I talk about the console’s current state, and give my opinion on what can be done to improve it and gain appeal.
Back in 2005 there were rumors about Nintendo releasing a new console, with the tentative name “Revolution”. It was later revealed in 2006 that the big N went with the name “Wii” instead, and the console was released shortly after on December 2nd, 2006. At release the console gained a lot of publicity, with it’s revolutionary controls, which brought unique gameplay. Fast forward a few years, and you’ll see that the Wii has lost its popularity in the eyes of gamers, and has taken a different approach to the industry. It’s landed Nintendo in an awkward spot from their previous throne over household gaming, and there are many reasons behind it.
The situation with the Wii is one that Nintendo has to push to get out of, and there are quite a few solutions to the problem. I’ll start by commenting on their current plan, which is pushing out old franchises but with updated “Wii” flavor (i.e., Kirby, Kid Icarus). While these games are the ones that gamers are looking for, how are they going to enjoy it when the Wii console itself isn’t ready for them as gamers? Nintendo has been trying their hardest to appeal to mass audiences, but lets face it: the Wii was made to be a casual console, not one for the hardcore. I’m not saying that the Wii is a bad console, but there are some aspects of it that can be greatly improved. If they come up with a decent amount of features and appeal, then they will have to get it out there somehow, and the perfect way to do so is to have a console redesign. You’re probably wondering “what can they do with the Wii? There’s no way it can be any slimmer…”. It doesn’t have to be slimmer, but just a redesign. They could make it smaller, but a major part of the redesign would be the remotes. One of the turn-offs to the controllers available for the Wii now is that there are 2 parts to the full set: the Nunchuck and the Wii Remote, and that these are connected by wires. Wires is one of the flaws of last generations gaming, and is starting to get wiped out completely, so having a wireless nunchuck wouldn’t be that bad. A wireless sensor bar would take the pain out of configuring your setup as well, and would help you avoid more trips to the game store to buy a new one after you tripped on yours. As for other hardware modifications, the Wii could also be built-in with the stand, to make it stand on it’s own. However, in the process of doing this, a bad thing would to be to literally merge it, but make it stand on it’s own with class (i.e., a smaller stand). The next thought is next to impossible, and that’s putting in a Blu-Ray player. Due to the fact that it’s owned by Sony, I can’t see this happening, but at least putting in the option to play DVD’s would be nice. The colors that were originally planned to be released with the Revolution could be included as well, adding more customization to the console.
The original colors that were planned for the Wii (Revolution).
The new redesigned Wii wouldn’t only come with new hardware, but also new software. First off, the graphics. I know, I know, the big N has said time and again that they “are not planning to release a Wii HD”, but a guy can dream, can’t he? If this is executed, then there would be a whole new slew of possibilities for the system, such as getting some newer, improved games that make the best of your 1080p HDTV. Behind the graphics come the online system, which has been flawed since the start. Lets face it: friend codes are tedious, and when you have to swap one for each game, that makes it all the more inconvenient. An easier solution would be to include a software update which (on future titles and mail) would let players convert their main Wii friend code to an online username, and then have all of their games be managed under that one name. Parental Controls could be handled in a panel (similar to how the 360 and PS3 do it). Of course, the new system would be hard to implement in previously made games, but it could certainly work for newer titles, which leads us into the next software problem: the inclusion of updates for games. Nintendo has never taken a liking to the idea of updating the games that are currently released, and it certainly has held some games back (such as Rock Band 2, with the DLC not available as full albums).
If released, there would be no doubt that the redesigned Wii would gain publicity and appeal again from all of the gamers, and in the future it wouldn’t be the console that every soccer mom in America owns. Of course, if there is no redesign for the Wii, then they can certainly get on track with the 3rd party games. The library holds the causal appeal for the console, and it suffers from the amount of 3rd party publishers that solely release mini-game collections for 20$ or under. That being said, Nintendo has an impressive 1st party library and the well known 3rd party games still have it, so that isn’t a huge issue. Looking towards the future, the Wii has a lot of potential, and it still is a good console, but they need to start opening the horizon for appeal rather than just sticking with the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” stance. As of right now, the Wii needs something to drive it’s appeal forward, and a console redesign would be just the thing to get it back on top again. With the PS3 and 360 jumping ahead of the competition, releasing many games very close to each other isn’t going to cut it.
So what do you think about the Wii’s current state? Are there any other things that you’d hope they would put on a redesign? The comment section is below, feel free to add your opinion as well! Cephalexin
