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[StAidan]

The Wii brought me back to gaming after I'd lost interest in the hobby, starting with the end of the SNES era. Wii was most definitely the spiritual successor to the NES in every way. It's pretty sad that Nintendo finally rediscovered its winning formula after a decade of lost potential, only to follow it up with the Wii U. (Which admittedly has amazing games -- that I might never have played if not for the Wii.)

 

[Riki]

No More Heroes alone made the console a must own.
Then you have Xenoblade and it becomes the greatest machine ever.

 

[foxuzamaki]

I freaking love the wii, I still buy games for it to this day, latest was Sakura Wars so long my love

 

[Gucci Messiah]

Easily THE most underappreciated gaming software library in history.

So many people missed out on so many great games because of "lol SD grafx!!!1!!"

Also, LOL at anybody talking about shovelware. The beloved PS2 was just as bad.

"The PS2 had shovelware therefore the Wii can't be criticized!"

You're just deflecting. Anyway the point is that the majority of Wii 3rd party stuff was shovelware garbage while that was not the case with the PS2. You buy a Nintendo console for the 1st party games; it's been that way since the N64.

 

[Spieler Eins]

I'll always appreciate the Wii for being the last bastion of console B games. They are sorely missed nowadays and its a gulf that indies are yet to fill, imo.

After E3 and TGS, they seem to be coming back to PS4, from Japan anyway.

 

[papo]

The Wii was such a good console...with such a wasted potential. I feel the same about the WiiU, but the potential wasted there is a lot more.

 

[Linkark07]

The Wii had good first party games, I won´t deny that. But it made me skip the Wii U too.

 

[FLAguy954]

I'm absolutely amazed anyone can hold an opinion like this when looking at the sales of the Wii vs Wii U.

Why? If the Wii was configured like the Wii U hardware-wise, this hypothetical Wii would have most likely have sold for like $50 more and sold a similar amount of units imo (especially since the only thing separating the PS3, Xbox 360 and this hypothetical Wii would be their libraries).

 

[Sadist]

And I agree.

Great system with a lot of great gems that a lot of folks didn't see because they only saw the sea of terrible third party efforts.

 

[Plinko]

"The PS2 had shovelware therefore the Wii can't be criticized!"

You're just deflecting. Anyway the point is that the majority of Wii 3rd party stuff was shovelware garbage while that was not the case with the PS2. You buy a Nintendo console for the 1st party games; it's been that way since the N64.

Please, show me where I said nobody could criticize the Wii.

The Wii DID have shovelware. Lots of it. I was just pointing out how people conveniently ignore that when talking about PS2.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

"The PS2 had shovelware therefore the Wii can't be criticized!"

You're just deflecting. Anyway the point is that the majority of Wii 3rd party stuff was shovelware garbage while that was not the case with the PS2. You buy a Nintendo console for the 1st party games; it's been that way since the N64.

I mean, how would you know? You only played the console for 10 minutes.

 

[Voysa Reezun]

No HD support does suck. Even games with stellar art direction like Galaxy, NiGHTS, Okami, and TvC look unpolished when you play them now. It is really noticeable.

 

[Shifu-Sushi]

Nope, this is the worst console of Nintendo. The Worst.

 

[foxuzamaki]

Having good games does not equal a good console.

This has to be a oxymoron

 

[TheLastCandle]

Easily THE most underappreciated gaming software library in history. Hardware wasn't great but the games were fantastic.

So many people missed out on so many great games because of "lol SD grafx!!!1!!"

Also, LOL at anybody talking about shovelware. The beloved PS2 was just as bad. Also, the attach rate for Wii was right near 360 and PS3. GAF for some reason thinks it wasn't even close, which is ludicrous.

I will forever be a member of the Wii defense force here. Most underrated library EVER.

 

[ASIS]

"The PS2 had shovelware therefore the Wii can't be criticized!"

