45 replies to this topic

[snakeboy]

Over the years there have been some pretty entertaining "Wii sucks" arguments out there. I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorites:


The Wii sucks because of all the shovelware available for it.
Since when, exactly, have we judged a system based on its worst games? Did we do it to the PS1 and PS2? What about the NES? I don’t think anyone here judges the Atari 2600 that way.

Okay, I’m willing to admit that Wii probably has more shovelware than any other system, but is it that surprising? At one point the Wii was the fastest selling console ever and has attracted a previously untapped market. And when you get questionable gaming companies who want to cash in on this and don’t know what the hell they’re doing with the Wii remote, is it really that shocking that there is a ton of crap out there?

There aren’t any good games.
This is a classic put-down, though I’ve heard it less and less over the years. Even during the early days, to state that there is absolutely no quality games for the system is pretty silly.

The Wii sucks because soccer moms, grandparents, and little kids like it.
Okay, if you have ever made any type of argument similar to this, and you are not a 12-14 year old boy, you have some serious issues.

The Wii is actually the most expensive console because of all the accessories I have to buy.
I didn’t realize Nintendo was sending people around to stores and putting guns to customers’ heads forcing them to buy the Wii wheel and zapper.

The average Wii game review score is a 5.8 while the average Xbox 360 and PS3 game scores a 7.0.
I just read this argument in an IGN article, written as if it is irrefutable evidence that the Wii library is terrible. It kind of relates to the first two put-downs on my list.

First of all, if the 360 or PS3 was a huge hit with casual gamers, their game scores would also be dragged down by crap developers making crap games. Secondly, I don’t base my opinions on games based on review scores. I’ve played 6.0 games that I’ve liked a lot more than some 8.0 games.

Madworld is a great looking game with a cool art style, but I have a feeling the only reason they made the game that way is because of how underpowered the Wii is.
Yes, believe it or not, I heard a reviewer make this nonsensical statement in a review of Madworld. He somehow takes the fact that Madworld is a good looking game and twists it around to take a shot at the Wii. Brilliant! Well, how about I argue that the Wii’s lack of power may actually be a good thing since it makes developers be creative and think a little differently rather than just trying to make a photo-realistic game.


Well, I hope you enjoyed those. Have I left out any good ones?

[DeadlyDiskKun]

Atleast Wii isnt Gamecube... Gamecube was Nintendo's true failure.

[atarian63]

I really liked Gamecube.

[Pixelboy]

DeadlyDiskKun, on Sun Mar 14, 2010 8:12 PM, said:

Atleast Wii isnt Gamecube... Gamecube was Nintendo's true failure.

Actually, it was the Virtual Boy.

[DeadlyDiskKun]

Pixelboy, on Sun Mar 14, 2010 8:26 PM, said:

DeadlyDiskKun, on Sun Mar 14, 2010 8:12 PM, said:

Atleast Wii isnt Gamecube... Gamecube was Nintendo's true failure.

Actually, it was the Virtual Boy.

Virtual Boy was more of a handheld; I was only including consoles.

[godslabrat]

snakeboy, on Sun Mar 14, 2010 8:03 PM, said:

The average Wii game review score is a 5.8 while the average Xbox 360 and PS3 game scores a 7.0.
I just read this argument in an IGN article, written as if it is irrefutable evidence that the Wii library is terrible. It kind of relates to the first two put-downs on my list.

First of all, if the 360 or PS3 was a huge hit with casual gamers, their game scores would also be dragged down by crap developers making crap games. Secondly, I don’t base my opinions on games based on review scores. I’ve played 6.0 games that I’ve liked a lot more than some 8.0 games.

This argument has been hurled at other systems besides the Wii, but my reaction is always the same: what does this prove? How can you attack a system by saying x% of the games are bad, if x<100? If even 15-20% of the games on the system are B+ or A titles, isn't that enough? If, for example, the Wii has 400 games available, and 350 of them are dogshit... that means the Wii has a library of over 50 GREAT GAMES!!! And I don't know about you, but I don't have room in my schedule for more than 50 games over the course of the next year or so. If I can find a few dozen fantastic games, why would I care about a bunch of shit ones?

