So the wii is over hyped, huh? It's just a gimmick with no future, huh?
While the skeptical nature of inquiry into the wii's longevity is definitely justified, it's baffling that so many people can be so ridiculously biased in their critique of a gaming system. The dawning of the next-gen era has brought nothing but children and idiots to message boards to say "Mine is better than yours!" And that must make me glue...
The unshakable fact in all the debate is that a plus or minus for a gaming system isn't necessarily an objective judgement. Since the Xbox hit the scene early this decade, FPS and what I consider to be a PC gaming-influenced atmosphere has become the mainstay. And in turn, what determines your "level of gaming" is how into this atmosphere you can get. No, I don't like FPS. No, I don't care for WWII games. No, I don't care if the system has an online community. Online play is a plus, but not with a great deal of communication. I don't care if the graphics are next-gen or if the visuals are cutting edge. In October 2005, PS2 and Xbox were as good as it got. The Xbox 360 drops and has a horrendous start but doesn't catch the flack for it since there's nothing else to compare it to. I guess the games that were fun in October '05 weren't fun in December '05 since there was something better looking out. I guess since Toyota dropped a new model Camry I should go out and buy that. Why? My camry drives fine. The dashboard is cracked, it's got a V4 engine, and the upholstery gives off that unique smell after a couple of years (camry owners know what I'm talking about) but it still gets me from point A to B safely, which is why I bought it in the first place. I didn't buy a gaming system just to say I had the newest one, I bought it to have fun. So when did the standard for fun become defined by cutting edge technology?
Certainly, the many advancements in gaming over the years help contribute to the depth and intensity present in games today. But why is the Virtual Console so wildly poplular? Nostalgia, yes, but also because fun started in 8-bits and worked its way up. While its obvious that the PS3 and Xbox 360 are far superior to the Wii in visuals, both potentially and realised, that does not equate to either of the systems being worth more than the Wii in terms of fun.
Yea, we've all heard the selling points before...360 has great games (and a year head start) and XBL, PS3 has better peripherals and greater overall value (the value of which will be worth less over the years) and will soon have the Home community, and the wii has motion control. Great. But if the "great" games that line the 360's catalog are primarily FPS and crime/war games, I could care less. Xbox live sounds great, but why am I paying money to play games? I already own this game, right? The person I'm playing already owns it too, right? Am I paying for you to connect us? Well then it's not worth it to me. PS3 sounds great, and since I know it will have some unbelievable games, I will buy it...as soon as it drops to under $450. Why would I buy a $600 system that comes with no games, and every game that is available for it, assuming that it is actually fun, costs $60 ($65 with tax)? Are you serious? Don't you know you can buy up to 13 VC games for that? Do people not know that prices will drop? Doesn't anybody know that in two years time, the PS3 will be selling for under $450 and will have an amazing catalog of games? And yes the wii is fun, and that's pretty much it. Motion control is honestly not a plus. While it makes some games more engaging, it destroys the experience of others. The visuals are slightly better than PS2 games sometimes, and very last-gen others.
The wii is fun. That's it. The motion control is not what's selling the system. The fact that the motion control makes some games easier and a lot more fun is what's selling the system. If motion control was terrible and awkward for every game, it wouldn't be nearly as big a deal. But there's something about holding the remote like a bat and seeing your avatar wave his in sync while waiting for a pitch. Can you imagine Wii Sports as a PS3 demo? The reaction would be WTF, although that would be more than you get with the system right now.
Microsoft and Sony both did what everybody expected them to do. They built bigger, better, stronger systems that give us cooler, sleeker, prettier games and leave us with slimmer, sadder pockets. Unfortunately, that doesn't guarantee us, the consumers, more fun games. And while they butt heads for the next 5-7 years, having alienated their gaming audience with each technological advancement and peripheral attachment, Nintendo will be reaping the seed sewn into a newly tapped market of non-gamers who just wanted to have fun. An audience that didn't care if you had an option of stabbing, choking, smothering, or breaking the neck of a soldier, who have enough going on in their lives that they don't need a gaming system to be a way of life, who don't have the money to keep up with every changing trend in technology, and who don't need a reason to see something, like it, buy it, and enjoy it.
So please, can we get the fanboys outta here? I don't have to be sold on next-gen graphics when there have been more worthwhile 8, 16, and 64-bit games released for the wii than movie-like games for 360 or PS3. I don't have to upgrade when there's a whole slew of incredble games for the PS2 that I haven't played yet. And I don't have satisfy anyone else's reasonings to spend my money and have fun.
Finis
P.S. -- RandyAU93 addressed the VC issue best:
..the Virtual Console games are marketed under the assumption that the players did *not* already own those titles. If you think about it, the $5, $6, $8 or $10 you're paying is a pittance when compared with (a) acquiring a used NES, TG-16, SNES, Genesis or N64 (b) acquiring a used copy of the game in question and (c) claiming still more entertainment cabinet space for your new purchase for a single game (or batch thereof).
I've said it before, and I'll say it again ... if you don't like what's being sold to you, DON'T BUY IT. The easiest way to voice your displeasure with a company's business practices is to simply not buy their products or services. Personally, I think Nintendo hit a chord with consumers with both the DS and the Wii ... that you don't have to be a raving fanboy to enjoy video games.