The Wii: Parables A-Plenty!
By now, Wii parables are plentiful among both the gaming community and the mainstream press.On gaming forums, everyone seems to know someone who never played video games until the Wii steamrolled into stores. Suddenly that same "non-gamer" is swinging a little white remote for hours on end. Mainstream news sites regularly feature articles about how the Wii is being put into practical use, such as the Wii's ability to assist physical balancing rehabilitation for war vets, brain damage victims, and stroke patients.
Meanwhile, the PlayStation 3 is suffering from a low install base, and Xbox 360 owners fear the Red Ring Of Death (yes, you can find RROD t-shirts online now). It would appear that Nintendo fans are having their own laugh now after many next-gen kids pointed and scoffed at the supposed "two-Gamecubes-duct-taped-together" technology in the Wii.
The Wii's combination of a low price point, simplified control scheme, and game accessibility emulates another roaring success -- the Nintendo DS. Even earlier this year, the DS Lite was still difficult to find. And, currently, trying to find a Wii on store shelves is akin to looking for a real-life pink unicorn in Minnesota.
Years ago, many gamers wrote off the DS as a gimmicky system due to the touch screen interface. Yet the little chunk of plastic still sells in droves. Before the Wii came out, more "gimmick" accusations started to fall from the sky, but the fact remains that, overall, the Wii has dominated the sales charts for a large part of '07 (Master Chief's 3rd arrival in September stole everyone's attention for a spell). According to the sales charts, Wii sales have now hit 4 million in the U.S. over the past 11 months.
So everything looks rosy for Nintendo. Its overall profits have skyrocketed, and the DS continues to print money. But how far can the Wii go? Is it just a fad?
A few surveys have been slithering out lately that could indicate
that the love affair with the Wii is waning. Famitsu recently ran a poll indicating that a majority (7 out of 10 surveyed) of Wii owners in Japan haven’t used their system in a while. This problem could indicate that there simply aren’t a whole lot of games that truly engross the user with the control scheme. When casual gamers think of the Wii, they usually refer to Wii Sports, which would seem natural given the fact that the game is included with the system. But since then, there hasn’t been a true breakout hit to reel casual users into the Wii’s control scheme, and several Wii games have been lambasted for poor gameplay execution and implementation of the Wiimote.
Not too long ago, The Nikkei Business Daily reported that many Japanese developers have their own doubts about the system’s longevity, one of whom stated that many people bought the Wii “out of curiosity”, but haven’t used it much since then. And, in Japan, sales have dropped over the past couple of months.
While those indicators can’t be completely ignored, it’s probably not yet time for Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto to hit the red Koopa Shell-shaped button to sound the klaxon. Many developers here in the U.S. are still onboard with the Little White Hype.
One VP of engineering at a prominent console developer says that “When Nintendo first announced their plans during E3, I was so incredibly disappointed that they had gone with the Wii strategy. I distinctly remember having conversations with other industry veterans at the conference about how silly this whole thing was. In hindsight I was wrong … I definitely felt like I was being introduced to gaming all over again and that in itself is a big reason why I think the Wii phenomenon is not just a fad.”
Perhaps the Wii doesn’t have to dominate the PS3 and 360 in order to thrive either, as those two systems are just now hitting their stride. The VP of engineering goes on to say, “What exactly is Nintendo’s target demographic for this platform? The answer is simple: everyone. This is a critical reason why there is room for console co-existence. The other more important reason is that Wii offers a totally different experience to the player and is not simply another device that offers more of what the PS3 or x360 might already offer.”
There are already millions of gamers who have yet to be pulled in by HD gaming -- casual gamers who play games such as Bejeweled and other quick casual online games, many of whom are women over 35 (obviously not the stereotypical gamer archetype). While Microsoft and Sony have been offering casual downloadable games, casual consumers outside of the usual male gamer demographic don’t typically purchase a 360 or PS3 to even have access to those games. The Wii -- with its lower price point and wider array of simpler games -- is able to cross into that untapped realm.
If this is the case, then it could be that the press is incorrectly viewing the console wars as a three-way conflict rather than a more appropriate 1-on-1 battle for current-gen exclusives between the PS3 and 360. The Wii seems content (for the moment, at least) with extending beyond the traditional gamer demographic, and letting the heavy firepower torch one another. There can still be games like Gears Of War, Halo, Metal Gear Solid 4, Mass Effect, and Gran Turismo 5 for the tech junkies. Meanwhile, all of our parents, aunts, and uncles will stick to their Wii Tennis.
By now, Wii parables are plentiful among both the gaming community and the mainstream press.
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