We hate the Wii; what a piece of garbage, and a missed opportunity too.

The Game Room
1

I’m a Wii owner, and I hate my Wii. I hope for this thread to be a Wii-bash thread where we all talk about what a toilet-circling piece of garbage the system is and how disappointed we are in it.

I think that the Wii might be the biggest missed opportunity in gaming history - there’s so much potential there, there’s such a huge install base, and…nothing. The Wii should be the platform of this era of games, and it should be populated with those iconic, generation-making games like we had back on the NES. The Wii should have the games right now that people will be talking about and reminiscing over for the next 20 years, like people my age do about the original Mario games, Contra, Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out, and so on.

Instead there’s literally nothing. There are not games to buy for the system. Sure, there are racks and racks of weird shovelware titles that basically feel like internet flash games, none of which rise above the quality level of shoddy bootlegs, but I’m not even counting those. I’ve had my Wii for 2 years this month, and I’ve bought three games for it - Super Mario Galaxy, No More Heroes, and Zelda: Twilight Princess. There has literally not been another title worth purchasing in two years now. Smash Brothers, Mario Kart, and Animal Crossing are identical to their Gamecube predecessors, so I can’t even take them seriously as new titles. Where are the fucking games?! Does Nintendo even have any new original titles on their release calendar for the next year!?

I keep my Wii because I keep telling myself that, like the DS, it’s just taking the developers (including Nintendo’s own in-house developers) a while to get their heads around the new interface stuff before they figure out how to use it to make great games. The DS got an incredibly slow start in this regard - for the first two years or so, there were few games worth buying, but now I actually think it’s the strongest system out there period. But it seems like nobody even cares to try at this point.

2

I have to say that I’ve loved my Wii but lately, it’s just been sitting there collecting dust. I keep wondering when they’ll come out with any good games again. Where did they all go?

3

Get ready for the full frontal by Justin Bailey…

FWIW I’ve had my Wii for a few years now and have felt the same way you do since about month 9. There just isn’t anything to play on there other than a handful of Nintendo made titles (and even those are over-rated IMHO). My kids played the Wii a fair amount after xmas this year but other than that it just collects dust at our house. The only reason I keep it is because I got it as a gift for fathers day a few years ago.

I’ve said so much on this subject in so many other threads that I don’t feel like repeating it all here again. The point is the Wii is a huge let down to everyone but the most casual gamers and Nintendo enthusiasts. There is literally NOTHING on the horizon for this system. Sure it’s been a huge financial success but so are Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson but that doesn’t make them “good”. It just makes them financially successful.

Here is my new theory on what Nintendo is doing with the Wii. They have grown this huge install base and now players are starved for games. Nintendo doesn’t care about 3rd party support. They are happy being the only producer of “quality” software for the system. That means that the starved players waiting for ANY game will buy ANYTHING that Nintendo makes by the millions. Thereby making big bucks for Nintendo in the process. 3rd party devs don’t make as much money for N as N can for themselves.

The Wii is a toy. It’s not a real game system by todays standards. My kids have moved on to the 360 and they are only 5 and 9. What does that tell you? What hit Wii game (other than Wii Sports) could not have been done on any other console, and BETTER? SMG? That game was good on Wii but could have easily been done with the GC controller and would have been amazing with actual dialog and graphics from the 360 or PS3. There are really not any games that NEED the Wii. And there never will be. None that are worth sitting down and putting hours into in a "non-party, non-kid, non-grandma environment that is.

4

Hey now, Animal Crossing is most certainly not identical to its Gamecube predecessor.

… it’s worse…
In fact, I consider it one of the biggest damn disappointments on the entire console. That, and the lack of Soul Calibur 3… (we get a stupid Soul Calibur adventure game, starring, what, two or three actual playable characters? Yeah, real fun.)

Mario Kart and Smash Bros are still fun, and add enough new stuff that I do consider them improvements, just as the Gamecube versions were improvements over the N64 ones. But yeah, overall, the library of good Nintendo exclusives is very small… I’m still in denial about it, though, and tell myself that any day now the Wii will be revealed as the gaming console standard. (Shut up, let me dream).

5

I can agree with these sentiments, but I feel it neccesary to point something out.

