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Retrospectively, how was the Wii?

M

mooooose

Member
Before it came out, I was a HUGE Nintendo fanboy, and still am really, but I can't remember being so hyped for anything game related like this. I was foaming at the mouth for it and thought I had all these great ideas for release schedules and games. I watched the September conferences where bombs were dropped, and I went to EBgames with my mom to play ExciteTruck for a hour.

Then it came out. And I thought it was awesome. It was all I played for months. I had so many launch games, and I thought (and still do believe) it was a great launch. Zelda, Wii Sports, Super Monkey Ball, Trauma Center, Excite Truck, and more. And the months that followed were really good too, with WarioWare, Super Paper Mario, Resident Evil 4, Metroid Prime 3, Super Mario Galaxy, and more.

Eventually, around the time Animal Crossing and Wii Music were the holiday frontrunners, I became disenchanted by the system. I grew more and more frustrated with Nintendo of America's lack of foresight to bring over Another Code, Fatal Frame, Captain Rainbow, Disaster, Xenoblade, Last Story, etc. It was fucking annoying.

So in recent times, I played NSMB, Galaxy 2, some Brawl, Zelda, DKCR, and even some Punch Out. A little ExciteBots too.

This seems like a list war post, but I'm just trying to say that even though I'm not picking up every great release, I think the Wii has a lot to offer and it's more of a "traditional" gaming system. It feels a lot like Nintendo systems of old, and the previous generation, where new ideas could really flourish easily. It feels like a Super Gamecube mixed with PS2. I like that.

Having said that, it is painfully obvious that going forward it would be a huge mistake to do this again.

But I really liked the Wii.

How did you guys feel? Launch to now? What are you favorite Wii moments in its catalog or even interesting stories of coming together? The initial hype? How do you feel about the Wii after all has been said and done?
 
For me it was mostly a let down aside from a handful of great games. It's still worth owning in my opinion, but it could have been so much better with strong third party support and decent online. It also ruined DKCR for me. It would have been my favorite game if it had classic controller support .
 
Linkhero1 said:
For me it was mostly a let down aside from a handful of great games. It's still worth owning in my opinion, but it could have been so much better with strong third party support and decent online. It also ruined DKCR for me. It would have been my favorite game if it had classic controller support .
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There is a patch if you hack your Wii, and all of that is a brain dead easy process.
 
I bought one to play SSBB, Mario Kart, and NSMB. But they were super boring after a few days so I just returned the system and got my money back. Coming from the ps3, the system also felt super basic and more like last gen.
 
It's my most played home console this year by far and probably my favorite console of all time because of the VC.
 
The Wii is probably the most significant contributor in my decision to stop buying consoles. Between the games, the motion controls, the flawed networking structure that treats everyone like children, and the flawed company that treats everyone like children, I can't think of a console that I've owned that has disappointed me more. The only reason I don't regret buying it is that Twilight Princess remains one of my favourite games.
 
It wasn't a system for me. Out of all the systems I've had in 20 years of gaming the Wii was the only one I sold before the generation was over, and it was the only one I didn't have for at least 1 full calendar year.
 
Just OK. I got about 6 great games out of it, plus a couple enhanced ports. One or two good third party games could have made a big difference.

Overall I think the GameCube had a better library but I'm glad I bought the Wii.

------

Oh and bonus: finally got to play Super Metroid, so that's a big plus.
 
It held a lot of promise. Nintendo themselves didn't deliver a deluge of titles that made extraordinary use of the Wii-mote, but they provided a ton of high quality Nintendo software alongside some genuinely new experiences. They also breathed some life into some lapsed series and old titles. I guess Nintendo expected third parties to pick up the slack, but they never really did.

The Wii had some great platformers, provided the most innovative control scheme for shooting games to date, offered some new third party experiences(exercise games are amazing), gave lightgun games a new home, gave us some good "point n click" games... and it gave some third parties a nice source of revenue for their HD projects.

