"Surely you can't be serious?"
Oh I am, and don't call me Shirley.
Growing the Medium
Today the majority of games are nothing but "interactive movies". Sure they're fun, but they don't take advantage of the unique medium that is gaming. There are some exceptions (for example, Fallout and Patapon), but most games are based around you projecting yourself into the game, rather than the game projecting itself onto you.
"Lolz, you think WiiFit is going to have a deep involving story?" you say. Not at all, but WiiFit adds a level of immersion not seen outside of "high-end" arcades or super-expensive set-ups (ie, Forza played on 4 monitors in a special racing rig). This immersion in and of itself won't be revolutionary, but its effect on the industry will. Developers are going to look at new ways of involving the player beyond QTE's (Quick Time Events) and minigames. We've seen some improvements made (Metroid Prime 3's motion controls for example) but WiiFit will cause developers to look outside the box.
Growing the Industry
The gaming industry is, despite itself, in rough shape. It doesn't know what the consumer wants, it doesn't know how to price its products and it sure as hell doesn't know how to create a sustainable business. How much longer does the industry expect us to shell out $60 every year for the latest incremental upgrade to Call of Duty or Madden? If the music industry can't survive selling $10-20 albums with only a couple of good songs, how the hell does the gaming industry expect to sell a similar product for 3-6 times as much?
That's where WiiFit comes in. It opens up a whole new market to the industry. WiiFit may not be the most exciting game you've ever heard of, but think of the benefits. It's a cash cow, and as such publishers are going to be able to capitalize on it, not just in terms of copycat games and extensions (something like "WiiYoga") but in terms of being able to subsidize other projects. It's a hell of a lot easier for Nintendo to green-light Metroid Dread or Pikmin 3 when they know WiiFit is a license to print money.
Growing the User Base
One of the biggest problems in gaming today is a lack of innovation. Outside of a select few developers the industry is just a bunch of copycats, who figure if they take Halo/Zelda/Mario, add X, remove Y and balance Z, they'll have a perfect game. Because WiiFit is a "gateway" game, it will inevitably bring new blood into the industry, and because this new blood won't have the same preconceived notion of what a "good" game is (it has to have a 150+ hour epic campaign!) they'll be able to create games us "old-school"/"hardcore" could never dream of. Even if those "WiiFit Generation" developers create WiiFit-esque games, they'll still influence the "old-school" developers, and as a result the industry will not doubt be improved.
Growing the Wii
That's what she said!
While I'm sure this is going to ruffle some feathers, the Wii is the most important console ever made. As I said in my previous posts, the majority of the decision makers in the industry don't know what the **** they're doing; they (apparently) think that they can release incremental updates and copycat games day-in, day-out. In an industry where games like CoD 4 are praised by critics and "hardcore" gamers for being nothing more than incremental updates we need someone to force innovation, which is what Nintendo has done with the Wii.
Now I'm not saying the Wii is the best console (I prefer the 360, and I think the PS3 has the potential to be the best), however the paradigm shift it has helped create is more important than any feature you can find on a PS3 or a 360. Nintendo is showing how innovation can improve gaming -- how you don't need the best graphics, or the best CPU, or the most features to be successful. As a result the industry is going to adapt and move away from the "turn it up to 11" school of design. Rather than just adding more to their products, developers, publishers and manufacturers are going to attempt to make the "Wii 2.0". That doesn't necessarily mean they're going in introduce a new console at $250 with a wacky new controller, or a game called "Excellent Marco Universe", but it is going to force them to think outside of the box. Rather than just adding more powerful hardware, Sony and MS will likely try to create something new and innovative. Rather than sticking to the status quo, developers are going to try and find new ways for people to play their games. Rather than funding the same-old games, publishers are going to start taking chances on innovative new games.
What it all Means
Essentially, WiiFit is the exclamation point on the start of a new era of gaming. It is to the gaming industry what Napster was to the music industry. It may not be the best product, and it'll probably cause some short-term pain, but in the long run it will force the industry to adapt to the ever-changing world. It will force developers, publishers and manufacturers to change, innovate and evolve. WiiFit is the catalyst for change in an industry that desperately needs it.
Welcome to the new era.
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