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12 years later, what's your opinion on the Wii?

What's your opinion on the Wii 12 years later?


  • Total voters
    159
I'm not sure any of the voting choices above represent my feelings on the Wii. The Wii may have been the greatest local multiplayer console ever made. The first party library was strong, with games like Mario Galaxy/ Mario Galaxy 2, I actually enjoyed Mario Kart Wii, Mario Party 8 is still a fav, Xenoblade Chronicles & The Last Story from Project Rainfall were huge editions for the RPG lineup and it gave people a chance to replay alot of arcade shooters, House of the Dead, Gunblade NY/ LA Machine Guns. The online service was below par but the Virtual Console despite being slow to get people's fav classics to the store, ended up being decent.

There weren't enough games that properly used the Wii-motes and there was insane amounts of shovelware, waggle inspired crap. The handful of games that did the Wii-mote controls well obviously tops the list with Wii Sports, No More Heroes has to be up there and for me personally Mad World the black & white Sin City-esque ultra violent over the top action game.

I would say what the Wii did well it did very well and what it didn't do well is well known and heavily criticized. Overall I enjoyed my Wii during its time and would probably buy the games I still have again, if I had to do it all over again.
 
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Breakage

Member
Never owned one, never played one. I have no real interest in it.
But I wish the 360 or PS3 got a port of that Klonoa remake.
 
D

Deleted member 752119

Unconfirmed Member
Worst Nintendo console by far, but still had some games I really enjoyed like Metroid Prime 3, Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2, Zelda TP and SS, Super Paper Mario etc.

I really hated waggle and the the 480p games looked like ass once I finally got an HDTV. Especially since my first one was a LCD rear projection TV on which SD content looked especially terrible.
 

brap

Banned
It was an underpowered piece of shit with a stupid controller. There was a handful of games I liked on it but that was it.

Also here is the actual worst Nintendo console
nbskrOV.jpg
 

Airola

Member
No, of course not, and i have played every single version of Super Off Road.

Its a 1989 game, anyway, while Danny Sullivan's is a 1991 game. SINCE is the key word. Super Sprint, Super Off Road and Danny Sullivan's are the three best games in the genre, of course.

You obviously haven't played GeneRally then. That's the ultimate top down "super sprint" game. Comes with an amazing track editor too!
 

kunonabi

Member
The Wii ended up being my favorite Nintendo console and my second favorite console of all time behind the Dreamcast. It probably had my favorite 1st party output on a Nintendo console, it has my favorite controller setup, tons of Japanese titles and hidden gems, the best VC library, and had some great local multiplayer titles to boot.

The Wii, and Super Mario Galaxy in particular, is actually what kept me into gaming when I was about to bail at the end of the PS2 era. Lord knows I wouldn't have stuck around if my only options were the X360 and the PS3.

Probably my only beef with it was that you had to import to really get the most out of it but that's not a huge deal breaker at the end of the day.
 

Smokey

Member
Underpowered box with a handful of good games that spawned some ridiculous fads, and could indirectly be linked to the downfall of Xbox in the console space (Kinect).
 

nkarafo

Member
Pointer controls do wonders in some games. The flashlight in Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is a joy to use. Feels much better than dual analog or mouse.
 

Fox Mulder

Member
All the garbage shovelware games have fallen away and the good games can rise to the top. It was a gimmick console, but has plenty of great stuff to play from Nintendo and others.

They're cheap as fuck so why not give it a try if the waggle granny game fad turned you off then. Just browse a hidden gems video on YouTube for real gamer games on the Wii.
 
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ResurrectedContrarian

Suffers with mild autism
There are so many forgotten titles on the Wii to talk about... but I'd just list Wii Sports Resort as one of the most enjoyable games of the past decade. If you can get your head around why WSR is a wonderful game, you'll grasp why the console hit it so big despite showing open disdain for all the expected features and preferences that typically drove game consoles.