The existence of bad games does not rob me of my enjoyment of the good ones. On the contrary, my enjoyment of the good games lets me forget the bad ones.

[godslabrat]

DeadlyDiskKun, on Sun Mar 14, 2010 9:25 PM, said:

Pixelboy, on Sun Mar 14, 2010 8:26 PM, said:

DeadlyDiskKun, on Sun Mar 14, 2010 8:12 PM, said:

Atleast Wii isnt Gamecube... Gamecube was Nintendo's true failure.

Actually, it was the Virtual Boy.

Virtual Boy was more of a handheld; I was only including consoles.

How is the Virtual Boy not a console?

[Vic George 2K3]

Virtual Boy wasn't even a handheld; it was a tabletop portable console, and a terribly designed one at that.

[DracIsBack]

DeadlyDiskKun, on Sun Mar 14, 2010 9:25 PM, said:

Pixelboy, on Sun Mar 14, 2010 8:26 PM, said:

DeadlyDiskKun, on Sun Mar 14, 2010 8:12 PM, said:

Atleast Wii isnt Gamecube... Gamecube was Nintendo's true failure.

Actually, it was the Virtual Boy.

Virtual Boy was more of a handheld; I was only including consoles.

Still, I'd argue that failure is pushing it. Disappointment, for sure. But did Virtual Boy sell a million units even? It was gone from the market in a year, IIRC and had less than 25 games.

This is not the same as GameCube which sold 22 million units and had 600+ games. One made a profit. The other didn't.

I still get annoyed with games being criticized because of the Wii's graphics capabilities. I mean, this isn't new anymore yet reviews still bring up limitations in the Wii's hardware against other consoles rather than comparing Wii games to other Wii games.

Edited by DracIsBack, Wed Mar 17, 2010 6:53 AM.

[Trooper]

Say what you will about the VB but a handheld it is not Besides that I fail to see how Gamecube was a failure when it sold millions of units and made Nintendo a healthy profit at the same time?

[snakeboy]

godslabrat, on Sun Mar 14, 2010 10:28 PM, said:

This argument has been hurled at other systems besides the Wii, but my reaction is always the same: what does this prove? How can you attack a system by saying x% of the games are bad, if x<100? If even 15-20% of the games on the system are B+ or A titles, isn't that enough? If, for example, the Wii has 400 games available, and 350 of them are dogshit... that means the Wii has a library of over 50 GREAT GAMES!!! And I don't know about you, but I don't have room in my schedule for more than 50 games over the course of the next year or so. If I can find a few dozen fantastic games, why would I care about a bunch of shit ones?

The existence of bad games does not rob me of my enjoyment of the good ones. On the contrary, my enjoyment of the good games lets me forget the bad ones.

That's a good point. Supposedly the Wii has nothing but crap and any good games are few and far between. However, I have owned a Wii for over 3 years, and there has yet to be a moment where I've looked at my collection and said, "Man, I have nothing to play." In fact it has been pretty much the opposite over the last couple of years. I probably have 10 games that I'm trying to find time to play. I don't know, maybe I play video games a lot less than some people, but still, I play just about every day for probably an hour on average. If people play a lot more than that, I'm not sure how they find the time.

[Tr3vor]

that was really dumb "wii doesnt have good games".

look at Conduit, Metroid Prime 3, Mario Party 8, and Metroid Prime Trilogy. thats flat out retarded. people just dislike it because its technically inferrior to the ps3 and 360, besides, you had better face it, ps3 and 360 are way inferrior to the gaming pc's nowdays and people think they are the best peices of hardware on earth or something.

[Bilnick]

I agree with the points the op made.

