BPX001: When Wii Were Kings

[Neon Ignition]

The poll returns today, the exact fifth anniversary of when the veryfirst PTE thread first emerged.

We start out with a look at the Nintendo Wii. It was rightly pointedout that somehow Nintendo?s little mega hit evaded discussion in the firsthundred threads and this year represents a key moment for the system as itturns 10 years old this year.

It?s an interesting milestone as the systems key rivals were the Xbox360 and Playstation 3. Both systems, whilst effectively at the end of theirlives and less successful than the Wii, are still on the market whereas the Wiiwas replaced by the WiiU which is currently staring down the barrel of a gunbranded NX. This rapid generational transition marks out a period in whichNintendo saw astronomical success turn to its lowest point in the home consolemarket.

Ever since the system launched, the Wii has remained a contentioussubject for gamers. Whilst many hold the system as a unique and cherishedplatform, others felt shut out by the dominance of ?casual market focused?titles and the reliance on motion control based gameplay.



The nation caused stock shortages for well over a year after launchwhilst third parties continued to march away from the platform as time marchedon thanks to the low profit returns the system yielded and its inability tosupport affordable ports due to its low end on board tech.



Some titles however, nearly always the Nintendo made ones, becamefixtures for some. Whilst their legacy isn?t as prolific as the games thatinspired them we were even treated to some franchise revivals before thecurrent era where it has become a big thing. Nowhere else, for better or worse,could you play a sequel to Sin and Punishment or Nights.



Looking back, what is your view of Nintendo?s last hit home console?Was it an uncontested success story as a product and as a console or does itscatalogue fail to hold up to scrutiny now that the hype and novelty of itscontrols has faded?

[Colin]

Other: It was the system that stopped me buying Nintendo consoles, that's what I'll always remember it for.

And BPX? WTF is that short for then?

[nakamura]

Utter fluke. Houses some amazing games. Houses some games that benefit from motion control and some that do not.

[Dogg Thang]

I think it was both achievement and fad. I don't think it was a complete fluke because it followed the success of the DS too closely. But it is clearly something they have had a very hard time replicating. The big difference with the DS and Wii for me compared with just about any other system is that those systems sold on the hardware itself. Sure, software demonstrated the hardware but it was the promise of the systems and their features that sold. Like a toy, I guess. And I think the success of both was more like the success of a hit toy than traditional consoles. A huge achievement and yeah, a total unexpected masterstroke in design and marketing, but one with a built-in lifespan.

[Asura]

Other.

It was both of those things. The problem is that despite its enormous success, it didn't create what Nintendo wanted - a new class of repeat customer.

[wakka]

I think it was both achievement and fad.

This echoes my feelings on it. It's often said that the Wii was a total fluke, that Nintendo just got lucky. That they were lucky is true to a certain extent, in the same way it's true of a great many huge successes where the right product is introduced at the right time and in the right way. But I do think that does a disservice to the people at Nintendo who came up with the concept, who decided it was the right time, and the people who decided how it should be marketed. There was definitely luck in the mix, but it was also a perceptive product that jibed smartly with public appetite at the time.

Can it be replicated? It's possible I think, but it's extremely unlikely. A major problem with the Wii is that it wasn't something that could be iterated on. The motion stuff came and went, a true fad. It wasn't a lasting step forward for interaction with games like the d-pad or the analog stick.

[Asura]

One thing I would say about the Wii that supports the "achievement" argument is that it seemed very advanced and futuristic, but when broken down, no element of the machine was actually particularly advanced.

The game-console bit was, for all intents and purposes, a GameCube on steroids, which was already old at the time of the Wii's release.

The Wiimotes were just the fusion of a joypad, an accelerometer and a kind of camera tuned to pick up the infra-red lights of the sensor bar (really just a type of light gun). In a way, the Wii controllers are NES-era technology - the only "modern" bit was that they did their wireless stuff via Wifi.

The Wii was just like the Game Boy. None of the hardware was particularly revolutionary. Everything came from how it was "arranged" and what was done with it.

Personally I do find that a bit of a stroke of genius.

Kinect was far more high-tech and I've still yet to see a single worthwhile game for it!

[Neon Ignition]

With Wii it felt like Nintendo did what Sony has been doingto an extent with PS4, the system sells much better than expected so they stepback and leave it to it. Sony has broadly gotten away with it thanks to thecircumstances surrounding the Xbox launch and the wealth of third party supportthey have but they have to face with, and have at least acknowledged as much,the need for strong first party support.

Nintendo on the other hand caused a craze with the hardwareand the low cost development releases like Wii Sports, Wii Fit etc and becamefixated on it. Titles like Metroid Prime 3 and Twlight Princess werecontinuations of Gamecube development so if you put them aside your left withperhaps only Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Bros Brawl and Skyward Sword asbig budget tentpole titles. Everything else was done in a very budget mannerand it even felt like it, Mario Kart Wii was fun but even it was a roughlooking game built on an out of date rough looking reused engine so save money.Basically, they became lazy money hoarders. It’s something that became easilyfelt when the Wii ran out of steam around the 4 year marker, there’s littlereason it stopped selling as well as it did but by the time Skyward Sword cameout it was like Zelda WiiU, the boat had sailed for the most part.

That laziness is what the WiiU has reeked of its entire life,what the 3DS also suffered from in its troubled launch and does again now. Itfeels like the company has been holding back for so many years, to no wonderthen that its appeal has diminished to the point where they’re getting close toneeding to win a new generation of players again as though they were anewcomer.

