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Five years on, what has the Wii's revolution REALLY changed?

In 2006, it was going to change gaming and gamers forever, and turn Nintendo around. Did it?

Words: on August 25, 2011
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74 comments

  • GamesRadarBrettElston - August 25, 2011 10:32 a.m.

    I agree with eeeeverything here. And feel better about myself after having predicted this in 2007, only to have the 'net lose its mind and go all "how DARE you speak ill of the Wii?" http://www.gamesradar.com/the-top-7-nintendo-mistakes/

  • EnragedTortoise1 - August 25, 2011 10:54 a.m.

    I believed in you, Brett...

  • TheCakeIsaPie - August 25, 2011 11:02 a.m.

    But the Wii is the most beautiful snowflake ever and you should never speak such lies about that wonderful white box! Why don't you go suck up to MicroSony, you Nintendo-hating barbarians!? If only you understood the absolute genius of New Super Mario Bros. Wii and stuff but NO! You have to sit in your corner and hate everything that's good and clean and gravy, so suck it! Nintendo has never made a mistake and I've grown rather fond of the headaches Virtual Boy has given me over the years!

  • InfinityPrimo - August 25, 2011 10:03 a.m.

    All Nintendo needs to do is make a legit system, and win back 3rd party support. I firmly believe that not many people are "truly" fanboys of a particular system, they just want awesome games. You know why people want Ninty to go 3rd Party? Cause Nintendo games are fun and people dont want to shell out for a new system every time a "CANT MISS" Nintendo game comes out. Simple. Also 3 Machines on the market is difficult. history has shown us that, and Nintendo is still in 1980-1990 video game land. They haven't matured much and honestly most of us passed the age of Nintendo's target audience (when it comes to consoles). I love Nintendo as a company that tries to innovate, but now that I understand that they are a Japanese company operating in the west as opposed to Sony which is a Japanese company that "CATERS" to the west, its easy for me to dismiss them as just my past. I have no doubt Nintendo will succeed with 3DS once some apps come out but Wii U could possibly be the very last Nintendo "HOME" console. Note: Japanese companies have always thrived on making things better, not innovation. Which is why Sony sticks to that. Nintendo is trying to innovate in a realm where innovation is not really needed at this time.

  • BackwaterRifle - August 25, 2011 11:29 a.m.

    I completely and utterly doubt it that the Wii U will be the last Nintendo console, even if the next several nintendo consoles fall flat on there face.

  • Thequestion 121 - August 25, 2011 9:59 a.m.

    Great article. Nintendo is in serious trouble and I hope they survive the 3DS and the launch of the Wii U...

  • db1331 - August 25, 2011 8:35 a.m.

    The biggest WTF about the Wii U announcement to me was that the biggest claim the system had, the thing people should be MOST excited about, is that the Wii U will be able to play the same games as the other systems that came out 6 years ago. You know, those same systems you already own. The ones with the proper gamepads. And the games will be out on those systems several months before they make it to the Wii U. Yeah....

  • InfinityPrimo - August 25, 2011 10:09 a.m.

    You shouldnt really be mad at this. Its expected. I read all your posts db1331. You seem to be well respected in the GR community. But you come off sometimes as condescending and unable to accept anything that is new. I often agree with you though but it seems you just want video games to stay the same. I welcome change but it may not be needed right now. I mean really look at it. This generation was not really that good. Sure there were great titles but no REAL innovation took place besides motion. Pretty ho hum. If you ask me. What I'm saying is tell us what YOU want from the future of games rather than just saying what you feel a company did wrong.

  • CombatWombat101 - August 25, 2011 10:27 a.m.

    But that's exactly the point, isn't it? He's not saying he wants things to stay the same; he's saying that one of the biggest bullet points Nintendo is rolling out for the Wii U right now is being able to play the *same* games that owners of the other consoles will be able to. This really isn't an issue of "not being able to accept anything new", but rather an issue of Nintendo rolling out this contraption with a horrifying Frankenstein's Monster of a controller and saying "Well... it plays the stuff that the consoles you already own will be able to play..." And that's retarded, from a business standpoint. That, right there, is basically just Nintendo telling all its fans that hey, now you can be like the other guys. And they have to realize that doing that does not market them towards the Microsoft and Sony audience. Those people already have a console. Nintendo is marketing themselves towards the audience that has already chosen to go with Nintendo, but then telling them that if they want to be as cool as the rest of the club, they've got to shell out another $300.

