Posted by Sir Four at 1:36pm May 10 '06I'm surprised nobody has posted about it. Nintendo first generated incredible buzz (tremendous free marketing) simply by announcing a name change from Revolution to Wii for it's new console. Like most people I initially thought, "that's terrible, what were they thinking," etc. But I quickly realized it was marketing genius. Nintendo is making it clear that they are opting out of the contest for who can impress the hardcore gamer with the flashiest graphics. It's no surprise that the hardcore gamer set has reacted negatively to Nintendo's approach. The big N is going to be going after the casual gamer, the female gamer, even the non-gamer. They researched why non-gamers don't play video games and found that it's mostly because they are turned off by the testosterone-fueled Halo-type stuff and the steep learning curve of many games.
So enter the Wii, and it's revolutionary controller--the one that Sony mocked as a gimmick, then at the last minute tried to copy (leading some to joke that their system will be renamed the Playstation Thwii). The Wii controller looks a lot like a television remote. It's cordless and has motion sensing abilities that let you, say, play a tennis game by swinging it as if you were swinging a racket. It's also got a built-in rumble feature and speaker (you want to hear that thwack sound coming from the tennis racket itself, not the TV speakers right?). Sounds pretty damn cool to me. Oh, and in first person games it looks as if you aim your weapon by aiming the controller. Nice.
So Nintendo is going to clean Sony's clock, that's my prediction. Oh did I mention the Wii will be able to download past games from previous Nintendo systems and play them? And it will accept GameCube discs? And it is expected to retail for between $200 and $300, which is half the price of the new Playstation?
Nintendo has built the only true "next generation" console. Sony and Microsoft have merely put out the same systems with better graphics. And the games for them are the same games but with better graphics. There isn't much wow factor there. Nintendo scores major wow factor. Watch their promotional videos and see for yourself.
So enter the Wii, and it's revolutionary controller--the one that Sony mocked as a gimmick, then at the last minute tried to copy (leading some to joke that their system will be renamed the Playstation Thwii). The Wii controller looks a lot like a television remote. It's cordless and has motion sensing abilities that let you, say, play a tennis game by swinging it as if you were swinging a racket. It's also got a built-in rumble feature and speaker (you want to hear that thwack sound coming from the tennis racket itself, not the TV speakers right?). Sounds pretty damn cool to me. Oh, and in first person games it looks as if you aim your weapon by aiming the controller. Nice.
So Nintendo is going to clean Sony's clock, that's my prediction. Oh did I mention the Wii will be able to download past games from previous Nintendo systems and play them? And it will accept GameCube discs? And it is expected to retail for between $200 and $300, which is half the price of the new Playstation?
Nintendo has built the only true "next generation" console. Sony and Microsoft have merely put out the same systems with better graphics. And the games for them are the same games but with better graphics. There isn't much wow factor there. Nintendo scores major wow factor. Watch their promotional videos and see for yourself.