Now that the "Wii Brand" Is finally retired, what's the final verdict?

[JaguarVision]

Months into the Switch release and years into the XBO/PS4. I though we could look back to the Wii (and Wii U as well) and give our perspectives and opinions on it.

 

Now, to be blunt, when the Wii came out in 2006 I had no interest in it. I compared it to the HD the original Xbox had and concluded that it was some cheap upgrade to make up GameCube losses (although the gba already had done that) and brought a 360 later that year for Gears1.

 

Fast forward to 2008 and the fad had begin swallowing everyone up. I got mine at a clearance sale for $125 dye to the retailer overstocking, which was unheard of everywhere else and enjoyed the novelty a bit and Smash Bros. Brawl but the problems became hard to avoid really fast.

 

A tacked on online, replacing basic button presses swings, lack of accuracy, and a very, very, large portion of it's third party was shovel ware. The traditional third parties were barely on the system on top of that. By the time they tried updating some of the problems in 2010/11 the ride was over.

 

I feel Nintendo never really tried to put this console out there and just rode the wave with no way to sustain it. They only fixed some of the issues with it and by the time they did it was too late. They let anyone drop games on the thing to the point I feel big publishers put tech demos on it than released the big game on the 360/PS3.

 

Nintendo went for casuals but did nothing to contain them. I mean the Kinect took a 4th of the Wius eventually 100+ million audience.

 

It just seemed like Nintendo either was incompetent or did not know what to do so never did much to make the Wii have any real lomgetivity.

 

The best thing about the Wii for me any many others was GameCube BC. It was a much larger deal than some thing GC campatible hardware sold drives, and the backlash against the "slim" Wii for removing the GameCube compatibility doomed it.

 

Even now I feel the Wii is basically a more stable GameCube with a few good exclusive games. It also had, during relevance, a decent browser for the internet.

 

The Wii U was the HAD Wii way to late and intead of presenting itself as a contender, it was presented as a console compatible with the Wii and hoping to hit it big again jumping on the tablet babd wagon. At the time the Kinect was slowing down in sales and motion gaming and the Wii Brand were already falling to the way side.

 

I don't know how Nintendo Fans dealt with the droughts and lack of quality software if the Wii/Wiiu were the only platforms they played oi feel like it was a bad footnote in Nintendo history and am glad they finally dropped not only the Wii Brand name, but chasing after the next big fad

[keepdreamin]

What's with all the threads?

[godslabrat]

Forget brands, tramp stamps are where it’s at!

 

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/78/59/27/78592728ef2173d652b82e0a93706543.jpg

[CatPix]

The issue with the Wii and Wii U are simply a reflection of the fact that by the 2000's, the Japanese game makers lost their grip on the gaming market. Like Atari did in 1982. It's not hard to be the leader on a market when you wiped your opponent or never published them in the first place.

Sony changed that in 1995, and so, slowly but surely, Japanene developers were left behind.

If you read about the Wii and Wii U development and even the DS/3DS, Nintendo officials aknowledge that they focused on the Japanese market. Why the Wii doesn't offer HDMI or 720p component out? Because in Japan in the early 2000's, most young couples in Japan didn't own an HD TV able set. And why did Nintendo developped the Wii U with so much focus on the Mablet? Again, because having multiple TVs in Japanese apartements isn't common, so for Japanese audiences, a home console with it's own screen seemed like a good idea.

 

The lack of games only translate the fact that they didn't know to to appeal to their targets... Because they didn't know who their targets were, especially outside of Japan. And even in Japan, for that matter.

Edited October 29, 2017 by CatPix

[Punisher5.0]

Yeah let's slow down on all the new threads please.

 

Thank you

[JaguarVision]

I don't know. The Wii was still number one in Japan and outside Nintendo consoles the other relevant console sold more western games than Japanese ones (Gen had more western games as top sellers in NA, same with PSX)

 

So addressing your point of Japanese devs losing grip, as it comes to Nintedo consoles they still had it while outside Nintendo consoles they didnt.