  • db1331 - August 25, 2011 11:20 a.m.

    Exactly this. My point is that the Wii U, the system that is supposed to cater to the hardcore as well as the casuals, in reality brings absolutely nothing to the hardcore audience. The hardcore already have one, two, maybe even three (PC, 360, PS3) systems that can already play the same games the Wii U is touting as the main justification for its existence. Why should I care that the Wii U is getting Arkham City and Darksiders II when I can get them on a platform I already own 6 or 8 months sooner, and without that iPad-sized controller (that was designed for the soul purpose of attracting the magpies Dave mentioned)?

  • db1331 - August 25, 2011 11:23 a.m.

    Being well respected in the GR community is like being the skinniest kid at fat camp. Also, I am by no means well respected in the GR community, and I will be the first to admit that I shouldn't be.

  • CombatWombat101 - August 26, 2011 9:40 a.m.

    *Digital high-five*

  • Yeager1122 - August 25, 2011 8:29 a.m.

    Just hope if i ever got a wii u it would have more then 3 games im intrested in so i dont have to sell it like i did my wii.

  • alrix - August 25, 2011 8:26 a.m.

    Great article. I'm gonna wait and see on the Wii U. Cautiously optimistic, I guess. With all of my soul, all I want is a Nintendo brand 360 clone. HD, achievements, real online interface, third party games mixed with Nintendo first party. I'll believe that Nintendo wants hardcore gamers back when I see it, I guess. It's well and good for them to keep talking about it, it's another entirely to actually do it.

  • shawksta - August 25, 2011 7:04 a.m.

    Also, Nintendo seems to be getting the Mainstream 3rd Parties back,and theve been focusing on their First Party allot latley so they can be on a roll and possibly be back to the Nintendo that was known to be the best company ever. Everyone seems to fail at noticing how the past months Nintendo's been all about 1st Party for both 3DS and Wii while Kinect and Move are catching the Casual audience again, I guess Karma hit hard.

  • codystovall - August 25, 2011 9:59 a.m.

    Hopefully karma will hit nintendo harder in wii u sales.

  • BackwaterRifle - August 25, 2011 11:31 a.m.

    Now why the hell would you want that?!?!

  • NeoTechni - August 29, 2011 2:17 a.m.

    as he said, karma. Nintendo has been resting on it's laurels for far too long. Them being on top is bad for gaming

  • shawksta - August 25, 2011 7 a.m.

    By all that Nintendo's even lucky they made a reason to buy a wii, and that reason is why i love it. While Nintendo did go casual friendly they didnt nessecerily leave the core when they releaseed Awesome First Party core games, which give us reason to respect the wii considering Nintendo handles it like pro's while the 3rd Parties are still wondering how to unlock its potential. All i know is that the WiiU has a HUGE amount of potential use that will most likely change gaming more than Motion did, forget what the 3rd parties say about the specs,we didnt hear it from the Big Wigs, and Nintendo wouldnt stoop low when their just getting started. This will be one heck of hardware that we need to watch out for.

  • Link's Left Boot - August 25, 2011 6:05 a.m.

    Undoubtedly Nintendo have done well from the Wii but i think you're right, they certainly didn't bring about a revolution in gaming. From a gaming point of view I found the Wii to be incredibly disappointing. It has so few outstanding games while 360 and PS3 have surged ahead with an impressive roster of quality titles. Unfortunately I think we're going to see the same story with the Wii U: Nintendo makes huge promises and fails to deliver while Sony and Microsoft move farther ahead when they release their next-gen machines. Only this time I don't think the casual market will come to Nintendo's rescue. As a huge Nintendo fan I'm am very worried for their future...

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