Nintendo Wii - End of Life Thoughts

[Jimmu]

With the Wii U coming out this month, the Wii will no longer be Nintendo's newest home console. Here you can post thoughts about the Wii including what you liked about the Wii and what you didn't like. Maybe include a list of your top ten games also.

 

[Ventus]

Likes
Myriad of different games. The Wii was the one post-N64 outing where I feel Nintendo reached to all corners of the gaming world, trying to grab an audience from every genre. I've seen entries in the shooter sphere (most notably the Call of Duty standard definition installments), I've seen puzzles and platformers via Kirby and Mario, I've even seen action-adventure via the two Zelda releases. That's the one thing I like about the Wii.

Dislikes
- Certain games that came on the Wii just weren't my taste. I won't take the time to name any of them; just suffice to say that I was disappointed every once in a while.
- The Wii was a huge gimmick from the very start. Motion gaming, huh? Well guess what, the breadth of the motion gaming came only when the WM+ was launched back in '09. No, I lied, the breadth of the motion gaming came from 2010 until the Wii's death in the early 2012.
- The Wii lacks an HDMI port. Call me shallow if you want, but Nintendo's whole "let's appeal to the casual market" run has left them with a system that absolutely cannot offer a decent looking experience. The Wii might've looked good back in 2001, but this is 2012! I want to enjoy looking at what I play...but if I can't, there needs to be a reason aside from 'we wanted to make more money by going cheap'. The N64's visuals I can deal with, it's a 1995 system. The GC is the same; the PS2 even has some graphical issues here and there as does the Xbox. But the Wii is a 2006 system, and the Xbox 360 being a 2005 system offered us an HDMI port + anti aliasing on almost every game if not every game.

Those are just my four cents, no need to abide by what I think

 

[DarkestLink]

My only disapointment with this console is just Mario everything in general. The old plumber has really let himself go....

 

[Seth]

The Mario Galaxy games were among the best Mario has ever been. Fantastic games. The Wii has a lot of great games on it and a creative control scheme. I love the VC as well and it was a great addition. Over all I am not thrilled with the system though, it was underpowered and it's lack of 3rd part support was very disappointing. Great 1st party with subpar 3rd party (over all) is the story of this console.

 

[Cfrock]

I still remember buying my Wii. It was 6th Januray, 2007. I had spent weeks trying to get my hands on one, spent hours upon hours in futile queues until I finally found the only one still available in town that day. I can't adequately describe my fanboyish excitement at buying it. My friends still occasionally taunt me about it. I was joyous to the bring of lunacy and I truly felt like this was going to be the beginning of the best years of my gaming life.

I'm looking at my Wii right now. It's dusty and a little dirty. The flap on the top has long since snapped off and it lies rather unceremoniously on a shelf below my 360. Sticking out of it are two GameCube memory cards and a GameCube controller. My Wiimote lies nearby with the Nunchuck nowhere in sight. For all of the emotion I felt the day I bought it, the Wii has far from lived up to the lofty expectations I had of it.

When I bought it I was imaging Zelda adventures to rival all others, the beautiful return of Donkey Kong and F-Zero, the first excellent StarFox game since 1997 and for third-parties to experiment and let their imaginations run wild with the unique controller. I got my Zeldas and my Donkey Kong... But F-Zero and StarFox never showed up. Those third-parties failed to make innovative use of the controller and even Nintendo themselves ended up languishing with the much lambasted 'waggle' until they released the Motion Plus. By then it wasn't much help. Many of us had already lost faith in the Wii as a console, myself keeping it around only for the occasional first-party title.

I do have some excellent memories with the Wii. The games I loved for it are honestly some of the best I have ever played. Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Smash Bros. Brawl, Skyward Sword, Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2, Super Paper Mario and Mario Kart Wii have all been highlights of the last 5 years for me. But beyond that there was little else and considering most of those games were released in 2007-08, the last few years have been pretty harsh on my poor Wii.

It speaks volumes, I think, that my Wii is more equipped to play GameCube games right now than it is Wii games. It's sad in its own way. I had expected the absolute pinnacle of Nintendo's genius on Wii and instead I find it more useful as a 'time capsule' into Nintendo's past. There was so much potential in that little white box. It's such a shame to look at it now and see what was, never to know what could have been...

