Friday, October 20, 2006

Something Wii

This scares me
(from the Wii Experience videos)...







Nevermind that it looks like poor Mr.Wii Sr. has just thrown out his back playing tennis or that Mrs. Wii Sr is BLOWN AWAY BY THE SHEER AWESOMENESS (or aforementioned back injury), but also because it reminds me of this...

That's right. I went there. Actually, I went here: http://www.virtual-boy.org/. Particularly interesting are the media articles leading up to the ill-fated VB's release. It's even referred to as the 'Second Coming' by one and "BRR-IILLIANT" by another (Nintendo sure likes its double ii's)

Anyone see a trend? Nintendo releases a 'revolutionary system destined to shake up the industry' the Nintendo fanboys stir up a craze and then...boom...its a gimmick

Don't get me wrong - Nintendo is a gimmick genius and some have paid off big. I truly believe that the company wants to change the way we play, but can this new move really hold its own for an entire system generation?

That's 4 years people. 5 if we're lucky. That's 5 years of hand waving, wrist flicking, pseudo-workout gameplay. I'm a working stiff now, which means the last thing I want to do is come home, put on the gym shorts and work up a sweat playing Zelda. Ok, ok, maybe its not that strenuous, but sometimes just getting up to switch discs is all the energy I can muster when I just want to PLAY.

Remember the running pad? The super-scope? The power glove? These were all based on the assumption that 'flailing around like a moron' was a gameplay feature we all wanted. And sure, for a couple months it was.

And the developers? How long until ports are abandoned due to the time it takes to shoehorn them into a functional 'Wii experience'. Oh wait, there won't be many ports because the Wii isn't going to be on the same technical playing field. So what does that mean? It means we might see Wii dominated by japanese imports, niche games and the 'mario game of the week' (DS anyone?).

And televisions? I compell you to find an 18-35 year old with a tv big enough to accomodate one 'flailing moron' let alone 4. Save for my one buddy who works in finance...note to self: convince buddy who works in finance to buy a Wii.

I could go on...but I feel dirty. I actually really respect Nintendo and I'm leaning to the Wii side (though mostly for the virtual console features). Here's hoping I'm horribly wrong.

Until then...


Thanks again to http://www.virtual-boy.org/ for unknowingly lending me these pics.

1 comment:

Scribe of Dreams said...

First of all welcome to the dark side of the internet... that is already over populated.

i am also worried that the Wii will fiZZle and pOOp out way to sOOn. I hope it works cause i think it will be great.

ps the superscope rocked the big show. mole patrol my friend mole patrol