What was the Wii? A flawed but ultimately successful console.
Although I can see why some people consider motion gaming a gimmick, that alone is not enough reason to write off the Wii as simply a gimmick. That would be like saying the DS was a gimmick because controlling a game with a microphone is a terrible idea. Motion controls may have been an integral part of the system, but were not so intrusive as to exclude games that didn't take advantage of them. Some of the best games on the Wii barely used motion controls (Super Smash Bros Brawl, Xenoblade, Monster Hunter Tri, Rayman Origins, etc).
The Wii had its flaws, which are too widely known to require mention, and was obviously the odd man out compared to the PS3 and X360. But this helped it become the home of more exclusives than other consoles. Even if we ignore Nintendo as a developer and publisher, there was a vast number of Wii exclusives, many of which had fairly distinct flavors (Boom Blox, MadWorld, No More Heroes, Trauma Team, etc). Many of them were able to fill a certain middle ground not found elsewhere at the time, since download exclusives were still fairly limited (partially by necessity) and the HD Consoles had a higher base retail price.
I think that in retrospect, the Wii is best viewed as an oddball that introduced a few trends and extended some others, but one that ultimately did not indicate the future of gaming. And that's okay.