Nintendo has been more than upfront with it’s change in strategy, they no longer make games for the traditional classification of “gamers.” They don’t make games for their fans any more. They’ve left people like us, people who’ve supported them since time eternal (or, at the least, since the NES) by the wayside in their attempts to open up new markets, non-traditional markets. This has worked, as is evident by the sales of the system, but it’s pissed off a lot of people who used to enjoy nintendo games.

Fact is, every game I’ve played on the Wii would be or IS better with a gamecube controller. Mario Kart and Super Smash bros are perfect examples of this.

6

Another Wii owner here who shares the same feelings about it. Mine sits in the corner collecting dust while the 360 gets all the play time both by me and my 13 year old.

I have heard there is hope on the horizon though. A new House of the Dead is coming to the Wii and Dead Rising too. Of course that was boring as hell on the 360. Dead Space is also being ported over.

7

MadWorld and The Conduit are some mature, original, hard-core games coming out. Deadly Creatures was recently released to positive reviews.

I’m disappointed in my Nintendo Wii but not to the level of hate. I’m currently living in China so having the latest game is not the biggest deal. I still pop in my Gamecube games from time to time and enjoy those.

The most frustrating thing to me is that Nintendo has a completely different way to access/play games and most games on the system waste that potential by settling for gimmicks or add-on moves. I should be able to interact with the environment in new ways* but it seems the only things programmers can think of is IR pointing or waggle. The few games that do try and get the most out of the controllers are party games and Wii Sports. I want a mature (full-fledged not necessarily adult) game that is immersive and utilizes the Wii remote to give me an experience I can’t get anywhere else.

*six direction movement, rotation, IR pointing, and accelerometer and this is all without pressing a button

8

I’ll grant Animal Crossing (that is pretty much the definitoon of identical), but if you’re going to throw Smash Brothers and Mario Kart into the same pile, you might as well call out Halo 3, Call of Duty, Killzone, and any number of games on the other consoles as well. Having similarities is part of being a franchise, but to say they’re identical is just wrong.

To wit, I hated Smash Bros Melee on GameCube–it was a fast-paced, bloated mess. Brawl, on the other hand, went back to the drawing board and changed/adjusted many aspects of the game–sure, the core gameplay is the same, but the end result certainly is not. Same for Mario Kart–yeah, you’re racing in a kart, and if that’s your sole basis for determining the uniqueness of a title, then sure, it’s identical to the GameCube version. But I think that’s doing it a disservice, provided the 16 brand new tracks, motion controls (I really dig the wheel) and online play.

It’s also true that the Wii has a metric assload of shovel well, but that shouldn’t undermine the true gems you can find on the console. I suspect you’re just not looking hard enough. I had an absolute blast playing Sama De Amigo, for instance. It’s not a highly publicized, and I suspect that’s much of the problem. De Blob is a game that I haven’t tried, but heard great things about. World of Goo has won countless awards and is arguably one of the best downloadable games for any of the major consoles. Oh, and Deadly Creatures just game out, which is very, very unique and has received quite positive reviews.

If you’re looking for pure “hardcore” (god I hate that word) titles, House of the Dead: Overkill was just released, also to strong reviews, and has a very, very mature grindhouse vibe (which looks awesome). Mad World is another game to keep your eyes on, which launches next month, with an art style that can go toe-to-toe with any other system. How it fares gameplay wise has yet to be seen, but the early impressions are positive (plus they have the the voice of Bender, John DiMaggio, as one of the game’s two announcers!). Oh, and then there’s** The Conduit**, also coming out soon, which looks to be a competent FPS, at the least.

And that’s counting some of the fantastic titles already out there, such as Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3. I also consider Wii Sports Resort something to keep an eye on, which also comes with Wii Motion Plus to enhance the motion control.

I know it’s popular to rag on the Wii, but I really do believe a lot (not all, certainly) of the complaints are unjust. It’s true that the Wii (at the moment, anyway) doesn’t offer the same expeirence the 360 or PS3 does–it offers a different experience. You just have to know where to look.