Wii Sports Resort was:

- something I enjoyed with an usually wide range of people (100 pin bowling with grandparents; basketball with a brother-in-law, before a cheering crowd of relatives at Christmas; relaxed airplane exploration mode with younger family who immediately grasped holding the plane; shouting sword battles with older kids)

- deceptively simple, but hiding depth (games like table tennis and basketball ramped up the AI slowly, just like Wii Sports, but this time even better; there is for instance a hidden nighttime basketball battle you'll reach if you keep gaining skill; likewise with frisbee dog, etc)

- polished; even though it yet again defiantly ran with the Miis and simple graphics, it shows tremendous care in the production and details, and if you can't tell this kind of polish apart from the real shovelware, an inability to tell genuinely good from cheap family-friendly content likely has everything to do with your attitude to the console

- nuanced; even with the sudden competition from MS (Kinect) and Sony (Move) coming against the Wii, the Motion Plus detection of precise wrist angle is more enjoyable and accurate for gaming needs than either of those expensive competitors. Just try table tennis in WSR and honestly compare it to the Move / Kinect offerings, and you'll see that Nintendo was right to bet on subtle wrist position over the fantasy of moving around the room. You could dominate with subtle wrist moves, even while the much more complex Kinect tech / Kinect Sports somehow managed to set motion gaming further back than even Wii 1.0 by fundamentally misunderstanding everything that matters to the experience

I list this game because it signaled the height of competition over motion tech, when MS and Sony both pushed their money into competing with the Wii full force at E3. But I don't think a sober assessment will end up telling a story that the motion fad died due to Nintendo... but if anything it died due to the bandwagon effect of the competitors who thought better tech on paper matters more than thinking smartly in terms of what kinds of simple motions actually make sense and create a fun product. Party / accessible living room games weren't a cheap concept inherently; the bizarrely confused design of games like Kinect Sports only makes it apparent retroactively that making a Wii Sports hit requires a great deal of creativity and knowledge of toy design more than it requires a tech powerhouse behind it. The Wii marks an interesting time when Nintendo "got it" in a way no one else could, but were slowly drowned in copycatism until motion controls were everywhere and understandably fatigued.
 

Lightsbane

Member
I liked the Wii, there were some interesting games for sure, but I still feel it's the worst Nintendo console.

That I've played, that is. Never touched a Virtual Boy.
 
I didn't vote because the poll had limited options. I enjoyed the wii for what it was, but it's not the best console I've ever played on either. In the poll, however, I'm supposed to say it was either the greatest thing ever or the worst console ever lol. Can't I just say it was okay and move on? I will always appreciate the Wii for Twilight Princess. Wii sports was fun, but i'm glad that it eventually ran its course.
 

Hinedorf

Banned
It was a gimmick with a fantastic lineup of games that was so jarring to play due to the gimmick controller scheme.

Shame I never bought the original Zelda release on Gamecube instead of Wii, I would've played it with a regular controller.
 

CD'S BAR

Member
Had some great games, but whenever I think about wanting to play any of them again I lost interest because of the waggle and sensor bar.
 

Petrae

Member
None of the poll results are me.

I do really enjoy the Wii, and have for years. Why?

1. Virtual Console: A fine selection of NES, SNES, Genesis, TurboGrafx, and other platform games to choose from. This is how I played Rondo of Blood for the first time. I still have a decent library of TG-16 games on my Wii, as well. The Virtual Console never was better than it was on the Wii.

2. Light gun games: The Wiimote is great for light gun arcade games. Ghost Squad and House of the Dead play really well, and playing Resident Evil with light gun action is a lot of fun for me.

3. Wii Sports: It’s not the deepest experience, but simplified versions of sports with basic motion controls work well. Bowling via Wii Sports is the best bowling sim I’ve played, with hook and break feeling good. Too bad there wasn’t a League Mode.

I liked many of the games, too. Sure, some had forced waggle, but the ones that have Pro Controller support are fun for me to revisit.

I think the platform gets a bit of a bad rap, but whatever. I really enjoy mine and use it regularly.
 

Jacknapes

Member
Decent console, however it ended up bringing forth the WiiU, which wasn't the best received Nintendo console in terms of sales
 

Iced Arcade

Member
Nintendo was my primary console up to the overclocked cube with a waggle stick. Hate a bad hate for Nintendo after buying it.
 

