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Forums - Gaming - What was the Wii?

 

How much did you like the Wii?

5/5 - Loved it! Underrated! 129 26.54%
 
4/5 - Great! 144 29.63%
 
3/5 - Good 80 16.46%
 
2.5/5 - Ok 47 9.67%
 
2/5 - Underwhelming/Bad 33 6.79%
 
1/5 - Horrible 26 5.35%
 
See Results 27 5.56%
 
Total:486
Arminillo on 02 October 2017
h2ohno said:
The Wii is easily my favorite console and the one I have the most games for. Mario Galaxy, Prime Trilogy, Wii Sports games, Skyward Sword, Xenoblade, Brawl, and many others. It made shooters worth playing on consoles for the first time thanks to pointer controls. And despite what people say, it had a ton of great third party support with games like Red Steel 2, Monster Hunter Tri, Goldeneye, Resident Evil, ect. It had great sports games like the early Maddens and later Tiger Woods. I still haven't completed my backlog of Wii games.

Certain people started turning against the Wii after Nintendo's terrible E3 showing in 2008. But the system was fantastic with a ton of fantastic games that were either exclusive or better with the Wiimote than with dual analog controllers. I've had a Wii for 10 years and I still play it regularly.

yeah now that Wii U can play wii games on gamepad ive been trying out a lot of games i missed, and apparently i missed alot. I've been listening to Madworlds OST and im excited to to get it, as well as needing to play No More Heroes.



Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda!!!!


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Ljink96 on 02 October 2017

As a gamer, it was an okay console with some good games. It wasn't underrated.

The Wii of course as we all know, was heralded for executing motion controls well. But even that's a semi stretch. But it came at the right place at the right time where gaming had become predictable, Wii was something totally different for the industry. And it deserves respect for that. People call it a fluke, but the technology was bought to Sony and Microsoft first where they then proceeded to laugh it off. Nintendo saw its potential and considered it a revolution in gaming, which it was. So calling it a fluke is foolhardy and ignorant.

But yeah, it was okay. Some of my favorite games of all time come from its library. Xenoblade Chronicles, Mario Galaxy, Twilight Princess, Brawl, MK Wii, DCKR, so many classics including the virtual console which introduced me to games I'd never played before. Y's Book I and II remains the best 6 bucks I've ever spent on a game purchase and VC introduced me to it. I say overall, it was a 4.3/5. Some motion controlled games were wonky, the shovelware...dear God the shovelware... and online functionality was next to garbage. I wasn't a HUGE fan of the mote and nunchuck but at least they had optional GC ports for games that needed it.

It served its purpose well, I think and with Wii U Nintendo didn't understand that and yeah. That's my take.



OTBWY on 02 October 2017
AngryLittleAlchemist said:

What was the Wii? What did it mean to you? How do you feel about the system? Is it great? Underrated critically? Bad? Overatted? Mediocre? 

I put this in "Gaming discussion" because I genuinely want to see perspectives from everybody, not just Nintendo fans. 

This topic was inspired by Curl-6

I just can't pin down what the Wii is! What do I believe?!?!?!

So I've been thinking about it recently ... and out of all the consoles that have come and gone, the Wii's reception is still the most polarizing I can think of. Even compared to the Gamecube, which has recieved almost universal praise in hindsight. It's kind of interesting because most major consoles seem to get nothing but love in retrospect. Even commercial failures like the Saturn or Dreamcast have had huge love given to them when looking into the past. The Wii is a console that seems to be more and more mixed as time passes. It seems well documented that it was beloved conceptually before it's release and well into it's first two years, even hardcore gamers seemed to be appealed by the concept(though you can find old Youtube videos shitting on the Wii). Years into the system though? Nowadays? It's pretty much remembered as a fad, a gimmick machine that allowed Nintendo to actually make the high selling console in a generation for once since the SNES. There even seems to be an attitude around that the fact that the Wii U failed just goes to prove what a fad the Wii was, and how it was almost an "illegitimate" succeess. 

That being said, I've seen a lot of interesting perspectives on the Wii ... 

