I don't think it's necessarily the hardware, it's the software. I've been playing Rocksmith for PS3, a game which is not very demanding technically or graphically, yet every time you do something, the game has to load or save.

What was the last good game to come out on Wii and when was it released? Not being a dick here, I seriously don't know.

The 360 and PS3 have evolved over time with varying results, but at least they've evolved. The Wii really can't do anything right now it couldn't do in the year it came out. Combine that with the fact there's been an absolute drought of interesting games for it for what appears to be nearly two years and yeah, I can see why the cash isn't exactly rolling in for Nintendo right now.

Announcing the Wii2 so far in advance probably didn't help either. I would imagine it probably doesn't exactly compel people to go out and buy the current gen Wii if they had been kicking around the idea, even with the price drop.

IrateShadow: What was the last good game to come out on Wii and when was it released? Not being a dick here, I seriously don't know.

Once people realized that the other consoles allowed motion gaming type stuff, I'm thinking Wii Sports lost its appeal.

IrateShadow: What was the last good game to come out on Wii and when was it released?

Nothing. Never.

/Never unpacked my Wii last time I moved.

IrateShadow: What was the last good game to come out on Wii and when was it released? Not being a dick here, I seriously don't know.

It's a good question, one for which I don't have an answer, and a huge problem for Nintendo.

On the other hand, look at the anticipation behind releases for the other two consoles (and PC) in October and November alone. MW3, Arkham City, Battlefield 3, Assassin's Creed Revelations Skyrim--just to name a few off the top of my head.

/Oh sweet jesus, Skyrim.

Whose great idea was it to make a childrens gaming device that can't be used by children (under 6).

I guess it's fine for older kids who don't have any younger siblings or friends.

Just wait till the fourth quarter. Department stores got Memorial Day and President's Day (no idea why), Hallmark and chocolatiers got Valentine's Day, and game and toy stores got Christmas.
No biggie. The mistake they made was releasing the 3ds in the first and second quarters (because of something about how the Japanese fiscal year doesn't overlap with the Western fiscal year).

I'm sure the 3DS isn't helping matters much.

serpent_sky: Shrugging Atlas: The 360 and PS3 have evolved over time with varying results, but at least they've evolved. The Wii really can't do anything right now it couldn't do in the year it came out. Combine that with the fact there's been an absolute drought of interesting games for it for what appears to be nearly two years and yeah, I can see why the cash isn't exactly rolling in for Nintendo right now.

Yes, I was thinking that the other day -- my Wii is a glorified Netflix streaming machine. The games we do have got old fast -- and even bought the balance board to play Shaun White Snowboarding. For adults, the novelty wears off very quickly. I cannot think of a game they have released I've even had the desire to buy used, much less new.

This, sadly. I'm getting more mileage on the DS but haven't had the need to buy any games that were not on the PC.

/DQMonsters Joker 2 is next on the list
//nothing else on the list

Cythraul: Maybe it's about time for the next generation in consoles? I'm not a console gamer here, but I've noticed horrible load times and graphics compared with console vs computer lately, with games available on both platforms, of course.

I think they're releasing the Wii U in the 2nd or 3rd quarter next year.

shiat graphics, shiat online scene, marketed almost exclusively towards kids, smart phones being viable portable gaming platforms.

Nintendo better go big next round.

Nintendo went after the casual market with the Wii, and for the first few years it became a huge moneymaker, easily besting the 360 and the PS3 in sales. Diehard Nintendo fans also bought it because of Nintendo's famous properties - Mario, Zelda, Metroid, etc. For a while, it seemed Nintendo could do no wrong.

But then the facade started to come off. Many diehards realized that the Wii's library outside of first-party games consisted mostly of shovelware, and it didn't have strong third-party support, something that helped the PS2 from drowning in poorly made games. Nintendo's response to Operation Rainfall didn't exactly help matters. As for the casual market, mobile platforms like smart phones and tablets are replacing interest in the Wii as a gaming device.

