# We hate the Wii; what a piece of garbage, and a missed opportunity too. **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 16, 2009, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-hate-the-wii-what-a-piece-of-garbage-and-a-missed-opportunity-too/486050 "2009-02-16T04:57:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-hate-the-wii-what-a-piece-of-garbage-and-a-missed-opportunity-too/486050/81 "2009-02-19T16:53:21Z")
I’ve had a Wii for 2 months now and haven’t even hooked it up. I played one at a friend’s house and did have a lot of fun, but I can sort of tell it will get old fast. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-hate-the-wii-what-a-piece-of-garbage-and-a-missed-opportunity-too/486050/82 "2009-02-19T20:59:18Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I’ve had a Wii for 2 months now and haven’t even hooked it up. I played one at a friend’s house and did have a lot of fun, but I can sort of tell it will get old fast. So why did you buy it in the first place? The ad campaign was just too good? ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-hate-the-wii-what-a-piece-of-garbage-and-a-missed-opportunity-too/486050/83 "2009-02-19T21:05:02Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > So why did you buy it in the first place? The ad campaign was just too good? Sort of a long story, I bought 3 for MSRP from [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com), planning to resell for a little more on eBay around Christmas. But the eBay fees pretty much took any meager eBay profits, and on the second auction they expected me to ship to the buyer without having the buyer’s money in my account. With the third one I refused to give eBay any more of my seller money, planned on selling it on Craigslist but never got around to it! ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-hate-the-wii-what-a-piece-of-garbage-and-a-missed-opportunity-too/486050/84 "2009-02-19T21:36:05Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Sort of a long story, I bought 3 for MSRP from [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com), planning to resell for a little more on eBay around Christmas. But the eBay fees pretty much took any meager eBay profits, and on the second auction they expected me to ship to the buyer without having the buyer’s money in my account. With the third one I refused to give eBay any more of my seller money, planned on selling it on Craigslist but never got around to it! So, you bought some Wiis to re-sell, and now one sits gathering dust at your house. This is supposed to be evidence of…what, exactly? I, for one, am completely happy with my Wii. I certainly agree that it could use more good titles, but at this point in my life, I don’t have nearly as much time to game as I used to/want to, so I haven’t been at a loss for content yet. And the Wii is the only game system I’ve ever owned that my wife wants to play, which means I’m playing more often on the Wii than I would on any other console. Right now, I am loving Rock Band 2 and World of Goo. They’re going to keep me happy for months and months. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-hate-the-wii-what-a-piece-of-garbage-and-a-missed-opportunity-too/486050/85 "2009-02-19T21:42:48Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > So, you bought some Wiis to re-sell, and now one sits gathering dust at your house. This is supposed to be evidence of…what, exactly? I’m a gamer, I’ve had several consoles and do a lot of PC gaming. Mostly FPS and strategy games. My point was even though I’ve played games on a Wii before, I haven’t been bothered enough to hook up the Wii. When I do play a console it’s the PS3. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-hate-the-wii-what-a-piece-of-garbage-and-a-missed-opportunity-too/486050/86 "2009-02-19T21:48:18Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > To be fair here: > > A) There is an exclusive Tales game on the Wii, the rather lengthily named “Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World” > > B) The other new Tales game, Tales of Vesperia (Currently a 360 exclusive, though rumors abound of a PS3 version, there’s no proof yet.) is lovingly rendered in gorgeous high rez and might require some effort to tone down for the Wii. > > C) The last Nintendo system that had a decent RPG selection was the SNES, so I wouldn’t exactly expect a lot in that arena. (Yeah yeah, both the N64 and Gamecube had a couple of winners, but I could count them on one hand.) Ah, my bad. I completely forgot about TOS 2. I think it slipped my mind since it came out after I stopped paying attention to what was coming out on the Wii. I was mainly thinking of Vesperia. I’ve only seen some smaller screenshots, and not up close, so I’ll take your word for it. ---
**Author:** ![PopeJewish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@PopeJewish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PopeJewish)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-hate-the-wii-what-a-piece-of-garbage-and-a-missed-opportunity-too/486050/87 "2009-02-19T23:46:33Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > To be fair here: > > A) There is an exclusive Tales game on the Wii, the rather lengthily named “Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World” > > B) The other new Tales game, Tales of Vesperia (Currently a 360 exclusive, though rumors abound of a PS3 version, there’s no proof yet.) is lovingly rendered in gorgeous high rez and might require some effort to tone down for the Wii. > > C) The last Nintendo system that had a decent RPG selection was the SNES, so I wouldn’t exactly expect a lot in that arena. (Yeah yeah, both the N64 and Gamecube had a couple