You're just deflecting. Anyway the point is that the majority of Wii 3rd party stuff was shovelware garbage while that was not the case with the PS2. You buy a Nintendo console for the 1st party games; it's been that way since the N64.

That was definitely the case with the PS2 though....

 

[OrbitalBeard]

No HD support does suck. Even games with stellar art direction like Galaxy, NiGHTS, Okami, and TvC look unpolished when you play them now. It is really noticeable.

It honestly doesn't bother me, even today. I play Wii games on my plasma set pretty regularly. Once I realized back in 2006 that the system wouldn't output in HD, I kind of let it go.

 

[perfectchaos007]

Say what you want about how poorly the Wii's 2nd half of its lifecycle was, its launch truly was revolutionary. I remember how mindblown I was when I was able to play Wii Tennis on my television. This truly felt like the future of gaming at the time and it was an absolute blast to play. After that though a lot of games put in motion controls just for the sake of having them in. For example, an action command that could easily be input by pressing "A" was instead input by shaking the WiiMote. More and more lazy developers started being guilty of this and it really diluted the good offerings on the system.

That being said, it was one of the most fun consoles I had owned from 2006-2009

 

[VLiberty]

I love it.

It wasn't powerful and it didn't feature the most complete library ever...whatever. It was filled with amazing games.

 

[teeny]

"The PS2 had shovelware therefore the Wii can't be criticized!"

You're just deflecting. Anyway the point is that the majority of Wii 3rd party stuff was shovelware garbage while that was not the case with the PS2. You buy a Nintendo console for the 1st party games; it's been that way since the N64.

The point is: so what?

People that are reminiscing positively about the console obviously did not play the shovelware. As with the PS2, it is a moot point.

Honestly, there was a lot of onteresting third party stuff. Perhaps not AAA juggernauts, but the kind of weird B games found on earlier consoles.

It feels like Im reading the Game Spot forums again

 

[foxuzamaki]

Nobody's even mentioned the three Trauma Center games on the Wii yet.

Which only proves that there will never be another one made ever again

 

[LegendofLex]

Why? If the Wii was configured like the Wii U hardware-wise, this hypothetical Wii would have most likely have sold for like $50 more

It absolutely would not have. Not in 2006.

Nor would it have made any difference, since the non-hardcore audience Wii was targeting didn't adopt HD sets en masse until at least 2010-11 anyway. (Thus, HD would have offered added cost for zero added value.)

And to crank out games that took advantage of such a system would have made the pipeline much slower, as we've seen with Wii U. You think 2013 Nintendo struggling with HD was bad? Wait until you see 2006 "we haven't even fully utilized GameCube's power" Nintendo try their hand at it.

Wii executed on a very specific business model: crappy products for crappy customers (i.e. low-cost, high-margin products for customers who are individually less profitable than traditional customers).

It couldn't have done that by targeting Wii U specs in 2006. That would have required them to put out a high-cost, low-margin product that justified its sticker price by appealing to traditional customer demands like better graphics or traditional controls, which shoves out room for innovation risk (and thus any of the things they did to grab the non-traditional market).

This is basically exactly what we saw happen with Wii U. Nintendo provided a more standardized controller to attract standardized third-party games, and the result was that instead of highly differentiated games (Wii Sports, Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii) that attract a highly differentiated audience (80 million people who didn't buy GameCubes), Wii U only wound up producing mildly differentiated takes on standardized games (New Super Mario Bros. U, Pikmin 3, Wind Waker HD) that attracted a highly standardized audience (hardcore Nintendo fans who probably bought Gamecubes).

 

[SirUltimos]

What? I know we are just talking about your opinion, but name one Nintendo franchise that is better on Wii other than mario galaxy.

Personally:
Kirby
Battalion Wars
Mario Strikers
Donkey Kong
I liked the Zelda roughly equally (I realize I'm probably the odd one out here)


Additionally, we had an actual 2D Mario and I loved the new Excite games, way more than any other game in the series.

