Farewell to the Wii, A Great Game Console

I will not speak ill of the Nintendo Wii, even though others have done so for years.

My Wii was a very good gaming console. A weird one, yes. It somehow managed to be popular while remaining niche. Its games were fun, but, often a bit ugly. Its best games came out in the middle of its lifespan, not at the end. And it failed to do many of the things it was supposed to do, due to limits of technology or imagination or both.

The Wii is, nevertheless, the console that ran some of my favorite games, including excellent versions ofMario,ZeldaandMetroid. Its weird games were among the best oddball titles any gaming console has had. And it remains an innovator whose imitators have yet to improve upon it.

The system is nearly dead. Itslast announced Nintendo-published gamecame out this week (there could be more, but... why?). Its successor, the Wii U, will be re-introduced to the world duringa big pre-launch event in New York Cityon Thursday. What was born as a machine code-named the Revolution will soon officially be retro.

It deserves a proper send-off.

As the Wii nears its end, it leaves behind a legacy of bowling grandmas and wrist-shakingZeldaplayers. It also leaves behind heaps of plastic: the wheel that came withMario Kart, the speaker that came withAnimal Crossing, the gun shell that came withLink's Crossbow Trainingand the huge Balance Board that was packed withWii Fit. None of this paraphernalia is likely to earn the Wii much hindsight respect, but the system's library of software should. Month by month, the Wii was not the machine for many of us to own. But as an extraas an accouterment to my life as a gamer or to my dad's life as a non-gamerit had just enough to make it a boon.

The Wii could be condemned for having stuck around too long or for having failed to match its hype. So what? It was a jump and a risk. It was a bold attempt at change and, stealthily, the appliance that powered some of the best video games ever to run on a Nintendo platform. It made the old people happy; it made me happy, too. That's a good legacy, I think.

The Wii U will be able to do everything the Wii didincluding playing Wii gamesand more. But it didn't do the hard work. The Wii did. The Wii was wonderful and deserves better than a rep as fad or a dust collector. It was an engine of fun, sometimes revved up by waves of the hand, sometimes powered simply by some great video games.Kotaku

SOURCE

It was the worst Nintendo console of all time... but it did have some good games on it after all.

Read the full article, it's a nicenly written piece.

good riddance.

good riddance.

platniumgamer

[QUOTE="platniumgamer"]

good riddance.

silversix_

[QUOTE="platniumgamer"]

good riddance.

silversix_

worst ninetndo console ever? lol yea right.

I always feel like the Wii was a platform that never hit its full potential for the gamer like me.

Might just be me, but some developers really took that platform out the back and shot it and loaded it with crud and it drew attention away from the good games on the platform at retail in some cases :(

Besides the last 2 years, where Nintendo has completley abandoned the console past Zelda, I've enjoyed the Wii a lot. I still go back to it, occasionally, because, like the DS, there are just a bunch of games you can't play anywhere else that are just fun.

i thought the gamecube was the worst?

i thought the camecube was the worst?LP4EVA2005

Not my favorite Nintendo console but I had a lot of great times playing my Wii.

Drunk Wii Sports parties.

Hundreds of hours of Brawl.

Skyward Sword

Twilight Princess

Donkey Kong Country Returns

Galaxy 1

Galaxy 2

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Mario Kart Wii

Mario Strikers Charged

I had a lot of fun out of a $250 console.

Noooooo....it was a very good dust collector.AtariKidX

[QUOTE="AtariKidX"]Noooooo....it was a very good dust collector.Desmonic

[QUOTE="Desmonic"][QUOTE="AtariKidX"]Noooooo....it was a very good dust collector.AtariKidX

You mean last gen....like the PS2 and XBOX.....because the Wii is last gen console....no HD gen console like the PS3/XBOX360.And the PS2 have won the GC and Wii together in sales and games.....both last gen consoles.AtariKidX

"And it failed to do many of the things it was supposed to do, due to limits of technology or imagination or both."

Limits of technology -- Resort and Skyward Sword said otherwise. Granted some motion sensor based gameplay demanded wm+ to work properly but the IR pointer was fully realized I think.

Lack of imagination? Nintendo? The ones that created Wii / DS? Galaxy? Wii Sports? Nintendogs? If anyone can think outside the box, it's Nintendo.

I'd say it was a combination of 1) 3rd party developers rarely taking the system seriously and 2) the wii audience didn't demand more than a compilation game of all sports; they were content with Wii Sports Resort i.e. the quickie version as opposed to demanding fully featured Wii Bowling + Wii Golf + Wii Archery, etc.

He's right that it failed in that regard. For instance I always saw Wii Sports as sort of a tech demo of future games, but they never came. However I think the reasons he provided are incorrect.

[QUOTE="Desmonic"][QUOTE="AtariKidX"]Noooooo....it was a very good dust collector.AtariKidX

wii was last gen hardware with next gen controller... ps3 was next gen hardware with 2 gens ago controller... if ps3 gets a pass as next gen then so does the wii.

But I never said hello.

One of the last consoles to release this gen, and it was the first one to die off.

Reminds me of the Cube and N64. Both came out later than the competition, but closed up shop before the competition.

I always feel like the Wii was a platform that never hit its full potential for the gamer like me.

Might just be me, but some developers really took that platform out the back and shot it and loaded it with crud and it drew attention away from the good games on the platform at retail in some cases :(

razgriz_101

Amen. I rather enjoyed the Wii, but like modern day psytrance, most of the material on it is absolute garbage. It's a damn shame.

