Nintendo Wii: The First Year
What Went Right for the Nintendo Wii
First-Party Games
Nintendo has made some of the most revered and revolutionary games ever. Their Nintendo Wii games are no different. No other next-generation games have the same impact in the culture than Wii Sports has. Not to mention the incredible sequels to established franchises Nintendo continues to churn out.
Marketing
While Sony and Microsoft were targeting the same people, Nintendo went to an unconventional root and targeted people who usually don't play videogames. As a result, the Nintendo Wii was able to gain a huge competitive advantage with the mainstream media and pop culture. The differential marketing reflected in the Nintendo Wii's sales numbers.
Virtual Console
As mentioned before, Nintendo has developed some of the greatest videogames in history. By re-releasing them on the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console, Nintendo assures that new generations of gamers be able to enjoy the games from the past while older gamers get to relive the nostalgia all over again.
What Went Wrong for the Nintendo Wii
Wi-Fi Play
Although it was done to protect younger children, Friend Codes (basically your ID number for online games) have been a bust on the Nintendo DS and now on the Nintendo Wii. In fact, the whole Nintendo Wi-Fi network lags behind its competitors seeing that it still lacks many features such as voice chat.
Inferior Graphics
Despite having the biggest install base, the Nintendo Wii is hardly getting any big third-party games. This is because the Wii can't output graphics at the capacity that third-party developers wanted. It will only get worse for Nintendo down the road as Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 games are only beginning to stretch their graphical prowess.
Lack of Storage
Space is extremely limited on the Nintendo Wii, especially with the Virtual Console and WiiWare downloads. The lack of storage, even an optional one, is inexcusable for Nintendo. Although you can transfer channels to SD cards, you can't launch the channels off of it; this means you have to transfer them back to the Nintendo Wii in order for the Wii to launch the channels.
The Future of the Nintendo Wii
Wii Board
Bundled with the exercise game Wii Fit, the Wii Board will be the next big thing for Nintendo after Wii Sports. The board measures the amount of weight and pressure you put on each foot. The Wii Board, like the Wii Remote, will open up endless possibilities to gaming.
WiiWare
WiiWare is Nintendo's answer to the Playstation Network and Xbox Live Arcade. This service will allow gamers to download original Nintendo Wii games. These types of games are not particular big in file size and development costs but they often end up providing the same amount of fun.
Top Exclusive Games for Nintendo Wii
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Paper Mario
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Wii Sports
Top Exclusive Games for Nintendo Wii in the Future
Mario Kart Wii
Monster Hunter 3
No More Heroes
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Wii Fit
Published by Otter
Otter is a free lance writer currently residing in San Francisco. He loves to play and talk video games. View profile
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2 Comments
Post a CommentNintendo hardly "won this round" - first year sales are the worst time to declare a "winner". Besides, I congratulate you on owning 58 variants of Tetris, Metroid, and Mario.
Some of your facts are wrong. I own a wii and 58 games so far. Yes, 58 games is almost every one made for the system. I'd say that 80% of these games are 3rd party. Also, if the ps3 and xbox 360 are just showing their graphical prowess then wouldn't the wii be following that path too? The lack of space is a given but for what the machine can do there is plenty of space. With the amount of games I own I have used maybe 10% of the 512 flash on the machine. Plus I can just chuck in some SD cards for extra space. When I buy a game system I only want to play games. Not watch movies on it or cook toast or anything. In the end I think nintendo won this round and now the fanboys will have to wait for the next. I actually think nintendo will not win the next round. I think Microsoft will be the winner. And to tell you the truth, nintendo, at least for me, sucked after the 8-bit days with the exception of goldeneye for the 64. Anyway, the wii's success can be seen in what the other