Thinking of buying a Nintendo Wii....talk me into or out of it!!!!

Indian Summer

My game system history is Original NES (which i still love and play), then I got SuperNintendo (which was okay, loved the Zelda game on it, and Mortal Kombat), then I got Nintendo 64 (didn't like this system too much, played 007 Goldeneye but that was about it..had a hard time adjusting to the 3D concept), then I was without a gaming system for a while (still going back to the original NES)....currently have a PS2..which I'm kinda indifferent on...I love the Guitar Hero series, and a few sports games.

So I'm hearing a lot of hype with the Wii, and I'm pumped to see you can get classic NES games with it like Techmo Bowl and Mario Bros. Just a little reluctant to get a new $y$tem now.

What's your thoughts on the new systems...Wii, PS3, Xbox 360...or something new that I don't even know about yet!

Hartydog

I have the Wii and love it. I haven't picked up any games yet besides what comes with the console. However the sports games that come with it are a blast.

inmyrvm

there aren't enough good games out to warrant buying one. mine pretty much just sits there. don't buy one yet!

Ahnimus

I'm a Wii owner, but I don't have a PS3 or 360 which might make my opinion bias, I'll try to be as centric as possible.

You aren't getting great graphics with the Wii, you are effectively getting PS2 like graphics on the Nintendo Wii. The Wii has focused largely on upgraded interface and game play. I haven't been a fan of Nintendo or owned any of their systems since NES, but it appears that the interface has improved. You now have channels which allow you to add to your main screen. For example, you have the weather channel, news channel (Opera Browser) and any games you purchase are also added as "channels". Unfortunately there isn't a lot of content available at the time.

The hardware is sub-par compared to the competition, except the controls. To be honest, I can't fathom playing on a PS2 or Xbox controller after experiencing the Wii. Even though the controls are problematic in many games, it is a lot more fun to use motion controls. For example, I'm a fan of the Electronic Arts franchise SSX, I owned SSX Tricky on the PS2 and had a lot of fun with it. SSX Blur on the Wii is ten times more fun to me, even though it's harder to do tricks and the controls less reliable. But I'm also keen on challenges. Currently the games available are hugely insufficient. A few titles are worth buying but the rest suck. Tiger Woods 08 is a lot of fun, SSX Blur as I already mentioned, The Bigs, Guitar Hero 3 and Mario Strikers Charged are the only ones I personally would invest in. Even these titles seem to be lacking in some game play features. The Bigs and Tiger Woods are fully furnished, but the others lack simple things you normally expect like Instant Replay or Highscores. Most of the Wii games are launch titles though, so this is to be expected. It's unclear what will be the future of the Wii at this point, many of the titles I haven't mentioned take simple game play dynamics and attach the typical Nintendo brands to them, such as Mario and Donkey Kong. Donkey Kong Barrel Blast is absolutely a horrible game in my opinion, likewise the minigame collections like Big Brain Academy, Mama's Cook crap and Wario Ware are fun for about 5 minutes then they are prime candidates for eBay.

All in all, I'm happy with my investment, it's a cheap system comparitively and I haven't encountered any huge hardware problems that PS3 and 360 owners have been ranting about. The controls are fun and my brother owns a Wii which means we can swap games and play stuff like Guitar Hero 3 together. Another disadvantage is the lack of downloadable content. Activision has announced additional downloadable content for Guitar Hero 3 on 360 and PS3 but nothing yet for Wii, presumably waiting for the release of Wii Ware next year, and Harmonics still hasn't announced any plans to bring Rock Band to Wii, which is already available for PS2/PS3 and 360. Electronic Arts is in my opinion one of the greatest game developers to date, but they typically don't make multiplatform games, which means if they prefer one system over the other, the others get screwed. My understanding is that 360 and PS3 are similarly capable in such a way that makes cross-platform design easier, but leaves the Wii out of the picture. On the other hand Wii sales are comparable to 360 sales even though 360 was released a year earlier. At some point developers might favor the rising Wii customer base.

It's hard to tell, but as a consumer for the time being I'm both happy and dissapointed due to the reasons above.

pearljamjen

Hartydog wrote:

I have the Wii and love it. I haven't picked up any games yet besides what comes with the console. However the sports games that come with it are a blast.

I'm thinking of getting one; I think the sports games look fun! Although, I don't really need something else to take up all my time lol.

pjoasisrule

Its pretty amazing, planning on getting one if I win fantasy football this season.

roar

the sports games are a lot of fun...and wii boxing makes for quite good cardio! haha.

Rygar

My girlfriend wants one but I keep bringing her places to look at the game selection and it is a little discouraging.
As it is now I'd be paying 300 dollars for Wii sports...and there's no way that is happening...

