Editorial: Why The Wii Is Not Meeting My Expectations

June 11th, 2007, 17:49 Posted By: Triv1um

Via Rotpod

Every gamer knows that the Wii is the most popular console of this generation thus far. It has been sold out since launch and is still relatively hard to come by. But what is driving this console’s success? Its simplicity, for one thing, is making it popular among the public, as is its cheap price point. But is this widely successful console really the best one?

The Wii is the only console of its kind, unless you count those “ALL-IN-ONE sports games” or those “GREAT-VIDEO GAMES FOR CHEAP,” that you will likely see at Wal-Mart. The Wii’s motion sensitivity is a unique factor that draws people to the console. The ability to easily pick up and play the console fares well with gamers from the elderly to the very young. And after they play it once, everyone says to themselves, “It’s cheap and easy, so why don’t I get one?”

This attitude has contributed to the console’s immense success in the industry, and has sparked waves of imitators, from the PS3’s motion sensing to the 3rd party Xbox 360 version. But the things that make the Wii great for casual players, such as simplicity and motion sensitivity, may not fare as well for hardcore gamers. This is exemplified when Nintendo puts out games like WarioWare, Raving Rabbits, Excite Truck, and Zelda for the Wii. These games were all very popular for the system and have had immense success, most notably Zelda.

Although Twilight Princess did get great reviews, it was a departure from the standard Action-Adventure games that die hard gamers have come to play and love. At first this game too felt awesome to play, but after a while the game lost most of its novelty, and I was looking for shortcuts just to finish it. For me, this is the case for many of the games that I have played on the Wii. The games really do seem fun at first, but eventually they become dull and repetitive.

With the exception of mini-game collections like Raving Rabbits and Wario Ware, the groove that Wii games have been falling into may not be a problem for developers now, but as the console grows in age, it may. People who really play alot of video games may begin to realize that there is not that much innovation that can be done on the console, and could stop investing money into its games. Another factor that might drive some gamers away are the sub-par graphics that are standard for Wii titles, and the lack of HD output.

The Wii features a ‘Broadway’ processor and an ATI graphics card; these are roughly equivalent to a spot in between the Gamecube and the first Xbox. To say the least, this is not stunning, and could make a gamer start to think. The hardware capabilities (or lack thereof) are revealed in many games, a main example being Tiger Woods PGA Tour: 2007. The graphics in this game are down-right horrible and rumor has it that for the PAL version, they get even worse. Graphics this bad are unheard of in this generation, but can still be seen on the Wii. The idea that this console could never even come close to matching the graphical power of the 360 or the PS3 really turned me off as a gamer.

These bad graphics are again emphasized by the lack of any resolution above 480p. High-Definition is slowly becoming a new standard for gaming, and HDTVs are quickly becoming common objects in many households. Therefore, the lack of the HD on the Wii becomes more of an issue because one is unable to unlock the full-potential of his or her TV, while the Wii looks worse on this HDTV than it would on a normal display.

So far the Wii is plagued by gimmicky games, bad graphics, and lack of HD output. The Wii is also brought down by its uniqueness because game ports from developers are much harder to make comparable to the other platforms. Game developers can no longer simply port their games over to the console because of the changed control scheme and hardware. This, in turn, causes the Wii to miss out on major multi-platform titles.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved the Wii when it came out; I beat Twilight Princess, downloaded VC games, voted on the Everybody Votes Channel, and created countless Miis. But, after spending a lot of time with my 360, I realized that it would be hard for me to have quite as much fun with the Wii. Therefore, in my eyes, the Wii has not met my expectations.

PS- Where is online play?

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