It was a turd when it came to online functions, though. An absolute and unforgivable turd.
 
I didn't play most of its games, but as an outsider, it seemed like a letdown to the fans, except for a large handful of games that were extraordinary.
 
As a companion console to my PC, it was fantastic. It has some of my favourite games of this generation, and a pretty fantastic library of awesome (and sadly overlooked) stuff. The Wii Remote + Nunchuck is the most comfortable controller ever made, thanks to the beauty of split controller design. The IR pointer is the best addition made to gaming controllers since the analogue stick. And I like motion controls.

I could bitch and moan about a ton of shit Nintendo fucked up, because they always fuck something up, but the fond memories greatly outweigh the negative. I've put well over a thousand hours into my Wii (300+ hours in Wii Sports alone), and regret none.

Except maybe playing through The Conduit 2.
 
Well, I love the wii. I cant tell you 100 wii games that are very good or excelent. Now, with the wii u around the corner we will see this kind of nostalgic threads about the wii. A love of haters will look back to the excelent games and, maybe not play all of them, but change their mind a little (only a little). All of this thaks to the Wii U and the backwards compatibility.

So yes. I love the wii. And I love my xbox too, and my ps3. But for me is Nintendo all over the place. Nostalgia. Or maybe not.
 
Not nearly as bad as many make it out to be, but definitely underwhelming. Nintendo first party games were really at some of their best this gen though.
 
I loved the Wii.

1. Nintendo stuff. Super Mario Galaxies.

2. Wierd third party stuff: Muramasa, Silent Hill:SM, Little Kings Story, No More Heroes 2, LET'S TAP.
 
I bought my Wii for Brawl, haven't played it in 2 years because my Wii won't even read the disc anymore.

Best thing about the Wii had to have been Donkey Kong Country Returns. That game alone isn't really worth the purchase of a whole console though.
 
I would say that it was a dissapointment, but then I remind myself that the best 2 games of this generation were on Wii.
 
EatChildren said:
As a companion console to my PC, it was fantastic. It has some of my favourite games of this generation, and a pretty fantastic library of awesome (and sadly overlooked) stuff. The Wii Remote + Nunchuck is the most comfortable controller ever made, thanks to the beauty of split controller design. The IR pointer is the best addition made to gaming controllers since the analogue stick. And I like motion controls.

I could bitch and moan about a ton of shit Nintendo fucked up, because they always fuck something up, but the fond memories greatly outweigh the negative. I've put well over a thousand hours into my Wii (300+ hours in Wii Sports alone), and regret none.

Except maybe playing through The Conduit 2.
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The ending makes it entirely worth it.

Possibly the best ending of any game ever.
 
The first half or 3/4 of its life was great.

Wii Sports, Twilight Princess, the Mario Galaxies, Brawl, Punch Out, Metroid Prime 3, Sin & Punishment, NSMB Wii, Mario Kart, No More Heroes, Tatsunoko vs Capcom, Trauma Center, Muramasa, etc. Definitely worth the 250 launch price I got for it. Comparatively, I got the MGS4 PS3 bundle when it launched and I feel ripped off.

Just the past two years have been awful since Nintendo essentially killed it off, I assume to start working on Wii U projects.
 
Linkhero1 said:
For me it was mostly a let down aside from a handful of great games. It's still worth owning in my opinion, but it could have been so much better with strong third party support and decent online. It also ruined DKCR for me. It would have been my favorite game if it had classic controller support .
Click to expand...

It does, just not officially. This is the reason I modded my Wii - just to play this fantastic game without the awful waggle - and I like motion control for some things.

On topic: the Wii has a lot going for it, and there's a great library under that pile of shovelware, but boy, did it not live up to its potential. For every plus, there's a big fat minus.
 
It was a big disappointment. I didn't like the motion controls whatsoever, and tried to avoid games that used them extensively. Then there were the games... Radiant Dawn, SMG, MKWii, Brawl, and Twilight Princess were all letdowns.
 
