When will Wii learn?
Without a doubt, Nintendo’s Wii is making big splashes – I know I’ve preordered one…after playing it at the eGamesExpo, it was hard not to buy it.
The Wii is incredibly popular, to the point that you wonder why the Gamecube sucked so much (sales wise). The US is set to get 150,000 to 200,000 Wii’s a week until the end of 2006. That’s as many as 1.2million Wii’s to the US alone.
But it makes you wonder, is it worth all this attention?
I mean, it certainly isn’t an advanced system.
- No DVD Playback until later on (maybe)
- Moderate graphics system capable of just 480p (despite AMD thinking its “the bomb”)
- People have broken their TV’s because of faulty wrist straps
- The sensor bar can be replaced with a home made sensor bar, or two TV remotes…or even candles?
The Wii, really, is just a ‘next gen’ console, which is about the same as the PS2/Xbox – or ‘last gen’.
So why is there the fuss? For the first time, since the launch of the Nintendo 64 and previous systems, we’re looking at a games console – nothing more, nothing less. It plays games. That’s it.
Compare that to the competition…
- The XBox, XBox 360, PS2, PS3 all have DVD playback.
- Xbox360 now has its HD-DVD addon
- Xbox360 is Microsoft’s ‘media centre that isn’t Windows Media Centre’
- Playstation 3 is Sony’s launch platform for Bluray
The paltry specifications of the Wii haven’t stopped anybody from buying it.
Next Gen Wars tracks the sales info, estimating 1.1million Wii’s are already out the door, while a paltry 300,000 PS3′s have been taken home. (XBox360 has the obvious lead, but its also been out for a year longer).
At the end of the day, third party support will make or break the Wii. I’m rooting for make, unlike how it broke the GameCube.
