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[lock2k]

Still one of the best consoles ever packed with great exclusives. I still have mine plugged in.

 

[petran79]

We were too busy with PS2 to even notice it back then
Rift between Nintendo and Sony in target audiences was perhaps the biggest I had seen

 

[JordanN]

I picked the Wii over a PS3 that generation. Biggest mistake ever.

Nintendo basically pocketed the money and abandoned the core gamer soon after. But I got the last laugh when I skipped the Wii U and haven't owned another Nintendo system since the 3DS.

 

[JimboJones]

Lot of fond memories, they could have beefed up the specs a bit and having the motion plus from the get go would have been ideal but it's all history now.

 

[Diddy X]

I remember those times, never owned a Wii due to its low specs, it was all about the HD for me lol

Nintendo seemed like they could never be beaten in sales again, but they released the WiiU, wanting to squeeze even more the concept, big mistake, the Wii was selling like shit at the end of its lifespan having lost all its momentum and to general public the WiiU was the same console.

 

[V2Tommy]

Nice write-up, OP, but you spelled its incorrectly every single time you used it. Really kills the journalism aspect you were going for.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

I had a Wii and I fucking hated it. I couldn’t stand the motion controls. Although, I did enjoy Twilight Princess and chugged through Skyward Sword.
It wasn’t HD and looked like shit compared to my 360 and PS3, since that is when I bought my first HDTV.

Plus, Nintendo mega pissed me off with their strategy of keeping supply low.

The Wii marked the beginning of Nintendo deciding that they didn’t want my business.

Having said that, if Nintendo released a more powerful Switch that forgoes handheld where I can get close to 4K and WiiU BC, I’d be back in the game.
No expecting that to happen.

 

[MilkyJoe]

Wii used ours for bowling and nothing else. That was the greatest of games at the time.

 

[IKSTUGA]

Great system. I still have fond memories of playing Galaxy and Wii Sports. Sure there were game droughts at times, but overall the game selection ended up being pretty good.

On top of boxed Wii games, I also spent a ridiculous amount of time and money on VC. I got to experience Sega Genesis and Turbografx games for the first time for example. Man, some of those games were just incredible: Soldier Blade, Gradius II, Devil's Crush, Rondo of Blood, Gunstar Heroes, Sonic 3 and Knuckles and the Streets of Rage series. Neo Geo stuff also!

 

[Naibel]

Super Mario Galaxy 1/2 and Xenoblade Chronicles alone made the Wii great. Those games are the greatest of their era.

And that's putting aside other sweet little gems such as Zach & Wiki, Excite Truck, Muramasa, the best Okami port, Sin & Punishment 2, MadWorld, No More Heroes 1/2, The Last Story, Pandora Tower, Silent Hill : Shattered Memories and much more.

The Wii ports of Gamecube games were also freakin amazing. Pikmin 2 and Metroid Prime were transcended by the Wiimote. It's like they were made for it !

And don't get me started on Virtual Console. It was the beginning of the retrogaming craze, and it was such a killer-app at the time.

So yeah, a much better system than what gamers give it credit for.

 

[synchronicity]

Even though I'm not the biggest fan of motion controls - although I thought they were implemented fantastically in the Metroid Prime Trilogy - I think the Wii was a great console. Sure there was a ton of shovelware that muddied the waters, but it was easy to find plenty of gems, even outside Nintendo first-party. Nintendo is crazy enough to always keep gaming interesting. I love them for that.

 

[Stilton Disco]

It was a great system despite massive flaws. I still remember the weeks of my wife and I hitting stores as they restocked to get one for the family for Christmas, and the fun we had on boxing day with it!

It was the perfect end to the era before mobile divided the market, when tiny children, your granny, your parents and your grumpy teenage sister would all laugh around a TV waggling wiimotes together, while still offering some genuinely amazing enthusiast games alongside those casual party games.

It kind of farted itself into irrelevance at the end of the generation, and the less said about the WiiU the better, but for a time it was the most important and sort after entertainment system on the planet, and absolutely deserved it.

 

[EightBit Man]

I have very mixed feelings about the Wii. Yes, it had great games and so I had a super large collection of games for it, consisting mostly of compilations of classics, the good first-party and third-party, and niche titles.

