Man, this takes me back. The Wii was the first time I pre-ordered a game system. If I'm not mistaken, this was also the first time I noticed the pre-ordering frenzy for Nintendo hardware. Everybody wanted this thing, and it was challenging to get a guaranteed pre-order.
I specifically remember GameStop having limited slots available, and an employee I had a good rapport with agreed to put my name on the list once pre-orders officially opened while I was at work (for fear I wouldn't be able to call it in before others snatched them up)
I loved the Wii. And sure, I had the Xbox 360 and PS3 as well. The X360 is a sore subject for me because it red-ringed on me in August 2008, and Microsoft didn't want to cover the cost of shipping it to them. I know it sounds dumb not to pay the fee, but I was between jobs then and couldn't afford extra expenses that weren't food.
But the Wii never failed me. I had so much fun with it. I loved me some Wii Sports and Wii Fit. Ironically, while great for some games, the motion controls ultimately kept me away from games like Twilight Princess.
Even so, I think Nintendo succeeded in getting video games into the hands of more than just kids and young adults with the Wii. Of course, once the Wii U came out, the honeymoon was over.
I think a lot of people really shit on the Wii but ultimately? I think it was a good console but the beginning of a 12 year stretch of Nintendo being out of touch that didn't end until the Nintendo Switch. Motion controls have always had a cruel irony to me, there was so much hubbub about the 'barrier' of a controller being removed but then everyone realised why we use a gamepad: it's the best way to pilot video games; motion controls became a bigger barrier. I like modern times though where I can use a mix of both, like correcting my aim with the controller gyros, much better than skill-less aim assists.
Totally get that about the 360. I'm saving my full opinions on it for the June Xbox series but reliable it was not; even in its heyday and after the red ring era, I think I got through 2-3 in 6 years.
Thanks for commenting! Plenty more to come soon, especially with the Switch 2 barely 3 weeks away.
Great trip down memory lane. I remember trading my GameCube for a Wii day 1. Just as you described in your article, the gimmick kind of fizzled out around 2010, but personally something saved it: modding.
I modded the shit out of my Wii, installed all emulators, burned CDs, modded Brawl (which is still an active community somehow). That really revitalized my love for the Wii.
The homebrew and modding scene for Wii is outstanding. I've not jumped in myself but it seems like every month someone has revived another long-dead Wii channel or pulled off an impossible port.
Speaking of ports, the one I'll always stand by is the Resident Evil 4 port - people hate on the Wii's control gimmicks a lot but having light-gun shooting and wrist-flick knife attacks fit so incredibly well in RE4 that it's actually tough for me to play other versions now.
Also, the Metroid Prime Trilogy that included the first two Prime games with the Wii aiming controls was not bad, aside from slightly breaking some puzzles and encounters. The only reason I think that it ISN'T one of the best games on the console is just that the Wii had perfectly fine backward compatibility anyway. I've said it before, but I probably spent at least as much time on my Wii just working through the uber-cheap Gamecube backlog in college as I did playing any actual Wii games.
I haven't revisited the Wii in a hot minute, but I have such mixed feelings towards it.
I loved this console from its launch until 2008, but after the incredibly disappointing Smash Bros Brawl, I felt like I just couldn't connect with it much anymore. New Super Mario Bros Wii is still my least favorite mainline Mario game, Mario Kart Wii is mediocre. Every so often a stray pearl like Donkey Kong Country Returns or Mario Galaxy 2 would come along, but they were too few and far between.
Thanks as always for the look back. This has been a great series! Looking forward to the DS and 3DS.
It's hard to perceive or really recapture those software droughts in a retrospective review like this but I know the feeling; the Xbox 360 had similar issues post-2009 and I feel the Switch has also had little of interest since SMB Wonder (for obvious reasons.)
You're welcome! I've enjoyed writing it and I hope I can retain my audience as this one comes to a close and I start other projects.
Ah the Wii. I have fond memories of sharing it with my little brother, who smeared glow-in-the-dark glue on it which made it look gunky and having the disc drive just kinda... Die, so it would only play Gamecube games but not Wii games. Also getting into arguments with my dad about having to unplug it every night, because he wanted to save pennies on the electricity bill and I wanted the online features that required it to stay on x'D
As a teenager I had absolutely no concept of video game console "power", and I wouldn't get an hdtv for yeaarrrrrs later. At which point the scales fell from my eyes and I realized what I had been missing. Still, I have fond memories of Smash Bros. Brawl, Twilight Princess, and Mario Kart Wii. The Wii was a decent little system that had some great concepts. But Nintendo bet on HD not being the juggernaut it would eventually become, and that really sealed their fate.
It was a real 'Sega betting on arcade' moment for Nintendo. Of course, composite cables and CRT had been the way of video games forever in 2005 and it was still the common viewing experience but unlucky for them, by 2008 it was clear that LCD was the future.
That glow in the dark glue story is making my skin crawl XD Eugh I bet it was gross
Man, this takes me back. The Wii was the first time I pre-ordered a game system. If I'm not mistaken, this was also the first time I noticed the pre-ordering frenzy for Nintendo hardware. Everybody wanted this thing, and it was challenging to get a guaranteed pre-order.