I'm mostly comparing to the Gamecube. Going further back and you'll find individual franchises have better entries, but as a whole I prefer the Wii library.

I'm also not saying it was perfect. Some franchises certainly were worse than previous consoles. Metroid (even Prime 3) wasn't nearly as good as past entries, and things like Paper Mario were much weaker.

 

[WaffleTaco]

I would prefer almost everything about the wii if it did not have wii controls. The only thing good about motion controls was wii sports and that's it.

 

[greg400]

Why? If the Wii was configured like the Wii U hardware-wise, this hypothetical Wii would have most likely have sold for like $50 more and sold a similar amount of units imo (especially since the only thing separating the PS3, Xbox 360 and this hypothetical Wii would be their libraries).

Part of what made the Wii so compelling was how cheap it was and for Nintendo specifically how they were able to make a profit off of each unit sold from launch. Nintendo isn't Microsoft or Sony, they can't pad their finances from other divisions and take a hit on a console without serious implications (like we saw with Wii U). Lets not get into crystal ball scenarios of what might've happened if Nintendo changed the specs and raised the price of the console. All we have is history to go off of and for Nintendo the Wii was a massive success and the Wii U was a failure.

 

[21XX]

For me, bringing it home that first Thanksgiving and Christmas after it was released was worth the price alone. Playing Wii Sports with my whole family -- parents and a couple of siblings who don't play games -- was honestly magical and some of the most fun I've ever had playing games. It was very heartwarming.

 

[mrmickfran]

I 100% agree

Here's my top 5 Wii games thread from awhile back:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1107974

 

[ILoveBish]

The only console I intend on keeping as long as I live. Such an amazing system.

 

[Scientist Supreme!]

The reason I got into video games.
So, yeah I would agree.

 

[Dicer]

Wii is still awesome, waggle haters can cry, but there are some amazing "motion" experiences to be had, and the non-wiggle library is pretty big as well.

Awesome lil box, and if you hate low rez there is dolphin these days.

 

[Krappadizzle]

I bought a Wii when I was training a few states away from home and was browsing through gamestop and saw they had a copy of Ikaruga. I bought a wii for a gamecube game. I had fun with the wii, Mario Galaxy was especially awesome, but I ended up giving it to my family a short while later. I then rebought a wii for Galaxy 2 and after that it collected dust. It was a fun social system, but I didn't get much use out of it unless I had buddies over.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

Why? If the Wii was configured like the Wii U hardware-wise, this hypothetical Wii would have most likely have sold for like $50 more and sold a similar amount of units imo (especially since the only thing separating the PS3, Xbox 360 and this hypothetical Wii would be their libraries).

The Wii would have likely launched at a higher price point than the PS3. For starters, it uses Blu-ray technology. The gamepad would have been a ridiculous price to manufacture at the time.

Let's say that it was simply an Xbox 360, without the Wii extras. Nintendo would have had to eat a pretty large cost of each console sold, something they were in absolutely no position to do.

 

[Voysa Reezun]

It honestly doesn't bother me, even today. I play Wii games on my plasma set pretty regularly. Once I realized back in 2006 that the system wouldn't output in HD, I kind of let it go.

For me personally, when I go from playing Wii games to playing PS4 or 360 games, the comparison is very jarring. I actually wish that Nintendo would pay closer attention to stuff like HD, or for a more current example, 4K support because the art direction in their games is so good and deserves as much.

 

[Gucci Messiah]

I mean, how would you know? You only played the console for 10 minutes.

Did I say I only played for ten minutes or that it took that long to realize the console wasn't very good?

Wii sucked in my opinion and most of the 1st party stuff outside of mainline Mario is inferior to their Gamecube or even Wii U counterparts. Gimped tech, forced waggle, awful 3rd party support, laughable online, reliance on peripheral gimmicks and a fickle casual market...It was passable as a secondary console but I'd feel sorry for anyone that only had a Wii.

