Sunday, August 12, 2007

Wii Love You Wii Hate You




The month is November the year is 2006 and two major consoles would be released a couple days apart. You know what i'm referring to. The Sony PS3 and the Nintendo Wii but for this post we are going to concentrate on the Wii. If someone would have asked me back in November if i thought the Wii would be where it is today I would have laughed in their face. Not because i didn't think the Wii would do good but because i didn't think it would be a hit so fast. In this case i don't get the last laugh.......or do I?
I had my Wii already preordered for launch. I was excited to try out this new console that everyone was talking about. I had visions of playing Wii sports with friends and gloating that i could not be beaten. When i walked into my local Gamestop i purchased a Wii, extra controller, and Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess. I remember that day well because i went on my lunch break and had to wait another 5 hours before i could get home and set it up. So finally i got home and set it up. I lived with 3 roommates at the time and they were just as excited as i was.
To shorten this story up a bit for the following 2 months it was nothing but fun playing Wii sports with my roommates and friends and playing Zelda when i could get the console to myself. In December i went out of town to visit my parents and the Wii was a hit there as well. While i was gone one of my roommates purchased a Wii for himself because it was so much fun and before i left to go back home i had talked one of my sisters into purchasing a Wii for her and her husband. The end of January rolled around and i had just beaten Zelda. By this time i had grown tired of Wii sports. I was a pro in each sport and it was rare that my roommates could beat me. Then reality set in. Wii was not fun anymore. I rented almost every game that was released at that time and i could not find anything to bring back the joy i used to have. I had beaten Zelda and even though i know i had missed many things in my quest and that it was so much fun to play i had no desire to replay it.
Here we are in August and i've rented many games but still have not found one to make me play the Wii like i had when i first purchased it. To be honest i sometimes i forget i own a Wii because i own a PS3 and 360 and they get the most play time. I watched Nintendo's E3 2007 press conference and i've searched the net for all upcoming game releases and news and the only thing that i'm remotely excited for is Mario Galaxy and possibly Wii fit. That is not enough. I can easily rattle off about 10-15 games each for PS3 and 360 that i'm excited for that will be released between now and the middle of next year. So whats wrong with the Wii? Will it truly turn out to be a fad? Will Wii owners such as myself start to tell friends and family that its just not fun anymore? I don't live with my roommates any more but i still talk to them and the one that owns a Wii feels the same way i do. He hasn't played in months. My sister who i talked into purchasing one hasn't played in months either. And everyone i know that owns one has said the same thing. Its not that the Wii doesn't have any good games its more that the Wii doesn't have any long lasting immersive games that make you want to come back for more. This would not be a huge problem if this only reflected current releases but it is the same with upcoming releases. Nintendo has done a great job at bringing new people in to play games but i fear that this will not last very much longer once the word starts getting out that the fun factor dies only after a few months.
So to end this post i will say i will keep my Wii because i don't want to miss out on the chance of a great game being released and i still want to play Mario Galaxy. I must confess though that overall i am very disappointed that my purchase of the Wii has not given me the same gaming satisfaction that both the PS3 and 360 have. So in the end Wii I Hate Wii I Love You.

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