USAToday negative on Wii
With all the recent hype surrounding Nintendo’s upcoming Wii console, it was perhaps inevitable that someone had to rain on the parade, this time in the form of USAToday.
In a report on next-gen consoles, the article points out the Wii’s lack of graphical muscle to be a potential disappointment for consumers. “What should you do? (option B) Wait in a shorter line for a Wii, pocket the change and maybe be disappointed…”
“The biggest weakness of the Wii is that the games look just slightly better than today’s Game-Cube, far lower quality than games on the Xbox 360 and PS3. Twilight Princess can be displayed in widescreen mode, but the video is not high-definition.â€
If that wasn’t enough, Dan Hsu of EGM also had a pop at the new machine, adding “Despite the Wii offering the most accessible gameplay, “the graphics don’t impress,†he said.
“You have a lot of really good games (on PS2) that are arguably better than anything you can play on the PS3 and Wii right now,â€.
Agree or disagree with these comments? Think Dan is off his rocker? By all means, post your thoughts on the forums or our comments section!
November 10th, 2006 at 8:55 am
For me, better gameplay will always trump better graphics. I’d still like to get an PS3 eventually, but I’m very excited about the Wii because I think the gameplay shift is going to be something special.
November 13th, 2006 at 1:33 am
I’m lovin this blog. Keep it up!!
To repeat what Nintendo reps have been saying all along, Wii is foced on physical (moving around) gameplay. Graphics are nice and all: I was hooked on Halo 2 for awhile, and the new games for the PS3 and XBOX 360 do look spectacular. However, I’m excited about the Wii because I believe that it will be the successful pioneer of a new style of gaming where the player actually have to get up and move around, creating a whole other level of interaction and, hence, attachment to the games themselves. Also, Nintendo’s aim is, as they’ve stated before, not to knock the users’ socks off with amazing graphics, but to make the Wii console playable for people of all ages.
On a side note, that’s a great marketing idea and I wouldn’t be surprised that, if successful, the Wii will surpass the other game systems in profitability. (Maybe I said too much?)
November 15th, 2006 at 7:28 am
Graphics this, graphics that… recently I pulled out Transport Tycoon Deluxe and played it on and off for a couple of months. We are talking 1994 there, great gameplay, I didn’t even think about the graphics quality.
Age of Empires is another one I have been playing, this time over the network with my housemates. Do the graphics matter? No, because the game was great. Released 1997
The list can go on. Did you ever play Colonization? Every 6 months or so I pull that out and play it solidly for a couple of weeks. Sid Meier at his best, great game… release date: 1994.
I recently played through all of half life, thought it was brilliant (god knows how I missed it the first time round). That came out in 1998, and it has aged pretty well as well.
And the biggest one for me is the Pro Evo vs Fifa battle that has been going on since ISS. No one would argue that the faces and stadiums are better on Fifa, but the gameplay is so great on Pro Evo that it wins hands down everytime for me. Not to mention that when it flows it actually looks like football, as opposed to Fifa, that looks like a video game.
Wii will be brilliant, and reviewers shallow enough to want great looking games will be disappointed when they get bored of them after 2 hours. Afterall, that feeling of “wow, that looks really realistic” can only last so long.
November 16th, 2006 at 4:35 pm
This seems to be the only downside for the Wii. But Nintendo is NOT going for graphics. EGM and USAToday should know this. They point out the obvious.
January 16th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
Who cares about graphics. Graphics are by far the least important element of any game. All that matters is how the game plays and feels. Why else would people still love playing old NES games? I mean yeah, the PS3 has insane graphics, but if the gameplay isn’t there it doesn’t do any good.