Its the unique console, affordable, motion sensing controller, and some great games(zelda,etc)

It's the only next gen console in the market.

TO NEOS:


But the gamecube did not have a gimmicky (so they say) controller.

Its cheap

Real life controls? That's a nice idea.

In real life, I am crap at tennis: I have a weak swing, poor coordination and get tired easily. In Wii-al life, I can play tennis quite competently with my feet.

Seriously though, proper gamers love it for games like Zelda, SMG and Metroid. The muppets that make up the lion's share of all console sales like it because when they wave their arms about, things move on screen. Wii Sports is the new Pong.

It's great because it's different.

We know that RE4 is a great game, but when you put it on the Wii it's a totally different experience. A game like Super Mario Galaxy could be fun on any console, but add in the fresh control scheme and it's amazing. A game like Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released on every console but because you could actually act out the spells it took a stale game and turned it into something new and exciting.

Any day I get to use this quote more than once in a day is a good day:
"The graveyard of any industry is filled with the headstones of companies who decided to keep doing things the same old way. Playing only on the margin, making things just a little bit better. That strategy works....for a while, but ultimately it's fatal. Over the years our industry has come to accept progress simply by what’s on the screen."
-Reggie Fils-Aime

As much as I agree with the things everyone else is saying about the wii, I think the real reason it's done so well is because it's the "in thing."

The wii just has this appeal to everybody and it carries that image throughout the media, helping it do well not just with gamers, but with EVERYBODYYYY.

How is the wii the only real next gen console. The controller still uses batteries. Making me get off the couch does not make it the only real next gen console.

It represtent a seachange in the industry and opens up the industry to the mainstream, turning it into a true mass market media