Opinion: Two Years In - How The Wii Has Failed

[sean.aaron]

That was one of the selling points of the Wii - no extra peripherals to buy: no light guns, no fishing rods, no maracas...

On an unmentioned side note does anyone think the Wiimote's camera might have been a limiting factor in keeping the system from going HD? We've all had trouble pointing the cursor at 480p but can you imagine how much more difficult it might have been at 1080?

Good point; I'm happy to be able to play lightgun games without getting a lightgun, and if there were no motion controls at all the IR pointer itself really adds a lot to the controls in many games -- basically like having a built-in mouse without needing a surface to rest it on.

To the query, that's a good question, but I think the cost of the extra graphics processing and any associated licensing costs would be a bigger factor. I don't get the sense there's a technological limitation relating to the on-screen resolution.

[Jay6]

Oh no! Someone doesn't like the Wii! Spread the news all over the internet!
Honestly, I don't care what other people think. I still like the Wii.

[Eviltaco64]

I like the Wii, but honestly, I think it's overrated and lacking innovation.

The Wiimote concept is alright (and great when used right, usually by Nintendo), but I prefer conventional controls.

For graphics, it's alright. I mean, the character models are smooth, games for the most part look ok, but I could say the same thing about Black on Xbox/PS2.

Once again, don't get me wrong. If it's a good game, I'd play it even if it were on the Atari Jaguar (or, dare I say, Philips CD-i ).

With that said, all I really want Nintendo to feature in their successor to the Wii is graphics on or super-par with their competitors and some better 3rd party games. They themselves are doing great things with the Wii, integrating great controls and pushing the Wii a little more everytime whereas most 3rd party publishers (excluding companies like Capcom and Konami and the good batch of Wii 3rd party games) just release shovelware.

[sean.aaron]

I'm sure by the time a next console for Nintendo happens they'll be able to get the current gen graphics processors for cheap. Spending the extra money to keep up with lesser competitors doesn't seem to make any financial sense at all.

[ICE]

The Wii has failed to keep me interested.. Theres nothing inherently wrong with the Wii in itself, its the games. Theres just not enough of them that arent complete crap to keep anyone but a casual gamer satisfied.

[coolguy08]

Hmm, now my kids are burying them.. just don't know why..