The Wii is a Winner that Continues to Disappoint

Recent news has announced that not only is Nintendo's Wii still dominating hardware sales but has recently surpassed the Xbox 360's install base. I have owned both since shortly after each of their respective launch dates, so over one and a half years for my 360 and about about 9 months for the Wii. At this point, having purchased quite a good number of games for both systems, I consider my Wii purchase a source of continuing disappointment despite my initial excitement. In fact, I am continually astounded at how the Wii can maintain its dominance, but my feeling at the moment is that it will become the ubiquitous device in people's living rooms that no one uses unless some issues are sorted out. Let me explain my feelings on this topic.

One thing to keep in mind while you read my opinion, however, is that my Wii was primarily purchased for my five year old son (who has played video games since he was three) and my wife, who rarely plays any video games. However, I think this is actually closer to Nintendo's intended audience for the Wii than myself, who leans more towards the "hardcore gamer" label (if I had more time to actually play). This means that I have not purchased the more "gamer" oriented games like Zelda and Metroid, though I have a number of the "casual" games. At this point, neither my son nor my wife, nore I use the Wii with much frequency.The Control is Frustrating More Often Than Fun
When I initially saw Nintendo's design for the control, I thought it was insane...and I mean that in a bad way. However, when I bought the Wii, and experienced the relatively intuitive and responsive controls on Wii Sports, I changed my mind. However, as I purchase more Wii games, I keep heading back towards my initial opinion. In most of the games in my experience, particularly the third party games, the control is both uncomfortable and unresponsive and often leads to the completely incorrect action than what you intended. For example, there are a handful of mini games in Mario Party 8 that feel almost completely unwinnable because you cannot get your character to respond properly. On a game like Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz nearly every mini-game (and the game itself) is frustratingly difficult due to the controls. Wii Play makes you realize that the pointer behavior is both uncomfortable and annoyingly imprecise.

Even games that don't use the motion sensitivity for much, like Mario Strikers Charged, make you feel the discomfort of the two part controls. This game is far more difficult than its GameCube predecessor, but not because of the game itself, in my opinion, but rather due to the discomfort of the control scheme, whereby you often end up pressing the incorrect button.

In fact, of the list of games I own, only Wii Sports (which comes with the Wii), Excite Truck and Surf's Up (which hardly uses the Wii motion-sensitivity at all) have acceptable controls. Generally, every new game I bring home ends in frustration before long.

The Games Stink
There is no nice way to say this, but generally speaking the games for the Wii are lousy. The graphics are often no better or arguably worse than a comparable GameCube game. In addition, the gameplay is not deep, especially considering the games are only $10 cheaper than a new 360 game on average. In fact, most of these so-called "casual" games consist of completing the same tasks over and over again as you get "deeper" into the game (and that is if you even get that far without quitting in frustration). Even Wii Sports, as sports games go, is surprisingly shallow, which, once the novelty has worn off, greatly limits its replayability.

Games like Marble Mania and even games I like, such as Excite Truck and Surf's Up are surprisingly short given the hefty price tag. This is even more disturbing when you can pick up an alternative GameCube game with similar graphics for often under $20. In fact, some of our favorite Wii-related purchases lately have been some heavily discounted Gamecube games. While comparing it to other "next-gen" consoles, whenever I see reviews of a Wii game that is also available on other consoles, you can almost guarantee a worse score for the Wii version than any of the others.

Not Living Up to the Hype
Yes, the Wii is considerably cheaper than the 360, but given its limitations currently, I would consider it a poorer value. I find most of my friends who still enjoy their Wii, generally just play Wii Sports and some downloaded items from the Virtual Console. In fact, the article I link to earlier seems to back up the anecdotal evidence that Wii owners don't buy many games given that the recent release of Madden was the top selling 3rd party game for the Wii and it came in behind Madden for the original Xbox. So, your $250 simply buys you a way to play Wii Sports and access to purchasing games that are often readily available for free online (i.e. the VC games).

I really hope something changes, because right now my Wii is gathering cobwebs. I have already pre-ordered Super Smash Brothers Brawl and have hopes for Mario Sunshine but remain skeptical given the track record of transitioning some of our GameCube favorites to the Wii. In addition, even if these games are good, it would continue to reinforce the idea that the Wii has horrible third party support, which is bad news for its long term viability (it is in part what killed the GameCube).

(Note: there is some hope in recent news items on this front given the port of Oblivion's Gamebryo engine but no related games have yet to be announced)

Anyway, I know there are a lot of Wii owners out there who read this blog, so share your thoughts.

