Nathan Tyree: Thoughts on the Wii
Why the Wii is overpriced:
I know, I’m a heretic. But, the Wii has one and only one selling point: the controllers. Yes, the way game play is managed with the Wii is almost revolutionary. But, it is largely a gimmick ( a cool gimmick, sure).
What the Wii lacks:
Decent graphics. The best Wii games look about as good as Xbox games. In this respect it is a generation behind.
Extra goodies. Sony and Microsoft both understand that a game system should have extra capabilities (like playing movies). Sony has even made their latest console a blu ray player.
A catalogue of great games. The PS3 lacks this too. But, the xbox360 has a massive number of must have games. The Wii has very little to offer so far. Maybe that will change, but I haven’t seen it yet.
Affordable peripherals. If I need an extra controller for the 360 it will run me $40. For the Wii I’m looking at $100 (or more). I need an extra set of controllers because I want to play multi-player games at home. That means that, right off the bat, the Wii will cost me an extra 100 bucks.
Staying with that last point: if I buy a Wii the price isn’t $250, it’s actually $350 (with another controller I’m gonna drop almost as much as the cost of the Xbox 360). That’s just too much for what they have to offer.
I also think that the PS3 is over priced.
Do I want a Wii? Yeah, I do. But I’m in no hurry. Maybe if they dropped the price 50 bucks and bundled an extra controller with it I’d get excited.
On a side note, the games that I'm playing right now:
Gears of War (360)
Dead Rising (360)
Burnout Revenge (360)
New Super Mario (DS)
Liberty City Stories (PSP)
Why the Wii is overpriced:
I know, I’m a heretic. But, the Wii has one and only one selling point: the controllers. Yes, the way game play is managed with the Wii is almost revolutionary. But, it is largely a gimmick ( a cool gimmick, sure).
What the Wii lacks:
Decent graphics. The best Wii games look about as good as Xbox games. In this respect it is a generation behind.
Extra goodies. Sony and Microsoft both understand that a game system should have extra capabilities (like playing movies). Sony has even made their latest console a blu ray player.
A catalogue of great games. The PS3 lacks this too. But, the xbox360 has a massive number of must have games. The Wii has very little to offer so far. Maybe that will change, but I haven’t seen it yet.
Affordable peripherals. If I need an extra controller for the 360 it will run me $40. For the Wii I’m looking at $100 (or more). I need an extra set of controllers because I want to play multi-player games at home. That means that, right off the bat, the Wii will cost me an extra 100 bucks.
Staying with that last point: if I buy a Wii the price isn’t $250, it’s actually $350 (with another controller I’m gonna drop almost as much as the cost of the Xbox 360). That’s just too much for what they have to offer.
I also think that the PS3 is over priced.
Do I want a Wii? Yeah, I do. But I’m in no hurry. Maybe if they dropped the price 50 bucks and bundled an extra controller with it I’d get excited.
On a side note, the games that I'm playing right now:
Gears of War (360)
Dead Rising (360)
Burnout Revenge (360)
New Super Mario (DS)
Liberty City Stories (PSP)
Nathan, Nathan, Nathan.
I admit, I'm a Nintendo fanboy (for good reason). However, let me put my fanboyism aside for a moment.
Unless you've spent a good deal of time playing several Wii games, you have no basis for calling the Wii controls a gimmick. They are as much a gimmick as the N64's analog stick was.
According to your post the Wii lacks:
#1 Decent graphics - Hmmm. I disagree, but say what you will. Are they as eyepopping as the Xbox360's or the PS3's? Nope. Are they less than decent? Hardly. Then again, I still love my Super Nintendo, and wouldn't dare call it's graphics less than decent (same for the Genesis and the original Playstation). Are they a generation behind? I don't think so. I think they're half a generation behind, if you can dig it.
#2 Extra Goodies - Sir, have you even seen or used a Wii? I could be making this post from that console if I was home (speaking of which, I should try plugging in a USB keyboard to my Wii and see what happens). One look at the Wii's main menu lays bare Nintendo's future upgrade plans for the unit. The inability of the system to play my DVDs is a strange reason not to buy it in 2007, as I should probably have other support for that format at this point. Adding next generation video disc support to isn't "extra", you're paying for it on the PS3 and a hardware addon (at additional cost) will be required for the Xbox360.
#3 A Catalogue of Great Games - First, your comparing the libraries of a console that has been out for over a year and one that has been out for less than 2 months. I'm willing to forgive that, however, as I'm not sure what titles you're including in that "massive number of must have games". Dead Rising? That game was fun, but not really a "must have", in my and mainstream critical opinion. I might agree with you on Gears of War, but it's not for me, as I'm not a fan of the generic FPS. As for Wii games, I personally own 4 at this point and have played 5. The one I played and do not own is Red Steel (it sucked). Ones I do own I would rate as follows: Zelda - Must Have, Excite Truck - Must Have, Wii Sports - Must Have (and you will as it's bundled) Rayman - Should Have, Marvel Ultimate Alliance - Should Have. We should revisit this topic in about a year, however.
#4 Affordable Peripherals - Where the hell are you shopping? A remote is $40, and a nunchuk attachment is $20. I know I've only taken up to Calculus II, but I get $60, and I think $60<$100 not $60>$100. $250+$60=$310. Let's go ahead and buy a game for a system as well (You gotta get at least 1 game in addition to "Sports"). At a cap of $50/game that gives us total of $360.
Wii Console (one version only) - $250
Wii Remote - $40
Nunchuk Attachment - $20
Game - $50.
Total - $360 (haha, 360)
How about that Xbox360? I assume we're looking at the $400 dollar version, but I'll price both for you.
Xbox360 (two versions) - $300 to $400
Extra Controller (the Xbox360 only comes with one as well) - $40.00
Game - $60
Total $400 - $500.
So I guess you're almost right, for a lowball 360. Basically, we're talking about a $20 extra cost for a fully realized Wii controller (which is really the star of the system) over the cost of the Xbox360s. This will be absorbed in the course of purchasing 2 games.
Games I'm playing now:
Final Fantasy XII (PS2)
Super Castlevania IV (Super Nintendo via Wii)
Marvel Ultimate Alliance (Wii)
ExciteTruck (Wii)
Rayman Raving Rabbids (Wii)