I specifically remember GameStop having limited slots available, and an employee I had a good rapport with agreed to put my name on the list once pre-orders officially opened while I was at work (for fear I wouldn't be able to call it in before others snatched them up)
I loved the Wii. And sure, I had the Xbox 360 and PS3 as well. The X360 is a sore subject for me because it red-ringed on me in August 2008, and Microsoft didn't want to cover the cost of shipping it to them. I know it sounds dumb not to pay the fee, but I was between jobs then and couldn't afford extra expenses that weren't food.
But the Wii never failed me. I had so much fun with it. I loved me some Wii Sports and Wii Fit. Ironically, while great for some games, the motion controls ultimately kept me away from games like Twilight Princess.
Even so, I think Nintendo succeeded in getting video games into the hands of more than just kids and young adults with the Wii. Of course, once the Wii U came out, the honeymoon was over.
I think a lot of people really shit on the Wii but ultimately? I think it was a good console but the beginning of a 12 year stretch of Nintendo being out of touch that didn't end until the Nintendo Switch. Motion controls have always had a cruel irony to me, there was so much hubbub about the 'barrier' of a controller being removed but then everyone realised why we use a gamepad: it's the best way to pilot video games; motion controls became a bigger barrier. I like modern times though where I can use a mix of both, like correcting my aim with the controller gyros, much better than skill-less aim assists.
Totally get that about the 360. I'm saving my full opinions on it for the June Xbox series but reliable it was not; even in its heyday and after the red ring era, I think I got through 2-3 in 6 years.
Thanks for commenting! Plenty more to come soon, especially with the Switch 2 barely 3 weeks away.
There's an Xbox series coming??? Looking forward to it!
Coming in June :) I’m going to finish this up, take a brief break for the Switch 2 launch and then I’ll be doing the Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
Great trip down memory lane. I remember trading my GameCube for a Wii day 1. Just as you described in your article, the gimmick kind of fizzled out around 2010, but personally something saved it: modding.
I modded the shit out of my Wii, installed all emulators, burned CDs, modded Brawl (which is still an active community somehow). That really revitalized my love for the Wii.
The homebrew and modding scene for Wii is outstanding. I've not jumped in myself but it seems like every month someone has revived another long-dead Wii channel or pulled off an impossible port.
Speaking of ports, the one I'll always stand by is the Resident Evil 4 port - people hate on the Wii's control gimmicks a lot but having light-gun shooting and wrist-flick knife attacks fit so incredibly well in RE4 that it's actually tough for me to play other versions now.
Also, the Metroid Prime Trilogy that included the first two Prime games with the Wii aiming controls was not bad, aside from slightly breaking some puzzles and encounters. The only reason I think that it ISN'T one of the best games on the console is just that the Wii had perfectly fine backward compatibility anyway. I've said it before, but I probably spent at least as much time on my Wii just working through the uber-cheap Gamecube backlog in college as I did playing any actual Wii games.
The Wii Prime Trilogy is my preferred choice too, aside from the Switch remaster of the original game of course.
I have been meaning to try Wii RE4 for a while now, I love shooters on the console so I imagine it's excellent
I haven't revisited the Wii in a hot minute, but I have such mixed feelings towards it.
I loved this console from its launch until 2008, but after the incredibly disappointing Smash Bros Brawl, I felt like I just couldn't connect with it much anymore. New Super Mario Bros Wii is still my least favorite mainline Mario game, Mario Kart Wii is mediocre. Every so often a stray pearl like Donkey Kong Country Returns or Mario Galaxy 2 would come along, but they were too few and far between.
Thanks as always for the look back. This has been a great series! Looking forward to the DS and 3DS.
It's hard to perceive or really recapture those software droughts in a retrospective review like this but I know the feeling; the Xbox 360 had similar issues post-2009 and I feel the Switch has also had little of interest since SMB Wonder (for obvious reasons.)
You're welcome! I've enjoyed writing it and I hope I can retain my audience as this one comes to a close and I start other projects.
Ah the Wii. I have fond memories of sharing it with my little brother, who smeared glow-in-the-dark glue on it which made it look gunky and having the disc drive just kinda... Die, so it would only play Gamecube games but not Wii games. Also getting into arguments with my dad about having to unplug it every night, because he wanted to save pennies on the electricity bill and I wanted the online features that required it to stay on x'D
As a teenager I had absolutely no concept of video game console "power", and I wouldn't get an hdtv for yeaarrrrrs later. At which point the scales fell from my eyes and I realized what I had been missing. Still, I have fond memories of Smash Bros. Brawl, Twilight Princess, and Mario Kart Wii. The Wii was a decent little system that had some great concepts. But Nintendo bet on HD not being the juggernaut it would eventually become, and that really sealed their fate.
It was a real 'Sega betting on arcade' moment for Nintendo. Of course, composite cables and CRT had been the way of video games forever in 2005 and it was still the common viewing experience but unlucky for them, by 2008 it was clear that LCD was the future.
That glow in the dark glue story is making my skin crawl XD Eugh I bet it was gross
Lol it was gross. And he spread it too thin, so it didn't even retain the right consistency to glow
Absolute war crime