Monday, April 30, 2007

The Wii is Overrated - Big time

After a terrible gaming experience with the Gamecube I though I'd never own a Nintendo product again. They seemed to be designing for kids and for the Japanese market (and Americans enamored with Japanese culture and things like Anime, which I just cannot get into.)

But over the holidays I got my hands on one and got sucked in by the novelty of the Wiimote and the promise of a new way to game.

But after playing a few titles I must say that the perfume no longer smells sweet.

Yes, the Wiimote is innovative, and I suspect some games will come along and dazzle us with their brilliant use of the technology. But when?

Let's face it, the graphics suck. Third party game support is currently non-existent. And when it does come, won't they just be ports of games that just look much better on the PS3 and XBOX 360?

But hey what about the ability to download and play great games like Elevator action for only $5-$8. Are you serious. This is an attempt on Nintendo's part to remind you just how awful the graphics were in old games so that you feel as though Wii games are a quantum leap forward. They need to give me those games for a $1 or for free.

But hey, what about the browser? Have you seen the web on your TV? IT looks like crap. 'nuf said.

Back to the Wiimote. The only reason anyone buys this thing. (Besides the fact that parents presented with the choice of laying out $399, $499 or $249, see at least $150 that they get to keep in their pockets.)

Some have speculated that similar controller systems could be developed for the other consoles. But success there would be unlikely. The problem is the adoption rate. What developer will write games that use the technology until there is an installed base of owners? And what users will buy a new controller system with no selection of games. It's an idea doomed to fail. So for this generation of consoles, Nintendo has the only system that will use such technology.

Now if they could only do something with it that keeps my attention.

Anyone want to buy a Wii?

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