The Nintendo Wii, the innovative videogame console with the motion-sensitive controller, will pass 50 million worldwide sales by the end of March, Variety reports. The Wii has reached this milestone in just 28 months — eight months quicker than Sony’s PlayStation 2 did.
This leaves me with one question: Why? Why has the Wii flourished beyond everyone’s wildest expectations? It’s truly a David vs. Goliath outcome, with the little, inexpensive, and inelegant Wii triumphing over Microsoft and Sony’s we-will-crush-you-with-our-mighty-computing-prowess Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 systems. Clearly, the appeal of the Wii is in its intuitive controller, which allows everyone from 4 year olds to 70 year olds to play without having to worry about executing 25-button combos. A crudely made game such as Wii Sports is nevertheless enjoyable because it feels so natural and rewarding, as if you were actually swinging a tennis racket or golf club.
But there’s one anomaly in the Wii’s success: its games. Simply put, the Wii is lacking in high-quality software. At Metacritic, a site that compiles videogame reviews and spits out an overall score, the Wii has just eight titles with a score of 90 or higher. By comparison, the Xbox 360 has 21 games. Over the past few months, 360 and PS3 owners have been treated to a flurry of critically acclaimed games: Resident Evil 5, MLB 09, Killzone 2, Street Fighter IV, Halo Wars, etc. But the Wii’s only noteworthy release of late seems to be the ultra-violent MadWorld.
I’m not trying to slam the Wii. Rather, I’m suggesting that the Wii represents a shift in the videogaming paradigm. A system’s raw graphical power used to be its selling point; you bought a Nintendo 64 because, OMG, Mario was in three freaking dimensions! But the Wii doesn’t hold a candle to the computational abilities of the PS3 and Xbox 360. Instead, the Wii showcases an all-too-overlooked quality: ingenuity. How appropriate that in these economically desolate times, the videogame king would be the system that shook things up (and did so for an affordable price). It may not be pretty, and it may have its hiccups, but the Wii ultimately deserves its throne — at least for now.
PopWatchers, how do you feel about the Wii passing 50 million sales? Did Nintendo know exactly what it was doing, or was the Wii’s success sheer luck? And which system would you want to be stuck with on a deserted island?
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We love our Wii! My 30 year old husband can play Call of Duty: World of Wars….I can play Wii Fit or Cooking Mama….and my 4 year olds can hand Mario Go Karts….it isn’t like the PS# or Xbox…geared more towards my husband….we all can play the Wii and have fun doing it!
i have a wii, xbox 360 & all playstation consoles, and I only play the 360 every now & then. I love the wii, my kids love the wii, even my parents love the wii because they don’t really feel like they are mindlessly playing video games. my mom hates video games & has ever since the atari came out & I just had to have it. But she comes to my house and will spend 2 hours playing games with my kids. now my dad says they have to buy one just so they can play it at their own home too. i appreciate the complex & beautiful games that exist on the 360 et al, but the wii is unique & more fun to play with my family. like i said i still play more complex games on the other systems, but not as often as i play on the wii.
I am still mourning the Sega DreamCast. Great titles and with the exception of the wii it had the most comfortable controler layout and handeling out of all it’s rivals then and now.
It’s quite simple, really. The Wii is fun! It’s not complicated and any age group can pick it up and play instantly. The Mario games alone make the Wii worth it. The other systems don’t do as well because they only appeal to a specific cohort, teens to early 30s. Is the Wii worthy of its throne? If you must ask this question you’ve obviously never played it.
Hardcore gamers may look down on the Wii for daring to appeal to –gasp!– casual gamers and tehri families, but for my money I’ll take it any day over the overpriced Xbox and PS3 and their roster of rotating shoot-em-ups and button-mashers. The Wii appeals to people, like me, who just want a freakin’ game system — not a Blu-Ray player and web browser and Swiss army knife and easy bake oven and whatever else they’re tossing into the big video game systems now. I just want a system that plays games and is *affordable,* not a $300+ behemoth filled with extras I don’t care about. The Wii is different and fun and dares to be a simple game system (plus actually attempts to release games geared more towards people who aren’t college-aged males and don’t have 3,432 hours to devote to playing a video game. Give me simple but addicting Wii Sports over Halo Sequel #400 any day).
As others have said, the Wii is such a hit because it’s fun and accessible to everyone. A good friend scoffed when I got one, but when he tried it he was hooked, and he now has his own.
Let’s be honest here, the wii is a waste for those in the 20 – 25 age bracket. I know several people who own one and two months into purchasing it, it just sits as an ugly paperweight next to their tv’s. The lack of games is appalling. And what makes me laugh the most is everyone talking about how “cheap” it is, whereas half the popular games for the wii require spending extra money for overpriced pieces of plastic to attach to your controller (wii fit, mario kart, star wars, etc). Nintendo, like apple, drives towards the lowest common denominator suckering in unintelligent people to buy their overpriced and underperforming (technologically speaking) products.
I’m not a big gamer, but I like MarioKart, Rock Band, and WiiFit (which is, of course, unique to the Wii). I like the intuitive controls, and I really love that it’s more affordable than the other consoles, and seems geared towards casual gamers like myself.