Here are more or less the three perspectives I've seen the most, ranked from most popular to least : 

1. The Wii was a gimmick, a bad or extremely mediocre machine

2. The Wii was an "ok" console with some good games

3. The Wii was a great underrated console 

The third perspective is one I haven't seen too often, but it seems to pop up more and more with time. What's odd is that there's some sort of detachement I feel, from the Wii and it's software, where a lot of people will say the system has great amazing games, but it is a bad system. I usually don't hear this with the likes of the Saturn or Dreamcast. Of course there are obvious nuances, i'm just pointing out an interesting dichatamy. 

I guess i'm mostly interested in this because I love learning about video game history, despite being much newer to games then most people. The quality of the Wii, seems to be one of the most opinionated things in recent memory. I was 7 when I got a Wii, and for me it was just a Mario Party/Kart/Wii Sports/Super Smash Bros. machine. But i'm so interested in how it was to be there, with the mind of a consumer, who easily understands what they want and what games to follow and how that affected the system for them. 

It's funny because a lot of the Wii's output was reboots of old beloved series like Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong Country, and even a partnership for the creation of Sin and Punishment 2. Fun fact, I've somehow stumbled across two seperate stores with new copies of Sin and Punishment before, one in Arizona and one in Oregon ... THIS YEAR!!! No other Wii stuff was on the shelves!!! While Super Mario Bros. and DKCR were more casual affair(mainly the former) they still reinjuvenated a series of 2D platformers hardcore fans dearly missed. Nintendo launched the system with what was considered the true hardcore Zelda experience at the time, and while that wasn't really a big statement seeing as it was a port, Nintendo even advertised fairly well (though not as great as they should have...as IGN will confirm) Metroid Prime 3. 

The system also has a myraid of niche cult-classics. Games like Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story, Pandora's Tower, Zack and Wiki, Red Steel, and No More Heroes. Even more interesting was that a lot of Wii exclusive games from third parties like No More Heroes 2 or ... MySims, ended up selling worse when they became multi-plats.

One thing that I think is kind of interesting, is that the two internet personalities that I know love the Wii - thought the Gamecube was mediocre. Mizzah Tee and Top Hat Gaming.

 

Now at this point you're probably thinking - "Alchemist. Why are you trying to get me to think the Wii is cool?" And i'm not! Hahaha. I'm simply providing what I think are some interesting facts to consider when talking about the system. I honestly don't really have an opinion on the Wii. But i'm so interested in it's mysteriousness, that along with the PS3, i'm almost tempted to go and buy a Wii and pick up old Wii titles.

So what was the Wii to you? How did you like it? DID you like it? What did you think of it's library? What were it's best/worse games?

It had Xenoblade.

Xenoblade.



AngryLittleAlchemist on 02 October 2017
OTBWY said:
AngryLittleAlchemist said:

What was the Wii? What did it mean to you? How do you feel about the system? Is it great? Underrated critically? Bad? Overatted? Mediocre? 

I put this in "Gaming discussion" because I genuinely want to see perspectives from everybody, not just Nintendo fans. 

This topic was inspired by Curl-6

I just can't pin down what the Wii is! What do I believe?!?!?!

So I've been thinking about it recently ... and out of all the consoles that have come and gone, the Wii's reception is still the most polarizing I can think of. Even compared to the Gamecube, which has recieved almost universal praise in hindsight. It's kind of interesting because most major consoles seem to get nothing but love in retrospect. Even commercial failures like the Saturn or Dreamcast have had huge love given to them when looking into the past. The Wii is a console that seems to be more and more mixed as time passes. It seems well documented that it was beloved conceptually before it's release and well into it's first two years, even hardcore gamers seemed to be appealed by the concept(though you can find old Youtube videos shitting on the Wii). Years into the system though? Nowadays? It's pretty much remembered as a fad, a gimmick machine that allowed Nintendo to actually make the high selling console in a generation for once since the SNES. There even seems to be an attitude around that the fact that the Wii U failed just goes to prove what a fad the Wii was, and how it was almost an "illegitimate" succeess. 

That being said, I've seen a lot of interesting perspectives on the Wii ... 

