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- WDYTW: Is the Wii Just a Novelty?
- Posted 4 months, 2 weeks ago by Dominic
I was aware of Wii's 3rd party developer woes but the novelty aspect is something that I've never really considered. Wii console sales are still doing great but are majority of consumers skipping on software? In a recent interview with Gamasutra Microsoft's Aaron Greensburg suggested just this,
Everyone says that eventually the novelty will wear off, right? I think that a lot of the people that are buying that console today are not people that have generally bought consoles in the past, right?
You see they're not buying games on it, right? They're buying it, it's like something they break out when people come over, and it's maybe a fun thing, but it's almost like the same people that buy a karaoke machine, you know? They're not really buying it for games, they're just buying it as a novelty.
Regardless of Aaron's biased views he does bring up a good point. These statements probably hold true to non-gamers and those who own karaoke machines, but what about us real gamers? We're the deciding factor of whether a title or platform will eventually sink or swim.
When a game releases on all platforms which you do you purchase it for? When's the last time you picked up a Wii title? When's the last time you picked up your Wiimote? Has the "novelty" worn off? What do you think?
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Comments
Wii is Wiiak! haha i am amusing
The Wii has the same status as the Gamecube for me. It has some amazing exclusives that no other system can offer, and with it's cheaper price point you can get your money's worth just by playing each of the first-party titles as they come out. I've found that the novelty aspects (wii bowling, etc.) are just a plus, as they give the system something the GameCube didn't have - excellent multiplayer.
Sure GC had mariokart and smash, but other than that there was no reason for me to bust it out at a party. Plus, if you offset the lack of marquee titles with WiiWare and Virtual Console titles, you've got plenty of stuff to play on the system, even if they are games you've played before.
It's not something that will ever replace a 360 or a PS3, it is a compliment to them as it offers something neither of them have - accessibility.
My Wii never gets turned on. I like bowling only. The motion controls are the novelty in my opinion. Do I really want to flick my wrist when I want to make a pass in Madden? I will admit, Zelda and Metroid are great exclusive Nintendo titles. But I dont think they would have been any less great with traditional controls. Just my take.
I find myself periodically floating between the Wii world and the XBox Live universe. As for the Wii being a novelty item I will have to disagree. Remember the days when we were all little? We either passed the controller back and forth to one another or played Co-Op, there was no online play. That was social gaming. Now we're so disconnected from playing with people that you can actually touch, courtesy of XBL, PSN, and so forth. Don't get me wrong I love my 360, but it also nice to have a machine that has some fun party games that I can pull out anytime my girlfriend or her relatives come over talking SH&T how they can whoop me at Wii Bowling.....
That's quite the equation you've got there Puxel...right? ...RIGHT?!
Perhaps a paraphrase of Greensburg's words would have been more pleasant to read J-man. It's true, same could be said for all consoles, but when it comes to a third party game released on all platforms I'll more than likely skip the Wii version.
Now this decision isn't based off graphics or any of that, but mainly just the controller and extreme lack of online support. Perhaps once third party developers get used to the motion sensor technology we'll see an explosion of great titles, just as you mentioned with the DS. But it has got to be hard to develop a third party title exclusively for the Wii...it's damn near retail suicide. Maybe the DS did so well because it at one point owned the hand held market.
The shovelware overwhelms gamers, thats why it's good to play those backlogged games (Death Jr, Fire Emblem, and BWii) that you still haven't touched.
I hate to be mean about this, but the strength that the wii has is equal to the force of their fanboys divided by 2, multiplied by the depth of a soccermom's wallet, and multiplied by the number of attachments the remote has.
To be fair, the same thing (to a certain extent) could be said about all consoles, right? I mean, maybe people break out the PS3 to play the big exclusive and then put away until the next one, right? Or 360 gamers only buy one type of game, I think.
You know, Greensburg really shouldn't do interviews. He sounds annoying, right? Anyway, novelties don't stay sold out for over a year, you know? Same thing was said about the DS, now look at all the great software it has...
Right?
RIGHT?
I still love my Wii, but it's getting such a bad rep because of all the trash third-party developers are shoveling out. There are some quality games for the system and it has a lot of potential. Sure, it doesn't have the graphical capabilities of the 360 or the PS3, but when I'm playing something as good as Twilight Princess, I really could not care less.
I think what the always... insightful Mr. Greensburg is forgetting is that the families using the Wii like this are only a small portion of the people who bought it. The Wii expanded the market; it sold to both the casual crowd and to the die-hard Nintendo fans. The Nintendo fans are buying the games, while everyone else is dragging it out every holiday.
I don't think this makes the Wii a novelty. This is just the first console to demonstrate that game consoles can have multiple applications: It can be used both as a causal party machine and your Zelda, Metroid, and No More Heroes player. I'm sure that if Greensburg did the research he would find more traditional gamers playing the console than the casual players he expects.