Crap or Not #8 - [Nintendo] Wii
Posted by Cap in Stop Buying Crap! on March 17, 2008 |
In early 2006, when the 7th generation console from Nintendo went from its codename of “Revolution” to the official name “Wii,” I soundly scoffed at the silly video game console’s name and immediately declared that the Wii will be a hype-only product, quickly forgotten — just like the Apple iPod.
With about 7.8 million units sold in the U.S. as of January 2008, it appears that I’m a tad bit wrong on Wii’s potential downfall (FYI: iPod sales to date ~ 140 million).
“How can you call this a next generation console?” I asked aloud (to no one in particular) back in 2006. “Where’s the 20 core CPU? The steel melting GPU? And what is this crazy wannabe remote controller?”
None of these questions stopped my extended families from purchasing the $250 video game console unit, nor did it stopped me from joining in on the Wii fun during family gatherings.
During one such recent gathering, my younger cousin asked me if I was the one who declared Wii to be lame and “craptastic.” I promptly told him to eat his cookie and shut up.
Kids these days. No respect for their elders.
Crap or not? You can vote below or vote on the top left of the blog (for RSS readers).
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20 Responses to “Crap or Not #8 - [Nintendo] Wii”
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March 17th, 2008 at 7:25 am
Are you kidding me, the Wii is the best home video game system and the cheapest price! My 76 year old dad even plays it. Me and the Mrs. Love it. Get your own, Cap!
March 17th, 2008 at 7:46 am
It all comes down to enjoyable gameplay, and the Wii has it. It’s the first console my family has bought since the Nintendo 64 - and everyone (from me to my 54-year-old mother) plays and loves it. It’s a homerun for our house.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:40 am
I got a Wii last fall…it’s great! Everyone in the house can play and have fun.
Nintendo got it right with price, and game play.
March 17th, 2008 at 10:53 am
I just wanted to say we have not bought a video game system until now. What fun. My arm hurts from swinging the tennis racket so hard, not to mention my poor daughters shoulder where I beaned her with the raquet thinking I had to run up to the dumb ball! Physial Therapists are now using these for their patients.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
I sold a couple of wii for a nice profit last year :) but I myself don’t plan to have one. I love Wii!
March 17th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
I say it’s crap, you can go outside and run around with your family for free.
March 17th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Definitely not crap if it prevents you from going out and wasting a bunch of money elsewhere.
March 18th, 2008 at 3:10 am
it’s a very fun family and friends console! No doubt at the early stage of Revolution, I was wondering what the heck was that lame controller and that Nintendo was going to be a goner to consoles like Sega. Boy was I wrong. I also love how small the system is compared to the others. The only two cons are the graphics could have been slightly better and that it should play DVDs
March 18th, 2008 at 5:10 am
crap.
i guess this is for coach potatoes that want to think they are actually being active. I had to laugh when my friend brought it on a ski weekend getaway. He did the bowling, baseball tennis from the chair with drink in hand. Ive heard people are acutually sore after using it. Wake-up! youre either playing this crap too much or you are out-of-shape…probably both!
March 18th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
The Wii is great. I don’t own one yet, but I might pick one up- several friends have them. Interactive, competitive, social, challenging, fun with kids or late night with a frosty beverage. Dudes think they are better at it than they than they are… Chicks dig it…
The wii is great.
Wylie
http://wyliemoney.blogspot.com/
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Dude, love the Wii! I don’t have one (no room to move that much in our living room), but I love playing on my friends’ Wiis! Guitar Hero…boxing…bowling…it’s all good!
March 28th, 2008 at 7:42 am
I love Wii. It’s fun for parties and much less expensive than the competition.
March 28th, 2008 at 8:03 am
it’s pretty cool for awhile, with sports and Guitar Hero. But the gimmick wears off. There arent many games, and it doesnt have the graphics, depth of play, or variety of the playstations or Xboxes.
nintendo has always been limited and childish in their actual games though.
March 29th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Well as far as I’m concerned video games of all sorts are the very definition of crap. Electronic gizmos of all sorts for that matter. There isn’t much else you can buy that will cost as much as a video game system that is guaran-damn-teed to be absolutely worthless in a very short time frame. Further there is little else you can do that is less fulfilling than staring at a screen (he says, as he leaves silly comments on blogs while using a silly screen based machine)
BUT if that’s what you need to stay occupied and not spend money elsewhere then go for it.
March 30th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
I think I’m uniquely qualified to vouch for Wii ownership because it took me a long time to get one and I’m pretty tight with my spending.
1. They’re just not readily available - I wanted one but didn’t want to play the cat and mouse game of calling WalMart or GameStop constantly so to get it guaranteed you’re looking at inflated bundle prices and eBay auctions - that wasn’t good to the wallet.
2. I always wanted one but I was patient. When a friend of mine got bored with his I offered him a price. After a back and forth I ended up getting the Wii, 2 remotes, 2 nunchucks, charging station, wii classic controller, a bunch of downloaded classic games (on the hd), Wii Sports, Wii Play, Guitar Hero, and some Star Wars Lego game for $400.
3. I didn’t want Guitar Hero or Star Wars so I flipped them. 1 on Amazon Marketplace and 1 on eBay and profited ~$80. So at the end of the day I think I calculated $570 worth of goods at retail cost bought for $320 after I sold everything off.
4. Instead of going out to dinner or out to a bar (an expensive proposition in itself) we’ll stay in, cook, drink and have fun playing Wii. Wii Sports and Wii Play are fun games that never grow old.
5. That leads me to my last point on why Wii is NOT crap: Wii as a platform can provide communal FUN games that never get old. There’s no beginning and end to Wii Sports or Wii Play. They’re timeless simple which prevent you from constantly buying more games once you’ve beat the previous.
I’ve already saved at least $100 by staying in 2 nights to play Wii instead of going to bars. I’m sure it will pay off in spades in the long run.
March 30th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
I voted “crap” because I’m just not a gamer. In fact, I had never heard of the Wii until last Christmas when I discovered the Amazon discussion boards.
But I can understand that to people for whom video gaming is a hobby, that it’s “not,” if it keeps the kids at home and happy, and can take the place of and reduce the cost of more costly family outings like going to the movies.
I bought myself a student violin for $170 last fall which I just love, but to people who aren’t interested in music it might be considered “crap,” so it’s all a matter of perspective.
April 7th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Kyle,
Didn’t you say 2 days ago how great Wii was, and 2 days later your bashing it? You have NO credibility.
April 7th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
I’M SO SORRY MY MESSAGE WAS FOR MISTER E
April 18th, 2008 at 9:30 am
I really wanted a Wii, but went ahead and determined that a used PS2 was adequate for my entertainment needs. The aftermarket games for PS2 are very reasonable.
Wii is still too popular to have a library of aftermarket games at a reasonable price.
April 25th, 2008 at 6:55 am
Nintendo was brilliant with the Wii. They’re doing what every company dreams of - tapping a new market that previously had no interest in their products. Sure, game makers have yet to fully take advantage of the Wii’s capabilities, but they’ll get there.
I have never owned a Wii system, but bought one of Craig’s List a few weeks ago. It’s a lot of fun. My goal is to start boxing every day like that guy who did the “Wii Experiment”.