Given that we are about a month or so away from the start of the next “next” generation of consoles with the launch of the Wii U, I decided to do a retrospective/eulogy to the Nintendo Wii. I have read numerous farewell Wii editorials and said to myself, “Why not write one”? Here the thing: this is the 3rd time I have attempted to write this article. It’s difficult for me to put my final thoughts on this console not only because it’s been a long, long time since I have used it but also because I’m finding it very difficult to say goodbye.
I’m sure you are probably flabbergasted by that proclamation. Let me explain. I remember the Wii launch day fondly. It was 10:30PM on a cold, foggy Saturday night. My parents drove my brother and I to pick it up at our nearest GameStop which was 40+ minutes away from our home. We got there around 11:20 or 11:30 and there was already a huge line of people waiting that stretched all the way outside. Did I expect there to be a huge line? Of course. But regardless if you expected it or not, it’s still surprising to see such a line during weather like that.
My brother, who pre ordered it in the first place, went ahead and got in line. I didn’t because well…it was freaking cold out and I didn’t bring a jacket so I stayed in the car. My eyes stayed focused on the clock in the car, counting down the minutes till it reached 12:00AM. As those final minutes started coming down, I was so ecstatic to finally get my fat stubby hands on the Wii. Sure, looking back the launch games weren’t all that great, but just the fact that you were going to have a controller that recognized your every move was so mind blowing to me that I was willing to buy it day one. Not only that, but getting a Zelda game at launch was the icing on the cake. As the clock struck midnight, I just stayed fixated at the nearest entrance to see when my brother was coming out. As soon as I saw him, I told my dad “He’s there, GO NOW!” and we swung around and picked him up. I was like a kid at Christmas morning when I actually got my hands on the box (not N64 kid bad, but pretty close.) I was so eager that I read everything that was printed on the box, reading the Twilight Princess manual, heck even ogling the two Classic Controllers we bought and the Nunchuck. Yeah, I was REALLY excited for it.
That first night was an incredible experience. We had a small bedroom where we kept the Wii at, but we somehow manage to play Wii Sports for over 5 hours that morning, hitting my hand and arms numerous times on the wall but none of that mattered because my brother and I were having the time of our lives. That first year didn’t exactly have “system sellers” but myself along with all the other Wii owners out there made due with what we got and honestly it wasn’t that bad. Wario Ware: Smooth Moves, Trauma Center: Second Opinion, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and others kept us company until the first real Wii game Nintendo produced specifically for the Wii was released: Super Mario Galaxy. Needless to say, it was a smash hit. Personally, I think it is the best Wii game and my favorite Mario game of all time.
Everything was going pretty great after the first year, but things unfortunately went back to the old Nintendo ways and soon we started to see less and less first party games being released (or even talked about) and party games really started flooding the market, which for better or worse people will remember the Wii for. Drenching the market with party/family/shovelware games really hurt Nintendo’s image to the traditional “hardcore” users while those who have never owned a console before had plenty of games to choose from. Even though we got some great games during the latter years such as Super Smash Bros Brawl, Punch Out, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Donkey Kong Country Returns, New Super Mario Bros Wii & just recently The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword but they were not coming consistent enough to keep a lot of people including myself playing the Wii on a frequent basis.
Even with all of the inconsistency with their games, Nintendo did do some good things such as Virtual Console (though that too was inconsistent) WiiWare (inconsistent as well) and….well now that I think about it, Nintendo really didn’t do themselves any favors with any kind of Online connectivity on the Wii.
I think that is how I could sum up the Wii in one word: Inconsistent. They had the games, they had the extensive catalog of classics to bring to the digital world, and they had a huge install base to teach those who have never played a video game before that if you enjoy this experience, why not try something a bit tougher and make them lifelong fans. I think much like any fad those who bought it only played it once and will probably never buy one again. Which is why you are seeing a much more focus on the traditional gamer with the Wii U. I also think you will see a more scaled back focus on motion controls that will allow developers make a much easier experiences for novices, while making games that many of us play more accessible like their counterparts from Sony & Microsoft.
The Wii U is now a few weeks away and I think it will deliver everything we wanted with the Wii to do and then some. The games will be there, the experience will be unlike anything else out there and will be copied by it’s counterparts so you know they are onto something there, but the only cloud hanging over the Wii U is consistency. Will it have a consistent release schedule to build upon for years to come? That is something we will have to wait and see on. Yet, it is still hard for me to say goodbye to the Wii. But much like the changes we all go through in our lives, it will be difficult for the very brief short term but I can see something coming over the horizon that has the potential to be something special and I know it will be worth going through this struggle of feelings for me. The chance to make new memories with that will last me a lifetime will definitely be worth it.
Goodbye, old friend.