Stuff like Resident Evil: Wii Edition, the Resident Evil remake and Zero, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, No More Heroes 1 and 2, Klonoa, the SNK compilations, Muramasa: The Demon Blade, OneChanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers, Fragile Dreams, Xenoblade Chronicles, Excite Truck, Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, the mainline Legend of Zelda titles, Metroid Prime Trilogy, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars - The Director's Cut, etc.

Nintendo was stubborn to not include HD connectivity with the console, and the console itself marked a turning point of the direction the company took (of which I am not a fan of). I enjoyed the tons of games, even more so than on the predecessor, and yet I find the GameCube better, as it was targeted at gamers.

 

[m.i.s.]

Oh man, I remember finally getting the 242'nd star on SMG2!!

What a game!!

 

[Diddy X]

Is there a way to play SMG 1 and 2 other than the Wii? I always wanted to play them, never could.

 

[stranno]

Is there a way to play SMG 1 and 2 other than the Wii? I always wanted to play them, never could.

Nvidia Shield TV Chinese Edition and emulators. It should work on PS4/Switch Linux/Android, but dont expect anything smooth.



I guess Nvidia + Nintendo would eventually convert the Shield TV emulator to Switch, but who knows when.

 

[InterMusketeer]

I have a love-hate relationship with the Wii. Over the years I've bought and sold the system multiple times.

Each time I'd get hyped by a few new releases, along with nostalgia for Nintendo's characters and games, so I'd buy one again. But when I started playing, I would ultimately become disappointed with the lacking amount and quality of the Wii's games. I would end up unable to justify owning the system, so I'd sell it again.

I had the most fun playing Wii games on my Wii U. The combined library of the Wii and new releases for the Wii U made it worth it to own the system, and meant I always had something to play.

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

Freakin loved the Wii.

My top Wii games that kept me coming back:

Wii Sports Resort

Wii Sports Resort doesn't get half the accolades that it should.

It was the most complete payoff of motion control we got from any system or developer, bringing to fruition (smooth spatial tracking that works and drives gameplay nuance) what the original Wii Sports only halfway attained. And it did so just as the competitors were playing copycat and each pushing their own "revolutionary" new take on motions controls (Kinect, Move)--but neither of those had something as fun and motion-perfect as even just the frisbee dog game. Kinect Sports was a travesty of fuzzy movement, and Move didn't have any game that could that show the nuance of wrist movement so cleanly and make it immediately intuitive. Bringing it all together into an island with modes like the plane to explore it was also a nice touch.

 

[GymWolf]

The console who kinda push me away from nintendo systems...

Gamecube was so good and the last good console from them.

Well at least it gave us one of the best gifs ever

 

[m.i.s.]

Is there a way to play SMG 1 and 2 other than the Wii? I always wanted to play them, never could.

Wii U is the only other way. And even that with wiimote and nunchuk because of star shards.

Though I've heard of others playing on PC. No idea how.

 

[Dazrael]

A pretty lacklustre machine out of the box but made exponentially better when it’s modded. It’s a perfect retro device on a CRT.

 

[Woffls]

I remember standing in line outside GAME in the rain at 5am to get this asap when I was at uni in Canterbury. Already had it pre ordered but... y’know... hype. Think I got Twilight Princess, Wii Sports, Monkey Ball and wiiplay wiimote bundle. Good times.

wait that means I was at uni 13 years ago - nope, internet must have the date wrong

 

[lachesis]

I think I have an old Wii somewhere in the closet. It's launch model and non-modded... but It stopped working - somehow gave me something in line of "memory failure" error and stopped working.
Not sure if I still have it.. but this thread reminds me some old days - perhaps I will try to revive it by googling some solutions. (Not sure what it could be - perhaps the bluetooth module?)

Not sure what I would do with it though - since I have a Wii U that can run all the Wii games (except I can't run the bundled Wii Sports that came with Wii for some reason)
I could mod it for emulators but I also have all the mini consoles that pretty much covers most of my 8bit and 16bit cravings in more authentic way - with native HDMI output to boot...
Native GC BC is one reason that I should fix it up, but then again that I don't have TV that has component input, nor a proper CRT...