Meesh

Member
Years later? It was a ballsy move that shook the industry. While not graphically that impressive it was influential in many respects.

Much of what Nintendo was, is and continues to stand for is embodied in Wii... the spirit and philosophy. It was fun, surprised me, made me think and imagine. It brought me back as a kid again and reminded me what gaming was all about! Had a killer Virtual Console, so much money spent on the classics and new experiences.

I'm super glad this Nintendo tradition lives on in Switch for the most part.
😊
 
The motion controls were kind of innovative and unique at first, but it was by far the worst Nintendo console in my opinion. People love to hate on the GameCube, but they had better games in the first year then the Wii in it’s lifetime. Don’t get me wrong, the Wii had a few gems here and there, but way too much shovelware and shallow mini games to dig through for the good stuff.
 

Kreydo

Member
The Wii was the begining of the end for gaming.
Showed to publisher that mainstream crowd is now ready and wiling to be milked.

But I played the Wii once... It was with friends in their home, we played Mario Kart Wii, i remember it because i won the race despite playing for the first time and barely watching the screen or even trying.
I was being last, but then my Kart tuned into an auto guided bomb to finish first..................... I was like wtf? What is even the point.
I gave back his white dildo to my friend, and tried to delete this moment of my life time but without any success.
 
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Heimdall_Xtreme

Jim Ryan Fanclub's #1 Member
What can i say... its the worst console that i play in my life of Nintendo... the second is N64.

When i see the word Wii my mind say = One of the worst Generation of Console ever... i cant even explain how i was get survive of boring in these years.
 

Kreydo

Member
No, DLC did a better job of sending that message.
It's at the same moment in time except DLC/MTX first aim to 'gamer'. The first insanly successful MTX was created on World of Warcraft, a stupid fluorescent mount blue pony.
I remember this moment and i couldn't believe 'GAMER' was actually buying that shit, it was unreal.
 
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Fbh

Member
It was the typical modern Nintendo console. Underpowered with overpriced accessories, first party games that take forever to get cheaper and based around a gimmick that got old fast and was ultimately only well utilised by a very small number of games.
But with some great exclusives that made it worth it to own one as a side console
 

Zog

Banned
It was the typical modern Nintendo console. Underpowered with overpriced accessories, first party games that take forever to get cheaper and based around a gimmick that got old fast and was ultimately only well utilised by a very small number of games.
But with some great exclusives that made it worth it to own one as a side console
It was the first under powered Nintendo console.
 

Meesh

Member
I don't remember them having DLC on the Wii.
My apologies, it was a general statement... just thinking about everything I remember from previous gens. Yeah I dont think Wii had anything, but I remember complaints about other games.

And currently I think Nintendo does a decent job. I mean for Super Smash, I think the $ for extra characters is probably fair value, but I dont understand the extras you pay for in MHW. Maybe a bad example lol
 

UltimaKilo

Gold Member
It was OK. Xenoblade, The Last Story and Mario Galaxy were some of my favorite games of the generation (Xenoblade being top), but not enough support.

I'm still sour we never got a Luigi's Mansion with Wii Motion + controllers. Shame.
 

Z..

Member
"Bad library overall" voters are tripping balls. The Wii had an absurd amount of terrible games but also alot of great ones.
 

Hanon

Banned
It has gems here and there I liked so there's that.

Oh and I don't give a hoot about Mario Galaxy.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Admittedly I only played one game on Wii..... Wii Sports.

Friend had a bunch of over to hang out one night. He got a Wii (probably in 2008) and he egged us all on to give a try playing tennis.

Dumbest game I ever played.
 

Petrae

Member
I don't remember them having DLC on the Wii.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years sold episodes as DLC.

Rock Band & Guitar Hero had extra songs as DLC.

These are two examples that spring to mind. DLC wasn’t as prevalent on Wii as it was on X360/PS3, but it did exist.
 

jts

...hate me...
One of the best consoles of all time, library-wise. If you think otherwise, you're just ignorant.
 
