Did the Wii's early success make it a worse console?

Wth the controller has internal memory?! I didn't even know that!!

Wth the controller has internal memory?! I didn't even know that!!

WreckEm711

I'm not sure what you're saying here, but like I said, I could see it going either way. There would've been good reason to back off from motion, and there would've been good reason to make it better. I have no idea which the better choice would be. Both paths could've offered up some good games.

JordanElek

[QUOTE="locopatho"]

[QUOTE="Shinobishyguy"]you make it sound like it's a major flaw that completely destroys the game while in reality it's only a minor annoyance that can be solved with a simple flick of the wrist.Shinobishyguy

It doesn't ruin the games. It's just the games are SO GOOD that the fact that they are marred in any way is annoying. It's like getting to drive a Bugatti Veyron, but the steering is a bit off. Yeah it's still super awesome but I'll always be wishing I was getting the perfect experience! Cos I seriously think NSMBW and DKCR are the best 2D platformers Nintendo ever made. Yet I still find myself playing some of the older Mario games on VC instead just so I can use the cIassic pad. It's just another little "missed opportunity" that I wish Nintendo had addressed!

[QUOTE="locopatho"]Cos I seriously think NSMBW and DKCR are the best 2D platformers Nintendo ever made. Yet I still find myself playing some of the older Mario games on VC instead just so I can use the cIassic pad. JordanElek

[QUOTE="Shinobishyguy"][QUOTE="locopatho"]

It doesn't ruin the games. It's just the games are SO GOOD that the fact that they are marred in any way is annoying. It's like getting to drive a Bugatti Veyron, but the steering is a bit off. Yeah it's still super awesome but I'll always be wishing I was getting the perfect experience! Cos I seriously think NSMBW and DKCR are the best 2D platformers Nintendo ever made. Yet I still find myself playing some of the older Mario games on VC instead just so I can use the cIassic pad. It's just another little "missed opportunity" that I wish Nintendo had addressed!

locopatho

All you do is flick the controller once and he spins, thats it. You don't have to wave it around.

Do you guys have some sort've wrist problem?

No, if the Wii wasn't an early success there would be no reason for the few third party titles we got to even exist as it is. Its success was what made it what it is, it would have been much worse if it wasn't successful.

Isn't it the software that has to take advantage of the potential of the hardware? By hardware, I assume you mean motion controls, which I would have to agree has never really been used to its full potential, but games like Metroid Prime 3 and Mario Kart Wii did a god job of showing us how great motion controls could be if a developer put in the effort.meetroid8

Here's what I've always wondered. Have the motion controls been so underused and slightly flawed in every game on the Wii because of the motion sensors or the developers being lazy when making the game? I always think the latter considering, you're right...Mario Kart Wii and MP: 3 (and to a certain extent, Red Steel 2 among others) are perfect examples of how the motion controls SHOULD work. To me, in a few Wii games... they are perfect.

[QUOTE="JordanElek"]

[QUOTE="locopatho"]Cos I seriously think NSMBW and DKCR are the best 2D platformers Nintendo ever made. Yet I still find myself playing some of the older Mario games on VC instead just so I can use the cIassic pad. locopatho

But.. it's just a flick of the wrist. It's not that difficult. And yes... turning it to the side is more classic NES than the classic controller is..

[QUOTE="locopatho"][QUOTE="JordanElek"] I just caught this and have to say..... NSMBW and DKCR both use the Wii remote sideways, which is the closest thing to a cIassic pad we've ever seen.

emphaticleech

But.. it's just a flick of the wrist. It's not that difficult. And yes... turning it to the side is more classic NES than the classic controller is..

[QUOTE="locopatho"][QUOTE="Shinobishyguy"] Like I said, it was a minor annoyance. It's not like flicking the controller to spin made mario galaxy any less epic.Shinobishyguy

All you do is flick the controller once and he spins, thats it. You don't have to wave it around.

Do you guys have some sort've wrist problem?

