At least I didn’t call this blog “hipstermcsluggets”. I mean, if I did, then this first post wouldn’t be so critical of the Nintendo Wii, it’d be full of praise talking about how innovative it is, and how the controls are intuitive. The massive number of Wii consoles that have been sold, the aesthetic similarity of ipod simplicity, and the relative budget price point have generated such a hype that I think its been hard for many to be honest about the gaming value in the Wii.
Before being accused of reacting only to the ensuing rabid popularity of the Wii, I will direct you to some short remarks I made of it during the launch back in November 2006. At that time, I really had no idea what was to come. The most positive things about the Wii so far are:
- It plays Gamecube games
- You can use your Gamecube controllers not only for GC games, but for Virtual Console games, as well as some Wii games
So, that really isn’t saying much. I believe the root of the whole state of affairs began with the controller. I hate to sound like an enemy of innovation, but the wiimote sucks. I would have gladly kept the Gamecube controller as the primary pack-in controller, and the wiimote contraption as a peripheral that you would buy separate, similar to the bongos for Donkey Konga (which I love). However I don’t want to play Smash Brothers with the bongos, and I don’t want to play Zelda with the wiimote. The nature of the wiimote so far has affected the depth and quality of the Wii titles available to play, not just those of shovleware third parties, but Nintendo’s as well.
The titles I mean are games like Wii Sports, WarioWare: Smooth Moves, and Rayman Raving Rabbids. The concepts are shallow and short. And even titles that are clever and fresh, like Zack & Wiki, can be ruined by the glitchy performance of the motion controls. Twilight Princess and Mario Galaxy were awesome games, but I should have been playing them with the Gamecube controller, not even some bastard Classic Controller that has an umbilical cord with a hanging wiimote at the end of it. I’d even rather play it with the Xbox 360 controller.
That brings me to what ended my gaming exclusivity with Nintendo. Holding the Xbox 360 controller is like holding the Gamecube controller part II. Using it at kiosks in Best Buy and Target was enough for me to know I liked it. The lack of meaningful games on the Wii left me wanting to play something. I kept seeing all these triple-A titles coming out for the Xbox 360, and what do you know, my beautiful wife got me one as a present for our tenth anniversary! I don’t know if its because I’m a thirtysomething gamer, or because Nintendo is changing the focus and target of its current generation home console, but they no longer provide me with all the games I need. I won’t stop playing games on the Wii, but I hear the next Banjo Kazooie game is going to be on the Xbox 360.