Maybe if you used a REAL game system, you wouldn't be so disappointed...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_2600

I recently got a Wii on another users' recommedation as a gaming console that also might be a little more active way to play games. And yes, playing Wii Sports is at least a bit more active than sitting on the couch watching TV. But I agree with you that as I play more advanced games, those controls just don't live up to the hype. I'm playing Rayman's Raving Rabbids now and there are some mini games in there that I simply cannot seem to get past because they just don't seem to react properly to the controls. It's downright frustrating....particularly when the Wii really does seem to be aimed at the more casual gamer, the one that doesn't want to have to spend hours trying to get past some relatively simple task. I haven't given up on it yet, but I do still mainly use my PC for serious gaming.

I have a xbox360, my girl bought a wii. Her 2 boys are just starting to get into gaming and frankly, I find them playing the xbox360 (lego star wars, sonic, etc) more than they're playing the wii. The wii isn't good with kids. When kids point at the screen, they're all over the place and they get easily frustrated. Come to think of it, I can't recall the last time my girl was playing the wii just to play. She's looking forward to the yoga / balancing pad that they're talking about, but I sometimes wonder if it was worth the purchase.

My son was watching G4TV when they announced their Top 10 best games of all time. Resident Evil 4 was #1. The Wii version of Resident Evil 4 for the Wii is a combination of the higher quality GameCube version along with the extra PS2 games. I've personally replayed it over 3 times now.

IGN rates it #3 in their Top 100 list:
http://top100.ign.com/2006/001-010.html

It's #2 on Edge's Top 100 list:
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6231&Itemid=2&limit=1&limitstart=9

Check it out.

Faults aside, I'm looking to pick up a Wii anyway. I refuse to pay $$$ for a ps3 or xbox 360. If any of you disgruntled Wii'ers want to unload your Wii for the right price, I'd be interested.

fwiw, I'm just the person they had in mind, a very casual gamer who wants to have a few minutes of fun without having to go through 20 levels of whatever to get to the fun part.

Don't knock the system just because you are playing the wrong games.

Resident Evil 4 is incredible and the controls are fantastic. It's rated on most as one of the top 5 games ever made.

Metroid Prime is also amazing. The controls will set the bar for all wii titles moving forward.

I also highly recommend, Zelda, Mario Party and Mario Strikers.

The bottom line is that right no first-party titles are a lot more polished than third-party (with the exception of RE4).

Wii Fit will also continue to push sales.

I think the novelty of the Wii are the controls, more than the graphics. I think that anyone could have told you that if you put the wii next to the 360, that the wii would pale in comparison. I know you said that you don't own Metroid, but I have enjoyed playing it. There are times though when I do get frustrated with the controls not pointing exactly to what I want them to.

Overall, my wife and I have had a lot of fun with the system. My next games to buy are RE4 and Zelda.

i hear what you're saying about most of the points in your post. I'm kinda getting the feeling that even Nintendo was a little caught off guard by the success of the wii. At least, game developers were. I think that as the Wii game library grows we'll start seeing more games that take advantage of the unique controls...I'd expect a sort of 'second wave' of wii games once the game developers really start putting their imagination towards the specific wii functionality. Otherwise, you're right, the wii will start to become a disappointment. They did a great job of target a market that was out there but not being taken advantage of, but they need to add a little stickiness to it.

Zelda Twilight Princess is probably one of my all time favorite games. I used to dislike the Zelda games, because the controls were so difficult with the standard game controllers that the difficulty of the puzzles wasn't worth the trouble. But the controls with the Wii are so natural and quick, that the game play is WAY better. So sorry, you can't have my Wii. ;)

Long before the Wii came out, I thought that people like you, Brian, would never like it. So far I have been proved correct. Why? Because you guys like the power and pretty graphics. That's fine, you can be happy with your XBox. Personally, I go for any system that has Mario on it (I've been a long time fan, since the first SMB), and a cheap price. :)

@Brian - I am lumping you into the crowd that wants a powerful machine that can produce high quality graphics. And from what you've said, you are lumping yourself into that crowd as well. Maybe you'd like the Wii more if it had "better" games? And maybe you'd like it even more if it had pretty graphics like the 360 (which of course, would jack up the price)?

As far as better games, I am not upset with the games like you are. I spent over 60 hours playing Zelda (according to the in-game time tracker). I have probably played Wii sports for about 20-30 hours. And I have played Super Paper Mario for about 20 hours so far (I haven't finished the game yet). Those are the only 3 games I have, and I don't have much time to devote to game playing, but I definitely use the system. In fact, we had a GameCube and I know I've already played the Wii more than I played the GC. And I am sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for Mario Galaxy, which I believe will be one of the best selling games of all time (I might be proved wrong).

But Brian, it's fine if you like the 360 more than the Wii. You're entitled to your opinion, and I know there are a lot of other guys out there like you who prefer the 360.