 

[DSix]

The Wii was an horrible machine with a handful of good Nintendo games on it (in spite of the console itself).

 

[Ultimadrago]

The Wii was the console that made me realize sticking close to Nintendo (or any other company without due diligence; but especially Nintendo) is a bad idea. So Im grateful for that lesson, I suppose.

It chased me away to the PS3 and 360 and Im very glad it did. I was still able to experience some of its awesome software offerings like Little King's Story and Mario Galaxy though.

 

[Sami+]

Hated it, easily my least favorite console from the big three.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

For me personally, when I go from playing Wii games to playing PS4 or 360 games, the comparison is very jarring. I actually wish that Nintendo would pay closer attention to stuff like HD, or for a more current example, 4K support because the art direction in their games is so good and deserves as much.

It would be jarring for me if I didn't set my expectations accordingly. When I turn on a Wii game, I realize I'm playing on a system from 2006 that uses 2000 tech. When I play a PS4 game, I'm aware that I'm playing something much more modern tech-wise.

Obviously, the difference is pretty huge when going from Wii to PS4 but it's all about expectations, at leas for me. Always has been this way. It's why I still have no problem playing Gameboy games.

Did I say I only played for ten minutes or that it took that long to realize the console wasn't very good?

I was joking

I assumed someone who bought a console would spend more than ten minutes with it.

 

[Stimpack]

I'm absolutely amazed anyone can hold an opinion like this when looking at the sales of the Wii vs Wii U.

I've always felt that the lackluster sales of the Wii U stem more from a disappointment with the Wii than anything else. I didn't buy a Wii U because of my experience with the Wii, and I'm sure I'm not alone.

 

[DAREALGUMMY]

The wii was a terrible console. It lacked many standard features of that generation.

Having good games does not equal a good console. Those are separate, the games are on the console are great but the console itself is still terrible. All of the wii games can be played on my Wii U thus nullifying the argument you made.

That's like saying the PS2 wasn't a great console because you can play PS2 games on the PS3

 

[UncleSporky]

I don't see how shovelware should directly garner criticism for a platform. You would've enjoyed the console more with fewer games on it?

What about the devs who came out with low-budget-but-brilliant titles as part of the mad rush onto the platform?

What about the devs who funded further investment on the platform with sales from their other titles, such as THQ who released shovelware in addition to Deadly Creatures and De Blob?

What about games you hate and consider shovelware that others consider among the best on the platform? What about games you love that others call shovelware?

Shovelware itself is not a negative. The main negative is that better games get lost in the shuffle, but that's just a side effect. A large library is a healthy library. Choice and diversity is a good thing.

Imagine if instead of 1500 games, Wii only had a library of 100 games, all of the best ones that were ever released for it. It'd be like Wii U at that point.

 

[EmptySkyForm]

I don't know how old are you or if you have ever played old games.
When you play an old console you won't think at the context there was at the time because you are playing the console right now (when that context doesn't matter anymore or even when you can't know the context because you weren't even born).
All you have before your eyes is the game itself (which is obviously dependent on the hardware).

So you mean to tell me that if right now somebody created a console with literally no features other than being able to play games. Was only able to play floppy disks, and 8 bit games was it's highest capabilities, BUT came out with three stellar titles that that console would be on par or greater than the current gen?

Like I keep saying the games can exist without the wii. Wii games can be ported, wii games can work on my emulator, wii games work on Wii U. It's it's own thing. Judge the console, not the games associated with the console. He is arguing that the wii is great, meaning he is talking about the console it self.

The wii has great games and the wii is a great system are two different arguments.

 

[FLAguy954]

The Wii would have likely launched at a higher price point than the PS3. For starters, it uses Blu-ray technology. The gamepad would have been a ridiculous price to manufacture at the time.

Let's say that it was simply an Xbox 360, without the Wii extras. Nintendo would have had to eat a pretty large cost of each console sold, something they were in absolutely no position to do.

