My theory is that Wii fans latched onto the obscure titles because they didn't see the Wii getting the same of the big 3rd party titles the 360/PS3 were getting.  The results we see today are that it seems like Wii-fans regard themselves as superior because they're playing the niche and lesser well-known titles versus some of the big budget titles of other systems.  It has become more of a badge of honor than shame to be playing the niche and lesser-known titles.

It's almost like the reverse of the kiddy comments.  Where the comments were once "We play the real games, you play the kiddy games" they've come to respond to "We play the real games, you play the over-hyped games."  To people like Max, playing Halo and the like doesn't give you "gamer cred" whereas to Max's 360 counterparts playing Wii Sports or Lost Winds doesn't give you "gamer cred." 

The result is that both come off as highly elitist.  At some point it becomes easier for them to rationalize that their taste is better than the other person than accept it so you end up with reactions just like Max had his customer's opinons:  "I wanted to laugh" and "I ended up smirking."  The concept that maybe those type of games are simply what the customers enjoy probably never entered his mind.  He was busy thinking that the customers' video game experiences were inferior to his own.