Was the Wii a Success?

Joined Feb 2007
9K Posts | 0+
RIGHT BEHIND YOU!!!!!
The Wii is basically at the end of its lifetime. It's come full circle from the next big thing a few years ago, to a system on its last legs now. Nintendo took a huge gamble when they launched the Wii over another traditional console so was it worth it? In financial terms, it obviously was. It combined with the DS was the biggest financial success ever for Nintendo. But in terms of its long-term effects, was it the right decision? Nintendo essentially turned away from the traditional, more powerful console with better games with the Wii. Was it right for Nintendo to emphasize (and continue to emphasize) specific features of the platform instead of more power and better games?
 
It added variety to the market. The console market is really flooded with all the different systems from these companies that are really just all the same pretty much but in different cases. The Wii targets a different crowd that the PS3 and 360 don't, and lets those two duke it out over who gets the "hardcore" customers. It kinda wants to be left on its own, either because it doesn't want to compete with them, or doesn't think they can.
 
The Wii sold because it was different. I think the majority of people who purchased it saw it more of a piece of art rather than a gaming device.
Now that the 360 has Kinect, and the PS3 has move, the Wii isn't so special anymore. It had it's 15 minutes of fame, but now it's just another console.
I have to say though, it was a success... But I wouldn't say it was a success in the gaming world. It sold to casual gamers.. or people who weren't gamers at all. So, from a financial standpoint, of course it was a success. But I don't think it was quite what gamers, especially hardcore gamers, were looking for.
 
I would have to also agree that the Wii was a financial success, but came up short in the gaming world. During this whole generation of gaming my money has been tight. I had to make choices so I went the DSi route and have not regretted the choice. It had the games that attracted me. I finally purchased a Wii at the first of this year. I look at the Wii as a piece of the arcade at home. Good for games like Excite Truck, when I want to play, but I don't want to play every game on the system wagging the wand. I don't mind having games involving this type of technology, but there is a need for balance. There is the need for the hardcore gamer to simply sit with a controller and a game they can sink their teeth into.

I would say that the Wii had an impact. It found gamers that no one knew where out there. Reminds me of getting behind two grannies at a Gamestop recently. They each had a hand full of marked down Wii games. The real fun part was listening in on their discussion of different games they were playing.
 
:lol wagging the wand :lol

I think the Wii was more of a success than most people give it credit for... I think it shaped our gaming market as of today... but gamer interests have turned more in the last 1-2 years and Nintendo's lack of an online platform like Xbox Live or PSN has undermined it. I don't think the system or ANYTHING ELSE in regards to the system killed it. I believe it rests 100% on the online system the console employs. It also shaped digitally distributed classic games (IMO). The system made the Xbox and Playstation think and act differently... which made both systems better as well.

IF Nintendo wants to compete in the future... it will have to adapt it's online service to be like Live or PSN.

I have 40+ Wii games... and I will say 95% are great games (opinionated... yes). I think people are always too quick to judge Nintendo and don't give a Nintendo system a fair chance.

For those of you who have been members of this site for a long time know how much I hated Sony ... for a very long time. I still won't buy anything Sony electronics. HOWEVER... the Playstation 3 is my favorite console platform of the current gen systems. I still like the Wii... but I really love the Playstation 3 online system... joining into games, and the interface you work with. It is so frickin slick and fast. I think the Wii's interface is #2... and the 360's is last. I really don't like the 360;s interface... it's too slow to navigate around it... and it is cluttered.

BV :hat
 
Well, I wasn't very impressed with it. The nunchuk controller really frustrated me. I also thought that they made a crappy version of Paper Mario also. I think that to this very day Nintendo regrets ever cranking that flop out.
 
The wii was a major success both financially and shutting the gender gap in the gaming world. The wii truly brought gaming to the masses (maybe more so than its great grandfather the Nintendo). I think the guys have since moved to the newer generation consoles and / or steam and the girls are playing on the iphones.