There are a lot of good games for the Wii, especially for the core gamer. Just in the past month Wii owners got House of the Dead Overkill, Bit Beat Trip, and Madworld.
As for the author’s question, I say yes it does deserve it’s stop. Give me accessibility, innovation, and affordability over console that tries to be a PC.
The wii appeals to people who aren’t video gamers. It’s also a great system to play with people over. It’s boring to watch someone play Halo for hours, but it’s fun to take turns and switch playing the wii. Especially some of their silly games.
The Wii is so popular because you don’t have to be a hardcore gamer to use it. The simple fact of the matter is that most video games are too hard for the average person to play. Why spend $50 on a game when you can’t get past the first level? If the X-Box 360 and Playstation want to sell more games, they should build in “beginner’s modes” that let everyone play at their comfort level. It may be a macho thing, but appealing only to the hardcore gaming market prevents these systems from growing.
The Wii is king because it appeals to a wide variety of people. Just this weekend my parents and their friends (60-somethings) all got together to play the Wii. Never in a million years would 60 year olds purchase a PS or XBox.
I’m a gamer and prefer the Wii to all the other console games. The PS2 and PS3 games have games that are too difficult to figure out unless you want to spend hours grinding…which I don’t. I want to spend my time having fun, not beating my head against the wall trying to beat a level in a non-intuitive environment. Everything about the Wii is fairly intuitive and great fun. Plus, I’m totally hooked on the Wii Fit.
I love my Wii…the last game system I bought before that was a Playstation 2 and I only bought that for gta after I was done with GTA I was done with my ps2. The games are just to complicated for me to pick up. The thing I love about my Wii is at 25 I can play and have a great time with my Mom or can have my friends over and have a great time with them. I just think back to when I got my ps2 and was over it within 2 or so months here I am nearly a year later and still playing with my Wii. I don’t think it was dumb luck Nintendo never makes overly complicated systems.
Wii still has a stupid name…
Most complaints I hear is that the Wii controller is unresponsive, or someone got busted in the eye. (Or smashed their TV)
The Wii may be fun, but it isn’t cool. Look, I’m all for nose-picking toddlers and the frigidly old enjoying the great hobby of gaming. Sure the other systems are crowded with nothing but uber-violent titles, but it all comes down to the games, and frankly, Nintendo has nothing I’d be caught dead playing.
Imagine if the 360 or PS3 had the Wii’s intuitive controller- the Wii would be dead in 3 months.
‘Crudely made?’ Wii Sports? Let’s see a game with better physics… and to call it ‘crude’ despite the fact that it not only is the most talked about game this decade but has sold more than Super Mario Brothers already should show you you are closeminded.
The Wii is king because it is the best out of the 3, when 2012 comes and the new bactch of systems come out (im hoping) i think Ninty will still be king.
When the next xbox and ps will come it will be their last they go by graphical power and already graphix are near real life and thats the highest u can go, here as Ninty will go for way longer.
I hope Nintys next console will be similer to Wii just a lil bit bigger, cooler look (it looks awesome now anyway) updated controllers, HD, more storage, fully backwards compatible and graphical power to at least of what 360 and PS3 have now.
I love my Wii it wipes the floor with the other 2, there are way more mature games then just Madworld,
HOTD Overkill
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The nintendo Wii! Further proof of the dumbing down of people! “I can’t work ps3/xbox360, it’s too hard! I’m not smart enough to figure it out! Make it easy for me! I can’t handle it!”
Cry me a river people – many of the above comments are just that, that you need something simple. Stretch your brain, TRY to learn,make an EFFORT! That’s why it’s sold so well with little in the way of quality games – because it’s easy. Anyone can use it.
Make something foolproof, and only a fool will use it.
I agree with this article- I have all 3 systems and the one I still play the most is my Wii- simply put, its the best system to play with my friends, with Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Boom Blox, Wii Sports, Mario Party, Smarty Pants etc. we never get bored… as for the single player games, I’ve been addicted to MadWorld, Manhunt 2, Star Wars Force Unleashed, Mario Galaxy… I can care less about graphical powerhouse, sure its absolutely stunning to see BioShock or Gears of War or Metal Gear on a 1080p screen with your HDMI cables but the Wii offers just pure gamplay genius IMO. hell, i even enjoyed Wii Music…
oh and I’m not “stupid” enough to figure out how to play Metal Gear or Gears of War- but the endless barrage of WW2/alien takeover over-the-shoulder tactical shoot-em-up’s is JUST PLAIN OVERKILL by now… Give me something new. Again, BioShock is one of my favorite games- EVER and Dead Space is just plain awesome but MadWorld is just f***kin absolutely the most fun game I have played in a very long time. Oh and when the Conduit comes out- i’m sure all the PS360 Nintendo Haters are gonna line up like little lambs and buy a wii- and yes, just for one game…
I have a Wii and 360, and the only time I dust off the Wii is to play Tiger Woods Golf, or to entice the wife into playing a game with me. The 360 has a much wider, more rich variety of gaming experiences.