The cliche that I hate the most is, "Nintendo makes a profit on every <insert system here> sold!". Since I do not own any Nintendo stock, I don't care how much they make/lose on a system. In fact I would prefer they lose money on every system they sell as it would mean the consumer would be getting a better value. I would prefer to pay $200 for a console that cost $250 to make vs. one that cost $150. How much profit the manufacturer makes or loses on a console seems to have little effect on games anyway as most systems have had a decent amount of grade A titles in their lifespan.

[godslabrat]

Bilnick, on Fri Mar 19, 2010 3:56 PM, said:

I agree with the points the op made.

The cliche that I hate the most is, "Nintendo makes a profit on every <insert system here> sold!". Since I do not own any Nintendo stock, I don't care how much they make/lose on a system. In fact I would prefer they lose money on every system they sell as it would mean the consumer would be getting a better value. I would prefer to pay $200 for a console that cost $250 to make vs. one that cost $150. How much profit the manufacturer makes or loses on a console seems to have little effect on games anyway as most systems have had a decent amount of grade A titles in their lifespan.

While selling a system at a loss might make it cheaper, I'm not sure you could say it's a "better value" without qualification. There's nothing inherently valuable in supporting a company that makes unsound business decisions. The fact that Nintendo can produce the system that's both cheapest for the consumer AND generates a profit for them is to their credit. Like you say, it doesn't change the quality of the games (for better or worse) but it does show a company that provides something to the customer in exchange for their own profit. Sony and Microsoft, on the other hand, produce systems that cost more than the Wii, regardless of how much profit they earn, or don't. Is a Sony or Microsoft system a better value simply because it DOESN'T earn a profit?

Anyway, aren't we now at the point where the hardware is old enough to be past the loss-leader stage? Isn't it about time the 360 was sold at cost or at profit? And if so, the PS3 can't be too far behind...

[Video]

godslabrat, on Fri Mar 19, 2010 4:11 PM, said:

Anyway, aren't we now at the point where the hardware is old enough to be past the loss-leader stage? Isn't it about time the 360 was sold at cost or at profit? And if so, the PS3 can't be too far behind...

Actually, I'd have to say, the games are where the money is, Nintendo is in good luck that the system is selling for a profit, but just look at games sales, and it's simply not doing that well. That's talking with you're money

As for the 360/PS3 making money, Id on't know, maybe they are, maybe they aren't, but I do know that my GC collects dust in the corner with the five games I bought for it, while I have a couple dozen games I play regularly on the Xbox and probably over 80 titles total, most of which I paid full retail for.

Now honestly, who's making more money off me?

Anyhow....the one thing that's annoying to hear for me is "the graphics sux" blah blah bitch blah. So? I'd play an atari if it had a good game.....wait, i do play atari, cause it has good games. Graphics are nice, don't get me wrong, but unless the game is exceedingly half assed, then the graphics aren't really all that important.

Oh yeah, get off the damn Wii sports titles, and maybe you'd have a better Idea of what kind of graphics the wii can do...

[Tr3vor]

Video, on Sun Mar 21, 2010 2:38 PM, said:

Oh yeah, get off the damn Wii sports titles, and maybe you'd have a better Idea of what kind of graphics the wii can do...

people think that the wii is wii sports. i hate wii sports. i dont play it, sure its cool, but there is no depth. maybe they should look at metroid prime 3. that game is awesome.

[snakeboy]

Video, on Sun Mar 21, 2010 2:38 PM, said:

Actually, I'd have to say, the games are where the money is, Nintendo is in good luck that the system is selling for a profit, but just look at games sales, and it's simply not doing that well. That's talking with you're money

I'm not sure if I understand what you are saying here. Nintendo's games aren't selling that well? I guess the sales figures I've seen are different from the ones you've seen.

[Red 5]

There really is no true library of great games for the "gamer". It's just the truth. And god forbid you aren't a Mario fan, then that library dwindles down even more.
If you aren't a Zelda or Metroid fan, then we are in deeper trouble.

