What's Wrong with the Wii?

(This is an email I sent to X-Play's Adam Sessler. Consider it an open letter.)

Mr. Sessler,

I am writing this in response to your Soapbox podcast of 12/27/07 (“Buy More Wii Games!”). In this post you ask for people to email you regarding reasons why they are not buying Wii games. Please excuse the lateness of this response; I have only viewed the post recently and feel that the topic is still relevant now, a year and a half later.

As an avid gamer I purchased a Wii early last year and have regretted the decision ever since. The reason as to why is that there are very few interesting games available for the Wii, which goes a long way to answering your question. The games that I have enjoyed most have been those such as the Lego games which are available on the other consoles. Considering the superiority of the other consoles in terms of online support, unlockable content and graphical capabilities, there is little reason for playing those games on the Wii. (Incidentally, this is also the reason why I refuse to buy a PS3; there are only a handful of games exclusive to the system that I want to play and since Sony has removed backward compatibility from the system there is no reason for me to upgrade from my PS2. Besides, if paying $250+ for a Wii caused buyer’s remorse, imagine what shelling out in excess of $400 for an extraneous console would do.)

Sure, one can argue that the Wii allows you to download games, including classic NES games, to its built-in hard drive. But so what? The 360 does essentially the same thing and it allows you to try out the games before you buy them so you have an idea of what you are getting. The same cannot be said of the Wii and in these budget-conscious times, in which I for one will not buy a game that I have not played, this lack of consumer support on Nintendo’s part acts as another strike against the Wii.

So what is the Wii good for? The only use I have for mine is playing old GameCube games. I would have been so much better off buying a used GameCube instead! And, as you note, I do not seem to be the only one bothered by the Wii’s pointlessness. In fact, the situation is so bad that my local Blockbuster has ceased to stock new Wii games for rental, presumably because nobody is renting the games they do carry. Unfortunately, they no longer carry GameCube titles either, so I am left to scrounge through used game dealers’ bins instead.

Please pardon me if I have stated anything here that others have stated before. It is probably obvious to game aficionados and professionals such as yourself that Nintendo has squandered the Wii’s enormous potential when it comes to non-casual gamers. I doubt, however, that Nintendo is losing sleep about this loss. They have identified an otherwise neglected segment of the gamer population, the casual, older and predominantly female demographic, and have exploited it to great effect. Good for them. But I fear that the end result is to limit themselves by catering to a niche market which will harm them in the long term. In the short term, though, they know where their metaphorical bread is buttered which allows the company to thumb their noses at the rest of us as they did at last year’s E3. Perhaps you can bring up these issues with the Nintendo folks at this year’s E3?

Thank you for your time and consideration.