Oh Wii. You had me at hello…Then you lost me with all that fucking wagglin’!

I have to admit when the Wii first came out I was a huge fan boy! The idea was one of the best out there. Think about it. You could play bowling, baseball, tennis and boxing but never have to leave the living room. The promise of sports related injuries but without actually playing the sport was just too great to pass up. Like so many people I scoured the stores in search for one and one day all that hard work paid off. I had secured a gaming system that would revolutionize the way we play games. After going through all the instructions and safely securing my strap I let it rip with the first frame of bowling and I was in love. The concept was simple enough but to see it in action was so crazy. After weeks of playing, and coming close to throwing my arm out, I then got my hands on Zelda for the Wii. And my love grew. A game that clocked in around 60 hours! Are you crazy Nintendo? Giving me so much and asking for so little! (I would also like to point out that was my first real experience with Zelda. I did play other titles, later on, on the Gamecube but the Zelda on the Wii is still my favorite). I mean after titles including Wii Sports and Zelda surely there would nothing but a constant stream of goodness for me to get my hands on. An everlasting oasis of action, adventure, and sport titles that would expand on the greatness of the system and showcase what it was truly capable of. So I waited. And waited. And waited. And there were titles here and there but for the most part there wasn’t anything that I could sink my teeth into. Whether it was due to busted controls, bad design, or a story that didn’t hold together, there wasn’t a good stream of games that held my interest.

While listening to a podcast on gametrailers.com (about a year or so ago) I heard Shane Satterfield say that the Wii was the last console that could really do anything to wow him. Not that the PS3 and 360 were crap (FAR from it) but he knew what to expect from them these days (standard controllers, great looking games, and all the bells and whistles that came along with that). Adding in motion controls could really enhance the experience and bring you into the game. Imagine controlling a sword and having complete control of its movements (I am hoping Red Steel 2 will come close to this!). Just about every game that has tried this has done a piss poor job (and don’t get me started on the whole Wii motion plus accessory). This is where the infamous “Waggle” comes into play. So many companies that put out shitty shovelware ruined the system. To the extent where many people joke that it isn’t a gaming system anymore. I understand wanting to utilize the motion controllers but just adding it on in order to validate what you are doing is just stupid. I honestly would have enjoyed so many games much more if they had just allowed me to use a Gamecube controller instead of shaking my wrists until they felt like they were going to fall off. I don’t know if it was just tough to make games for the Wii with the motion option, Nintendo’s marketing, or a combination of both. I mean the Wii was geared towards anyone and everyone. Most hard core gamers hate the system. Which in turn means most companies that make hard core games will not really spend the time to make games for the system. And the companies that did invest time and money and actually made a decent games (Madworld, Madden 10, Zack and Wiki, Punch Out, etc) did not get the payout they were looking for and have no interest to continue to make games for a system with such a confusing fan base. I guess the main problem with the Wii…is the Wii. They really have gotten themselves into an interesting situation. On the one hand you have a company that has changed the fan base of video games forever. Everyone from little kids to grandmas play the system. Which is great because I am all for an expanded audience. At the same time all the hardcore gamers (and to be honest I don’t even know what makes up a hardcore gamer) are feeling left out with the lack of hardcore games and would rather spend their money on another system that caters to the hardcore fan base rather than feel cheated by the Wii for making a game they say appeals to the hardcore but is just a nice piece of shined up crap.

So where does my relationship with the Wii go from here? Well I had to go out and get myself a mistress (known as the PS3). At first it was pretty awkward but now the Wii understands and is cool with our three way arrangement. She lets me have my fun with all the Modern Warfares, Infamouses, and Batman Arkham Asylums out there knowing that occasionally I will come back to her for some good old times. This is not to say that there are not Wii titles that I am excited about (COME ON NEW ZELDA!) but at this point the system has just lost so much momentum from when it first launched that it will be tough to get back. And with Project Natal and the new Sony motion controller Nintendo will be pressed more than ever to really put out some quality material.

In the end I am sure Nintendo could give a damn what people really think of them because month after month they are the top selling console (with the Nintendo DS usually being the number one in hardware sales). But for the little people out there who are wishing that Nintendo would live up to its potential. Well…good luck with that. I had those same dreams at one point and those dreams are long gone. Occasionally you will get some titles that are worth their $50 dollar price tag but they are few and far between. If you can afford it I would suggest getting yourself another system (PS3, Xbox, whatever really) if you are finding a lack of choice games. Of course if the wallet is lacking in funds to do this then there are some hidden gems out there but make sure you build up those wrist muscles because you will have to waggle through a lot of shit to find them.