Is the Nintendo Wii one of the most underappreciated consoles?

[Darkjolly]

Let me get this straight. Back then I was very dissapointed with the Wii. So much I ended up selling it and buying a PS3. But now 2015, I look back at its library and what I see are loads of great games.

"But the Wii has so much shovelware games"

Yes there's just a much shovelware that makes it harder to see the great wii games, but they are there. The PS2 also had a hell load of shovelware games because it was extremely popular and everybody and their mother wanted a piece of the pie.

"It was in disgusting 480p, while the PS3 and Xbox 360 were in 720p"

True Nintendo fell behind in the graphics department but that didn't stop them from releasing masterpieces like Mario Galaxy. I think resolution really means nothing. People to this day still play games like Mario 64.

"Wii has only casual games"

False. Although true Nintendo focused a lot on the casual crowd, there was a bunch of very good games that could/should've appealed to the hardcore fanbase. We got games from Twilight Princess to Sin's and Punishment 2 to Red Steel 2 to Madworld to Metroid Prime 3 . The Wii actually had a bunch of "hardcore" games but many just failed to see it.

"Motion Control really suck"

I felt indifferent. I agree they could feel a bit bothersome at times but never enough to make a good game instantly bad. Even Skyword Sword was good to me despite its over reliance on waggling.

Does anybody else here agree with me? If not why?

 

[Louis Tursi]

Personally, I do agree with you strongly. All of this seems pretty accurate. The only game console I really play now is my Wii but not just for Wii games but because of how many games from different consoles it was capable of playing and everything it could do--that just goes to show you how innovative it is. It's the Wii U I'm frowning upon right now because I feel like no matter how trashy its sales are, people will still like it because they feel like they have to. What I mean by that is, if Nintendo literally came out with a log of ƨhit, people would still buy it. And the Wii U literally has no original titles; they're all remakes one way or another.
Dynasty Warriors > Hyrule Warriors
Wind Waker > Wind Waker HD
Super Mario 3D Land > Super Mario 3D World
Super Smash Bros. 64-Brawl > Smash 4
NSMBWii > NSMBU
and etc. I think you get the idea.
So bottom line, yes, the Wii is very under-appreciated and even though it's not the most innovative console of today's time, that doesn't mean it isn't innovative at all. Literally, look at the thing: it has motion controls that work.
Playstation does, sure, but that was possibly the biggest ripoff I've ever seen, and Xbox's Kinect is actually pretty cool considering you don't need a controller of any kind and it follows all your body movements from head to toe, but let's be honest, it's the Wii that brought motion gaming into the seventh console generation. And if you just plain don't like motion controls at all, then simply don't play games that require them, or just play a game in which you just use a gamecube or classic controller!
So what's not to like about the Wii? And if it's something that wasn't mentioned here, just look at the root of the discussion.

 

[Sucumbio]

http://smashboards.com/threads/wii-wii-u.126818/

 

[Minato]

It's fine being it's own thread. The console thread is more for small stuff while this is asking for a discussion.

I'll edit my post later and add my opinion on the Wii.

 

[mistersl56]

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[finalark]

And so the Nintendo cycle begins. In about a decade I expect to see threads like this related to the Wii U.

But yes, the Wii is an underrated console IMO. Sure, the motion controls were wonky at times but I've had too much fun playing Brawl, Xenoblade, Mario Galaxy and more. I don't think I ever really disliked the console. Although I think I might have gotten more mileage out of my PS3.

 

[Heroine of Winds]

The Wii's an okay console. It may not impress me as much as the Gamecube does, but it did have some okay games on it. It's just that some people claim the Wii only had shovelware games on it while avoiding actual games like Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2, Brawl, & the Zelda games. The console gets that reputation because of the shovelware games.

The only game console I really play now is my Wii but not just for Wii games but because of how many games from different consoles it was capable of playing and everything it could do--that just goes to show you how innovative it is. It's the Wii U I'm frowning upon right now because I feel like no matter how trashy its sales are, people will still like it because they feel like they have to. What I mean by that is, if Nintendo literally came out with a log of ƨhit, people would still buy it. And the Wii U literally has no original titles; they're all remakes one way or another.

Tbh, I agree with you here. I used to support the Wii U, but now I'm starting to lose faith in it due to how poor both its sales & game library are. My main problem with it is, like the N64, no good third party games. I'll still play it for games like Smash 4, Hyrule Warriors, & Mario Kart 8, but when it comes to third party, I have to go to either the PS3 (I don't own a PS4 yet) or on Steam for my third party fix.

Like the N64, the Wii U so far is a lost cause.