 

But considering they "won" I don't get why your putting a big portion of blame on them focusing on Japan. I mean that makes sense for the Wii U but not the original

[JBerel]

Yeah.....more tramp stamps!

 

[+Sauron]

There's a forum for the Wii, where such a thread belongs. Moving it there.

[Gabriel]

As for the Wii brand, I think it's pretty much a given that the brand is now associated with shovelware, non-functional motion controls, and lots of plastic accessory garbage. The failure of the Wii U shows the Wii brand was already a negative connotation by that point.

 

I think gaming historians 20 years from now may call the last decade the "novelty age" of gaming as everyone went crazy for guitar controllers, drum controllers, plastic doo-dads to stick on a controller, poorly made plastic figures to unlock game content, and novelty motion games. The Wii didn't start the Novelty Age, but it certainly represents something of an apex of it's market saturation.

[Austin]

Wall of text? Meh.. I'll pass on reading this one.

[Blazing Lazers]

Uh, the Wii era is still going on if you consider that a few games are still trickling out. And selling surprisingly well. Just Dance, for example.

[zzip]

I initially ignored the Wii, until I played multiplayer New Super Mario Bros at a friends house and had to have it. This was strange, because I really really hated SMB on the NES BITD. This one was fun though.

 

In retrospect, while the console does have some great titles that are still fun to play, most of the library was too much shovelware. I had to get a special tote to store all the plastic gimmicks.

 

Final verdict? IDK. It is worth owning, but not my favorite console.

[Video]

Not my favorite console by far, and no GameCube BC didn't help as the top reason for that console was the incompatible gameboy player.

 

It took me two years to get a Wii due to Nintendo's artificially made shortage. Tbh, the shortage was the reason it did so well, people that got one would hype it up rather than be truthful about it. Igot one and since its still hard to get, I'm going to say its great.

 

It had a few good games,but even those are hampered with poor motion controls. Nintendo's refusal to let that shit pass and just use a real controller quickly relegated it to my closet. The reason kinect did (as well as it did) was because it was attached to a console with a real controller setup, and was purely optional.

 

The Wii put such a bad taste in my mouth that I had zero desire for the wiiu and yet another gimmicky controller, with BC support to one of the likely most undesirable consoles of all time, certainly of this century.

 

Switch intrigues me, but yet another artificial shortage and a lack of physical games is quickly eroding my desire to get one.

 

Its really a pitty too, Nintendo has some of my favorite first party games, but the last few gens have gone out of their way to destroy their name, (quality) third party support, accessibility and availability. I hope the switch does well, legitimately, but with three previous failed consoles in a row, I don't have high expectations for it.

 

And no, I don't care how well something sells, look at say, the ps2, or xbox, Wii beat them, but despite being newer, the older less selling consoles are still desirable and fun, while the newer better selling one really isn't due to being a wasteland of third party shovelware crap and broken motion controller games that just have limited appeal.

[Shawn]

I still have 2 wii machines plugged in at my house. They make for great netflix machines. During it's retail life? Loved it. Was the best Nintendo has offered since the SNES. The WiiU on the other hand was a total POS and caused me to think twice about buying another Nintendo console in the future.

[Swami]

I think the weird controllers like the wiimote, Kinect, touchpad, etc., freak out the developers and this contributes to the production of shovel-ware because of the extra cost and effort involved. The shovel-ware makers make even worse games and the normal companies make shovel-ware. Every developer's games drop a level or two, resulting in the "broken game" term rarely heard before the motion controllers came about. A lot of developers couldn't do what they wanted with the Kinect, even with free Microsoft support. I suppose that was true with the Wiimote as well. The motion plus was probably to help make developers' job easier, since Nintendo could do more with the original than most 3rd parties could do with the motion plus.The Wiimote, like the Kinect, was a breakthrough, but the ability or will to support them wasn't there and the scope was limited without a Herculean effort. However, it was hugely popular because Nintendo was prolific in successful game production and when it worked right, the wiimote didn't take a lot of flailing effort like the Kinect, just flicks of the wrist. Still, I think the only tennis game that worked decent was the Wii Sports version.

[Rev]

Who said the Wii is retired?

