Follow the Leader

[pierski]

I am definitely not anti-Nintendo. Besides the Virtual Boy, I own every system that Nintendo ever released in the US. And for all these Nintendo consoles, I roughly own 650+ games between them. But (bold text means its important), this whole Wii thing bothers me.

The system has been a hot commodity for over a year now. And with the Christmas season upon us again, its just as difficult now as it was last November to get your hands on one. The problem is, is that the people who are buying them are not actually getting them to game. True, they'll play their Wii Sports and Wii Play and own their own token game (probably created by Nintendo as well), but that's about it. Joystiq reported that the console to games sale ratio is lower with Nintendo than any of this gens consoles. So why even buy a system if you're not actually going to play it? Because its trendy, its cool to own one and since they're hard to come by everyone wants one... Tickle Me Elmo, anyone?

So I'm bothered by the fact that its trendy? Not really. My problem is that when the Wiis are no longer scarce, they'll then become less trendy, cool and desired. When this happens GameStop and eBay will be bombarded with used Wiis, no one will be buy new Wiis, Nintendo will take a major hit and game manufacturers will notice the sales declines lose confidence in creating games for the Wii. In turn hurting those people who actually bought a Wii to play it.

Now don't panic, there is a very simple solution. Nintendo must never make the Wii readily available... at least not until the Wii's successor is released. So far they've been doing a pretty good job at that.

[General WX]

Heh, my brother sent me a text today ranting about how he couldn't find a wii anywhere which he was going to get for me and my sister for christmas. Figures.

I'd like to also say that my local GameStop's management changed and they hired new employees who actually know what the fuck they're doing. It feels like a good gaming store again. Woot.

Muthafucking first, it feels good to be back on top again.

[zayus1979]

Wow, with no text you have cut me, and you cut me deep...

[MVPun13]

i always saw it as people not seen as or call themselves "gamers" want a Wii because of how "cool" it was too. To me the Wii is one big gimmick. like how guitar hero uses a special controller to play the game. sure its fun to play tennis or shooting games with the wii, but have you seen the Wii commercials for WWE's new game? It has it's limits.

so the people who aren't into the halo's, mass effects, god of wars, or what not want the wii to stand in their living room flailing around when their drunk.

[RyomaNagare]

Well I woke up at three in the morning, waking up isn't the word for it as I didn't sleep, and put my chair right up against the door of my local gamestop and I waited till opening to get my Wii.

Now tell me, do I sound like I want a Wii for things like "Wii Sports?"

No, I got this thing for LoZ:TP, SMG, Naruto:CONR, and any other good games they release. I am probably gonna be getting FF whatever for the Wii along with Monster Hunter 3 cause those games look awesome. I am also gonna look forward especially to the Tails of game they have in the works.


When I was waiting for my Wii there was a couple waiting there to. I asked them what games they were buying. They told me they were just buying them for there "little girls." I didn't say anything but I did recieve a premonition. A premonition of two little girls playing with dolls while a Wii sits there abandoned. This is not what a gaming console should be reduced to and I fear that you may be right. I just hope to god they at least get 15 or so worth while games on the Wii before then.

edit: Just in case you were wondering I got home at 7 and played LoZ for half an hour. Then fatigue from staying up about 30 hours straight hit me.

[Zelos]

I think it's more likely that the Wii has just attracted a lot of people who don't buy games every month. They'll still play from time to time, they'll still buy the odd game, but they won't end up with the huge collections of games that gamers like us have (I have 40 Gamecube games, maybe 10 Wii games).

Similar to the way the DS has a different sales pattern from other consoles, with a long tail of sales rather than a big initial spike.

There's also the fact that the big Wii games weren't out when those statistics were taken in (presumably) early October. Since then we've had Mario Galaxy, and there's SSMB, Mario Kart Wii on the way.

[hybridial]

Actually there is a simpler solution for Nintendo never making the Wii's freely available, and I also believe they realise that. Wiifit, and games like it. Keep making applications for the Wii that keep it's tinge of uniqueness up. And they have been doing a good job keeping me happy with regulat games, as has Capcom and others.