of winners, but I could count them on one hand.) I’m actually a bit disappointed with some current news. Yatsumi Matsuno, who was behind such greats as Final Fantasy Tacitcs, Ogre Battle, Vagrant Story, and part of FFXII, had announced a long time ago he was working on a wii title with Hitoshi Sakimoto. “Must be a new RPG that will be filled to the brim with awesomeness” thought I. Unfortunately, it was announced earlier this month that he is working on the story for Mad World, a game that looks interesting, but isn’t really what I wanted Yaz to be working on. To be fair, he could still have an RPG in the works, whose awesomocity could be off the scale, but Mad World is not it (I kinda see Madworld as an attempt at telling people the Wii can have mature games, too! entirely confusing “mature” with “filled with blood and violence” though if Yaz is working on the story it might actually be quite good) ETA: oh yea, and I wanted to point out that I feel the Wii is missing a critical area of gaming. it could have some kick ass strategy games using the mouse-like input of the infra red. Would go great with strategy games ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-hate-the-wii-what-a-piece-of-garbage-and-a-missed-opportunity-too/486050/88 "2009-02-20T00:10:40Z")
I just can’t get used to the Wii controller, which completely turns me off from ever purchasing the system. I tried that Boomblox game, which was kind of fun. The problem, however, was that the accuracy of the controllers are terrible! I’d want to point my little cursor dot somewhere, and the damn cursor would wiggle all over the place _near_ where I was pointing. I couldn’t accurately point at anything, and I swear I don’t have shaky hands or anything. After about 20 minutes I gave up. Give me a mouse or a normal controller! I want to play your games, not bugger about with some gimmicky remote control thing that reminds me of trying to thread a needle when drunk! FWIW, I have a fairly broad interest in genres of games, so I don’t know why the Wii’s genres won’t scratch my gaming itch other than the niggly control thing. For comparison purposes, the games I am currently playing on my PS2 and PC are EVE Online, Europa Universalis 3, Left 4 Dead, Defense Grid, Psychonauts, God of War 2, Final Fantasy X, and Arc the Lad. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-hate-the-wii-what-a-piece-of-garbage-and-a-missed-opportunity-too/486050/89 "2009-02-20T00:27:41Z")
> [@Captain\_C](#): > > I just can’t get used to the Wii controller, which completely turns me off from ever purchasing the system. I tried that Boomblox game, which was kind of fun. The problem, however, was that the accuracy of the controllers are terrible! I’d want to point my little cursor dot somewhere, and the damn cursor would wiggle all over the place _near_ where I was pointing. I couldn’t accurately point at anything, and I swear I don’t have shaky hands or anything. After about 20 minutes I gave up. Give me a mouse or a normal controller! I want to play your games, not bugger about with some gimmicky remote control thing that reminds me of trying to thread a needle when drunk! That’s abnormal–the accuracy (in ideal circumstances) is pixel-perfect (standard definition, of course). I’m guess what you were experiencing is light interference. That is, some light sources that emit IR light are picked up by the wiimote, as it uses IR for the sensor bar to determine where you’re pointing. If it picks up any other sources, it gets “confused” and the cursor will appear to shift around. You can eliminate the problem by adjusting the Wiimote’s sensitivity in the options menu or making sure light sources (including direct sun light) aren’t being reflected by the TV. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-hate-the-wii-what-a-piece-of-garbage-and-a-missed-opportunity-too/486050/90 "2009-02-20T00:43:42Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I’m a gamer You’re a scalper. ---
**Author:** ![Robin\_Goodfellow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Robin\_Goodfellow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robin_Goodfellow)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-hate-the-wii-what-a-piece-of-garbage-and-a-missed-opportunity-too/486050/91 "2009-02-20T01:51:06Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > You’re a scalper. You’re off-topic. He’s a scalper who plays his PS3 and has access to the Wii but no desire to play it. > [@Red Barchetta](#): > > And I think it’s a bit premature to be making arguments about a theoretical price point regarding Wii MotionPlus–you may be right, you may be wrong. But it’s not really worth arguing about without all the facts. I was fairly sure I had them all, and most of the E3 news I can find from last year are conjecturing $29.99, but I can’t find an official statement. Call it an educated guess. > [@](#): > > And do you really think Boom Blox is the only game to make “decent” use of Wii controls? Have you played any of the other games I mentioned? I won’t disagree a lot of games–hell, maybe even most games, make sloppy use of them, but there’s more than just a handful that use them quite elegantly (Metroid, Galaxy, Wii Sports, World of Goo, etc). I immediately discount games where the Wii control “waggle” motion serves as what could’ve been a button press on a Gamecube. Mario Galaxy and Zelda: TP, even though they’re some of the best experiences to have with the system, count more as “missed opportunity” than “proof of concept.” Metroid Prime 3 is the only one in the series I didn’t finish (got tired of holding my aim steady to shoot everything), but Wii Sports is actually a pretty great game, which is handy, since about 20% of the Wii’s audience won’t buy anything else for it. My point stands that the people who own a Wii and nothing else generally won’t know what they’re missing. Privately, I do still cringe a little bit when someone seeks a brilliant multiplatform game like Rock Band on their standard-definition system with no cross-compatible instruments or downloadable songs, however. