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Well, Wii got one!
Published: Friday, December 21, 2007 - 5:34pm
A few weeks ago my mom asked me what I thought about getting a Wii. I thought it sounded awesome, but I was doubtful we’d be able to get one. Nevertheless, a couple days later a huge box was sitting on our front steps.
We got lucky.
Most people this season have not been able to get one, unless they were willing to pay an exorbitant price.
One would think that Nintendo would have been able to prepare for this holiday season, seeing as the Wiis were the must-have item last holiday season as well. One of the reasons for the popularity of this video game console is that it's marketed at a much wider audience than teenage boys.
Instead, Nintendo has to resort to handing out DVD boxes (so that they still look like presents) that have nothing in them but a rain check that explains that their Wii will be arriving at the end of January.
But getting an empty DVD box won’t make most people’s Christmas, even if it does promise a Wii in the future.
So what’s going on? Is this a real shortage, or are the marketers at Nintendo manipulating public demand?
If something seems desirable, more people will want it. If Nintendo is playing this game, I think that they’ll lose more than they’ll gain, because not only will they be losing customers, but potential buyers will be angry.
Some economists claim that Nintendo will lose as much as a billion dollars this season in the loss of potential sales.
So I find it hard to believe that the shortage is not genuine. But I can’t understand how that could possibly happen.
Given that it’s in the interests of Nintendo to have been prepared for this season, why weren’t they?
Comments
wii
my family got lucky and got a wii as well but we did not perorder. my bro and my mom were buying a new microwave when the new shipment came in and they managed to still get one at best buy
As much as I'd like to
As much as I'd like to support Nintendo and all of its products, the wii p****s me off. Being what I would call a "hardcore gamer," it seems like nintendo just forgot about the fan base that started its popularity in the first place. I understand that nintendo in its corporate ventures is aiming to target a wider audience for video games, but when 99% (an exaggeration of course) of wii games are craptacular and an insult to gamers all over the world, I really don't think its worth buying.
It annoys me to a great extent that the entire basis for this popularity is motion controls. I mean, thing sure it sounds great and all, but every time I pick up a wiimote and try to use that the sensitivity and controls are so shoddy I feel like killing myself.
I really wish nintendo would actually take a look at the crap that's passing as games.
'Hardcore' gamers?
I'm not sure what you mean by 'hardcore gamer'. The fan base that started Nintendo's popularity played Mario, and seeing as Super Mario Galaxy is basically the most fun game ever I think that group at least is happy. In fact, all the iterations of Nintendo's mainstay franchises have been stellar on the Wii (Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Zelda: Twilight Princess). The motion control integration in Metroid Prime is especially superb (it was tough going back to dual analog for first person shooters on the 360).
I agree with you that there's a lot of third party gimmicky crap. That's inevitable when a console introduces a new interface possibility (think DS's touch screen). Although some of the DS's best games recently have been third-party efforts, so I think we might see a similar phenomenon with the Wii as publishers realize that motion control, while it can certainly enhance a game, doesn't make gamers forget about the other production values. I think as the console matures there will be some excellent third party 'hardcore' games. For now, the 'hardcore gamers' that buy Wii's buy them for Nintendo's first party stuff, and as I said that has been excellent. Who's gonna be playing Super Smash Brothers Brawl online with me in February?
let's also not forget the
let's also not forget the gamecube's complete lack of good 3rd party support and inevitable poor sales and craptacular games (it is widely acknowledged that it was the worst system of the last generation of consoles). as far as I'm concerned, nintendo's track record for 3rd party open-ness is down the drain and probably still will be for a while.
Perhaps...
I think you're being somewhat narrow-minded in saying that, although I do agree with you on the 3rd-party debate... it is true that the Gamecube didn't do well. However, the Wii is doing great and the DS is still selling pretty well, so I think Nintendo still does okay for themselves. To counter your statement, one could say that the PSP has had similar "poor sales and craptacular games" and has almost completely eliminated Sony's chances of getting in on the portable market past that. While it had some good games (such as Loco Roco), at this point I think they're just trying to get as much out of it as they can before it disappears.