As a console, I was okay with Wii - never really got into whole Wiimote - I liked Wii U a lot better though... but then again, I played most of the Wii's classics (SMG, SMG2, Skyward Sword etc) on Wii U. I remember using Wii as mostly for party use for my child for her playdates (wii sports)

 

[Hypereides]

I remember trying to track down a Wii during the peak of its hype. When I finally did, I felt like I've struck luck. I was intrigued by the possibilities it could bring to gaming. It really seemed like it would allow the opportunity for some really groundbreaking games.

Wii sports was pretty cool for a while, but eventually the novelty wore off. Some time after I took it to Gamestop to trade it in. Its a shame. I get the feeling it had the potential for some really interesting games, but it was never truly fulfilled.

Wii was a success because was cheap and the control

For me is one of the worst Nintendo Consoles that i ever play it.

My God... was the WORST CONSOLE GENERATION EVER!!!...

What a Fucking Nightmare was Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii.

Im glad that period was finished.

We're still in the aftermath of it though.

 

[JimiNutz]

I remember standing in line outside GAME in the rain at 5am to get this asap when I was at uni in Canterbury. Already had it pre ordered but... y’know... hype. Think I got Twilight Princess, Wii Sports, Monkey Ball and wiiplay wiimote bundle. Good times.

wait that means I was at uni 13 years ago - nope, internet must have the date wrong

This is the same experience I had but at Norwich uni (and it was my housemate buying the console). There wasn't much of a wait at that GAME and it was inside a mall so no rain for us. I think he bought the exact same games as you also!

 

[Paltheos]

I struggle to think of a single, exclusive title I love. Metroid Prime 3 was ok, if worse than the last ones. The Wii got me to play Muramasa, which I'm not sure I would have otherwise if the library weren't bare, and the Vita version a few years later is the best one. Mario, Zelda? They all kinda blew.

Oh shit. I almost forgot. House of the Dead. They're not exclusive, but playing HotD 2 and 3 co-op with my friend is the best time I had playing the system. The Wii was a disappointment overall but those few hours actually made it all worth it for me. What a blast.

 

[EverydayBeast]

A Wii 2 could be a scary console.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

A Wii 2 could be a scary console.

Thats was WII-U

 

[Deleted member 740922]

Nice write-up, OP, but you spelled its incorrectly every single time you used it. Really kills the journalism aspect you were going for.

Great way to encourage more threads like this. Well done.

 

[jshackles]

Great way to encourage more threads like this. Well done.

Eh, it's no big deal. I had a couple of grammatical errors (its and it's is kind of my weak spot anyway) so I encourage the criticism.

 

[Starlight Lotice]

Loved the Wii!!! It introduced to me the Virtual Console (the first Retro dedicated digital store).

Also loved Sonic Colours, Madworld, Sin & Punishment 2 (and 1 on VC), Opoona, Geometry Wars: Galaxies, Rodea The Sky Soldier, Kirby's Adventure Wii, Xenoblade, The Last Story and Wario Land: Shake Dimension!

Also made me buy and beat Pikmin 2 on superior controls!!!

The Hype for Brawl was amazing too! (I also liked the Subspace Emissary), the only disappointment was the slowness of the characters.

 

[Art.Menegatti]

Lol I was expecting this game so much

 

[V2Tommy]

Great way to encourage more threads like this. Well done.

OP clearly has public writing aspiration on display, and part of the process is being corrected and criticized. He's only going to get better over time and letting things slide stifles skill-building. Other than the occasional hurt feelings, there's no downside to improving your communication by following advice.

Anyway, on-topic: Wii could've and should've had a port of Valkyria Chronicles that used the Wiimote for aiming. Such a minor tweak and I think the game would've sold like hotcakes.

 

[kunonabi]

Well I'm stuck at the movies for the day so posting pics will have to wait. I got my Wii for Christmas as I managed to score one in a store raffle. I believe my only launch games aside from Wii Sports were DBZ and and Twilight Princess. I had actually stopped playing Zelda games since I didnt like the n64/GC titles but it seemed silly to not get a new Zelda game at launch. Glad I did because it got me back into series.