Here are more or less the three perspectives I've seen the most, ranked from most popular to least : 

1. The Wii was a gimmick, a bad or extremely mediocre machine

2. The Wii was an "ok" console with some good games

3. The Wii was a great underrated console 

The third perspective is one I haven't seen too often, but it seems to pop up more and more with time. What's odd is that there's some sort of detachement I feel, from the Wii and it's software, where a lot of people will say the system has great amazing games, but it is a bad system. I usually don't hear this with the likes of the Saturn or Dreamcast. Of course there are obvious nuances, i'm just pointing out an interesting dichatamy. 

I guess i'm mostly interested in this because I love learning about video game history, despite being much newer to games then most people. The quality of the Wii, seems to be one of the most opinionated things in recent memory. I was 7 when I got a Wii, and for me it was just a Mario Party/Kart/Wii Sports/Super Smash Bros. machine. But i'm so interested in how it was to be there, with the mind of a consumer, who easily understands what they want and what games to follow and how that affected the system for them. 

It's funny because a lot of the Wii's output was reboots of old beloved series like Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong Country, and even a partnership for the creation of Sin and Punishment 2. Fun fact, I've somehow stumbled across two seperate stores with new copies of Sin and Punishment before, one in Arizona and one in Oregon ... THIS YEAR!!! No other Wii stuff was on the shelves!!! While Super Mario Bros. and DKCR were more casual affair(mainly the former) they still reinjuvenated a series of 2D platformers hardcore fans dearly missed. Nintendo launched the system with what was considered the true hardcore Zelda experience at the time, and while that wasn't really a big statement seeing as it was a port, Nintendo even advertised fairly well (though not as great as they should have...as IGN will confirm) Metroid Prime 3. 

The system also has a myraid of niche cult-classics. Games like Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story, Pandora's Tower, Zack and Wiki, Red Steel, and No More Heroes. Even more interesting was that a lot of Wii exclusive games from third parties like No More Heroes 2 or ... MySims, ended up selling worse when they became multi-plats.

One thing that I think is kind of interesting, is that the two internet personalities that I know love the Wii - thought the Gamecube was mediocre. Mizzah Tee and Top Hat Gaming.

 

Now at this point you're probably thinking - "Alchemist. Why are you trying to get me to think the Wii is cool?" And i'm not! Hahaha. I'm simply providing what I think are some interesting facts to consider when talking about the system. I honestly don't really have an opinion on the Wii. But i'm so interested in it's mysteriousness, that along with the PS3, i'm almost tempted to go and buy a Wii and pick up old Wii titles.

So what was the Wii to you? How did you like it? DID you like it? What did you think of it's library? What were it's best/worse games?

It had Xenoblade.

Xenoblade.

So does the 3DS 



Darashiva on 02 October 2017

It was a good system with some excellent games, but also some clear weaknesses as well. The motion controls were ultimately just a gimmick that saddled the console with an avalanche of shovelware, and generally speaking games were better off not using them in the long run. It also became a bit of a handicap for Nintendo as they tried to replicate its success with the Wii U, keeping the brand name but failing to do any of the other things that made the Wii a success.

The irony of the Wii to me personally is that it became such a massive success because of its mainstream appeal through its motion controls, but they were also its weakest aspect when talking about more serious games. Not quite among Nintendo's best consoles, but better than average thanks to the games Nintendo and a handful of other studios made for it.



My Twitter: @TheDarashiva

Most Recent Articles:

1. 2023 in Review: Winners and Losers

The Best Video Game Music of 2024-thread

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Goodnightmoon on 02 October 2017

A very original console with a lot of interesting experimentation that explored different ways to play with some great (and some awful) results, a lot of amazing games, decent third party support, a great virtual console and yes, also a ton of shovelware.



Arminillo on 02 October 2017
Darashiva said:
It was a good system with some excellent games, but also some clear weaknesses as well. The motion controls were ultimately just a gimmick that saddled the console with an avalanche of shovelware, and generally speaking games were better off not using them in the long run. It also became a bit of a handicap for Nintendo as they tried to replicate its success with the Wii U, keeping the brand name but failing to do any of the other things that made the Wii a success.

