Is the Wii a Failure? - Comments

[Fluffy Cocaine]

Comment thread for the article by StandardDamage.

http://aurality.org/2008/07/is-the-wii-a-failure/

[Rosti LFC]

I agree with most things said, especially the Wii's lack of power.

It's a cheap console, which helps, but generally when you pay less you get less. The gamecube couldn't compete with the Xbox and PS2 in terms of power and graphics, which makes me wonder why the hell they chose to base the Wii off it.
Sure, it costs less, and graphics aren't everything for video games, but that doesn't mean that they mean nothing. If there's one thing I've realised in the few days of having a computer with a great processor and graphics card, it's that games are a lot nicer to play when they're all @_@ shiny.
The Wii has the different control system, but I find it hard to argue that it's better. It's just different. There's nothing really inside me that finds the Wiimote to be that much more amusing or useful than the controllers for the 360 and PS3. Once you get past the novelty aspect, it's no better than any other control system, yet they've tried to use the new controls to justify making what is otherwise a pretty poor console.

The PSP proves that you can't guarantee success simply by having a console that is technologically amazing, but Nintendo shouldn't have settled for being at the other end of the spectrum.

[Alex]

[Nines~Tempest]

=/ I lol'd?  Really, the only issues that are very valid are the no HDTV support (which hardly matters unless you are a gamer obsessed with graphics) and the over-clocked gamecube.  I've seen good arguements against the latter though, so I'll link them sometime because I don't understand the technology very well.

But... No hard-drive?  So what?  I've have quite a few Wii games and like 7 VC games and I still have like 500+ blocks left.  If you run out of that, you used a lot of money to buy something worth while, AND cheap; essentially, GAMES.  MY WII HAS SEVEN GAMES ON IT, BY ITSELF.  Every other console does that so well.  I am so able to buy FF7 on my PS3 .  That'd be awesome btw.

Controllers?  Eats batteries?  HAVE YOU PLAYED A 360/PS3 GAME FOR FIVE HOURS WIRELESS, STRAIGHT, AND NOT NEED TO SWITCH?  I've gone 8 hours straight with my Wii.  On 360 at a friends house, with shiny new Duracells, I 4 hours.  Also, every console fixed this by, including nintendo, releasing a kit with built-in recharchable batteries.  The wiimote one has a nice little stand even :3.

Hylian got the lie part.

In conclusion:  FANBOY GTFO A fanboy hardcore gamer.  I seriously saw nothing in that article that was original (unless you count the lie part, but that was just stupid).  So I can't review brawl when we have this... why?

[Rosti LFC]

But... No hard-drive?  So what?  I've have quite a few Wii games and like 7 VC games and I still have like 500+ blocks left.  If you run out of that, you used a lot of money to buy something worth while, AND cheap; essentially, GAMES.  MY WII HAS SEVEN GAMES ON IT, BY ITSELF.  Every other console does that so well.  I am so able to buy FF7 on my PS3 .  That'd be awesome btw.

I don't even understand that paragraph. It's worded awfully and seems to contradict itself.

In conclusion:  FANBOY GTFO A fanboy hardcore gamer.  I seriously saw nothing in that article that was original (unless you count the lie part, but that was just stupid).  So I can't review brawl when we have this... why?

I lol'd quite hard at this. Were you looking at the article? As far as I was concerned, it was reasonably original.
You're also a retard to suggest he's a fanboy. He owns the console, for starters. This isn't a fanboy. This isn't someone who has only played on a PS2 and PS3 and lives under the assumption that all non-Sony consoles suck, despite not trying any of them. This is a disgruntled customer, if anything. Someone who has paid money for something and has then realised they'd probably have been better off with something else.
You can't review brawl because it's be useless and there'd be nothing in there that hadn't been said a million times elsewhere. You're also a massive Brawl fanboy thus not allowing it to even be an unbiased review.

[Genevra]

I thought that was a well written article with a lot of thought out points. Most of the points made me yell in my head "OMG that's so true!". It's also something that will attract a lot of readers, great work!

I was extremely disappointed with the ton of cheap half-assed games Nintendo released for the Wii just because of its targeting towards the casual gamer (Barbie Island Princess, Ninjabread Man, etc.). Because of all the crap based off movies and TV shows, I won't even go look at the selection of Wii games when I go video game shopping.

I wouldn't care as much if Nintendo specifically admitted they're targeting towards the casual gamer.

[Alex]

I wouldn't care as much if Nintendo specifically admitted they're targeting towards the casual gamer.

But they're trying to please everyone! ^________________^ (except for the apparently small minority of people who actual play games)

[Snoggums]

I wouldn't care as much if Nintendo specifically admitted they're targeting towards the casual gamer.

You should.  Because of that you should know what to expect and not get annoyed when they don't have anything higher then that.

All those points in the article are true, but Nintendo is trying to make up for some of it.  The battery thing, with the new rechargeable connect to Wii things?  They're a huge help, and I love Nintendo for making them.

The thing is, despite all that it's actually a fun thing to use, and even if it's just a Game Cube in disguise I still prefer to use the Wii.  It's just more fun to use, I prefer playing RE4 on the Wii then I do on the GCN, because I prefer the feel of the control.  It's not on its way to failure, heck a year and a half after it comes out the demands are still high.  And for a good reason, it's fun, it's cheap, and it does have good, fun, interactive games.  (Did you guys already forget about Zelda, Mario, Metroid, and Brawl?)

[Cardinal]

I loved the article, Standard, but I have to disagree with your whole "Wii is a failure" thing.