And just being honest, when you are playing Mass Effect 2, God of War 3, Gears of War 2, Fallout 3, Uncharted 2, Heavy Rain, Halo 3, Call of Duty 4 etc., the Wii looks ridonkulously like ass.

I have a Wii, and my 6 year old plays the hell out of it. I think that is what people mean by it was made for kids and soccer moms. When I watch my kid play Mario and Sonic at the Olympic games with his friends, I think, "wow, this system is totally marketed to kids." When the kids are in bed and I am playing Uncharted or Mass Effect I feel like I am playing a serious console for people who love video games. It's just my honest opinion and I know there are a lot of different opinions on this.

I look forward to a few Wii games so I can play them with my son. A new Zelda, a new Mario Galaxy 2 will be fun and we will "get a kick out of it."
When I fire up the PS3 or Xbox 360, I hunker down for some serious gaming.

If it was the only game system I had, I would be digging deep to find those hidden gems for the Wii, but with the insane library of amazing games for the PS3 and 360, why bother? For now, I will simply dust off the Wii for myself to use whenever the new Mario or Zelda games come out.

[HammR25]

The greatest putdown is that people feel they have to defend it. It is what it is. If you have one and have fun with it then that's all that matters.

[snakeboy]

Red 5, on Sun Mar 21, 2010 6:48 PM, said:

There really is no true library of great games for the "gamer". It's just the truth. And god forbid you aren't a Mario fan, then that library dwindles down even more.
If you aren't a Zelda or Metroid fan, then we are in deeper trouble.

And just being honest, when you are playing Mass Effect 2, God of War 3, Gears of War 2, Fallout 3, Uncharted 2, Heavy Rain, Halo 3, Call of Duty 4 etc., the Wii looks ridonkulously like ass.

I have a Wii, and my 6 year old plays the hell out of it. I think that is what people mean by it was made for kids and soccer moms. When I watch my kid play Mario and Sonic at the Olympic games with his friends, I think, "wow, this system is totally marketed to kids." When the kids are in bed and I am playing Uncharted or Mass Effect I feel like I am playing a serious console for people who love video games. It's just my honest opinion and I know there are a lot of different opinions on this.

I look forward to a few Wii games so I can play them with my son. A new Zelda, a new Mario Galaxy 2 will be fun and we will "get a kick out of it."
When I fire up the PS3 or Xbox 360, I hunker down for some serious gaming.

If it was the only game system I had, I would be digging deep to find those hidden gems for the Wii, but with the insane library of amazing games for the PS3 and 360, why bother? For now, I will simply dust off the Wii for myself to use whenever the new Mario or Zelda games come out.

You did a pretty good job here of condensing millions of comments made by the hardcore.

I think the "no games for the Wii" thinking comes from the fact that there aren't a lot of AAA "mature" titles that come out for it. I suppose I'm not a real gamer since that doesn't really bother me much. I've tried playing Bioshock a few times and can't get into it no matter how good it looks. However, I've put 50+ hours into Wii Fit and about 40 hours into Excite Truck. I guess I'm just weird like that.

But you're right. Everyone has there own opinion, and that's fine. If you're into mature themed games, then yeah, the Wii isn't going to be for you. But if you think that are no good games or very few good ones, then it's kind of an ignorant way of thinking. Yeah, it may not have the type of games you like, but as you pointed out, that is an opinion, not fact. And if you have a Wii that you don't like, but also have a 360 or PS3 or both, and those systems are totally satisfying your gaming needs, then who cares if the Wii is doing something different. In fact that's precisely why I like it.

[atarian63]

Bilnick, on Fri Mar 19, 2010 3:56 PM, said:

I agree with the points the op made.

The cliche that I hate the most is, "Nintendo makes a profit on every <insert system here> sold!". Since I do not own any Nintendo stock, I don't care how much they make/lose on a system. In fact I would prefer they lose money on every system they sell as it would mean the consumer would be getting a better value. I would prefer to pay $200 for a console that cost $250 to make vs. one that cost $150. How much profit the manufacturer makes or loses on a console seems to have little effect on games anyway as most systems have had a decent amount of grade A titles in their lifespan.