9

Boom Blox.
Wii Fit.
Wii Sports: Resort (granted, not yet out, but will be).
Virtually any light-gun game (House of the Dead, Umbrella Chronicles, etc).
Samba De Amigo.
World of Goo.

That’s just what I could think of off the top of my head. And the list is only going to grow longer as developers grow even more competent and also as they start taking advantage of Wii Motion Plus. Furthermore, while it’s true not every Wii game needs the Wii to exist, a lot are certainly enhanced by it, such as Mario Kart Wii and Metroid Prime 3.

10

If you liked Twilight princess, then Okami is worth a look. Sure it’s a PS2 port, but it’s also one of the greatest games ever made. Plays a lot like Twilight but vastly superior.

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Why? Red Barchetta just said everything I would have said. Nothing more needs to be said. If you don’t like the Wii, it’s your problem, not Nintendo’s. It’s doing plenty of things right and if you can’t see that, oh well.

Although I do have to take issue with classifying the Wii as a toy. The Wii is a video game console. Just like the PS3 and Xbox 360. If the Wii is a toy, they’re toys. There’s no two ways about it.

12

Seconded. I was so excited about a Wii version of Animal Crossing and finally got my copy last week. Other than a few token additions it’s as if Nintendo sold me the same game again except that I have to play it using crappy controls now. Hooray!

I used to really enjoy the texture creator but after spending 5 minutes trying to draw a triangle over the weekend, I gave up and found something else to do. I wish there was a way to use a Gamecube controller for the game.

13

**Star Wars: The Force Unleashed **is pretty fun.

:o

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Wii Sports:Resort is a party game.
Samba De Amigo is a party game and can easily be done on any system with marraca attachments. In fact, the reviews I’ve read have said the Wii remotes are far WORSE than marraca attachments as they don’t response consistently.
Zapper games can easily be done on other platforms with a zapper attachment that costs less than a Wii controller. The problem is no one really WANTS to play those anymore.
World of Goo can only be played on the Wii as far as consoles go but is definitely not an example of quality controls. It’s much better on PC but I will say that it can’t be played on PS3 or 360 in it’s current incarnation.
How are MK Wii and MP3 enhanced by the Wii? MK is better played with the GC controller.

15

I can’t really comment on Wii-suckitude, because I don’t have one. I mean, I don’t want one (my xbox360 is awesome, and my son and husband play it too) but the consoles literally are NOT on the shelves around here in Buffalo, NY. I’ve seen them in stores exactly twice, ever – and I go in video game stores quite a lot.

What kind of crap marketing is THAT? Every single person I know with one around here bought it off eBay. Is Nintendo trying to do some sort of Beanie-Baby level craze with it where they restrict supply and increase demand since it’s so hard to find?

Nintendo used to be the standard I judged systems by, but not for years now.

16

That’s the point, dude.

17

To forestall any disbelief: It’s my opinion that the reason for lack of Wiis on the shelves in Buffalo is because Canadian shoppers are heading over the border to buy them (probably calling ahead to reserve them). This happens fairly often with certain consumer products, especially when the exchange rate is favorable to Canadians.

The question, then, is why it’s taking Nintendo years to figure out these buying patterns. I can understand a localized consumer shortage, but for two years? And the craziest thing is that many Buffalo shops are displaying empty Wii boxes, while they cheerfully admit they don’t actually have any in stock. I saw one poor kid at a local GameStop almost in tears because he’d been saving up money for months to buy one, GameStop finally had one…but, nope, now he was going to have to go through the eBay crapshoot, praying he wasn’t going to be ripped off, 'cause the “Wii” GameStop was displaying was actually an empty box.

Honestly, this is the best Nintendo can do after two freakin’ years?

18

The Wii didn’t exist when SC3 was released. And trust me, you’re not missing anything with 4. It has less play value than Legends (which I think has 6 playable characters, though you’re limited to two per level).

Nintendo has become the home of shovelware this generation, with both the Wii and the DS. The DS at least still has the occasional good game coming out. I’ve given up even looking at the Wii’s offerings.

19

eBay? He could just order it from a reputable on-line retailer like Amazon.

20

I suppose. But (having been there as a kid), there’s nothing like taking it home from the store for a kid. Now I don’t mind waiting, of course, but it’s different for kids.