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Is the Nintendo Wii the most controversial console ever?
- Thread starter Onesimos
- Start date
shadyspace
Banned
How are you using controversial here? The Wii never garnered the level of vitriol that the Xbox One did early on.
Japanmanx3
Member
Yeah context of controversy is necessary.
The One ended up not releasing in that state though. Wonder if that takes it down a bit.
Hm.
In 7 years will the DRM pre launch be talked about as much as the casual-approach of the Wii and its consequences of that? I'm actually not sure tbh. The Wii U situation probably elevates how much the Wii is still talked about though.
Astral Dog
Member
No, i dont think it is, it was fairly popular.
Gamer @ Heart
Member
Market disruptive doesn't really mean controversial in the traditional sense.
EightBitNate
Member
Popularity and controversy go hand in hand.
entremet
Member
I would say yes.
There are people who blame Nintendo on Japan's struggle in HD development. The reasoning was that third parties didn't know what horse to support.
In retrospect, that's pretty shortsighted. Japan was moving from consoles to handhelds. Just like they're moving from traditional handhelds to mobile now.
It was disruptive for sure.
There are people who blame Nintendo on Japan's struggle in HD development. The reasoning was that third parties didn't know what horse to support.
In retrospect, that's pretty shortsighted. Japan was moving from consoles to handhelds. Just like they're moving from traditional handhelds to mobile now.
It was disruptive for sure.
letter L followed by the letter O and then L again
SerTapTap
Member
I wouldn't call it "controversial" so much as "almost universally reviled". The Wii has gotten extremely high levels of both praise and criticism, original Xbox One was 95% "WTF Microsoft"
cavemancolton
Unconfirmed Member
I only recently came around on the Wii.
My thoughts back in the day were "Fuck Motion Controls" and I still kind of think that.
My thoughts back in the day were "Fuck Motion Controls" and I still kind of think that.
Yeah, most of the furor came from the name and weirdness of the controller; which ended up being helping it become the legendary console it became. Looking back, those are such irrelevant and childishs things to be upset about; it's good that the industry has matured to criticize real issues like the removal of customer rights rather than how funny the name sounded.
$600 PS3 is still being talked about, so I'd side on the side of yes.
On the other hand I can see what the OP is getting at. It's a console that many gamers hate because it didn't appeal to a lot of them and was successful despite that.
Pretty much me. I loved the Wii, then hated it, and now that the smoke has cleared I've grown to appreciate it.
Over the course of its lifespan I'd say it did.
I don't know if it's the "most controversial console ever," (I don't even really know what that entails), but it's certainly one with a lot of divided and extreme opinions. A lot of people said a lot of crazy things about the Wii. As someone who spent many years defending the console on message boards there were many, many debates about "sholveware," the way Nintendo was handling first-party games, "casual," gamers, etc.
This thread is a fun reminder of everyones' reactions to the Wii remote, lol.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=63251
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=63251
This was more due to PS3 and mainly Cell.
entremet
Member
Really, most people were mostly pissed off at the graphics.
Look at the Wii U, even its getting some shine now. Sure 3rd party is crap, but everyone knows you don't get Nintendo systems for 3rd party support.
But man, those graphics were super jank. Especially if you had an HDTV. There was some great art direction, such as the Galaxy games and Skyward Sword, but imagine if Nintendo went HD last gen and won it too?
That played a part. I agree. It was a convergence of factors.
Only Capcom was ready for HD development and apparently the company is a bomb away from being bought out. HD development killed much of the sustainable development practices Japanese studios lived by for decades.
Look at the Wii U, even its getting some shine now. Sure 3rd party is crap, but everyone knows you don't get Nintendo systems for 3rd party support.
But man, those graphics were super jank. Especially if you had an HDTV. There was some great art direction, such as the Galaxy games and Skyward Sword, but imagine if Nintendo went HD last gen and won it too?
That played a part. I agree. It was a convergence of factors.
Only Capcom was ready for HD development and apparently the company is a bomb away from being bought out. HD development killed much of the sustainable development practices Japanese studios lived by for decades.
JordanN
Banned
Really? It's suppose to be the 3rd best selling home console. It's also the first console that didn't massively outsell its rivals despite coming in first. PS3/360 are only 20 million behind last I recall and they're not discontinued.
I'm curious why?
digoutyoursoul
Member
I don't see the controversy ?
Sony got a ton of shit during the early PS3 days but it doesn't come close to the Xbox One. I would of loved to have witnessed the conversations that occurred during those days/weeks/months at Microsoft when the backlash occurred.
During arguably their greatest golden age? Nintendo will probably never reach those heights again now that game development has gotten more expensive and complex.
People were falling over themselves to make posts revolving around waggle or collecting dust for a good five or six years.
It was definitely controversial and was responsible for a lot of tantrums. Even a game involving Mickey Mouse of all things caused people to lose their shit.
It was definitely controversial and was responsible for a lot of tantrums. Even a game involving Mickey Mouse of all things caused people to lose their shit.
MrGreencastle
Member
RROD was more controversial than both Wii and Xbox One drm stuff. Besides, 10 bucks says both ps4 and Xbox one will work more or less the way Microsoft had tried by the end of this generation. Can't stop the digital future forever.
