Why the Wii Will Win
Let me preface this by admitting that I am a Nintendo fanboy. Always have been, always will be. I have all of their systems, from the NES and old klunky gameboy to the gamecube and DS lite. I'm already planning my stakeout of the local Fred Meyer to get my Wii on Sunday. But enough about me, I'm going to tell you why the Will will win the console war.
First of all, for the one of you who reads this post, I'm going to assume that you already know about the features of the Wii: build-in wireless ethernet, wireless motion-sensitive controllers, ability to play Gamecube games, and access to "classic" gaming through Nintendo WiFi. What makes me so sure that Wii is the eminent leader in the console wars is the fact that Forbes, an old-, rich-, conservative-person magazine did several articles praising the Wii for its revolutionarity (yeah, I just made that up).
This article is the biggest one I'm talking about. I read it this morning and just about cried tears of joy. Finally, someone saw the same thing in the Wii as I do. The author, David M. Ewalt, says, "A colleague and I booted up Wii Sports, a collection of simple sports games that comes bundled with every console. It wasn't long before we were completely immersed in Wii Tennis. The simple mini-game replicates an actual tennis match as well as any I've ever seen: Since you're actually swinging the remote like you would a racket, you can hit with varying force or apply spin to the ball, depending on how you move your body."
He goes on to say that, "Within minutes, we'd drawn a crowd, and only a short while after that, most of the editorial staff was packed into the conference room, laughing, enjoying the show and pushing for their turn at the remote." Now, if the Wii can bring a bunch of middle-aged white rich guys together and have them fighting for the Wii-mote to play a video game, it can do the same for almost any demographic. This is what makes the Nintendo a winner.
In Ewalt's further testing, he states, "After the hard-core gamers got their turns, less videogame-savvy editors took a shot, too. And it was here where the intuitive motion control system really proved its worth. There's no sequence of arcane button combinations required to throw a baseball: You just wind up and mime an actual throw. Suddenly, videogames are fun for everyone--old or young, male or female, regardless of prior gaming experience. I lost count of how many times I heard non-gamers say, 'Wow, I want to get this.'"
By breaking down the barrier between the hardcore button-craving video gamers and the not so tech-savvy, casual gamers, Nintendo has captured their old fanbase, and is moving on to everyone else. By making games intuitive (and less expensive than the exorbitant PS3 and Xbox 360), Nintendo is dropping the hammer on Sony and MSFT, saying, "hey! gamers don't need the absolute most expensive, lifelike graphics to have fun! We made a console that's fun and easy for everyone! You can take your 16 button controllers and bluray and shove it up your ass!"
Ewalt wraps up his article by saying, "But if my early experience with the console--and the smiles on the faces of friends and colleagues--are any measure, Nintendo's got a huge hit on its hands." I couldn't agree with him more. Nintendo has figured out how to keep video games fun. They are keeping them games. Sony and MSFT are focusing on their hardcore gamers who no longer play to have fun, and that is why Nintendo Will will outlast and outsell either of the other consoles in this newgen console war.
First of all, for the one of you who reads this post, I'm going to assume that you already know about the features of the Wii: build-in wireless ethernet, wireless motion-sensitive controllers, ability to play Gamecube games, and access to "classic" gaming through Nintendo WiFi. What makes me so sure that Wii is the eminent leader in the console wars is the fact that Forbes, an old-, rich-, conservative-person magazine did several articles praising the Wii for its revolutionarity (yeah, I just made that up).
This article is the biggest one I'm talking about. I read it this morning and just about cried tears of joy. Finally, someone saw the same thing in the Wii as I do. The author, David M. Ewalt, says, "A colleague and I booted up Wii Sports, a collection of simple sports games that comes bundled with every console. It wasn't long before we were completely immersed in Wii Tennis. The simple mini-game replicates an actual tennis match as well as any I've ever seen: Since you're actually swinging the remote like you would a racket, you can hit with varying force or apply spin to the ball, depending on how you move your body."
He goes on to say that, "Within minutes, we'd drawn a crowd, and only a short while after that, most of the editorial staff was packed into the conference room, laughing, enjoying the show and pushing for their turn at the remote." Now, if the Wii can bring a bunch of middle-aged white rich guys together and have them fighting for the Wii-mote to play a video game, it can do the same for almost any demographic. This is what makes the Nintendo a winner.
In Ewalt's further testing, he states, "After the hard-core gamers got their turns, less videogame-savvy editors took a shot, too. And it was here where the intuitive motion control system really proved its worth. There's no sequence of arcane button combinations required to throw a baseball: You just wind up and mime an actual throw. Suddenly, videogames are fun for everyone--old or young, male or female, regardless of prior gaming experience. I lost count of how many times I heard non-gamers say, 'Wow, I want to get this.'"
By breaking down the barrier between the hardcore button-craving video gamers and the not so tech-savvy, casual gamers, Nintendo has captured their old fanbase, and is moving on to everyone else. By making games intuitive (and less expensive than the exorbitant PS3 and Xbox 360), Nintendo is dropping the hammer on Sony and MSFT, saying, "hey! gamers don't need the absolute most expensive, lifelike graphics to have fun! We made a console that's fun and easy for everyone! You can take your 16 button controllers and bluray and shove it up your ass!"
Ewalt wraps up his article by saying, "But if my early experience with the console--and the smiles on the faces of friends and colleagues--are any measure, Nintendo's got a huge hit on its hands." I couldn't agree with him more. Nintendo has figured out how to keep video games fun. They are keeping them games. Sony and MSFT are focusing on their hardcore gamers who no longer play to have fun, and that is why Nintendo Will will outlast and outsell either of the other consoles in this newgen console war.