That is just silly.. making a profit just shows they are smarter unlike the doofus M$ corp, where is it was not for profits in other areas they would have been gone from gaming long ago. It's like a gambler with loads of money.. the house will always take the money as long as they are dumb enough to lose it.

[atarian63]

Red 5, on Sun Mar 21, 2010 6:48 PM, said:

There really is no true library of great games for the "gamer". It's just the truth. And god forbid you aren't a Mario fan, then that library dwindles down even more.
If you aren't a Zelda or Metroid fan, then we are in deeper trouble.

And just being honest, when you are playing Mass Effect 2, God of War 3, Gears of War 2, Fallout 3, Uncharted 2, Heavy Rain, Halo 3, Call of Duty 4 etc., the Wii looks ridonkulously like ass.

I have a Wii, and my 6 year old plays the hell out of it. I think that is what people mean by it was made for kids and soccer moms. When I watch my kid play Mario and Sonic at the Olympic games with his friends, I think, "wow, this system is totally marketed to kids." When the kids are in bed and I am playing Uncharted or Mass Effect I feel like I am playing a serious console for people who love video games. It's just my honest opinion and I know there are a lot of different opinions on this.

I look forward to a few Wii games so I can play them with my son. A new Zelda, a new Mario Galaxy 2 will be fun and we will "get a kick out of it."
When I fire up the PS3 or Xbox 360, I hunker down for some serious gaming.

If it was the only game system I had, I would be digging deep to find those hidden gems for the Wii, but with the insane library of amazing games for the PS3 and 360, why bother? For now, I will simply dust off the Wii for myself to use whenever And just being honest, when you are playing Mass Effect 2, God of War 3, Gears of War 2, Fallout 3, Uncharted 2, Heavy Rain, Halo 3, Call of Duty 4 etc., the Wii looks ridonkulously like ass.
the new Mario or Zelda games come out.

All games I would never buy anyway. most of those games scream "teenage boy" not gamer.

[Reaperman]

Red 5, on Sun Mar 21, 2010 6:48 PM, said:

And god forbid you aren't a Mario fan, then that library dwindles down even more.
If you aren't a Zelda or Metroid fan, then we are in deeper trouble.

'Deeper trouble' is pretty much where I'm at. I won't say the system has no good games, but it has very few that are really my thing. I don't care for 3rd person action/platforming or first person shooters--and I like the typical modern nintendo take on them even less. To be honest, wii has exactly one game I'm really very interested in trying, mario kart wii, and in the *distant* future I will likely purchase a wii for the playing of it.

I know I'm not the only one in the 'wii only has a game or two I'd like to try' boat, but since it already has a large userbase throwing great gobs of money at lazy developers, I don't see its library branching much from where it's at. I'd like to be surprised and wrong about that though.

Edited by Reaperman, Sun Mar 21, 2010 11:12 PM.

[DaytonaUSA]

Here's my beef with the system.. and why I sold it:

When it came out I was a huge GC player, so the Wii seemed like a natural choice. HD graphics meant nothing to me as I didn't have an HDTV to play them on. I was a huge Nintendo fan, because despite the scores of games I wish came to my GC, it always seemed like Nintendo had my (the fans) best interests at heart, even if few appreciated it.

The Wii started off great..that is before the games I mostly cared about were canceled. I had a lot of fun with it, and I had over 40 games. There were a few problems:

1. The games started to become stale. Sure driving in Excite Truck with a motion controller is fun at first, but as fun as it was, I was surprised how when you went back to a standard controller how much better I could play. The more I played, the more I realized how inaccurate the motion control was. FPS games were the biggest nightmare with camera control, and games with pure motion and gestures would often be frustrating. For the advocates of Motion Plus, I never got to own it before selling my console, but what makes no sense is that if it's so great, why isn't it supported? There's virtually no games being made for it, and Nintendo seems to not care at all about asking developers to make games for it.