 

 

Just Dance 2018 just released for Wii. It skipped Wii U.

 

And also Let's Sing 2018 released too on Wii.

 

So there! Take that! :-D

[Austin]

Just Dance?

 

Yeah. The Wii is dead.

[+wood_jl]

If they would have called it "Wii 2" instead of "Wii U," much confusion would have been avoided. I don't know what they are thinking. They are both fine machines, but I have hardly played mine, although it's difficult for me to find the time to play anything, lately. I remember thinking that the name "Wii" was stupid. But it didn't matter what I thought; the thing was a complete success. Then, when I got to like it and the "Wii U" came out, I thought that was even dumber, because the "U" did nothing other than to confuse people.

 

However,. "Xbox 2" would be easier to understand than "Xbox 360," and "Xbox 3" would be MUCH easier to understand than "Xbox One," which can easily be confused with "Xbox 1," which usually means the original Xbox. I think there are a lot of Madison Avenue advertising firms full of incompetent people who are worth less than their salt. But what do I know? Very little.

[zzip]

 

Just Dance?

 

Yeah. The Wii is dead.

Just Dance sells amazingly well on the Wii to this day. But it's the only game that does.

Edited November 1, 2017 by zzip

[zzip]

If they would have called it "Wii 2" instead of "Wii U," much confusion would have been avoided. I don't know what they are thinking. They are both fine machines, but I have hardly played mine, although it's difficult for me to find the time to play anything, lately. I remember thinking that the name "Wii" was stupid. But it didn't matter what I thought; the thing was a complete success. Then, when I got to like it and the "Wii U" came out, I thought that was even dumber, because the "U" did nothing other than to confuse people.

 

However,. "Xbox 2" would be easier to understand than "Xbox 360," and "Xbox 3" would be MUCH easier to understand than "Xbox One," which can easily be confused with "Xbox 1," which usually means the original Xbox. I think there are a lot of Madison Avenue advertising firms full of incompetent people who are worth less than their salt. But what do I know? Very little.

Lol, yes! I always thought Xbox One was a worse name than Wii U. It confused me for awhile after it came out and I was following the news on those new consoles. the Wii U name never confused me.

[Swami]

Lol, yes! I always thought Xbox One was a worse name than Wii U. It confused me for awhile after it came out and I was following the news on those new consoles. the Wii U name never confused me.

And now there is Xbox X. I don't think by any logic this is tenth generation.

[zzip]

And now there is Xbox X. I don't think by any logic this is tenth generation.

It's actually the Xbox One X, so is that 9 in Roman Numerals? or Xbox 110? That's a massive step down from the 360...

[Swami]

It's actually the Xbox One X, so is that 9 in Roman Numerals? or Xbox 110? That's a massive step down from the 360...

..and why is it still "Xbox One" X? I thought Project Scorpio was supposed to be something new and amazing. All Hype. Slightly upgraded XBox One. Six month newer brain, 4K, 48fps. Now gamers can get headaches faster.

[zzip]

..and why is it still "Xbox One" X? I thought Project Scorpio was supposed to be something new and amazing. All Hype. Slightly upgraded XBox One. Six month newer brain, 4K, 48fps. Now gamers can get headaches faster.

It was always going to be an iteration of the Xbox One, not a completely new system. But yeah the amount of hype surrounding it for what it is is ridiculous. Like the PS4pro, its point is to bring 4K gaming into this generation, also like the PS4 pro, it will likely appeal to a subset of the Xbox fanbase- those with 4K TVs

[JaguarVision]

Generally the average consumer found Wii U more confusing than Xbox One. But Microsoft basically followed off of "360" so they had a safety net. If Xbox One came after the actual Xbox 1 well...uh...

 

Only thing that naming it Xbox One caused was making it hard to find original Xbox stuff for a year and a half.

 

Wii u however had more than the name against it. I mean the marketing was a complete failure for way to long.

 

I think the first major event didn't even show the tablet it just showed a Wii U on the side at a weird angle and comments thinking the consoles was actually just an original Wii starting the add-on rumors.

Edited November 1, 2017 by JaguarVision