I think it was pretty disappointing, yet still my favorite console this generation. Monster Hunter Tri got more love from me than any other game this generation.
 
Guess Im one of the few who has spent more time with the Wii then the other two combined.

Monster Hunter Tri is mostly responsible for this. also my son loves the Mario games.
 
The only thing that decides for me if a console was great is if I have a great amount of good games to play on it.

Since I own like 20+ great retail games and some 10-ish great Wiiware, I'd say this was an excellent console!
 
I love it, I like the new and different games. I hate the SD output, that's all. Absolutely great games and fun new franchises. Wii play and alcohol is awesome....

Best system to play with friends
 
It complemented my 360 extremely well, & I still have a pretty big backlog of Wii games to play/finish, so despite the lack of F-Zero I preferred it to the GC.
 
Someone in the speculation thread made this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFt8KVYR3rw

Really good!

It was a good console rich with diverse software that stood as a unique compliment to other consoles this generation. I think if you only had a Wii or only had a HD console this gen, you definitely missed out on some amazing games.

The first year or two of multiplayer genius was definitely the best. I am excited for what Wii U will bring in that regard, and hopefully improved online and visuals will see it enjoy a much more prolonged period of fun.
 
It was a blast during it's time, but that fizzled faster than the others. For me it never became the party system is was trying to be, I still stuck to mostly solo stuff

off the top of my head:
Galaxy 1 and 2
NMH
Epic Yarn
Metroid Prime 3 (still trying to get the trilogy collection, grrr)
Resident Evil 4 Wii
Excite Truck
Boom Blox
NSMB Wii
Smooth Moves
Star Successor

I thoroughly enjoyed these and probably a few more I can't think of atm.

I still own my Wii but haven't really touched it since Epic Yarn. Nothing against the system but its time is over.
 
hiro4 said:
Guess Im one of the few who has spent more time with the Wii then the other two combined.

Monster Hunter Tri is mostly responsible for this. also my son loves the Mario games.
Click to expand...

I used to play Monster hunter tri until I couldn't figure out how to level up (still stuck at lvl 8)
 
It pulled me back into console gaming, I had been PC only for years when I bought a Wii as a christmas present for my daughter, now I have around 20 games for it.

NSMB Wii, Mario Kart Wii, the Galaxy games, DKCR, S&P2, Xenoblade, so many good games.

And since the Wii got me interested in console gaming again I bought a PS3, 360, DS, 3DS, PSP and Vita all in the last couple years.
 
Terrible, probably my least favorite system of all time. The graphics were an embarrassment and the controller still pisses me off to this day. I'm still a huge Nintendo fanboy at heart but they've really lost a hold on me with the Wii.

I camped out overnight in 20-something degree weather... what a waste. I didn't finish either Zelda game despite it being my all-time favorite series by far and in fact put in maybe 2 hours into TP. The Wii is/was a colossal fuck up for my tastes.
 
I think it's obvious that the Wii was not what it could have been.

For myself, I'm satisfied with it. I think it has some of Nintendo's best games, and most of the 1st party developed and published games use the hardware and the wiimote as best possible so the tech limitations are minimized.

Wii also provided some great niche games like Muramasa for which I must be thankful to the system.

Red Steel II was like a peek into what the Wii could have been had 3rd parties taken it more seriously... and had the proper suite of sensors been built into the wiimote from the beginning. So it's really a combination of Nintendo and 3rd-party blame to go around.

But in the end I'm not unhappy with it, and consider it a better console than the Gamecube on the whole. (Not hard, either, when it plays the full GC library. What's to lose?)
 
Linkhero1 said:
I know. I have two hacked Wii systems and still don't want to bother with it.
Click to expand...
While it's their fault for not having native support, you have the ability to work around it and for it to be your "favorite game" within mere seconds (download ocarina code, put on sd card, load ocarina, hit play, even easier if you use a HDD loader), so why you're so upset kinda confuses me. Seems like you're looking for a reason to be mad about it.
 
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