2. Nintendo started with the FU. Basically, all the franchises/games I truly cared about from Nintendo were scrapped. The few games I DID care about had no soul and felt like rehashed games with nothing new. Animal Crossing, Smash Brothers, Zelda and Mario Kart are a few that come to mind. This is my biggest beef with the Wii. Animal Crossing was the same game I've always played with a rushed and minuscule city section, smash brothers' online was horrid and made the natural progression of the series useless, Zelda was repetitive and embarrassing after half way through the game, and Mario Kart has been showed up by Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing...showing that a kart game can have great characters (all fun to play as!), beautiful cities, AND extremely fast speeds.


Basically, the Wii has shown it's age. No HD, no downloadable content, horrible motion controls, poor franchise love and the ones out there are soulless, horrid online, and poorly supported peripherals.

I'm not saying there are no good games for the system. I have a few I'll always love. However, it wasn't worth it to me. While I never will probably want a Playstation Move or Natal, I can honestly say, for people who want motion control, I don't see what the point of the Wii will be. After those peripherals are out, the Wii will have nothing go for it.

It saddens me to say all this. I was a HUGE Nintendo fan as I grew up with them and supported them for almost two decades, however they simply don't seem to care about me anymore. They're caught up in their greed and I hope they enjoy it while it lasts. Maybe I'll come back when they get back to making games after they're poor again...

[Red 5]

atarian63, on Sun Mar 21, 2010 8:22 PM, said:

Red 5, on Sun Mar 21, 2010 6:48 PM, said:

There really is no true library of great games for the "gamer". It's just the truth. And god forbid you aren't a Mario fan, then that library dwindles down even more.
If you aren't a Zelda or Metroid fan, then we are in deeper trouble.

And just being honest, when you are playing Mass Effect 2, God of War 3, Gears of War 2, Fallout 3, Uncharted 2, Heavy Rain, Halo 3, Call of Duty 4 etc., the Wii looks ridonkulously like ass.

I have a Wii, and my 6 year old plays the hell out of it. I think that is what people mean by it was made for kids and soccer moms. When I watch my kid play Mario and Sonic at the Olympic games with his friends, I think, "wow, this system is totally marketed to kids." When the kids are in bed and I am playing Uncharted or Mass Effect I feel like I am playing a serious console for people who love video games. It's just my honest opinion and I know there are a lot of different opinions on this.

I look forward to a few Wii games so I can play them with my son. A new Zelda, a new Mario Galaxy 2 will be fun and we will "get a kick out of it."
When I fire up the PS3 or Xbox 360, I hunker down for some serious gaming.

If it was the only game system I had, I would be digging deep to find those hidden gems for the Wii, but with the insane library of amazing games for the PS3 and 360, why bother? For now, I will simply dust off the Wii for myself to use whenever And just being honest, when you are playing Mass Effect 2, God of War 3, Gears of War 2, Fallout 3, Uncharted 2, Heavy Rain, Halo 3, Call of Duty 4 etc., the Wii looks ridonkulously like ass.
the new Mario or Zelda games come out.

All games I would never buy anyway. most of those games scream "teenage boy" not gamer.

Those are the games that I enjoy. I could list others that the Wii couldn't touch that I could care less about. For instance, FFXIII, Dragon Age Origins, Grand Theft Auto 4, Street Fighter 4, Dead or Alive 4 etc.

There are other games that I didn't even mention that I like that Wii can't touch like Arkham Assylum.

I am not sure what "VIDEO GAME" doesn't scream teenage boy, however, if you put together a list of great Wii games, I am sure an arguement could be made that the list you put together would scream "8 year old girl". Elebits? Mario Galaxy? Cooking Mamma? Your arguement is pointless, but you did add the "rolly eyes" so I guess that does drive the point home.

What games are "Gamer" games? I'm just stating that the majority of people who are "into" video games are more likely to play Gears of War than Chu Chu Rocket.