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-hate-the-wii-what-a-piece-of-garbage-and-a-missed-opportunity-too/486050/92 "2009-02-20T02:42:26Z")
> [@Robin\_Goodfellow](#): > > You’re off-topic. Thanks for the reminder, your junior modship. If you look upthread I actually made contributing post, whereas he drove by with the equivalent of “Led Zeppelin sucks. I mean I’ve never heard their music or anything but I know because I stood outside The Forum scalping their tickets awhile back.” ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-hate-the-wii-what-a-piece-of-garbage-and-a-missed-opportunity-too/486050/93 "2009-02-20T15:16:56Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > That’s abnormal–the accuracy (in ideal circumstances) is pixel-perfect (standard definition, of course). I’m guess what you were experiencing is light interference. That is, some light sources that emit IR light are picked up by the wiimote, as it uses IR for the sensor bar to determine where you’re pointing. If it picks up any other sources, it gets “confused” and the cursor will appear to shift around. Seriously? Every Wii I’ve ever played does this. Admittedly, that’s only three, but still. o.o ---
**Author:** ![Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoundrel_Swanswater)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-hate-the-wii-what-a-piece-of-garbage-and-a-missed-opportunity-too/486050/94 "2009-02-20T15:34:34Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > Seriously? Every Wii I’ve ever played does this. Admittedly, that’s only three, but still. o.o I also doubt this statement as I played in my movie-room which is pretty frigging dark. It was just as dodgy as with the Sony Eyetoy on the PS2 which also was wildly inaccurate. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-hate-the-wii-what-a-piece-of-garbage-and-a-missed-opportunity-too/486050/95 "2009-02-20T16:01:18Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Thanks for the reminder, your junior modship. If you look upthread I actually made contributing post, whereas he drove by with the equivalent of “Led Zeppelin sucks. I mean I’ve never heard their music or anything but I know because I stood outside The Forum scalping their tickets awhile back.” I told you I’ve played a Wii before. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-hate-the-wii-what-a-piece-of-garbage-and-a-missed-opportunity-too/486050/96 "2009-02-20T16:04:12Z")
Ascalpersayswhat? Oh, you’ve heard Hats Off to Roy Harper - - doesn’t mean your opinion on Led Zeppelin IV matters. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-hate-the-wii-what-a-piece-of-garbage-and-a-missed-opportunity-too/486050/97 "2009-02-20T16:15:49Z")
I had to check to see if this was the Pit. Who pissed in your Cheerios? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-hate-the-wii-what-a-piece-of-garbage-and-a-missed-opportunity-too/486050/98 "2009-02-20T16:29:46Z")
I don’t like scalpers. Some kid might not’ve gotten his christmas present this year because his parents couldn’t afford your jacked up prices. I hope you enjoyed your hard-earned profit. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-hate-the-wii-what-a-piece-of-garbage-and-a-missed-opportunity-too/486050/99 "2009-02-20T16:45:00Z")
> [@Robin\_Goodfellow](#): > > I was fairly sure I had them all, and most of the E3 news I can find from last year are conjecturing $29.99, but I can’t find an official statement. Call it an educated guess. $29.99 is the official guess of game writers everywhere, but Nintendo’s president did say it would be “cheap” in a Wall Street Journal interview: [http://kotaku.com/5032673/iwata-wii-motion-plus-will-be-cheap](http://kotaku.com/5032673/iwata-wii-motion-plus-will-be-cheap) Don’t forget, it’ll also be paired with Wii Sports Resort, so any price under $40 should be considered cheap for a game and a new accessory with some pretty wide support pledged to it so far. > [@Robin\_Goodfellow](#): > > Metroid Prime 3 is the only one in the series I didn’t finish (got tired of holding my aim steady to shoot everything), but Wii Sports is actually a pretty great game, which is handy, since about 20% of the Wii’s audience won’t buy anything else for it. The average Wii owner actually owns more games than the average PS3 owner. Of course, the average Xbox 360 owner roughly owns more games than both of them put together. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-hate-the-wii-what-a-piece-of-garbage-and-a-missed-opportunity-too/486050/100 "2009-02-20T17:11:39Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > Seriously? Every Wii I’ve ever played does this. Admittedly, that’s only three, but still. o.o Mine doesn’t. Or, at least, it doesn’t during normal use. I can put the cursor exactly where I want it and keep it there. It does start to do that when the batteries are getting low, or when there are interfering light sources. As an experiment, try setting the wiimote on something stable, pointed at the screen. Does the cursor still jump around? If not, it’s your hand that’s not jumping around, not the sensors. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-hate-the-wii-what-a-piece-of-garbage-and-a-missed-opportunity-too/486050.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-hate-the-wii-what-a-piece-of-garbage-and-a-missed-opportunity-too/486050.md?page=6)