What really entertains me is
What really entertains me is that Factor 5 Studios (the team that did the rogue squadron series), after repeatedly stating that they did not want to be affiliated with nintendo's lack of 3rd party support and the wii's graphical disadvantage, went on to the PS3. Anyone hear of "Lair"?
Heh.
Ouch.
Admittedly, I must say I have never played any of the Rogue Squadron games (Although they do look quite fun). However, I have seen and heard enough of Lair secondhand to know that is was all hype... and the controls sucked. If they could have gotten down that perfect six-axis control scheme...
yeah i was probably a bit
yeah i was probably a bit too harsh in looking at the wii's assets, namely the games you've written. Speaking of super smash brothers though, of all the previews I've read/seen so far, the motion controls of the wiimote apparently are frustrating to say the least. While the wii controls can provide engaging experiences, the variety of those experiences haven't been fully realized yet, and judging from this year's lineup of games for the wii, won't be realized for a while now. One thing I can say that's particularly good about the system is that I love seeing my parents play video games.
But about wii's online capabilities, too bad we wouldn't be able to speak to each other, can't be friends without exchanging "friend codes", and can only play on a handful of games, which until a couple of months back, just included pokemon? oh well, i guess i have my 360 and halo 3 to distract me with.
Motion Controls
Well, if you don't like the motion controls, you can just use a different control method. From what I'VE heard, you can play Brawl using a total of four control schemes. You can use the wiimote by itself, the wiimote with the nunchuck, the classic controller (mainly used for the downloaded games), or you can plug in a gamecube controller and use that. As X-Play's Adam Sessler says on the topic (I'm paraphrasing here): If you don't like any of those, you're just being impossible.
While it's true that Nintendo requires the Friend Code system, it has kept the online experience manageable/kid-friendly. If anything, Nintendohas been good about keeping their games mostly in the E-T range in the eyes of ESRB. If you keep in mind the sort of chat, etc. that goes on over Xbox Live, which I have heard plenty about, you begin to see why Nintendo created the Friend Code system. For those of you who play Animal Crossing, you wouldn't want some prankster coming in and trashing your town, would you?
just like to interject in
just like to interject in there but when a game needs 3 control schemes other than the console's natural one, it shows a flaw in the system. I like the wii but it just seems hard to integrate some genres of games with its controller. Otherwise, as to the xbox live thingy, most online games (in fact I'm pretty sure all) include a mute feature which is particularly useful against annoying 14-year olds in halo 3. I'm sure that nintendo is being all pro-children and w/e but older gamers who probably have played videogames for a while would probably want to move to the next tier of games, namely M-rated ones. I think the problem that some people have with the wii is that while some of the games are fun, there aren't any good quality ones that aim for mature audiences. Some may attribute this to nintendo's pro-family virtues but they still need to realize that the fanbase that started off playing mario years ago has grown older. Although, as Jake said, Super Mario Galaxy still kicks butt.
But Still...
Regarding that comment on "needing" 4 control schemes... It's really all in how you look at it. You could see it as the controls being shaky and them needing four because nobody was satisfied with just one, or you could see it as having four control schemes so everyone could play it easily and they wouldn't be stuck with just one. If you look at this from another viewpoint, you could argue that Super Smash Brothers Brawl is bad because they need twenty characters to hold gamers' attention instead of the original eight, if even that. Why can't they perfect two characters that everyone likes and just use those?
And yes, Nintendo does reuse a lot of their old E-rated games, characters, ideas, and all that. However, they improve them almost every time and add in a whole lot of new things. Super Mario Galaxy is a great example of this. There are many things in Galaxy you could say were just taken straight from Super Mario 64. However, they were improved greatly since then. I personally have never gotten tired of Nintendo's material, even though they have been putting out some questionable games lately (Carnival Games, Wii Play, etc.) that would offend hardcore gamers in how shallow or easy the gameplay is.
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