Now Nintendo is trying to cater to the more "hardcore" market with the WiiU, but personally, I think they have a lot of obstacles ahead of them. For one, reports are the WiiU will only be, at most, slightly more powerful than the PS3 and 360. Meanwhile, rumors are swirling that Sony and Microsoft are planning new consoles for 2013 and/or 2014, which means the WiiU will again be underpowered by comparison. Unless Nintendo's first-party software again lures in diehards, or the tablet controller gimmick is actually somehow decent, would people really want to buy a WiiU so they can play games that will likely be released on PS3 and 360 as well, all this before the "PS4" and "720" come out?

Nintendo's pulled out of tough scrapes before - I honestly thought they were done after the Gamecube - but if they can't survive this upcoming console generation, then I fully expect to see myself controlling Link with a Dual Shock in the near future.

Die console scum, die.

I have a Wii that doesn't get much play. The biggest reason for me is that the Wiimote works well for some games, but a traditional controller would work better for others. Case in point: I have Lego Star Wars and Lego Indiana Jones for the PS2 and Lego Batman for the Wii. I get tired of the Wii version more quickly because the controls are awkward.

I skipped the PS3 and 360 in favor of a better PC this generation. The lack of backwards compatibility and lack of a robust network on the PS3 and the initial hardware issues on the 360 were both factors in this. The majority of games I'm interested in are available on the PC and I don't see the use in getting another console for the few that aren't on the PC.

Arxane: Nintendo's pulled out of tough scrapes before - I honestly thought they were done after the Gamecube - but if they can't survive this upcoming console generation, then I fully expect to see myself controlling Link with a Dual Shock in the near future.

I think they'll survive as a hardware company, but we can look to Sega and Atari for examples of what might happen if they don't.

Arxane: Nintendo went after the casual market with the Wii, and for the first few years it became a huge moneymaker, easily besting the 360 and the PS3 in sales. Diehard Nintendo fans also bought it because of Nintendo's famous properties - Mario, Zelda, Metroid, etc. For a while, it seemed Nintendo could do no wrong.

But then the facade started to come off. Many diehards realized that the Wii's library outside of first-party games consisted mostly of shovelware, and it didn't have strong third-party support, something that helped the PS2 from drowning in poorly made games. Nintendo's response to Operation Rainfall didn't exactly help matters. As for the casual market, mobile platforms like smart phones and tablets are replacing interest in the Wii as a gaming device.

Now Nintendo is trying to cater to the more "hardcore" market with the WiiU, but personally, I think they have a lot of obstacles ahead of them. For one, reports are the WiiU will only be, at most, slightly more powerful than the PS3 and 360. Meanwhile, rumors are swirling that Sony and Microsoft are planning new consoles for 2013 and/or 2014, which means the WiiU will again be underpowered by comparison. Unless Nintendo's first-party software again lures in diehards, or the tablet controller gimmick is actually somehow decent, would people really want to buy a WiiU so they can play games that will likely be released on PS3 and 360 as well, all this before the "PS4" and "720" come out?

Nintendo's pulled out of tough scrapes before - I honestly thought they were done after the Gamecube - but if they can't survive this upcoming console generation, then I fully expect to see myself controlling Link with a Dual Shock in the near future.

the WiiU is just a big-ass DS for your tv, when you look back at the last 5-6 years the DS dominated Nintendo's software/hardware focus far more than the Wii did, hence their change in direction for the next generation

in this respect, Nintendo will do just fine, the DS as a whole did exactly what Nintendo wanted - merged the casual and hardcore community for the handheld market seemlessly without needing super graphix (do the math yo)

doesn't help that nobody's buying a new tv anytime soon, Microsoft has already resigned itself to the Nintendo mantra of selling itself on how you interact with your games/tv than just how few jaggies you have over your competition

next gen problems tho are content delivery and how that affects how games are made - given how every new fad this gen turns bust eventually everybody will be looking for a stable model that doesn't require AAA budgets vs. risking making jack-all off of $10 or less downloadable games where the realities of dog-eat-dog brand recognition matters just as much

the nightmare reality for the next 5-10 years isn't "how many less pixels Nintendo is pushing vs. Sony" like this gen started out as - really it'll be "can anybody make money without AAA marketing departments?"

