Where Wii are in 2009

I don't know about you but I can't remember the last time I played a game on my Wii. I think the last time I turned it on I just used the news channel for a bit. Nintendo seems focused on the casual market with the Wii and the current state of the console reflects that. Sure its still selling well and because of the outdated hardware they are making a profit on each sale. (Unlike some other systems.) But can they continue to neglect their core audience and cater to this new casual audience? This is the first time that a major video game company has taken this path, so the long term commitment with this new audience is still unproven.

For all we know, this casual audience might wise up to the fact that the majority of the software on the Wii is rubbish and go on to the next flavor of the year. Looking forward to the new year, is Nintendo going to push to satisfy their core audience like they said they would after the E3 debacle? Well, no Metroid/Mario/Zelda etc have been announced yet but they have said their working on them. I have no doubt these games will be great and will satisfy the core audience. But is it enough? Having a handful of good games amongst all these shovelware games on a limited console with frustrating at best online abilities just doesn't seem like enough to redeem the Wii to me.

Looking at a list of Q1 releases for the Wii, my faith in being excited for this console ever again is still wavering. The only games that seem even playable are the retro games they are bringing from the Gamecube library and slapping Wii controls on. I have to say repaying for the same games over and over is getting kind of old Nintendo. I think it would be more worthwhile to use those efforts to create a better online community on their system. Oh well, at least Mad World looks kind of fun. And the new Sonic game might be good... maybe? I know it sounds like I'm bashing Nintendo but I do still like them. I just don't like the direction they've gone with this console generation, and I'm hopeful they rethink where they are going with their next console.

When I was your age

Well all remember games from our childhood, games that feel like classics to us. Games that we still hum the music to, and can still play and have a good time with. These games invoke a sense of nostalgia in us, and that is part of their lasting appeal on us. But is that it? Or is there something else they have that make them classics that we never tire of. These games, for me at least, are games from the nes/genesis/snes era. I remember the first time I played the original Sonic when it first came out, and I can't remember ever having more fun playing a video game. Is it because Sonic and Mario and such were so much better then everything else at the time?

I also wonder if its possible for games from the psx/64 and so on days to become classic games to people who grew up playing those games. To me it seems like the days of Sonic and Mario can't ever be recreated. Sure there are great games for every console era, but none seem as good for their time as the classics do. I think that's me just being naive though. A classic game defined I believe would be a game that an individual remembers playing as a child, and can always come back to over the years and have a great time. I guess I just don't ever want to see Halo called a classic.. *shudder*