 

[Spirit]

I've been a nintendo fangirl all my life but i can safely say that the Wii has been the first nintendo console to disappoint me.

i loved that there were so many flagship titles, some of which double dipped (Mario and Metroid) whereas others even triple dipped (kirby). The problem is, eve though we had Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Kirby and Donkey Kong I can't say i enjoyed many of them. Kirby's Adventure Wii was enjoyable but i didn't like Epic Yarn much, I didn't like Mario Galaxy 1 or 2 (there was nothing wrong with them i just didn't get along with them), I hated Metroid Other M and Skyward Sword, which is a massive shame since i was looking forward to both Metroid and Zelda on the wii only to be disappointed. Instead i had to rely on 3rd party games such as Fragile Dreams, dead Space Extraction, Monster Hunter Tri and No More Heroes.

Sadly every game i played on the wii didn't really compare to anyhting i'd played previously on other consoles, it was disappointing overall and i think im playing on my GC now more than ever since buying a Wii because the likes of Metroid and Zelda and Mario are reminding me how good previous installments were like Wind Waker and Prime 1, which is a shame. The wii did wonders for motion controls but nothing for gaming, there were no games that i wanted to play on it, instead i kitted it out with games that were said to be good and obvious franchise continuations... most of the time i wish i'd never bought a Wii, in fact after kitting out my wii and still being disappointed i ended up with an xbox 360 and really never looked back. Had some of the games like Bayonetta, Left4Dead, Dead Rising, Bioshock, Mass Effect, Prototype, Street Fighter X Tekken etc etc etc been on the wii then i think it would have helped motion control make a statement.. alas outside of a couple of 2D fighters and smash bros i can't think of any decent fighters on the console at all. which is a shame..

I won't miss the wii when its gone and i dont think the WiiU being backwards compatible is going to be much of a feature for me....

However, the Wii does have one of my favourite games of all time on it and its an exclusive.. Fragile Dreams Farewell Ruins of the Moon. I'm happy the Wii exists just so i had the opportunity to play that game

 

[feraldonkey]

So long. No more friend codes. Goodbye. Farewell. I really can't narrow it down to my final thoughts other than it was a long wait for a really good console from Nintendo.

 

[RubenCrapton]

I really wish I got into the Wii sooner than I did. I mean like REALLY get into it further than SSBB and Mario Kart.
I didn't really get hardcore into gaming until 2009, and I didn't really start to look at the Wii until very recently, regrettably.
I have a really big back log of what I still have to buy/play and I stoked about it.
All the games will have a price drop when the Wii U launches
I'll buy 5 games for the price each of them was at launch
It will be glorious.


Also, the Wii is the most underrated console since the Dreamcast

 

[A Link In Time]

In my humble opinion, the Wi is Nintendo's worst home ocnsole. Most will point towards increased hardware and software sales as well as hefty third party support as a sign of recovery but I beg to differ. I certainly hope the Wii U doesn't meet a similar fate after a few years given a like namesake.

I wasn't a fan of motion control to begin with and developers opted to view it as a means to produce casual games and cheap watered down ports. Nintendo certainly didn't give a strong first impression with its debut launch titles-Wii Sports and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess-which can be classified under those categories, respectively. While original gems like World of Goo and Madworld were certainly present, they came few and far between.

The Wii's limited hardware capabilities certainly weigh into my argument as well. I realize Nintendo wanted to spice things up after the commercial failure that was the Gamecube but they needed to cater to a broader audience while retaining the trust of the traditional gamer. E3 2008 was the symbolic crossroads in the company's failure to do just that as many faithful deserted to the 360 and PS3, hoping to find the grittier, action-packed titles Ninty had offered them not a whole generation ago. The Wii's SD graphics and poor online functionality were the nail in the coffin. While gameplay is certainly the principle factor in purchasing a product from this medium, aesthetic should also be considered in balancing the whole and here it was shamefully neglected. Regarding WiFi, my hopes were raised in 2008 with the likes of Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Kart Wii, two back-to-back blockbusters releasing only a month apart, boasting the feature, but the company failed to follow through. Where was online multiplayer in New Super Mario Bros. Wii? Why wasn't an online component added to the revamped version of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes in the Metroid Prime: Trilogy? Why didn't Skyward Sword feature leaderboards or a coop mode? The Wii was fully capable of realizing all these ambitions and yet never did.

