| MikeB said: @ Sqrl The answers should be fairly obvious and if they are then you are probably the sort of person that understands why the Wii is successfull even if you don't like it for those reasons (or at all). Not due the advancement of game complexity (not meaning complex to play or anything like that) and graphics.  Six main reasons why I thought the Wii would sell like it does, before the Wii launched: 1) GameCube discontinued 2) Relatively cheap, but (despite low specs, 3) still looks fresh due to) Motion sensing, fun new novelty gameplay (and) 4) Cute form factor 5) Popular game franchises, brandname people grew up with playing. 6) Targetting new groups of people like Grandparents and good brandname reputation for producing cute kids games. This may explain why I never was much surprised like others the Wii sold like hotcakes and likewise I won't be surprised when sales start to slow significantly in the future. I look forward to when consoles are pushing the envelope on interactivity and graphics together because that will truly be an amazing generation The graphics and processing potential of the PS3 would result in a more expensive device for the short run killing one of the Wii's most profound advantages at this point. Of course I agree there's a lot of potential with regard to input devices, Amiga based solutions pioneered with motion sensing enabled virtual reality (head and hand tracking in games, sword games, tennis, boxing, FPS, etc) and the Amiga Joyboard (balance board) from the early eighties was rather similar to Wii-Fit (surfing and skiing games). It was clear there's a lot of potential for games in the future for such innovations back then. Sony also introduced the Eyetoy and games like Eye Sports for the Playstation 2, of course the PS3 includes Eyetoy support and motion sensing as well, for example the flying levels in Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction are a lot of fun where motion sensing really adds to the experience. I would love to see a Wii-mote-like device for the PS3 (technically only needs a Wii-mote driver), but in no circumstance would I want such a device as a complete replacement for the Sixaxis controller, IMO for the majority of games I care about the Sixaxis controller is far more suitable. |
On the first part, you are doing yourself a disservice to convince yourself that those are the reasons it sells. Sure you could say that some of them are reasons it sells, but the real reasons the console sells are fairly obvious, and as I said, some get it some don't. There are plenty of threads debating this so I won't rehash it here, so for now suffice it to say I disagree.
On the second point, I belive you missunderstood. First and foremost I am saying that game companies should not be utilizing technology that is beyond the cost effective curve. The reasons for this are (should be) obvious. But secondary to that I want them to push the user interactions like they have done with graphics. We seem to agree that there is merit in this philosophy so I won't dwell on it further. But I will say that this type of change will have to come next generation, so you are mistaken if you think I was saying the Wii should have had that.
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| To Each Man, Responsibility |