I forgot that the last generation consoles were initially expensive for both Microsoft and Sony and that Nintendo generally did not participate in loss-leading hardware. So I am inclined to agree with you.

 

[redcrayon]

Wii was fun for about 10 minutes until you realized Nintendo gimped it with 2001 tech and forced waggle. 99% of the time I found myself wishing I had a normal controller and don't even get me started on their friend code bullshit which RUINED online multiplayer. Third party support was mostly crappy spin-offs and shovelware; the only thing Wii had going for it was the virtual console. Easily Nintendo's worst system yet it somehow sold a ton because it became a fad/ late 00's pop culture icon.

Virtually all of my favourite Wii games used a normal controller and didn't force motion controls at all. I didn't need them for Mario Kart, Monster Hunter, Fire Emblem, Xenoblade, and that's distinctly more than ten minutes of gaming, it's several hundred hours and probably more than I put into my PS3.

I agree that the forced waggle made Zelda a chore, but the option of a pointer rather than an analogue stick for Sin & Punishment, Dead Space Extraction etc made up for it for me.

The idea that the Wii didn't have any good games is utter rubbish, it's incredibly simplistic to write off a whole library as waggle when it had great games that didn't need motion controls at all.

 

[Astral Dog]

Underrated

 

[meanspartan]

The wii was a terrible console. It lacked many standard features of that generation.

Having good games does not equal a good console. Those are separate, the games are on the console are great but the console itself is still terrible. All of the wii games can be played on my Wii U thus nullifying the argument you made.

I think you are going against how game consoles are usually judged, which is games. If we aren't judging by games but rather hardware and features, then a good argument can be made that the Vita is the best gaming system of all time (lol).

Anyway, I liked the Wii, but it not being HD really hurt it for me in my opinion by around 2008ish when I finally got an HDTV. The component cable helped a bit, but not enough.

 

[ASIS]

For me personally, when I go from playing Wii games to playing PS4 or 360 games, the comparison is very jarring. I actually wish that Nintendo would pay closer attention to stuff like HD, or for a more current example, 4K support because the art direction in their games is so good and deserves as much.

Nintendo's biggest mistake in creating hardware is that they are paying close attention to the TV market as well. during the Wii's development they thought the adaption rate for HDTVs would be slow. So they designed the system to fit the majority of the market at the time. Unfortunately for Nintendo the adaption rate for HDTVs was super high and the Wii's faults seemed more apparent as time went by.

The system was not future proof by any means, which is really unfortunate.

 

[greg400]

I've always felt that the lackluster sales of the Wii U stem more from a disappointment with the Wii than anything else. I didn't buy a Wii U because of my experience with the Wii, and I'm sure I'm not alone.

You're the minority.

1) The majority of people don't know the difference between the Wii and the Wii U
2) The Wii U is more expensive and would've been a lot more at the time
3) The Wii U didn't have the same casual appeal, controller was too complicated

Thinking they could just swap the two hardware bases and expect the same sales and financial results is honestly ridiculous.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

So you mean to tell me that if right now somebody created a console with literally no features other than being able to play games. Was only able to play floppy disks, and 8 bit games was it's highest capabilities, BUT came out with three stellar titles that that console would be on par or greater than the current gen?

Like I keep saying the games can exist without the wii. Wii games can be ported, wii games can work on my emulator, wii games work on Wii U. It's it's own thing. Judge the console, not the games associated with the console. He is arguing that the wii is great, meaning he is talking about the console it self.

The wii has great games and the wii is a great system are two different arguments.

I think it's fairly obvious to most that when someone says "x system is great", they're speaking about its game library. Now if someone says "x really is a great piece of hardware", they're talking about the box itself.

 

[Anth0ny]

by far the worst nintendo console. those were some tough times.

but man, the galaxy games and megaman 9 are fucking awesome.