My Wii has been collecting dust for months. The Wii U appears to be much better. All of the Wii's positives-blend of unique and traditional control schemes, virtual console, wide appeal are intact but this time around, Nintendo is taking third party support seriously. Yes, there are plenty of games for younger children and sports moms. But hardcore gamers are a high consideration as well. Nintendo was surprised to see such a high level of support and thus pushed some of its first party games back into 2013 to allow for better spacing of titles. The more games, the merrier. Hopefully the Xbox 720 and PS4 don't steal the steam of Nintendo's first forage into HD.

 

[ShadowDiety]

I could be here for hours about how much this system disappointed me. To keep it short, it was an okay system.

As for my favorite games, they would have to be:

Super Smash Brothers Brawl
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Skyward Sword
and Xenoblade Chronicles

 

[JuicieJ]

It was an interesting ride. Lots of ups and downs, but I see mostly fond memories of the console when I look back at it. Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Brothers Brawl, Metroid Prime 3, Red Steel 2, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Metroid: Other M, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Skyward Sword, and Xenoblade Chronicles have been some of the most entertaining experiences on any console for me, and that's a relief to say after having very few games on the GameCube provide that feeling. Nintendo's second-worst console for sure, but leagues better than that Cube thing.

Goodbye Wii, hello Wii U.

 

[Majoras_Wrath]

Let's face it, the Wii had excellent games but just lacked the support and power. I'm not talking about graphics either just overall power. Online wasn't a pleasure either. I struggled to find many matches on WFC let alone those without lag. I'm happy Nintendo squeezed out all that they could from it. I am happy with the games that I did get for it but then again I had to buy an Xbox to play games that weren't offered on Wii.

 

[Castle]

The Wii is a disappointment, to be honest. It could have done better if it had better third party support. The number of titles I've played on the Wii pales in comparison to the mass of games I have played, and enjoyed to completion on the 360, for instance.

Nintendo deserves credit for an ambitious experiment that, quite frankly, failed. Nintendo seems to be the only ones, for the most part, who knew how to make the best of the system. I am afraid that Nintendo is not entirely to blame for the Wii's lackluster performance. In a climate where taking risks on something new makes publishers $&!% their pants, the Wii never stood a chance.

It doesn't help that motion controls are simply not viable. They just do not make for an effective control scheme, whether they work or not. The Wii was a system that held massive attention for only a fleeting moment. Still enough for the Big N to make big bucks off the Wii, so in that respect it was a massive financial success for them at least.

Xenoblade Chronicles tops my list of favorite Wii games by far (Hello third party support!) and I've gotten massive play time out of Resident Evil 4 (hello functioning motion controls!) and Twilight Princess (better on the Cube you say?). I honestly don't consider Skyward Sword an acceptable investment for WiiMotion+ (an add on that does nothing but &%$$ me off).

Other than that, I only ever dabbled in other games and have still hardly played any to completion. Even Super Smash Brothers Brawl only vaguely held my interest.

 

[Batman]

Nintendo’s Wii excelled in some areas but fell short in others. When it comes to third party, I’m pretty sure no one will mourn the Wii’s death. But when it comes to the amazing, classic, and iconic first party franchise installments the Wii provided us with, it is and will always be highly respected.

I can remember standing in line when the Wii launched, taking it home, greedily unboxing it, and popping Wii Sports in for the first time. Good times.

I hope the Wii U will provide us with a similar "first time" experience.

 

[nsanesk8er16]

i liked twilight princess, smash bros brawl, mario galaxy and galaxy 2 (eh kinda got boring after a little while), mario kart wii and xenoblade.

dude other m nearly ruined metroid at least for me and many other fans if you wanna play a good metroid game id go with the prime series

dude other m nearly ruined metroid for me and a lot of other fans if you want to play a good metroid game then id suggest playing the prime trilogy. other m needs to be thrown off a cliff just thinking about that game fills me with so much rage [

JuicieJ
It was an interesting ride. Lots of ups and downs, but I see mostly fond memories of the console when I look back at it. Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Brothers Brawl, Metroid Prime 3, Red Steel 2, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Metroid: Other M, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Skyward Sword, and Xenoblade Chronicles have been some of the most entertaining experiences on any console for me, and that's a relief to say after having very few games on the GameCube provide that feeling. Nintendo's second-worst console for sure, but leagues better than that Cube thing.

Goodbye Wii, hello Wii U