamers (also, the effect of most Wii games can be simulated & improved by simply masturbating). It has a certain novelty to it which it can (and does) quickly lose.
Granted, I have heard good things about Mario Galaxy (I haven’t really heard anything bad about any Mario World games) alone with a few others, but for the most part, Wii has been losing the ‘gamer’ crowd as they have been focusing on “Rated ‘E’ for everyone.” I’ve heard rumours that the Zelda game is basically the previous Zelda game with Wii controls. So not only does the system suck, but the games have lost their substance and have been boiled down to internet flash games without the nudity & violence.
Conclusion
All in all, the Wii is great at what it does (at least until your wrist gets sore from not actually masturbating), although it has no place within the video game industry. As far as myself, I am an Xbox 360 fan, & here is where I think each console succeeds;
Graphics: PS3
HD Playing Capabilities: PS3 (because of built in blu-ray. Also, Microsoft could make a blu-ray USB add on)
Game Selection: Xbox 360
Online Community: Xbox 360 (the PS3 world thingy sounds neat, but ultimately useless & inefficient; it reminds me of playing GTA without objectives or violence)
Media Center: Xbox 360 (Netflix in Canada?)
Fun Little Mini Games: Xbox 360 Arcade
Overall Best Value/Most Entertainment: Xbox 360
Best Exercise Machine: Wii
By the way, whose bright idea was it to combine exercise & video games anyway? The Wii defiantly lives up to the stereotype that if you don’t like video games, buy a console.
3 comments:
I think the issue I've got with this post is that it has a narrow definition of the "video game market".
Nintendo released its console and, apparently, was break-even or making money from the sale of the first unit. On the other hand, for the 360 and PS3, their sales were subsidized for quite some time (and, to a certain extent, may still be).
In order to hit the price point Nintendo wanted to, they had to cut some things out - no HD, no Blu-Ray, less raw power, etc. In exchange, they added in a new, innovative game mechanic.
This game mechanic doesn't do anything for the twitch gamers that enjoy intense first person shooters - but Nintendo's not selling to that market. In the FPS market space, there's a ton of competition and established "top companies". Nintendo knows it won't be able to create the next GTA, so instead they decided to capture another, larger market that had almost no competition in it, the "Family Gamer". In this market space, they're selling approachability, ease of learning the game, and a non-prohibitive price. From day #1 you could get a whole Wii setup for less than $500.
So I agree - Nintendo doesn't have the 15-30 "hardcore gamer" crowd. But I think Nintendo has no interest in that, instead they've found another market that they prefer, and if your metric for a successful company is "making money", I don't see how Nintendo could be anything but.
My point is the market that they are aiming at is not gamers. When they grow up (which they will), they will grow out of Nintendo games, and either move into real gaming or give it up all together; similar to Barney and Telitubbies.
I believe Nintendo sales have began to slow down. Also note that when the last price drop of the Xbox 360 came, their monthly hardware sales effectively doubled.
Granted Nintendo is doing something right and making money, but the Wii is really a failed "video game" system with respect to a gaming community. The Wii can be very entertaining when you have a few people of or what not, but when you buy a Wii, you're paying for the novelty act; like a cheap magician (you all thought I was going to say hooker).
And when that novelty wears off, you don't want to play anymore (I know a guy who stopped playing his Wii for this exact reason). Now his consoles counts to their dominating numbers of sales, but when people stop playing & lose interest, they stop buying games (I'm assuming everyone can do the math; they stop making money).
So the success of the Wii is good, but I feel like I can no longer say that Nintendo is in the "video game" market. Yes by definition it is a video game, but the little kids will keep Nintendo afloat, and nothing short of a baby boom will keep Nintendo from becoming a serious contender on the console wars.
And the new game mechanic isn't that innovative. They just stuck an accelerometer into the controller. I believe they have another accessory coming out shortly which is a gyroscope attachment for the controller, giving their intended desired effect... 2 years later.
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