I like 2D cartoony graphics as well (for example, I still think Pac Man and Mrs. Pac Man are among the most graphically beautiful games ever made, at least at the arcade), but even with Super Paper Mario they could have cleaned up the graphics a bit–it just seems a little sloppy to me. I think Super Mario Brothers III for the regular Nintendo is more aesthetically appealing. It doesn’t necessarily have better graphics per se, but SMBIII has a more cohesive and well-designed look to it, in my opinion.
Nintendo hasn’t had respectable third party support since the SNES era, so no surprises here as far as I’m concerned.
1.) I didn’t realize it was still so hard to find them. But the demand has been so enormous that it’s easy to understand why they didn’t anticipate it.
2.) I can’t disagree here. There are good games coming out here and there–Mario Strikers Charged is a blast–but they’ve gone weeks at a time without releasing anything I’m even remotely interested in. There’s a pretty big flood this fall and winter, though.
3.) Personally, I wish they’d stop advertising the controllers as something you use to play silly little minigames. I didn’t think the Wii controls would be very good for FPS-type games, but the Wiimote/nunchuk combo is the best and most intuitive FPS control I’ve ever used. I had never played any of the Resident Evil games before I played the Wii version of RE4, and I just can’t imagine it any other way.
4.) I’ve actually never used the Friend Codes.
5.) I don’t even like to comment on this, since the Wii is the first console I’ve had in many, many years, so I can’t really compare it. If I had a PS3, I’d sure as hell hope that the graphics look twice as good as they do on the Wii, since it would have been more than twice the price.
I haven’t felt a lull in the available games, but that’s just because I don’t have enough time lately to play as much as I used to. I got my Wii at launch, and I’ve played through all of Zelda, and decent amounts of Excite Truck, Wii Sports, Wii Play, and Brain Academy. I got RE4 recently, and that will probably take me months to get through the way things are going. So for me, Metroid & Galaxy & Smash Bros will be enough for close to a year.
I think Nintendo is very concerned about scaring off this new casual demographic they’ve tapped into. All their TV ads show these families playing bowling or popping balloons in the brain game or whatever. Their E3 press conference was basically all about Wii Fit, and that’s what got covered in the mainstream press. It does seem like they’re keeping all the “gamer” games out of the spotlight, and allowing the gamers to find out about them on game sites and through word of mouth. I think it’s working fairly well; are there a lot of people who’d be interested in Prime 3, but aren’t aware it’s coming?
I think that this will be their downfall if they keep it up (creatively and critically, if not commercially), because casual gamers are just that - people who casually get a Wii for the novelty and then soon forget about it or stop buying games. No matter what Nintendo and the press want to believe, the Wii isn’t turning baby boomers into gamers, and it’s not bringing in the sorority girl set. Sure, a few of those people might pick it up or think it’s cool, but that’s it - those people won’t sustain a system in the long run. In the meantime, the real people who actually buy games and follow systems will be alienated by the nonthreatening fare that’s being produced to the exclusion of the innovative.
I just want to point out that I said basically the same thing as this OP when the Wii first came out, and got piled on by everyone saying how cool and sweet and novel and innovative the Wii is and how the other systems were trash and overpriced and the Wii was going to be the ultimate future of gaming.
One of my major complaints seems to be echoed here - the graphics. One of my cousins brought over a Wii last Thanksgiving and I was stunned at how shitty the Zelda graphics were for a system that had just come out. They looked WORSE than the Gamecube graphics, to my eyes. Maybe the issue, as mentioned before, is that the developers aren’t fully taking advantage of the system’s capabilities. Maybe so. But yeah, the Wii games I’ve seen so far have had lackluster graphics.
I feel that when the Wii was first announced, third party developers were, as we all were, highly sceptical of the system, and as such didnt throw their full support behind it. Now that the system is such a runaway success, third party developers will start upping their production of games, so YAY! the wii will finally get what every gamer wants; shitty ports of crappy movie license beat-em-ups.
Nah, it gets those. Right now, if Spider-Man 3 hadn’t decided to suck, it would be one of the gems of the system. The parts of the game that actually use the wiimote are pretty cool, actually.
I reject the idea that Wii’s graphics are “bad” - Resident Evil 4 (which was merely a GC game) is BEAUTIFUL, and my qualms with Twilight Princess’s look are more aesthetic in nature than performance-based. Keep in mind that we’re probably not even seeing games yet that were developed for the Wii - they’re all basically games that were already being developed for the GC and were just turned into Wii games. There’s a lot of power in there that hasn’t been tapped yet - I can’t wait until the actual Wii-exclusives and games that were developed solely on/for the Wii start to appear.
I think that neither of the new systems are that impressive anyway - the PS3 and 360 are not significant leaps over their previous systems.