Refreshment.01
Member
It is as controversial as it is misunderstood. To this day a lot of people don't grasp quite well how forward thinking the Wii Remote concept is. Most of these people are detractors also that didn't give the console a fair chance.
To this day you still see drive by non sense posting when discussing the console or one of its games. So it is, still, very controversial.
lolwut? financially golden age ≠ gaming golden age.
entremet
Member
Also the Wii represented the first time that Nintendo's console strategy didn't make generational leap in graphical fidelity. That was huge, especially to the Nintendo faithful.
Remember the Gamecube was beast of a little system. The SNES, although having a slower processor than its rival, the Genesis, sported more on screen colors and a high fidelity Ken Kutaragi designed sound chip.
The Wii was basically Iwata's stamp on Nintendo console design going forward. Miyamoto also mentioned that Nintendo will not pursue bleeding edge tech again.
Moreover, whether you like it or not, that strategy also was slightly adopted by Nintendo's current rivals. Both the PS4 and XB1 were more incremental than their predecessors, mostly due to the cost concerns as well.
Remember the Gamecube was beast of a little system. The SNES, although having a slower processor than its rival, the Genesis, sported more on screen colors and a high fidelity Ken Kutaragi designed sound chip.
The Wii was basically Iwata's stamp on Nintendo console design going forward. Miyamoto also mentioned that Nintendo will not pursue bleeding edge tech again.
Moreover, whether you like it or not, that strategy also was slightly adopted by Nintendo's current rivals. Both the PS4 and XB1 were more incremental than their predecessors, mostly due to the cost concerns as well.
The sales and software output from the Wii/DS era is unmatched, there's no denying that.
Who said I was talking about sales and money?
Gaiaknight
Member
The wii broke records all over the place and it currently holds the record for most systems sold in 1 month selling 3.8 million consoles in december 2009.
I fear the videogame industry will collapse under those reasons.
HOLY SHIT THIS THREAD IS AMAZING. WOW. Some major crow from over half of the people responding, damn.
JordanN
Banned
The Wii did make huge strides in the beginning but it also quickly tapered off at the end.
The console was an anomaly in a lot of ways, so it can't be judged in black and white.
entremet
Member
With NOA strong arm business tactics, I would agree. The general public was unaware of this at the time, however.
Y2Kev's old posts always get me lol
Kai Dracon
Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
Wii was instantly controversial for some game fans who had a personal death grip on what a company was "allowed" to do in order to make money, and who felt video games were in some strange way owned by a particular subset of the possible audience for games. Those sort of folks often still seem bitter over the Wii today, talk about a grudge.
Outside niche gaming circles, Wii was only controversial in terms of mainstream pundits and press having to come to grips with the idea of people playing video games besides the previous stereotype of "gamers". However that seemed to die off quickly, even before Wii lost momentum. Wii happened to be dovetailed by the smartphone and social game revolution, where suddenly gamelike applications were everywhere.
Outside niche gaming circles, Wii was only controversial in terms of mainstream pundits and press having to come to grips with the idea of people playing video games besides the previous stereotype of "gamers". However that seemed to die off quickly, even before Wii lost momentum. Wii happened to be dovetailed by the smartphone and social game revolution, where suddenly gamelike applications were everywhere.
Plinko
Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
This. I'll never understand the butthurt over that system. People seemed genuinely disturbed by the Wii's success because it went against their own wishes. It was bizarre.
I doubt we ever see a general reaction like that again on GAF.
darthvargi
Member
I don't think it was controversial. I personally thought it was a great console, although after 2010 it dropped a lot and the only significant release after 2010 was Skyward Sword. That said it had some amazing first party releases and even some third party content like Goldeneye, Monster Hunter 3, Little King's Story, Zach and Wiki, Elebits, Red Steel 2, Motion Plus Tiger Woods games, among others.
I thought it was a great segway into motion gaming as well. We were a bit deceived by the accuracy of the WiiMote, but the Motion Plus delivered on a lot of fronts. To this day it's the best way to play FPS games on consoles (The Move can't touch the WiiMote because of its drifing cursor) and I use it on my Wii U to play Ghosts and BO2.
I thought it was a great segway into motion gaming as well. We were a bit deceived by the accuracy of the WiiMote, but the Motion Plus delivered on a lot of fronts. To this day it's the best way to play FPS games on consoles (The Move can't touch the WiiMote because of its drifing cursor) and I use it on my Wii U to play Ghosts and BO2.
Gaiaknight
Member
I wouldnt call the wii an anomaly pretty much all of the Wii's success was on Nintendo's amazing marketing for the system plus all the main stream attention the system got didnt hurt it either. Plus that 3.8 million number came during a time where the whole year was filled with articles on how the wii was a dying fad.
Poimandres
Member
Come on, that's not really accurate. They might not be "bleeding edge" but they are significantly more powerful than the previous consoles. The Wii was basically a rebranded Gamecube.
I do think the Wii is the most controversial console ever. I've never seen anything quite like the reaction to the Wii mote.
quantity ≠ quality
Then i can safely state that you are nuts if you think that software quality from Nintendo on the Wii is superior or even on par with what they have released on SNES or N64