[QUOTE="Jaysonguy"]

[QUOTE="meetroid8"]I'm not sure what you mean TC. Are you saying that Nintendo was lazy during the Wii's first couple years because of the success? Because I would seriously have to argue against that, after only a little over a year we already had Zelda, Mario, Metroid, and Smash Bros on the Wii, and they were all excellent.wiifan001

Yes they were lazy and your argument doesn't help disprove that

Zelda = Gamecube game lazy port to the Wii
Mario Galaxy = Good game
Metroid 3 = Good game
Smash Bros = broken online

50/50 isn't great when there was no excuse for it

Nintendo was not lazy. They were too busy trying to keep up with the demand since the Wii was completely sold out worldwide for 2+ years.

I think having mostly crappy games made it a worse console. Smash Bros, LOZTP and Mario Kart are the only reasons I don't regret purchasing a Wii.

While I do find your point to make some sense, I'm not so much in agreement that the Wii would have become a better console if its best selling components didn't make such an impact on the market, since that's basically the gist I'm getting out of your argument. It's natural to second-guess what could have made the console better, but if you're going to do that, you also have to flip the coin and see what could have made the console worse under that same philosophy. Truth be told, it can't be said if the creative potential of WiiConnect24, the Wii Remote's memory, and other such features would have made a more significant impact, even if they were utilized more. Ultimately, they were just additional bells and whistles that just provided something for Nintendo to hype about, and that's a pretty typical thing with Nintendo's systems, even dating back to the NES and the various add-ons it had. Still, I don't think they swayed the perception of Nintendo's systems too much, regardless of how much they were used.

Another thing that has to be considered is the mentality of Nintendo if the Wii had struggled out of the gate. Keep in mind that the struggles of the GCN didn't prompt Nintendo to take more advantage of its modem adapters for the system, even though a major subject of criticism for the GCN was that it didn't support online gaming. The N64 introduced the 64DD, but that was another thing Nintendo didn't use a lot, dispite that the system also had its share of commercial struggles. Once again, Nintendo has a history of making add-ons and the like and doing very little with them. In the same sense, I see MotionPlus following a similar trend had the Wii been in any trouble, if not Nintendo ultimately deciding to not create the add-on at all, since the vast majority of key games controlled just fine without MotionPlus compatibility. My take on MotionPlus has always been that of something that was supposed to give third party developers peace of mind, after the early complaints that standard Wii control wasn't accurate and fast enough for their ideas. Since MotionPlus, very little has been created from anyone to actually validate the thing needing to exist, quite frankly.

The Wii is where it is because of the games that have driven it to record-breaking status and the overall lack of enthusiasm from the majority of the video game community not named Nintendo about developing top-notch games for the system. Unless one of those two critical elements changed, I highly doubt the Wii would have been a better (or worse) system than it turned out to be.

I don't think Nintendo would be in a very good position in the console market without that early success. People bemoan the shovelware and casual flood of games but in all reality, that's the reason Nintendo is on top now. It seems now that Nintendo maybe trying to get the best of both worlds of casual and hardcore (like they did with DS and are doing with 3DS) but that requires a lot of serious third party support in addition to the shovelware and casual titles. Did it make Wii a worse console? It really depends on where you're coming from, arguably the most "hardcore" Japanese games and retro releases came out on Wii (Muramasa, No More Heroes, Rune Factory, Castle Shikigami, Tatsunoku Vs. Capcom etc..) so if you're a retro gamer or really "hardcore," Wii was a pretty good console. Wii was also great for the casuals for many of the reasons everyone cites. On the other hand, if you find yourself in the centre of the hardcore-casual spectrum you were bound to be disappointed, that demographic was best served by 360 and PS3 this generation and Wii failed miserably in that regard. I don't think anything could have changed this except a much more powerful console which Nintendo couldn't afford to make in those days. The Wii's weakness is the reason why things like Call of Duty, Mass Effect or GTA didn't come out or were inferior on Nintendo's console this generation making it a failure in the eyes of those who enjoy those type of games.

As for features, again, I don't think Wii was built for expandability in mind. Even if Wii had a slower start, I don't think Nintendo could expand Wii's ability all that much without introducing new hardware SKUs with hard drives and somewhat beefier specs, splitting the Wii market in the process. Simple system updates like the SD loading function took years to implement, I shudder to think how long we'd have to wait for the expansion of WiiConnect24's functions. In addition, Nintendo did, as time went on, expand Wii's ability with the Nintendo Channel, DS demos and Netflix but even those were simply lesser versions of what the competition was doing. The Wii's hardware was always a weak point even for things like this.