The Nintendo Wii was a revelation when it launched, but three years later, and almost every aspect that stood out as unique is no more. Sony and Microsoft are both jumping on the motion control bandwagon, and you can now buy an Xbox 360 for less than a Wii. There’s no doubt it’s been phenomenally successful, but if you’ve dodged the hype train this far, is there any point climbing aboard now? Read on and we’ll break it down for you in our full Nintendo Wii review: Three years on.
Read the rest of our Nintendo Wii review:
Nintendo Wii review: online abilities
Nintendo Wii review: design and build
Nintendo Wii review: motion controls
Let’s get this straight: we think the Wii has been a disappointment, but not for some of the insults often hurled its way. We love the Wii’s motion controls. The system is simple and robust, and really does get more people involved. It wasn’t massively accurate until MotionPlus came out last year, but it was, and is, enough to open up whole new ways to play games. The controllers themselves also manage the impressive feat of doubling up as a more traditional gamepad in two halves, and we certainly prefer our racing games this way than with the Wii steering wheel.
We also have no beef with the Wii’s graphics. Yes, we wouldn’t complain if the company rocked up to our door with a new version sporting a HDMI port, but standard definition visuals still suit us just fine. We don’t yearn for HD graphics over fun games, and plenty of titles on the system show that originality is in the look of a game world rather than the number of pixels: Super Mario Galaxy and Sega’s MadWorld are far more pleasing on the eye than any number of new PS3 and Xbox 360 first person shooters.
The design of the slim Wii itself has stood the test of time, and Nintendo itself has done a good job of cranking out AAA grade titles: it’s got better at bringing motion control into games, and Wii Sports Resort really is superb multiplayer mayhem. Its track record of straight Mario and Zelda games with more traditional controls is still impeccable too.
But, and it’s a big but: perhaps Sega excepted, no third party developers are keeping up, and over the past three years it’s become clear that if you’re not keen on simple short bursts of living room frenzy, the Wii has the weakest catalogue of any current generation console. Where are the immersive adventures to match Metal Gear Solid 4, or bonkers online shooters as addictive as Team Fortress 2? Too many developers have fallen back on Mario Kart knock offs, platformers with unnecessary shaking manoeuvres and mini game compilations.
Nintendo’s only encouraged this, wheeling out a series of extra, moneyspinning peripherals, starting with the admittedly useful classic controller and balance board, and culminating in the sheer nonsense of the Wii Vitality Sensor: a port your put your finger in to monitor your pulse. The Wii isn’t a gimmick, but it’s been marketed like one, which is a crying shame, and we can’t help but feel it’s stunted originality and innovation, though not the number of sales.
The Wii has also failed to keep up online, and this grates purely because this isn’t an area Nintendo had to cut corners on to save money and keep the price and size down.
Granted, the Virtual Console is superb, although we’d prefer to pay in proper currency rather than points, letting you fill up on generations of arcade and console classics. But Nintendo’s completely missed the boat on convergence in the home. There’s backwards compatibility for the GameCube, true, but while Microsoft and Sony have made their consoles ever more catch-all set top boxes with every passing firmware update, Nintendo’s apparently called it a day and clocked off.
Nintendo’s to be congratulated for striking out in a different direction with the Wii’s focus and controls, but the trend of using the console’s power for more than just games, and gobbling up other set top boxes is one that’s just too big to ignore. We’re not expecting a software upgrade to turn the Wii into an all singing, all dancing media streamer, but the Wii’s hardware is perfectly capable of online video on demand at least (and music too). The success of BBC iPlayer has shown it, and Nintendo even has its own – surreal – video on demand channel in Japan. We’re not fussed about downloads, but is it so much to ask for a movie rental service?
With such a large install base across the world now, Nintendo has absolutely nothing to lose trying to come up with more reasons for people to use the Wii – and pay for downloads on it. It’s certainly something that Nintendo could fix this generation, if it wanted to, but with no clear signs that it plans to, we’re not sure it’s worth the risk buying a Wii now.
Ultimately, it comes down to this: if you’ve ever owned a Nintendo console before, and managed to avoid buying a Wii until now, we doubt it’s for you. Third party developers simply haven’t got with the program and bothered to come through with fun and new, lengthy games, motion focused or not. If you’ve got kids clamouring for one though, or come away from more than one work Wii evening wishing you had one, you’ll still love it, but we make no guarantees as to how long for.
Read the rest of our Nintendo Wii review:
Nintendo Wii review: online abilities
Nintendo Wii review: design and build
Nintendo Wii review: motion controls
