Wii - Success or Failure?

In the October of 2008, games designer Brice Morrison in two separate articles (see footer), took a reflective look on what he deemed to be the successes and failures of Nintendo's latest entry to the console arena - the Wii. Despite providing some insightful thought in regards to the console's efforts, Morrison failed to really compare his evaluations, leaving his exposition lacking in closure and drawing little hard conclusions. This may be for the best, as the designer evidently had horrendously high expectations for Nintendo's white box, claiming it failed to keep its promise of facilitating a "completely visceral play session". An ideal that was never going to be realistically reached through the forerunner of all motion control dedicated consoles.

Nintendo's Wii has unarguably been a commercial success - but what do the critics think?

His first point is incredibly relevant when identifying the Wii's success in terms of financial profit, but also from it's ability to change gaming culture to accommodate a larger audience. By the end of 2009, the Wii had accumulated gross sales of 67 million units, becoming Nintendo's greatest selling console, evening surpassing the original Nintendo Entertainment System. This was largely due to its appeal to a new audience, those that had never played video games before. Morrison refers to this as "simplifying the connection between game and player" by eliminating the need for constant and accurate button pressing and replacing it with more natural motions, such as swinging or thrusting. This was when the term "casual gamer" first arose, used to distinguish those who solely played these new motion controlled games. The use of that term has evolved over the past few years, but it is still a correct label for gamers of this type. It began to also encompass gamers who preferred more leisure-based games such as Big Brain Academy and Wii Sports as opposed to the copious amounts of violence found in FPS (First Person Shooter) and Fighting games that other consoles offered. Morrison comments on it being integral that Nintendo didn't "[make] games for the hardcore gamers of last generation" and appeal to non-games instead, but this just isn't correct. Nintendo's flagship releases such as Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime: Corruption, both of which are challenging titles, show that Nintendo do not wish to alienate their previous fans, and will make sure the Wii facilitates their gaming needs as well. An interesting statistic to note is, that whilst Wii sales had been progressively increasing since its launch in 2006 by about 2-4 million per year, it increased by 7 million in the last quarter of 2007 and continued to sell at an accelerated point from then on. This can be explained by the power the Wii has over the casual audience. It might have taken a few years to establish its reputation, but the Wii has begun to reap the rewards and it's little wonder retailers are seething at their lack of availability even now in 2010. Naturally this can only be a good thing for the industry, however Morrison had some issues with the Wii, even after the successes it had already achieved.

Super Mario Galaxy - a perfect example of how Nintendo satiate the need of the "hardcore" gamer.

Morrison's grievances are the product of his own inability to discern the limits of the Wii's potential and therefore expect too much of it. His claim is people aren't buying Wii systems, but rather the "idea and dream" they believe the Wii is. His own explanation of this, is that consumers expected "immersion through movement", but they did not receive this due to the limited capabilities of the system. Whilst it is true that many games simply substitute waggles of the Wiimote for button presses, there are titles that show great examples of how motion control can provide for a more immersive experience. Titles utilising a FPS set up, when done correctly, such as Metroid Prime: Corruption (Nintendo, Retro Studios) or The Conduit (Sega, High Voltage Software) can provide incredibly intuitive and rewarding experiences when played, with point-point accuracy and faster response time than the analog stick, on par with that of a computer mouse set up. So while it could perhaps be argued that the Wii does not always deliver on immersion, there are credible examples of where motion controls do provide some substantial benefit to gameplay elements. It could be argued that it is not the limitations of the hardware, but the unwillingness of developers to fully utilise and perfect what technology is available to them, that holds the Wii back . The aforementioned titles were developed without the new Wii Motion Plus, so it remains to be seen how much more immersive titles can be once they are developed with the ad-on's technology.

The Conduit - one of several examples of how Wii motion controls can be implemented to great reward.

References
Wikipedia Article (Wii)
Two Years In - The Wii's Successes - Brice Morrison
Two Years In - How the Wii has Failed - Brice Morrison