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I really liked the Wii, it was what I was playing during the best part of my life. In the 4th gen I was playing mostly PS2, and quite a bit of Gamecube. The Gamecube had some really amazing games like Metroid Prime, and some of the best looking games I'd seen at the time, like the Rogue Squadron games. The PS2 had Gran Turismo, lots of racing games, and GTA so that's where I spent most of my time. Unfortunately my PS2's kept dying just out of warranty. DRE, DRE, drive tray physically broke itself closing, and my last PS2, which stopped reading DVDs and could only play PS1 games. I dropped out of gaming entirely for a couple years because I was broke, and I was tired of replacing consoles. I didn't have my own GameCube, I just used my sibling's when I visited home so the broken PS2s left me with nothing.

When they Wii came out I was making more money, and it played GameCube games I saw it as an opportunity to play the games I'd missed out on, but I also spent more time playing the shitty graphics Wii than I had spent with the X360 in the same period. Blast Works, Castle of Shikigami III, DKC Returns, DBZ Revenge, Ghost Squad, HotD Overkill, Klonoa, The Last Story, Skyward Sword, Twilight Princess, Little King Story, Lost Shadow, Mad World, Metroid Prime Trilogy, Monster Hunter Tri, Mercury Meltdown Evolution, Muramasa, NSMB Wii, No More Heroes 1 & 2, Order Up!, Pikmin 2, Red Steel 2, RE4, Sin & Punishment, Mario Galaxy 1 & 2, Mario Kart Wii, Super Paper Mario, SB Brawl, Wario Land, World of Goo, Xenoblade Chronicles and Zack & Wiki. I have fond memories of every game I played on the Wii.

I also spent a lot of time at friend's houses, or having people over to play on the Wii, and nothing has really captured that since. The Switch is great when my family gets together in the summer or during winter holidays, as we all have one, but people actually used to come hang out just to play Wii Sports. I'd visit relatives and it would be a room full of people having a blast waggling Wiimotes around.
 
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Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus
It was the first under powered Nintendo console.

You're forgetting the NES, Gameboy, Gameboy Advance and Nintendo DS. All of those systems had more powerful rivals on the marketplace.

Intellivision and Colecovision was overrun by the Atari 2600 VCS. The Sega Master System lost to the technically inferior NES. Atari Lynx was defeated by the Gameboy. SNK Neo-Geo failed to outsell Sega Genesis and Super NES. Xbox lost to PS2. PSP lost to Nintendo DS.

The hardcore set never seem to learn this, but it bears repeating: nobody cares about graphics. Gameplay is King.
 

wipeout364

Member
I never really liked motion controls much. Some games were good with them but they were a small minority. The library had some real knockout titles like wii sports, Metroid prime, Mario galaxy, xenoblade, and Okami. There were others but everything was really overwhelmed with garbage games, PS2 level graphics, and really at the end of the day an inferior control system.

There are games I would like to have but my overall memories of the system are of it mostly collecting dust.
 

Zog

Banned
You're forgetting the NES, Gameboy, Gameboy Advance and Nintendo DS. All of those systems had more powerful rivals on the marketplace.

Intellivision and Colecovision was overrun by the Atari 2600 VCS. The Sega Master System lost to the technically inferior NES. Atari Lynx was defeated by the Gameboy. SNK Neo-Geo failed to outsell Sega Genesis and Super NES. Xbox lost to PS2. PSP lost to Nintendo DS.

The hardcore set never seem to learn this, but it bears repeating: nobody cares about graphics. Gameplay is King.
Well, I don't call the Gameboy and DS products consoles, I call them handhelds. When it comes to handhelds, they never even tried to make them more powerful than the competition.
 
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It was great, it was the last console before the walking and talking cinematic experience took over. By some of the replies I'm seeing in this thread, we definitely didn't deserve it.
 

Werewolf Jones

Gold Member
I got it near launch and enjoyed my time with it but the drought periods and lack of AAA games that the PS3/360 had killed me and pushed me to get a 360 early 2008.

There are periods of me buying for it here & there after 2010 like The Last Story, Xenoblade and the Klonoa remake but I didn't get as many games as I should have which are now a bit pricey.
 
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