As for your decision, it depends on the games you like to play. The 360 currently has the best available game library, but the PS3 is catching up and have cut their console prices heavily. The PS3 also has motion sensitive controllers, and next year sees the rumble return to them as well. This Xmas season and next year should see an introduction of worthy exclusives onto the PS3 as well (Uncharted - mix of Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider; the new Metal Gear; etc).
If you like shooters I find the 360 controller better, and multiplatform games I pretty much go with the 360 (for now).

"On the games, you should focus. Easy will your decision be."

chinobaeza

Rygar wrote:

As it is now I'd be paying 300 dollars for Wii sports...and there's no way that is happening...

I prefer to pay 245 dollars for a LE book

gue_barium

Considering I haven't played video games since Pacman was the best thing going, I have no opinion on the matter.
I don't understand the attraction to the things myself.

What is the attraction to video games?

Rygar

chinobaeza wrote:

I prefer to pay 245 dollars for a LE book

hahaha, another 'not gonna happen' :P

Rygar

gue_barium wrote:

Considering I haven't played video games since Pacman was the best thing going, I have no opinion on the matter.
I don't understand the attraction to the things myself.

What is the attraction to video games?

Sorry, I guess that should be either you are entertained by them or you aren't.

Binaural

Metroid Prime 3
Super Mario Galaxy
Zelda
Wario Ware
Wii Sports

These games are great and you'll get loooads of time out of them. Plus buying a wii game costs around £30-35 whereas PS3 and 360 = £50

qtegirl

We bought a Wii for my daughter in September (she turned 14). The whole family enjoys it. I LOVE it! I usually come home after work and play a few games of tennis before dinner. It feels much better than just sitting around doing nothing. We mostly play the Sports game that comes with it, but we also got:

Madden Football
The Bigs (baseball)
Marvel Ultimate Alliance
Wii Play (comes with an extra remote, so you pay $10 for the game)
Dragonball Z 2

I bought all the extra games on e-bay and paid either half or less than half of the retail price. I've tried to get the more popular games on e-bay (Zelda, Paper Mario, Wario), but they always go for more than $30, and the most I'm willing to pay is 1/2 price ($25).

Anyhow, I think I just went off on a tangent. I love our Wii and barely play our PS2 anymore. I'm still debating what's going to happen when the new Tekken game comes out (that's my ultimate favorite game), because it'll only come out for PS3. I'm not sure I'm willing to dish out $500 for a gaming system. I'm sure you know that the Wii is the least expensive of all the systems.

Rygar

Binaural wrote:

Metroid Prime 3
Super Mario Galaxy
Zelda
Wario Ware
Wii Sports

These games are great and you'll get loooads of time out of them. Plus buying a wii game costs around £30-35 whereas PS3 and 360 = £50

What type of game is Wario Ware?

Binaural

Rygar wrote:

What type of game is Wario Ware?

It's basically a collection of mini games that make use of the wireless software. There is a lot of random little games that sound like they'll be awful but you'll find yourself playing them over and over. The best thing about it is it's not a 'gamers' game, anyone can pick it up and play. Plus you can pick it up and play for a few minutes then set it down or play for ages. Its alot of fun.

gue_barium

Rygar wrote:

Sorry, I guess that should be either you are entertained by them or you aren't.

I understand that. I'm just wanting to know from those who are attracted and entertained by that stuff (for hours on end), what is the attraction? How is it entertaining? What's the draw? What pulls one into such a thing?

Rygar

gue_barium wrote:

I understand that. I'm just wanting to know from those who are attracted and entertained by that stuff (for hours on end), what is the attraction? How is it entertaining? What's the draw? What pulls one into such a thing?

I guess it is just fun. A lot of games are content-attractive, in that the story keeps you entertained as a good movie would. Add in top notch audio and/or visuals and it gets even better.
Playing sports or war type games against your friends can be a lot of fun.
The more interactive stuff makes for good party-atmosphere entertainment, like the Nintendo Wii being discussed here, and there are games like Scene It (yes, the board game) that are good for party entertainment.

gue_barium

Rygar wrote:

I guess it is just fun. A lot of games are content-attractive, in that the story keeps you entertained as a good movie would. Add in top notch audio and/or visuals and it gets even better.
Playing sports or war type games against your friends can be a lot of fun.
The more interactive stuff makes for good party-atmosphere entertainment, like the Nintendo Wii being discussed here, and there are games like Scene It (yes, the board game) that are good for party entertainment.

Yeah, the Wii thing looks kind of cool for the fact that the player is actually up and moving with the action.

Rygar

gue_barium wrote:

Yeah, the Wii thing looks kind of cool for the fact that the player is actually up and moving with the action.

I was at my cousin's wedding in September and someone gave them a Wii and my aunts and uncles got right into it...mostly baseball and bowling.

aspoonfulweighsaton

A recent study showed that almost 70% of Wii owners don't even play it anymore. I find that hard to believe but recently a lot of developers admitted to putting out crap games to try to cash in on the craze.

I ultimately think it's a great system but it does seem to be looked at as more of a novelty than anything else right now.

If you're a fan of Nintendo and their franchises, then you can't go wrong.