The irony of the Wii to me personally is that it became such a massive success because of its mainstream appeal through its motion controls, but they were also its weakest aspect when talking about more serious games. Not quite among Nintendo's best consoles, but better than average thanks to the games Nintendo and a handful of other studios made for it.

the weakest aspect of the wii was not being hd...motion controls were an integral part of the system. Even throwing out the amazing core titles that used motion controls that may not be "serious" enough for you, Metroid Prime Trilogy, Red Steel 2, Skyward Sword, Goldeneye, the Conduit games, and especially Resident Evil 4 created unique experiences that cannot be replicated on other consoles.



Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda!!!!


curl-6 on 02 October 2017
AngryLittleAlchemist said:

This topic was inspired by Curl-6

Well, for me the Wii is one of my all time favourite consoles. At a time when I'd drifted away from gaming somewhat, it enticed me back in again with the freshness of motion controls and what I feel was a return to form for Nintendo's first party output.

It had two of the best games I've ever played in Mario Galaxy 1 & 2.

It had two excellent Zelda games, a strong Metroid, and the amazing Xenoblade Chronicles.

It revived my childhood love of 2D platformers with the stellar Donkey Kong Country Returns.

The motion controlled swordplay of Wii Sports Resort blew my mind at the time in a way that only the leap to full 3D games with N64/PS1 can match, it truly felt like a futuristic experience.

Mario Kart Wii offered me hundreds of hours of laughter-filled multiplayer fun that are among my fondest memories of University.

Then there were the multitude of other awesome games; Monster Hunter Tri, Sin & Punishment 2, The Last Story, Goldeneye 007, de Blob 1 & 2, Silent Hill Shattered Memories, Fatal Frame 2 & 4, COD World at War/MW1/Black Ops/MW3, Kirby's Epic Yarn, No More Heroes 1 & 2, Red Steel 2, Rayman Origins, Pandora's Tower...

Sure it's last two years were disappointingly flat as support fizzled out well before its replacement, but on the whole, I would say that only my SNES has offered me more hours of enjoyment than my Wii.



Darashiva on 02 October 2017
Arminillo said:
Darashiva said:
It was a good system with some excellent games, but also some clear weaknesses as well. The motion controls were ultimately just a gimmick that saddled the console with an avalanche of shovelware, and generally speaking games were better off not using them in the long run. It also became a bit of a handicap for Nintendo as they tried to replicate its success with the Wii U, keeping the brand name but failing to do any of the other things that made the Wii a success.

The irony of the Wii to me personally is that it became such a massive success because of its mainstream appeal through its motion controls, but they were also its weakest aspect when talking about more serious games. Not quite among Nintendo's best consoles, but better than average thanks to the games Nintendo and a handful of other studios made for it.

the weakest aspect of the wii was not being hd...motion controls were an integral part of the system. Even throwing out the amazing core titles that used motion controls that may not be "serious" enough for you, Metroid Prime Trilogy, Red Steel 2, Skyward Sword, Goldeneye, the Conduit games, and especially Resident Evil 4 created unique experiences that cannot be replicated on other consoles.

In most cases I always felt that the motion controls added very little to many of its best games. There are exceptions of course, games that managed to do something interesting with them that actually made the core game better, but for the most part I rarely liked how the motion controls were implemented into the games. They were just a tacked on gimmick that had to be there because the motion controls were there. Like I said, I genuinely like the system for many of its games and have spent quite literally hundreds of hours playing games on the console, but in general that's despite the fact that they have motion controls, not because of them. The motion controls were a fun novelty for a while, but they had no lasting appeal for me.

And it's not just the Wii, I've never care for motion controls in general, but at least with the Wii they were, as you said, integral to the system, and a huge part of its appeal. When other companies brought out their own motion control peripherals it was just to try and cash in on the fad before it died out. 



My Twitter: @TheDarashiva

Most Recent Articles:

1. 2023 in Review: Winners and Losers

The Best Video Game Music of 2024-thread

NintendoPie on 02 October 2017

If one can separate themselves from the mindset of being "hardcore" then they'll realize the Wii was truly a phenomenon. For me, personally, I have very many fond memories with the Wii and its games, first-party and otherwise. No other console will probably match its level of difference in the console landscape.