[QUOTE="AtariKidX"][QUOTE="Desmonic"] That "dust" collector won the gen, fair and square and without breaking a sweat. It also got a bunch of AAAE's and (alongside the PS3) an AAAAE. So yeah... pretty great dust collecter if you ask me.charizard1605

PS2 154.4 million>>>>>>>>Wii 96.56 million and GC 21.74 million.PS2 have dominate Nintendo and last gen (PS2,XBOX,GC,Wii) in sales and games.Fact.

Better luck next gen Cheapnintendo.......i mean this gen....again.lol

One of the last consoles to release this gen,

SolidTy

by like what? 2 months lol

The graphical gap between the Wii and its competitors in its gen was one of the biggest gaps I've ever seen from any gen. But at least it had some great games.

One of the last consoles to release this gen, and it was the first one to die off.

Reminds me of the Cube and N64. Both came out later than the competition, but closed up shop before the competition.

SolidTy

The Wii was a decent console that sufered from a lot of major flaws, but it was a pretty interesting and fun console in my eyes.My most played game this gen is a Wii game.

Noooooo....it was a very good dust collector.AtariKidX

Best in the business.

[QUOTE="SolidTy"]

One of the last consoles to release this gen, and it was the first one to die off.

Reminds me of the Cube and N64. Both came out later than the competition, but closed up shop before the competition.

charizard1605

[QUOTE="SolidTy"]

One of the last consoles to release this gen, and it was the first one to die off.

Reminds me of the Cube and N64. Both came out later than the competition, but closed up shop before the competition.

KBFloYd

by like what? 2 months lol

lol. put the blinders on.

A console with bad third party support is a bad console regardless of the quality of the first party games. Wii was a bad console. Though to be fair if you judge it purely on Nintendo standards it wasn't so bad. Rule one of enjoying a Nintendo console: Makes sure your standards are low and make sure you pretend there's no such thing as third parties.

[QUOTE="LP4EVA2005"]i thought the camecube was the worst?charizard1605

[QUOTE="LP4EVA2005"]i thought the camecube was the worst?charizard1605

The Gamecube was weird. It didn't have much but for what it had, it was some great stuff. RE4 and MP are considered the top two games from last gen, both appear only on the GCN (at first). Not to mention Wind Waker, TP, and a few other like Eternal Darkness, Mario SS and Pikmin 2 were awesome. The problem is, it didn't have many noteworthy titles outside that. Although, all the titles mentioned above were amazing and had more quality than some consoles will ever see (heck, nothing the gen really has the same quality found in MP, except possibly SMG2).

[QUOTE="KBFloYd"]

[QUOTE="SolidTy"]

One of the last consoles to release this gen, and it was the first one to die off.

Reminds me of the Cube and N64. Both came out later than the competition, but closed up shop before the competition.

SolidTy

by like what? 2 months lol

lol.

actually both the ps3 and wii were released on nov 2006...

so how is it one of the last consoles released?

Note : I am quoting Kim/KB not myself, but there was a glitchspot problem, so I fixed it best I could. ;) :P

One of the last consoles to release this gen, and it was the first one to die off.

Reminds me of the Cube and N64. Both came out later than the competition, but closed up shop before the competition.

------

KBFloYd : "by like what? 2 months lol"

------

lol. put the blinders on.

------

KBFloYd : "actually both the ps3 and wii were released on nov 2006...

so how is it one of the last consoles released?"

Conversation between SolidTy and KBFloYd

That's a tough one, lol. Let me get my thinking cap, hmmm... fer srs? lol.

So underrated by the basement dwellers in system wars because of the graphics, but the Wii had so many great niche titles. I've got over 80 Wii games, library average of over 85 on metacritic, so I've had quite a lot of fun with the little console :) Has some of my favorite games this gen and a few that will go down as some of my favorite of all time :)

Noooooo....it was a very good dust collector.AtariKidX

Note : I am quoting Kim/KB not myself, but there was a glitchspot problem, so I fixed it best I could. ;) :P

[QUOTE="Conversation between SolidTy and KBFloYd"]

One of the last consoles to release this gen, and it was the first one to die off.

Reminds me of the Cube and N64. Both came out later than the competition, but closed up shop before the competition.

------

KBFloYd : "by like what? 2 months lol"

------

lol. put the blinders on.

------

KBFloYd : "actually both the ps3 and wii were released on nov 2006...

so how is it one of the last consoles released?"

SolidTy

That's a tough one, lol. Let me get my thinking cap, hmmm... fer srs? lol.

your stupid then.. there were only 3 consoles and 2 of them were released in the same month...

one of the last consoles to be released???? lol whatever cow

[QUOTE="SolidTy"]

Note : I am quoting Kim/KB not myself, but there was a glitchspot problem, so I fixed it best I could. ;) :P

[QUOTE="Conversation between SolidTy and KBFloYd"]

One of the last consoles to release this gen, and it was the first one to die off.

Reminds me of the Cube and N64. Both came out later than the competition, but closed up shop before the competition.

------

KBFloYd : "by like what? 2 months lol"

------

lol. put the blinders on.

------

KBFloYd : "actually both the ps3 and wii were released on nov 2006...

so how is it one of the last consoles released?"

KBFloYd

That's a tough one, lol. Let me get my thinking cap, hmmm... fer srs? lol.

your stupid then.. there were only 3 consoles and 2 of them were released in the same month...

one of the last consoles to be released???? lol whatever

lol. U r very, bery smatr (entellygent) for a long time GS trollfanboy. ;)

answer : If the PS3 and Wii were in a race for longevity considering they both came out Nov 2006, which machine lasted longer for the fans? Factor in the 360's 2005 release, and you may figure out an answer. : P