 

[Xavdul]

I dig the wii. Okami and galaxy are teh time o' joy. The wifi always sort of tokufied me, but i love the console other wise. The wii u im also loving, although im a biased nintendo fanm so im not sure if id be counted.

 

[War Anvil]

Oh, heck yeah. And not just because of Brawl and P:M; there's also stuff like Epic Mickey, Sonic Colors, DBZ Tenkaichi 2 & 3, the Metroid Prime trilogy (GTFO, Other M), the Mario Galaxies (Duuuuuuh!), and even Cave Story if you've got WiiWare access.

 

[Spak]

Honestly, I don't think the Wii was very underappreciated.

"But the Wii has so much shovelware games"
Yes there's just a much shovelware that makes it harder to see the great wii games, but they are there. The PS2 also had a hell load of shovelware games because it was extremely popular and everybody and their mother wanted a piece of the pie.

Agreed, I remember there being more shovelware on the Wii. Nintendo was intentionally catering to children and family audiences, encouraging anyone to make family-friendly games for their console. What that ended up doing was creating much more kiddie-targeted shovelware than any other console had before.

"It was in disgusting 480p, while the PS3 and Xbox 360 were in 720p"

True Nintendo fell behind in the graphics department but that didn't stop them from releasing masterpieces like Mario Galaxy. I think resolution really means nothing. People to this day still play games like Mario 64.

You can't defend a console's lack of power by saying the power doesn't matter. If you made a game with graphics like Nintendo 64 and released it to the modern-day market, it wouldn't sell well even if it did have decent gameplay because of the fact that it doesn't have good graphics. It is a legitimate criteria and while you may not think it matters, others do.

"Wii has only casual games"

False. Although true Nintendo focused a lot on the casual crowd, there was a bunch of very good games that could/should've appealed to the hardcore fanbase. We got games from Twilight Princess to Sin's and Punishment 2 to Red Steel 2 to Madworld to Metroid Prime 3 . The Wii actually had a bunch of "hardcore" games but many just failed to see it.

The Wii did have some hardcore games, but in comparison to the other consoles of the 7th generation and even the 6th generation, it was severely lacking. We didn't get any games from Soul Calibur, Marvel vs Capcom, Street Fighter, Far Cry, Dragon Age, and many, many more. Also, the games we did get had to be severely downgraded from their forms on other consoles because of the limitations of the Wii's power disc storage capacity.

"Motion Control really suck"

I felt indifferent. I agree they could feel a bit bothersome at times but never enough to make a good game instantly bad. Even Skyword Sword was good to me despite its over reliance on waggling.

I would have felt indifferent if it didn't effect how the controller was laid out. I really didn't like the feel of the Wii-Mote because it felt like a step back 20 years. It is literally an NES controller with more ways to pause the game. Also, in order to play any of the hardcore games that you have, you needed to buy an additional Nunchuck that costed $20. If you wanted to play with your family, that was about $40 per controller and an additional $20 for each Nunchuck, making the total of your initial controllers $200 because you already had one Wii-Mote to start out with. But wait, they changed the controller halfway through the console lifecycle! In order to play some of the games on the console, you need the Wii Remote Plus Accessory (or 4 new Wii-Motes). I'll use the Wii Remote Plus Accessory ($20) because it's cheaper, so that is $280 spent on a controller I don't like.

For the price my parents and I payed getting all of my Wii Remotes and Accessories, I could have gotten 8 and a half official Nintendo GameCube controllers.

EDIT: Also, I never played Super Mario 64 as a kid and played it recently. I understand it was revolutionary, but it doesn't hold up as well as some other games from its generation like Star Fox 64, F-Zero X, and Banjo Kazooie/Tooie.

 

[Minato]

I think it's rated just fine. Anyone that really knows videogames don't knock off a console based on shovelware game. Wii not being in HD is deserved complaint. Art style goes a long way, and Nintendo showed what they could do with limited hardware. But wanting to see Galaxy in HD is valid.

There's the casual game complaint, but flipping that argument around, we can talk about the hardcore games. Nintendo's output is obviously limited since they only have so many to work on so many games. So what about 3rd party? Still pretty bad. Post N64 it's always been bad, but Nintendo's always had help from certain companies. This time they were on their own. The difference this gen was that they didn't care to round up 3rd party devs since they weren't desperate.

Motion controls, I see both the good and the bad. The bad focuses on a lot of devs not using it all that well. Even then, not even all games really needed to use motion controls either. Even Mario didn't showcase it all that well. They motion controls and pointer felt sort of shoehorned in.

The Wii was a very successful console. It might've been unappreciated to the hardcore masses since they did miss out on some great games if they never bought one. But compared to past Nintendo consoles, it definitely has similar and even new problems.