[Ento]

The Wii is so scarce now because of sales patterns laid out last year. They believed that Wii sales would drop off in summer and spike up again nearer to to the holidays. As you can see, they were wrong/

[pierski]

Now tell me, do I sound like I want a Wii for things like "Wii Sports?"

Nope. You are a gamer. Congrats on actually getting a Wii by the way.

No, there are gamers buying the Wii. I just see a lot of non-gamers buying Wiis. People told me they're friends come over and they play Wii Sports or Wii Play the whole time they're there. The thought of getting any other games doesn't even cross their mind. That's the problem.

Wiifit, and games like it. Keep making applications for the Wii that keep it's tinge of uniqueness up. And they have been doing a good job keeping me happy with regulat games, as has Capcom and others.

Yeah, that's what I hope. For me, I think everyone should have two video game consoles. Either an XBox 360 or PS3 for your standard gaming needs and a Wii for your unique gaming experience. Only thing is that it requires companies to use the Wiis uniqueness to enhance the gaming experience and not just as a gimmick. Developers learned that when programming for the DS. They should be able to learn it for the Wii as well.

[Mosaab]

Funny you should mention this, as I was considering just about the same thing the other day: The current Gen is basically owned by Microsoft here in the US. The Playstation 3 is a fanboy's dream, but not much else, and the Wii is more a toy than a console. I started listing the reasons I'd want any system and I found more reasons to get a 360, PS3, even a GAMECUBE, than to get a wii.
Wii: Twilight Princess, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, soul calibur legends...
Xbox 360: Gears of war, assassin's creed, halo 3, overlord, mass effect, soul calibur 4, blue dragon, oblivion, and those are just off the top of my head.
Motion control is fun and all, but later on you just want to actually PLAY a game, not shake your arms around and pray to God you don't lose your wiimote and bite your tongue off in the middle of your seemingly drug-induced convulsion. From what I've seen of the wii, it's got good graphics, but few good games that aren't ports.

In case you're wondering, I'm not much of a mario or metroid kinda guy.

[sporge]

I somehow don't think Nintendo will be in any trouble when the Wii loses its "trendiness" simply because people won't all be selling theirs on ebay. What you failed to remember i how lazy most people are who have the money to buy a $250 item that essentially becomes a paperweight to them, not that any other system these particular people buy would do any different.

Now if you have more reason to buy a gamecube then a Wii, you need to remember that the Wii has everything a gamecube does plus more. so any reason, other than the price and availability, to get a gamecube is also a reason to get a Wii. Sadly the other two systems out really aren't so nicely backwards compatible.... I don't know how you can't get certain games to play but it sure is annoying.

I know the Wii is lacking games right now, but I think it will be kinda like the DS was, a year of gimicks and then a pretty damn good year. The Wii's good year I think may have just been kicked off with Galaxy. But that is just what I think.

[pierski]

A friend of mine brought up a point. In the Wii commercials, they always have a lot of people sitting around playing games. Then when you buy the console, there are very few games that are multi-player or that you can play with other people without getting a whole bunch of additional controllers and nunchuks. In Wii Sports only Wii Boxing needs the nunchuk and with Wii Bowling and Wii Golf you can play multi-player with only one controller. When you get a second controller, for only $10 more than the regular price, it makes sense to pick up Wii Play. Get that and you can play all of the titles multi-player, besides Wii Boxing, with just your two controller.

What the point? Buying extra controllers and nunchuks gets expensive. And for newcomers buying these systems, for the friends experience, only Wii Sports and Wii Play offer that experience at a reasonable price.

[General WX]

Sadly the other two systems out really aren't so nicely backwards compatible.... I don't know how you can't get certain games to play but it sure is annoying.

PS3 is backwards compatible except for the new 40 gig version. It still has it on the 60 and 80 gig models.

[elvor]

Unless you live in the UK, in which case only half the old games are compatible. Because Sony fail.

[Shmidley]

My grandparents called me to ask me about the Wii. They are about 78 if I recall correctly. They have never played a video game in their lives.

Now they own a video game system.