Having just purchased a wii I can understand how people can be disappointed in it. There are going to be some absolute stinkers of games because of the controllers, and there are going to be some great ones. Its a completely new way to control a game, and the developers are going to take some time to get it right.

Its a great console to play with a group of people, especially a group of non-gamer people. I'm not sure if it works with kids as young as 5, they will probably find the traditional controllers easier. I have played it with kids from 7-12 and they pick it up no problem at all.

The Target market is very different as well. My mum played it once and decided to get one. I have also found it hooks in the female audience whereas the more traditional consoles wont.

You will also find that there will be plenty of houses with the wii and another console.

For me, who doesn't have hours to play, its great to be able to pick it up, play for 30mins and get back to chasing after my 9 month old daughter.

I will miss the massive network games we used to have to Halo/2 and the XBOX, they where fun.

The Wii is a great little console. Its just a bit of fun! No games or consoles should be taken so seriously that its the end of the world when it isn't 'perfect'. Everyone please lighten up and just enjoy it! I hated games until my girlfriend bought a Wii and now I don't mind them and when ever there is a crowd in the room they have a laugh too! It's inclusive and hilarious.

I was lucky enough to get a Wii before Christmas and have encountered the same issues others have mentioned. I am not a gamer at all but enjoy the sports games, even though I regularly get spanked by the console. I thought Madden 07 would be great and enjoyed it a great deal, even though the QB was sacked too often due to unresponsive controller that won't pass the ball. Then I tried Tiger Woods '07 and the wife, also not a gamer, and I were hooked, even though we experienced frustration on shots that the controller would take without our swings taking place. Then there was the Biggs. It sounded great on paper but in reality it is very tough to play. I could not get the hang of the pitching and there is a delay when swinging the bat. After too many games losing 22 - 0 in the second inning, I traded it in, along with Madden '07, for Madden '08. I've only played a few games so far, but find it more enjoyable than the earlier version.

The success of the Wii has been hooking non-gamers but with faulty controller action, the non-gamers will stop using it and it will peter out. The kids play the GameCube games more often than the Wii games but I'm not sure if that is due to the Wii games not holding their attention or the new GameCubes they did not have on the original XBox.

The only thing keeps us from a 360 is the number of XBox titles that we still would not be able to play on the 360. My son is especially fond of the Godzilla games which the 360 can not play. With the Wii coming out with a Godzilla game in November, it may be a non-issue.

I don't own any game system but was considering getting a Wii. I've been to my local $-mart and it looks like you can get a more traditional controller for the Wii, has anyone tried those? It seems like that would solve the problem with not getting the controller to do what you want wouldn't it?

@Christopher, The traditional controller is for the Virtual Console games, only. It attaches to the wireless remote and allows you to play to older SNES and NES games that you can download with Wii Points, purchased with a giftcard style card at most retailers. I originally thought they were for playing Gamecube games but sadly found out later that you had to use a true Gamecube controller for that.

I'm playing Rayman's Raving Rabbids now and there are some mini games in there that I simply cannot seem to get past because they just don't seem to react properly to the controls. It's downright frustrating....particularly when the Wii really does seem to be aimed at the more casual gamer, the one that doesn't want to have to spend hours trying to get past some relatively simple task.

Frankly, I'm disappointed in the Wii. I was excited about the prospects of new games and new gameplay. So much so, that I waited outside of my local Best Buy on tip that they might finally be getting some in stock.
After having the system for about a year and 9 months, I'm considering selling it. I'm not obsessed with graphics and power. I just like a good, worthwhile system; which is exactly why I didn't buy a PS3 until this July when I was finally sold on the system.
The Wii is severely lacking in any games for the non average gamer, and after looking at the Christmas line up, it doesn't seem to be getting any better. The last game I bought was Brawl. Seriously, that was months ago, and nothing else good has come out for the system.
As s student, I don't have time to devote hours and hours to a game, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stick to these so called "casual" games. When I have time to play a game, I want to enjoy the game and the experience brought about by the game. The Wii no longer has anything that does that.
Metroid, Zelda, Brawl, RE4, and Galaxy are the games I've loved for the Wii. All of which came out a very long time ago. The virtual console games aren't worth the money because you can find almost all of them online through emulators for free, and emulators give games a much larger sense of replayability.
So sue me because I'm disappointed with the Wii and have shifted my focus to the PS3. That doesn't mean I'm a graphicly centered egg head. it means I've tried both of them and found the PS3 to be a much more satisfying system that appears as if it will continue to satisfy me for years to come. The Wii, it will sit hooked up to my tv and be rarely turned on. Thanks Nintendo, you're pushing away your loyal fans. I've owned every Nintendo console and handheld since the original Nintendo. Not anymore.