IrateShadow: What was the last good game to come out on Wii and when was it released? Not being a dick here, I seriously don't know.

donkey kong country returns at the end of last year in the US (before that - Kirby and another Mario last year - i refuse to call Metroid Other M a good game...)

Xenoblade/The Last Story overseas this year

in a couple days everybody gets a new Zelda - so there's that too

it's an okay console, when you stack everything it's done it's the best Nintendo home console since the SNES, but just like the N64 and Gamecube - the lack of 3rd party support that gamers cared about killed the thing for the repeat-buying market of gamers

IrateShadow: What was the last good game to come out on Wii and when was it released? Not being a dick here, I seriously don't know.

I for one miss my Wii (I recently moved and had to put it in storage because of lack of space). Before I packed up, I was rocking Lost In Shadow, Donkey Kong Country Returns and de Blob 2 (I'm a platform junkie).
On my 3DS, I'm only really playing Nintendogs + Cats. Most of my gaming right now is on my DSiXL with Solatorobo, Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 and Monster Tale.
As for the last good game to come out on the Wii? I've heard Kirby's Return to Dreamland is excellent as is Motoheroz and EscapeVector for WiiWare.

Because you can't play Arkham City on a Wii.

So when all the XBox/PS3 gamers said at the beginning of the current generation of consoles that the novelty would die down and that the limited quality titles would hurt the Wii they were right, huh?

Imagine that, people that have been gamers for a while know more about he gaming market than people that ran out and bought a Wii because it was the hot new toy.

It was a smashing success of an experiment and is still an overall profitable venture, but the lack of any good 3rd party titles was destined to kill it as a platform. Nintendo has no one but themselves to blame for that.

I'm a nintendo fan for nostalgic reasons, but I still mess with the wii from time to time. I like motion+. The wii is a fun way to kill twenty minutes. I am not the kind of guy that has hours on end to spend on a video game.

I have a PS3, and since I canceled Netflix, I never even turn it on. I got tired of updating the system and logging into the PSN every time I wanted to do something. Their two free games sucked. I'll probably keep the wii and eBay the PS3. When the wiiU comes out I'll consider it.

I still love the Wii and play it all the time. To each their own.

stpauler: Shovelware. Nintendo used to have tight controls on what went out the door. For some reason, crap software is let loose on the system making it difficulty to sort through the bucketload of crap out there.

If Nintendo used to have such tight controls on their platform, then why were some truly horrible games released on Nintendo's platforms as far back as the NES? No, the problem is not the shovelware itself, but a lack of anything to counter it.

The best example is the PS2, which had countless of pieces of shovelware released on it over the years. And yet few people remember the shovelware because the PS2 had excellent third-party support, so great games pushed the shovelware to the back of the shelves, where they belonged. The Wii, by contrast, has very little good third-party support, so shovelware by default dominates the Wii shelves.

Lego batman is kind of cool on the wii, using the wiimote to tag enemies for a batarang throw.

I couldn't buy Lego clone wars for the wii, though. My 360 has more horsepower to do all the graphics. And while repetitive semi-rts stuff is repetitive, the 360 does those parts better.

IrateShadow: What was the last good game to come out on Wii and when was it released? Not being a dick here, I seriously don't know.


Bit Trip Complete. Retro, arcade style, rhythm-based platforming awesomeness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Cnay6tR3gQ&feature=related. Addictive as hell. Only $40 new for six games.

I haven't played the new Kirby Sequel but that came out yesterday.

I like to think this is karma for them not releasing Xenoblade in America.

/got the European version and it was farking amazing

Modding/Piracy.

