"Ultimately, although the Wii has helped expand the industry audience, its biggest strength (its unique design) has also been its biggest weakness it seems."

Funny how the reporter wrote that quote, without any suggestion from Wright that this is actually what he meant. Seems as though its used Wrights views to sell the same old argument yet again.

Nice way to take a quote out of context to make an attention grabbing headline. Smell a little bit of desesperation, not to crack whore level yet but it seem most gaming site are getting there and fast.

What you think it's only PS3 and the 360 that the Wii is hurting?

This is interesting coming from Will Wright - seeing as his biggest claim to fame - the sims - is the biggest "toy" video game out there.

Haha, he only said the Wii is fun. What an insult to the PS3 and 360. No where is fun mentioned around them. lol

I didn't really know how to feel with this article. This guy made the Sims games and all that, and there wasn't a negative tone outright, but it was just...weird. The 'sandbox' analogy was fitting in this case, but it kind of progressed the whole "Wii is for kids/play in the sandbox" thing. I agreed with some parts as it went on no doubt. Despite that, this was the biggest head scratcher:

"...it's not like these 40-hour involved RPG games as much as it is like these fun toys to pick up and start playing in five minutes. And it's really fun with a group of people sitting around... It really is more into what I would call the toy market, because most of the Wii games I've enjoyed felt more like toys than like games"

Wii is definitely the console for pick-up-and-play games, but it can definitely house the 40-hour involved RPG games. If Wii owners really like a game, they will play it just as much as any other console player would.
You have a chart like this: http://vgchartz.com/forum/thread.php?id=103300&page=1# that minimalizes that idea somewhat. If there are 40-hour RPGs actually made for the console, people will play them. What he said isn't too bad, I just couldn't interpret what he said very quickly. And if the pick-up-and-plays are all he enjoyed, he needs to try out different Wii games.

People that use percentages over 100% can't be taken seriously.  Many are on Maury saying, "I'm a million percent sure that he is the father."

On topic.  Where is the prof 00 when you need him?  He wrote several threads about this very subject about a year and a half ago. 

"He responded, "I think it's the direction that Nintendo chose to go down. I think if you have a hardcore gamer that's 22 years old and he wants to play a first-person shooter, he's going to go buy an Xbox to play Halo. Microsoft has done a great job of covering that market. So Nintendo said, 'Ok, we're not going to go head-to-head with that.' "

I'd just point out that I do not want Nintendo to go head-to-head with that, and it would be a dark day in gaming history. I like Nintendo consoles because they aren't simply full of games with gruff space marines, and it's been like that long before the Wii or Halo came along.

I don't care about the "toy" comment, while he may not view the HD consoles as toys it's not a thing to get worked up over.

I do think he's got the wrong idea with Nintendo's strategy though. He's talking as though they 'targeted a big niche', which is not true at all. The success of Nintendo's biggest software is precisely because they are broad shots, not specifically targeting particular demographics. Wii Sports does not "target" moms and dads, it's simply a game anyone can play. Wii Fit does not 'target' moms, it puts games into a new context of use (one that happens to be popular with moms, but as you see fitness gaming expand it'll eventually reach the more "hardcore" fitness audience). Brain Training similarly is popular with a very broad range of people.

In addition to that, people often ignore the amount of work Nintendo put into preventing a core fire, particularly in 2006 and 2007. Nintendo made sequels to almost all of the top Gamecube games, because they don't just want to 'target the casual audience'. It's the fact that even respected game designers like Will Wright still think in these terms that are actually preventing third parties from understanding just what it is that's made games sell so well on Wii.

Will Wright is rarely wrong with his opinion, it shows here.

Haven't you guys noticed that videogames are often located somewhat near the toys section? (When they are not right next the "entertainment" (TVs and stuff) section).

What's the problem with videogames being TOYS? Are gamers thinking that they are VERY mature because the don't play with toys? They play v-i-d-e-o-g-a-m-e-s. And even though we all know videogames=toys, some people refuse to admit it just because they do no want to share their toys -I mean- their v-i-d-e-o-g-a-m-e-s.

It's like... "Hey kiddo don't touch that, THAT IS NOT A TOY, that is a hardcore entertainment high definition gaming system, BUT NOT A TOY. You wanna play kid? Why don't you get something that suits better your level. Buy a toy. Get youself a Wii"

COME ON!!! Don't be selfish: videogames are for everybody!