The first time I sat in front of my Wii, I was excited beyond belief. It was simply unbelievable that I had procured one of the consoles, having been actively seeking it out for months past the November 2006 release. As one of the many followers of Nintendo since its debut stateside, I was enamored with the "revolution" that had been thrust forward into the gaming world. My favorite Nintendo IPs were to be shaped as I had never seen them before. Swordfighting as Link through usage of the Wii remote? Magnificent! What new opportunities would await the beloved Metroid series? I must admit, I was completely entranced.

Wii Sports was fun for the first two weeks, and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess failed to impress. Week after week passed, and I spent my earnings on more deserving titles, for the Wii ceased to impress me. Weeks turned into months, and now here I am, having completed Super Mario Galaxy since. While thoroughly delighted with the latest Mario venture, I have spent most of my time with the Wii playing GameCube titles. In fact, I may as well be playing GameCube games. They're certainly cheaper, and involve much more intriguing gameplay with comparable graphics. It also has motion control! You know, when you're moving the controller and leaning in and out so that zombie doesn't take a plug out of your neck? That does tend to help.

Nintendo is fine with providing Wii titles akin to GameCube 1.5 creations. They are, after all, in the entertainment business to make money. With more senior citizens, housewives, and otherwise non-gamers getting in on the action, the cheaper and wiser course of action to take is to try to appease this new audience. What does this new audience want? Not a lot. Most will be content to stand in front of their TV and pretend that they're throwing a real bowling ball. Doing so requires very few bells and whistles, graphics being one of them. They're not looking for an adventure like you'd find in The Legend of Zelda. No, if they can burn a few minutes or an hour playing a few mini games while flailing their arms around, that's what matters. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it does make for a very lazy Nintendo.

Charging upwards of $50 for each new collection of gimmicky minigames or poorly-crafted port of a popular game on another system (Dead Rising, anyone?) is just not my cup of tea. If I'm going to put down a couple days' work at minimum wage on the counter at my store, I'm going to want to see something that looks like it's worth it. I could spend far less on Oblivion, the original Dead Rising, or a number of better games for what is currently being asked for Carnival Games. It's a joke. It's laughable that Nintendo actually expects its core audience to be satiated by this pitiful display they've had on show for two years now.

Downplaying graphics and gameplay is unwarranted. There is simply no excuse to skimp in those departments just because a few grandparents are going to be happy no matter what's showing up on their screen. The Wii is a member of the current-gen console club, and has a very important role to fill. Innovation alone will not win everyone over. Of course, it will win the casual gamer, and that is who Nintendo is now primarily catering to. I, for one, am not going to be hopping on this waggle-my-Wii-remote bandwagon. Having been a Nintendo fan since my inception as a gamer, I will be avoiding the shovelware that is rapidly flooding store shelves and sticking to gems like No More Heroes and Nights: Journey of Dreams. Of course, halfway through I might pick up my GameCube controller and attempt to fly NiGHTS. It's not like I would be reminded otherwise