Shrugging Atlas: On the other hand, look at the anticipation behind releases for the other two consoles (and PC) in October and November alone. MW3, Arkham City, Battlefield 3, Assassin's Creed Revelations Skyrim--just to name a few off the top of my head.

Is it crazy that I find most of those games boring?

serpent_sky: my Wii is a glorified Netflix streaming machine

This is unfortunately what my PS3 is for.

stpauler: The Wii's major problems:

If you want to shoot someone in the head online, the Wii is not for you.
Now graphics, I could care less at this point. I bought an HDTV and little big planet still isn't fun. I think the wario game has better graphics anyhow.

Shovelware - same for other consoles. The problem is when someone would make a port for Wii, they'd kneecap the thing. They'd start from scratch and build a different version of the game, and ignore all the bugs and ugliness for the most part. Sometimes the games would get a little love (the force unleashed) and the games would be more tolerable than their HD ports. And I've heard the "Nintendo seal" crap. The fact is there were a bunch of shiatty games for SNES too. Top selling consoles draw crappy games and crappy games still sell.

As far as quality third party games go, they never sold. They got great reviews, they got ignored, and you can now pick them up for less than $15. I'm not complaining.

TheSelphie: I like to think this is karma for them not releasing Xenoblade in America.

/got the European version and it was farking amazing

Came into this thread to mention this. Nintendo of America is flat out farking stupid. The only thing they believe will sell are sequels.

A game gets translated and they just don't want to sell it? Another game is crammed full of hilarious Japanese weirdness and they sanitize it? And when a vocal minority is saying shut up and take my money, and they won't? At the very least, stop region locking your consoles.

Don't worry guys, I'm sure the WiiU will make up for i- ahahahaha.

I use my Wii a lot. For Netflix. Don't get much chance to play games these days, but when I do, its on the xbox.

very much looking forward to Super Mario 3D land for my 3ds, but honestly, I've barely played my 3DS since I bought it. I NEED GAMES.

I guess I am the odd man out. I am still playing with my wii and enjoy sin and punishment 2 and am working on red steel 2. I will probably pick up demon blade muramasa.

I can't say I am overly concerned about graphics at this point. I think it would be awesome though if better capability for RTS games was developed. Previous attempts at making RTS games on consoles haven't worked all that well.

kingoomieiii: tricycleracer: IrateShadow: What was the last good game to come out on Wii and when was it released?

Nothing. Never.

/Never unpacked my Wii last time I moved.

1. Metroid Prime Trilogy.

/no, that's the whole list

I really enjoyed this game:

moothemagiccow: Is it crazy that I find most of those games boring?

Crazy that you find most of five total games listed boring? No, particularly since BF3 and MW3 are basically the same game, and you seem to be a fan of games found typically on the Wii...and none of these fit that genre really. But my statement that the anticpation for these games is extremely high remains true, as does the fact there's been nothing that has met with the same anticipation for the Wii in recent memory. Hell, Arkham City sold 2 million copies in the first week alone, and it's almost certainly going to sell the least of any of those titles.

I'm not bashing the Wii--I own all three consoles--and I'm not one of those "My console uber alles" types. But it's not hard to see why Nintendo's profits have dropped when there has been no noteworthy title launch in what I honestly think is the past 18 months and they've done very little to grow the Wii console beyond what it was on launch day.

Mugato: It used to be that you buy a console game and that was it. That was a major selling point for consoles over PCs, everything worked or it wouldn't ship. Now it's like, "Well, this game is completely unplayable but just download this patch...."

This, bears repeating, etc.....

Someone sound the alarm! WiiU! WiiU! WiiU!

DanZero: Mugato: It used to be that you buy a console game and that was it. That was a major selling point for consoles over PCs, everything worked or it wouldn't ship. Now it's like, "Well, this game is completely unplayable but just download this patch...."

This, bears repeating, etc.....

Still better then most pc games, because it's only one patch, versus trying to debug which part of your PC is at fault and then trying to figure out how to fix it.

Still sucks though. I think it's due to multiplatform development cutting into QA time. They just don't have time to find the bugs before the publishers demand the product be shipped.