The Wii actually snuck up on me since I knew nothing about it until I played it at a friend's house. That was enough to get me to own one but I didnt really start falling in love with it until Super Mario Galaxy which is the game that reignited my passion for video games.

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

Same here, i prefer non-motion gaming as best as possible. I see it was a good idea, but putting it in most games wasn't ideal. It was the sole reason i never finished Skyward Sword.

I finished it, but I didn't enjoy myself the way I had playing previous Zeldas. I had heard about "Zelda fatigue" so many times but this was the game where I finally experienced it. I can see there's a lot about the game that's cool, I can see there's a lot that's well made, but to my surprise I struggled to care.

Anyway, on-topic: Wii could've and should've had a port of Valkyria Chronicles that used the Wiimote for aiming. Such a minor tweak and I think the game would've sold like hotcakes.

Radiant dawn should have been point to the square you want and click to go there. Great game but I just don't see don't see why motion controls gets shoehorned into some games and left out of ones where it seems like it would fit.

 

[dolabla]

I had a really good time before/after the Wii launched. Probably the funnest/funniest launch (or lead up to) night I've ever been to. I did not get mine at launch, but a friend did.

We camped (well, he did. I just stayed up there late and went home) out at Toys R Us and he pre-ordered both the PS3 and Wii. It was cold as shit that night with wind blowing. They did their pre-orders like two weeks before launch or something like that. We pulled up there and were the first people there. We stayed there for at least 30 minutes then we started to get hungry. During that time no one showed. So we decided to go grab something to eat at a place I had never eaten before. It was literally in the same shopping area. So we go through the drive thru, get our food and head back. This is all within like 10-15 minutes. We show back up and like 3-4 people had shown up during that time period. My friend was so pissed , but we had a good time. He ended up having to settle for pre-ordering the 20gb PS3 and he got his pre-order for the Wii as well. I remember we were messing with this guy (the guy said he was buying multiple systems to sell on ebay) saying my friend got an E3 pass and got to see all this shit cause his uncle was a journalist.

We still bring that night up every once in a while and have a laugh about everything that went on that night. Fun times. We even discovered just recently this guy we know now that we didn't know at the time was one of the people in line. Without even me or my friend bringing it up or anything, this guy brings up and remembers the (bullshit) E3 story . When he said that, we knew he was legit there. We all had a huge laugh about that.

When he actually got the system. I remember walking in to his living room seeing one of our other friend's playing/swinging his arms uncontrollably playing Wii Sports. Was the funniest thing I had seen in a while. I then finally got my hands on one and had so much fun.

I didn't get mine it until December. I called and called and called to different stores trying to figure out if their trucks had brought any. Finally, one day I called Toys R Us and they got them in stock and was able to snag one just before Christmas.

 

[Hulk_Smash]

Wii Sports Resort doesn't get half the accolades that it should.

It was the most complete payoff of motion control we got from any system or developer, bringing to fruition (smooth spatial tracking that works and drives gameplay nuance) what the original Wii Sports only halfway attained. And it did so just as the competitors were playing copycat and each pushing their own "revolutionary" new take on motions controls (Kinect, Move)--but neither of those had something as fun and motion-perfect as even just the frisbee dog game. Kinect Sports was a travesty of fuzzy movement, and Move didn't have any game that could that show the nuance of wrist movement so cleanly and make it immediately intuitive. Bringing it all together into an island with modes like the plane to explore it was also a nice touch.

Yep. Agreed. It was also the perfect party game. And it was miles better than the first Wii Sports. In fact I didn’t even care for the original. I played it on Christmas Day and other than bowling, I never picked it up again.

But Resort has a ton of great games and the motion controls worked so much better. My arm hurt after the hours I put into disc golf or the 3 pt contest.

And they were smart to model Wii Fit Plus after Resort. That game was fun as well.

it’s too bad Nintendo never made a true successor to this series. Maybe that ring game is a worthy successor but somehow I doubt it. I just want Resort with updated visuals and more game modes!

 

[EverydayBeast]

Thats was WII-U

That's not Wii 2!

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

Time to say it:



Wii Music was a very good game (provided that you understood what it was and didn't treat it like an entry in the braindead Guitar Hero "rhythm" genre).