Housten, Wii Have a Problem...

by Alex Allen
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Has the Wii concept hit the wall? It's a question that doesn't attempt to contest the undeniable success the console has had since its launch in 2006, but asks whether that success is sustainable over the years to come. The trouble with the Wii, is that it's all concept. Graphically it isn't even as powerful as the Playstation 2, which hasn't mattered until now because that's never been its appeal. It's appeal was that it was changing the way people were playing, the games themselves looked pretty much the same as they had on the Gamecube. But now, developers seem to be out of ideas, and the innovative new games have dried up. Without the prospect of graphical improvement, where do the existing games go after that? Look at the current Wii chart, it's the tennis, bowling and other party games that are still prevailing. These kinds of games were kicking around when the console launched, and the best sports games on the Wii are still those that are on the free disc that ships with it. Nintendo have been hugely successful in adapting the way gamers play games, and developers have made huge strides in adapting classics, like Pro Evolution for example, for this new market. What I find most baffling, is the obvious games that should be out by now. An expanded Wii Sports, with online capability and more sports, would be worth £35 of any one's money. Playstation are in the process of launching an expanded version of its Buzz quiz, this is the sort of game that was born to be played on the Wii, so where is it? Why are Nintendo rehashing Mario games in various incarnations, when they've developed a concept capable of so much more than that? Nintendo has an opportunity to redefine the way in which gamers play games altogether, and be the definitive model that the next consoles will follow, but it now it faces the prospect of being the prototype for Sony and Microsoft to observe and adapt their next consoles to. The question ultimately, is whether the Wii concept is enough to survive in its own right, or whether it needs the graphical power its competitors have to enjoy any long term future, or whether it will ultimately end up being eaten up and becoming an arm of one of the bigger players. The Wii has proven that given the right product, it is possible to target demographics that gamers were never capable of before, the test now is how to keep this new audience spending money when all you can offer them is more of the same.