This blog is in response and mostly in agreement to Symphonycometh's "Get Over Yourself~Wii Edition" blog.
Well, there is much truth in a few of those things.
The Wii is definitely marketed at a casual crowd and they make up the majority of Wii ownership. There is a large Nintendo fanbase of "core" gamers that own the Wii and want more of the real Nintendo experience. The problem is that Nintendo isn't really interested in us.
As far as all the franchises being watered down, I have to agree with that. The gimmick of motion controls is not necessary for certain genres and actually detracts from the precision control that many gamers would prefer and could get from a more traditional controller scheme.
SSB Brawl....Considering that I play the game with Gamecube controllers, I may as well just be playing Melee. The game does look a bit better than Melee, but it screams "roster update" almost as badly as yearly sports releases.
The Wii is marketed as a toy! The target audience is small children and extremely casual gamers who have never been into owning the latest and greatest in gaming.
Proof that it is a toy:
*Wrist straps for the controllers so that Billy and Timmy don't throw them at the tv, out the window, at each other, etc. (I have never used the wrist straps and have not had one incident since launch day.)
*Rubber covers for the controllers so Susie and Alice don't give each other black eyes, bust their cat in the face, break the dog's neck, shatter the chandelier, etc. (Responsible adults do not use those rubber covers as they play with their surroundings in mind. One look at the things and all sorts of jokes can be made.)
*Gimmicky casual games and children's licensed games littering the shelves to the point where an uneducated consumer couldn't find a good game for the Wii if their life depended on it. Thankfully, most "core" gamers have an internet connection and this situation only applies to the casuals and kids who the horrible games are aimed at anyways. They buy the bad games and everyone is happy....except for the "core" gamers who then have to see even more garbage flood the shelves thanks to the good sales of the very games that should not exist and give the Wii its well deserved bad reputation.
*A million plastic peripherals that snap onto the Wii-mote and actually make the games they are designed forharder to play than if you just skip the plastic foolishness and play straight up with the Wii-mote and Nunchuk.
The Wii is obviously more powerful than the PS2. That is why it is so easy for developers to make a game for PS2 and then port it over to the Wii with motion controls slapped onto it. This has extended the life of the PS2 by several years past the point, hurt PS3 hardware sales in the process (why should your average person upgrade to a PS3 when they can still buy new games for their PS2?) and given devs the means to release watered down versions of games that are far superior on the 360 and PS3.
It's not just children playing the Wii, everyone has tried it! But then how many of those Wii consoles sit and collect dust after the novelty wears off? Too many according to the many people I personally know that haven't played their Wii in a very long time or play it once every 6 months when a game worthy of purchase comes along.
As far as the amount of kidz gamez for the Wii, it really iz scary and it'z like being in a toy store when I walk down the Wii aisle at Best Buy. Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.
The Wii has plenty of games that use motion controls properly. The problem is that devs feel the need to include them in nearly every game for the console to the point where they feel tacked on in some games. I don't own any kidz games or truly horrendous games, so most of the games I have for Wii use motion controls very well.
Is the Wii lineup full of shovelware? As certain as the sky is blue! Tons of casual games (some of them are good), tons of PS2 ports, tons of kidz gamez, tons of gimmick games that require any of 10 different plastic peripherals.
Well, I hit on every point and many of the so-called "myths" are very true. I also used the dreaded word "core" several times and I hate using that word as it waters down a hobby that I have been enjoying for 26 years. Being a gamer in the 80's and 90's was very hard from a social standpoint because games were viewed as a waste of time and as being for children back then. When the PS2 and XBOX came around my favorite hobby finally became mainstream and now after nearly a decade of gaming being a socially acceptable hobby it looks like Nintendo is trying to set the industry back 25 years.
What's next? R.O.B. 2?