indeed my parents are still playing the nes, it's simple, fun and so damn easy:
you put in the cartidge
the title and message 'press start' appears
you do press start
you press A to see what it does
same with B
>start playing

My parents found the SNes controller too difficult, not because it is to difficult but people that work and have a family can't afford to spend multiple hours a week on a game. (exept for some lazy dads)
The only 3D games they played was Mario64, but they only finished 'starfox adventures' (i guess they liked the repetitive gameplay).

And no offence but most 'extremely AAA' titles just tend to be shooting games. In metroid you have some puzzles, in Half-Life some minor ones but for the rest it is just almost like the original duke nukem. After some years if you have played some, it feels like you've played them all.

I think the Wii just offers the balance between the simplicity of the NES and the intelligent gameplay of the N64. The Wii makes original 3D console gaming as lame as the Virtual Boy by adding simple components that offer sensational gameplay just like that zapper did with Duck Hunt.

And just plain personal: if I read around on the different PS3 toppics from 'how to play Lair', 'PS3 vs XBox (technical details)' to 'why the PS3 isn't a failure Part 6738' i can understand that about 4 million parents out there have been cracked by the insane whining of their kids. Or better said: if they would force me to read every PS3 toppic on this site OR buy a PS3: i'd buy two to be sure.

agreed misterd and katilian...

Another reason the Wii is selling is the VC games. I don't know if it represents a significant fraction of the owner base or not. All I have is anecdotal evidence, i.e., I know a couple people who are retro-freaks and play a lot of what they call "The retro console."

I don't recall seeing any figures on VC sales and I would suppose that info would have to come from Nintendo. If any one has any info I would be very interested in seeing it. I do find it amusing that I see threads all over the place hyping ten and twenty year old games that are being given a new life on the Wii.

My niece has a Wii and her games are Wii Sports (loves it, her friends come over and play all the time), Elebits (she played it for a few days), and... Paper Mario, Super Mario Bros. and the SNES Mario. Her parents play Wii Sports and they are planning on getting Wii Music and Wii Fit. That's not proof of anything but it is a fair example of the type of situation Nintendo claims they are aiming for.