Everyone in my family (parents, siblings, cousins) just *had to have a Wii*, but once they get bored or Wii Sports it just sits there collecting dust. I’m sure Nintendo is happy, but its no gaming haven. Publishing a game on the Wii is hardly worth it because 80% of Wii owners simply don’t buy games.
Is the Wii worthy? Absolutely not. It was ignored when it was a Gamecube, all it’s had since then is a novelty motion sensor (a not very good one at that), a nice white box and some slick marketing & supply/demand tricks to fool the stupid consumers into buying the emperors new clothes.
Should the 360 deserve the title? Nope, it’s a unreliable, last generation turd.
Should the PS3 deserve the title, absolutely. Its packed with desirable tech, it’s got the games, it’s got the features, it’s got the value and the reliability.
IT seems like most people making comments have hit the nail on the head.
Wii is accessible to all age groups. No offense to the x-box or ps3 but not many parents want their kids playing kill em all or grand theft auto. The majority of the games for those systems are geared for that.
The beauty of the Wii is it’s simplicity, you don’t have to be a hard core gamer to play it, and the games are family friendly. From 5-90.
Mark you forgot to mention PS3’s wasted “motion control” gimmick that SONY put on last minute cause they were rightfully scared of the Big N’s innovative Wii-mote… please- the only good thing about the PS3 is the online. their HOME system is stupid. Everything SONY did this time was rip off Microsoft and Nintendo… and as for their games- all the good ones can be played on the 360 (except metal gear)! and for some strange reason, the ps3 being much more of a graphical powerhouse doesnt even bother being mentioned if the games look better on the 360! SONY done messed up this system and dont get me started on the PSP (piece of $hit portable)…
To begin with, the Xbox 360 now costs less than a Wii. This is especially true if you factor in the price of four controllers. I used to be a Nintendo fanboy. I owned a N64 instead of a playstation and a gamecube instead of a PS2 or original xbox. The one thing Nintendo always had over their competition was quality games. With the Wii, Nintendo has lost the advantage. At some point, after they realized people were going to buy their system regardless of the dearth of quality games, Nintendo started churning out crap. This trend can be easily verified by comparing Animal Crossing with Animal Crossing City Folk. The later was ground breaking and innovative, the former was an inexcusable rehash. But people bought it so Nintendo considers it a success. I give the Wii props for having a browser, but the xbox 360 has netflix and divx playback and can connect to my media center pc for tivo-like video recording and can access my pc’s library of mp3s and videos. It’s really no contest. xbox 360
And just so you don’t think I’m alone on this, I bought my 6 year-old son Wii Lego Star Wars for his birthday last year and he never forgave me. I had to get him the same game for the xbox 360 for christmas before he would forgive me. The only games my kids want to play on the wii are our old gamecube games. Because back when nintendo was the underdog in the console wars, they made the best games. This year I’m giving my son a new copy of the Legend of Zelda Windwaker to replace the one he played to death, but I will not be getting anymore Wii games anytime soon.
the 360 cost cheaper if you buy the Arcade mode which comes with a pathetic 256 MB flash memory- which means youll be lucky if itll save your name. thats ok- you just gotta pay an extra $100 for 60 GB– i’m sure by that time though youll get the very pretty Red Ring of Death and realize you have just replaced your 360 for the 3rd time… btw- that new 360 Avatar system looks eerily close to Nintenod’s Mii’s…. things that make you go hmm indeed…
The WII sucks, i bought my baby sister one for her birthday because it looked like a little kid system and it could sync with her Nintendo DS..another horrible Nintendo invention, she likes it, sometimes, i couldn’t stand the stupid games after 5 minutes..i think my eyes actually started to burn from looking at standard definition after being so used to my ps3 and 360, seriously, just a horrible system for anyone above age 11, horrible games, horrible graphics, only thing appealing at all is its motion sensor controls, and my ps3s Dual Shock 3 control destroys it in comparison..and it may not even have that for much longer on the other consoles heh. http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/03/25/wiimote-like-xbox-360-controller-coming-this-fall-ps3-version-next-year/
The Wii appeals to all people, that’s why it’s so popular. I think whether you like Wii better than X-Box or Playstation solely depends on what you are looking for in a game system.
Anyhoo, I love my Wii, but can’t they make Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe for the Wii?!?!?!?
look – i’m not an idiot- certain games are just not fun to play on the wii- i tried playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance on the Wii and cried for days on just how horrible the experience was as opposed to playing it on the PS360… other games like Star Wars: the Force Unleashed was just too much fun to play on the Wii than they were on the PS360- you gotta research these games before you start blindly buying things- thats what GameFly is for. I know now that for fighting games, i prefer the PS3 with their indented buttons and smaller controllers ditto for the free online play!, for adventure games that arent FPS, ill play those on the 360 because the controller is more comforting to me and its prettier to look at. Depending the game, the exclusivity, the controlling mechanics- ill definately play on the Wii… I know that graphicall Star Wars the force Unleashed looks better on the PS360 but its just a blah button masher as ooposed to the entertainment value and originality on the Wi