As for Nintendo, I think their problem was they sold the wii on a Novelty, and once said novelty wore off, sales fell like a rock. With the 3ds not selling gangbuster like expected, It put nintendo in a bit of a bind when you facor in the strong yen.

They are trying to get the wii U out in a hurry to make some more money, but honestly it doesn't look that great so far. It had next to no hype post E3, and still has little in terms of news or hype form game developers about it. It turns your home console into a DS, but that's not exactly revolutionary. People seem to be taking a wait and see with it, which is not good with the specter of future Ms and Sony consoles on the horizon.

Nintendo needs to stop thinking in terms of novelty and start thinking in terms of games. A solid 1st and third party lineup will be needed if they want to attract attention away form Sony or MS's next offerings.

Nintendo farking sucks. Their heyday came and went. I'm still playin one of these:



fark your stupid piece of shiat Wiis, fark your Nintendo DS's, fark all that shiat. Nintendo 64 is king. Nintendo is for farking children now. N64 is a real man's videogame system. fark any videogame system where the controller looks like a farking tv remote. I want a weird looking, three pronged controller that was far ahead of its time, and way more ergonomic than a stupid Playstation controller. They still haven't got that shiat sorted out. XBox is the closest thing going to N64, and that's why it's the king. fark Nintendo again, and fark Playstation 3 times.

The next console generation will be heavily dependant on third party and online support, both of which Nintendo have a horrible track record. We'll see in a year if they learned from their mistakes.

Mugato: It used to be that you buy a console game and that was it. That was a major selling point for consoles over PCs, everything worked or it wouldn't ship. Now it's like, "Well, this game is completely unplayable but just download this patch...."

Yeah, but patch installation on the Xbox is screamingly easy. Insert disk. A new update is available! Click A. Update installed. Game runs perfectly. Total effort: pushing one button once. Total time: less than thirty seconds.

The Wii, as much as I love it, needs more big-release games. It can be sequels - how many of the most anticipated games that are released are sequels or additions to a franchise? TONS OF THEM. But has there even been a big-name game released since the announcement of Skyward Sword? I get that it's not going to be able to run a lot of cross-platformers. But Nintendo has enough exclusive intellectual property that they should be able to release two amazing games a year just under that first party umbrella.

Start by releasing another farking Metroid Prime. No dialogue, no bullshiat attempts at storylines, no interactive NPCs, just Samus alone on a foreign planet kicking ass to an incredible soundtrack according the successful formula that brought you motherfarking Super Metroid and Metroid Prime 1, two of the greatest Nintendo IP products in the history of ever.

"Wii-U, Wii-U, Wii-U!"

I can only speak for myself but the *entire* reason I switched from PC gaming to consoles is that PCs used to be expensive. That and getting a game to work correctly was an huge ordeal. Eventually, I was just tired of it. New game, crap, I need a new video card.....or 'huh, this sucks, the game crashes whenever I do X'. It was too much of a headache. And patches....ugh....I hated patching in PC games.

I just wanted to relax and play some video games. Half of the time PC gaming (particularly online ones) made me rage.

So I started playing consoles. Everything was great. Until this generation of consoles really. Now I have a PS3 but many of the headaches of PC gaming are no intertwined in consoles. I can never just 'play' a game. I buy the game, then I put in the disk, then I have to download and install updates. Then I wait and I wait. And it's all on the internal hard-drive so crap, now I have to manage the space on there too. It's not hard, but it is a hassle.

The result of being able to push out patches for consoles means that the 'acceptable' standard of quality has dropped like a rock.

Oh yeah - and system updates...ugh...what a joke.

Again, I'm probably just getting old, but I'm now content to wait 2-3 years after a game comes out and only buy the very best of the best rated/received games from the bargain bin. I know that the problems will be fixed by the time I get it. At this point, I don't think I'll buy another console....no different than a PC with an expensive controller at this point and I expect the line to continue to blur.