I wouldn’t EVER count Nintendo out, even when they shoot themselves in the foot and stick to the Game Cube and N64 for way too long. As a company that makes software, with the stable of titles they have, you simply can’t count that out. Patience.
Also, for a hijack, Xbox Live is flippin’ amazing. It’s not just a vocal minority. Yes, there are some shitty little kids playing, and you just get to deal with that. However, I’ve got a group of people that have a forum that I play with online a lot. We’re older gamers and don’t like the little racist 12 year olds either.
And, for a shameless plug, my Xbox Live Gamertag is I Dixon Tufar I if you’re interested. There are a couple of Dopers in the group already.
A very small percentage of the possible user base subscribes to the XBox Live service. Microsoft hides the total number of gold users (the ones playing online as opposed to the silver ones they give out for free for downloading things), but the best estimates I’ve seen put it at less than 10% of the XBox 360 users. That’s even smaller adding in the XBox owners. There’s no where near 5 million gold subscribers playing online so by definition it’s the minority.
Add to that the fact that Nintendo has a way of making adults love goofy, quirky things that common sense says should be kids only. My dad, the long haired, two pack a day biker loves Animal Crossing more than any game ever. He’s probably played it just about every day since he got it 4 and 1/2 years ago.
Part of it is the type of games the systems have. The Xbox is heavy on first person shooters and they seem to draw out the worst in a lot of people. The people playing Project Gotham Racing are much more fun than the people playing Gears of War.
I’ve been accused sometimes of being overly optimistic, but I believe an online service from Nintendo would draw a completely different crowd than Microsoft attracts. Nintendo’s would probably cost less than Microsoft’s too. 
Well, that’s great. We can argue the numbers, but playing online is a huge step forward.
Yes, there are some annoying kids there, but if you find a group of people, it can be very enjoyable.
I dont know, but I want one. They haven’t been in stock in Orlando at ALL for the past three weeks straight.
I wouldn’t mind having one, but I’m happy with my 360.
Another gaming coming out that I’m quite looking forward to is the Nights sequel.
I understand you’re speaking for yourself, but to look at the gaming industry as a whole, the PS3 has a lot more good games available. The closest we can get to an objective measure (in my opinion) is to look at the rankings at metacritic.com.
For the Wii, only 13 games from the entire catalog (78) get the green rating (a metacritic score of over 75)
For the Playstation 3, we get 30 of 60 in the green.
For the XBox 360, we have 100 of 231 games.
Perhaps even worse is that 14 Wii games get scored in the red (under 50% metarating) . So the Wii, according to this metareview website, has more shitty games than really good games. To contrast, the PS3 only has 4 games crappy enough to earn this rating, and the XBox 360 has 15 with a library nearly 3 times the size of the Wii’s.
So final scores:
Green ratings (75 or higher):
PS3: 50%
XBox 360: 43%
Wii: 16.7%
Red ratings (50 or lower):
Wii: 18%
PS3: 6.7%
XBox 360: 6.5%
That said, I still think the Wii has the most potential for great and innovative games. They just ain’t here yet.
I’m curious, pulykamell; how many of those 30 green PS3 games are cross-platform with the 360 and how many are exclusive? I suppose I can go look myself, but you seem to have the numbers available and I’m at work, so. 
While that’s true, I’m guessing metacritic isn’t taking all that many casual gamer opinions into account when it’s giving you it’s rankings–which is the crowd Nintendo is aiming at (almost exclusively right now).
Nor does it likely take into account the significant number of us who just don’t give a flying flip about Sports games or FPSs (the majority of Metacritic’s Greens for the 360, save for the arcade stuff). I bought GoW for my 360–but I’ve only played it twice. It’s a beautiful game, and I can see how it’s engaging for some people, but I personally DIDN’T enjoy it. Lego Star Wars II, on the other hand, which I’d guess your dedicated gamers are more likely to poo-poo, kept me engaged for 50+ hours. The Darkness and Resistance for the PS3? The demos bored the crap out of me. The bathtub duck game? Genius in its simplicity.
See, I am a casual gamer. I do not have a single piece of game software on any of my computers, and the only system I own is the Wii. My favorite games overall is Guitar Hero II, and that’s on my brother’s 360. Although, I must say, I was addicted to the both Silent Hill II, the Splinter Cell Series, and the Prince of Persia games.
However, outside of Wii Sports bowling and golf, and Super Paper Mario, no game on the Wii has been able to hold my interest.
However, per VCO3’s suggestion, I think I will run out today or tomorrow and find a copy of Resident Evil 4. It looks like a game I would very much enjoy. I don’t like FPS games very much (although I have to say the Halo games are beautiful to look at), but third-person games are pretty cool.
I really do want something that will hold my interest. Is Guitar Hero III out for the Wii? It seems like it is, but I’ve heard bad things about that game for the other platforms, so I’m hesitant in purchasing it, although I have no other Guitar Hero options available to me.