You see, I don't classify myself as a hadcore gamer. RPGs and games with deep story modes bore me to death, so I gravitate to simple, pick-up-and-play games.
A lot of games being released for Wii do suck. I can attest to that - I bought the Ninjabread Man/Winter Sports combo pack for kicks. Both games are utterly awful, and the graphics...well, they suck.

Then again, I am extremely happy with my purchase of the game "Carnival Games". Yeah, it's a minigame compliation, and yes, the graphics are subpar, but my family and I have a lot of fun playing, and that's really all that matters to me. If I had a choice between a deep, 40+ hour story game, or something casual, I'll pick the latter.

Love the article, and hope you write more along these lines.
One thing - you could lighten up on the language, or just place it more strategically. It seemed like a 15-year-old was talking to me. :x

[Rosti LFC]

One thing - you could lighten up on the language, or just place it more strategically. It seemed like a 15-year-old was talking to me. :x

Odd. I didn't find anything like that at all.

[Cesium]

It wasn't a failure. It's been selling like hotcakes, and expanded the gaming market like few things have since the Atari and NES. If you were expecting Nintendo to pull through with a real hardcore console, you really shouldn't have been.

[Cardinal]

Odd. I didn't find anything like that at all.

Maybe I'm a tad picky. :x

[Alex]

Maybe I'm a tad picky. :x

All this power rushing to his little head. :')

[Cardinal]

All this power rushing to his little head. :')

Shut up or I'll ban you. :|

[Fluffy Cocaine]

One thing - you could lighten up on the language, or just place it more strategically. It seemed like a 15-year-old was talking to me. :x

I actually cleaned it up a little, and removed like half of the profanity that it had when I first read it. :x

[Nines~Tempest]

I don't even understand that paragraph. It's worded awfully and seems to contradict itself.

I lol'd quite hard at this. Were you looking at the article? As far as I was concerned, it was reasonably original.
You're also a retard to suggest he's a fanboy. He owns the console, for starters. This isn't a fanboy. This isn't someone who has only played on a PS2 and PS3 and lives under the assumption that all non-Sony consoles suck, despite not trying any of them. This is a disgruntled customer, if anything. Someone who has paid money for something and has then realised they'd probably have been better off with something else.
You can't review brawl because it's be useless and there'd be nothing in there that hadn't been said a million times elsewhere. You're also a massive Brawl fanboy thus not allowing it to even be an unbiased review.

I'm confused by that paragraph now too .  NVM its existence.

I meant he wrote this article from the exclusive view point of "hard core gamer."  It was just a rant; it offered no points to anything good about the wii.  It was a list of negatives, and offered no real discussion points.  That was my problem with it all.  A good review of something like a console should be done with a list of positives, negatives, why one side seems to out weigh the other, and a conclusion.

I already said I would rate brawl 8 or 8.5/10; that isn't fanboy.  I would definitely take into the evaluation both casual and competitive view points.

But I digress, as I already concluded that I am not writing it.  This article will probably bring in a lot of people, just as it will those like me .

[Alex]

It wasn't a review of the Wii. It wasn't supposed to be. It was supposed to be a rant, read the damn title, or rather, the 3rd paragraph. It never came off as a pros/cons comparison.

[Nines~Tempest]

It wasn't a review of the Wii. It wasn't supposed to be. It was supposed to be a rant, read the damn title, or rather, the 3rd paragraph. It never came off as a pros/cons comparison.

:x Yeah, but even persuasive crap has things on both sides of an arguement.  The title was a question; I even found myself disliking the wii as I read it, which isn't good.  Well, that could be very good depending on how you look at it...

[Fluffy Cocaine]

I sort of disagree with the main point of this article due to what Alex already mentioned. Standard, you didn't take the casual viewpoint in mind.

There's also the issue I have with the label "hardcore gamer" when mixed with Nintendo. Has Nintendo really ever been for hardcore gamers? They might have been back in the NES and SNES days, but that's because nothing was really "hardcore" back then and Sega was the only competition. Now that there are multiple consoles, Nintendo has gone the way of casual games. Nintendo has been on that path for ages. Even the N64 was mostly casual games. Sure, it had some deep and complex ones, but most of them were, again, published by Nintendo and thus casual. Nintendo has always driven its own consoles.
My question is why people are still surprised that Nintendo doesn't make consoles for hardcore gamers when they never really have in the past, or at least from what I can see. Sony and Microsoft already fill out that market.

Nintendo was a genius when they made the Wii. Your rechargeable battery point is right, but adding a battery with a charging stand probably would've added bulk (and cost) to the remote. Rechargeable batteries might have been a good idea, but there's no reason why you can't just buy rechargeable batteries and recharge them like all other rechargeable batteries and use them in the remote.

"The lie" isn't a lie, actually. Nintendo is not in competition with them, really. Sony and Microsoft are mostly competing over the hardcore, wealther, resolution-obsessed gamers, while Nintendo is the only competitor in the market for people who are just looking for a quick thing to do that's fun, simple to learn, and low commitment.

Hardcore gamers need to, in my opinion, stop complaining to Nintendo about making a casual console. Casual gamers deserve a console the same way that hardcore gamers do, and I, as a "centrist" gamer (I like both kinds of games, really), feel sort of offended by the fact that hardcore gamers are acting like casual gamers don't deserve to play games or are somehow inferior.

[Mark]

If I had a choice between a deep, 40+ hour story game, or something casual, I'll pick the latter.

I hate you and I want you thrown from the highest cliff. :x