It was clear that Nintendo’s home console business wasdwindling after the Gamecube but Wii taught them all the wrong lessons and itshuge success seems to have left a false impression on them that it somehowholds the key to the company’s future.

There’s some classic/solid games on there such as the Galaxygames, MKWii is fun despite being outclassed by MK8, S&P2, Prime 3, PunchOut and one or two guilty pleasures (I can’t help but find some appeal inNights 2) but on the whole I’d have to say it’s probably the weakest Nintendohome console line up they’ve ever had. Too much of it reflected the low budget,low effort cash grabbing Nintendo strayed into in the era.

For me, I have to side on it being a fad that Nintendo can’trepeat. We’re almost two generations on and though Nintendo has said they’redone with the Wii brand, with NX I’m finding myself concerned they they’restill not done with the Wii ethos.

RE: BPX title
I wanted to drop the PTE title so went with something morestraightforward. It just stands for Bordersdown Poll X. The X is meaninglessbut its inclusion means that it’s much easier to find in searches down the line,archiving the PTE’s was a bit awkward so I figured a less common letter wouldflag easier.

[charlesr]

It was a must have toy. Everyone wanted Wii Bowling.
A selection of great games made it a great console and I'm glad I joined in, but it was a fluke as the WiiU shows.
Maybe in another 10 years people will want new waggle again, but for now, everyone has had their fill.

[Cornflakes]

There are a few reasons i don't think it is a fad.
1. The wiiremote solved issues dualstick have in a lot of games, especially shooters, for example CoD4: reflex showed how much better pointers were, compared to dualsticks. The problem was, a lot of developers couldn't be bothered with it, as psmove showed. Technology was there and it could have change how this generation controllers would looked like, but a lot of developers and publishers are far too consevative in respect to adopting solutions, plus the press always called it waggle for some reason and it didn't really helped. But the lightgun like pointer was godly.
2. The power consumption, for toys. 40Watt/h to run a Wii game (35W/h for a WiiU!), that deserves some credit.
3. Simple compact design. I actually prefer the look of the WiiU actually, it is just simple. On the other hand, what were they thinking when they designed the ps3 and 4, curves everywhere and parallelogram? Just keep it box shaped.

[Dogg Thang]

A major problem with the Wii is that it wasn't something that could be iterated on. The motion stuff came and went, a true fad. It wasn't a lasting step forward for interaction with games like the d-pad or the analog stick.

Yep. And for me personally, I think it is telling that my favourite Wii games were great in spite of the controls rather than because of them. Like the DS before it.

[dataDave]

It could have been (a lasting step forward) as well, that's the sad part. I love pointer devices for gaming. Sin and Punishment 2 controls wonderfully. I want more games like that which also control exactly like that. It's an absolute crime that we're likely to only ever see one game like it.

I hope the NX keeps the remotes, if anything.

[wakka]

Yep. And for me personally, I think it is telling that my favourite Wii games were great in spite of the controls rather than because of them. Like the DS before it.

And WiiU is the same way. Of the very few games that use the screen in a way that's crucial to the gameplay, only Mario Maker is significantly improved by it. I'm playing Project Zero currently, and the dual screen thing just pulls you straight out of it every time.

That said, I'm in the camp that says the remote was a clever design. It was versatile, comfortable (I love the two piece design of remote and nunchuk), and the pointing really was excellent. Unfortunately I do feel that many people's view of it is exclusively negative due to the unnecessary insertion of low quality motion controls into games, particularly around the time of the original accelerometer based model. I never liked Wii Sports and its clunky inaccurate controls. But the pad as a whole I thought was a great design.

EDIT: to clarify my thinking

[Escape-To-88]

I guess the Wii comes down to a split between the hardware and the games.

As a piece of hardware it was both innovative and gimmicky and potentially somewhat of a 'fluke', although I'd be hard-pressed to agree with this entirely.

For Super Mario Galaxy 1 and more so 2, it's my favourite bit of kit of all time. For my money if you have a decent PC with Dolphin emulator and the Hi-Res Texture packs the Galaxy games (among others) look and play better than anything on current-gen. I think Nintendo's master-stroke is in game design regardless of hardware, I think the fact that these play better on a decent PC with the hi-res packs is further testament to that.

Arguably no-one wants to be spinning around the room like a spanner, they just want to sit and play. That said Muscle March is still one of my favourite experiences on the Wii and the more Wii titles I dip back into: Mad World, S & P 2, Punch Out, Metroid, Super Paper Mario etc. etc. the more I love the machine. Largely though this is due to the quality of the software not of the odd control systems and plethora of grey plastic **** that inevitably accumulated throughout the systems lifespan. I think it's possibly the only console in recent years where you have to strongly consider the hardware and software as two separate entities in order to make a judgement, and I'm unsure the poll takes that into account.

[MarioMark]

It sold to the mainstream that only bought it for Wii Sports, I hated it when it came out but it quickly turned into one of the best Nintendo consoles in the end (hear me out!) and not for the motion controls. Mario Galaxy was one of the best 3D Mario's since Mario 64, it had a huge library of classic games thanks to Virtual Console and perfect GameCube backwards compatibility, and apart from the odd motion control issue and dated graphics Skyward Sward was an absolute masterpiece.

Ironically some of the best games on Wii used little or no motion controls.

In terms of sales figures PS3 and 360 weren't that far behind in the end, only by about 15 million units.