Nintendo has seen great success with both the Wii and DS over the last few years by reaching out and bringing in people that normally wouldn’t play video games. They were trying to and successfully expanding the gaming community to create there own separate customer base. In doing this though they have left the hardcore gamer behind. Their new motion controller has not been a hit with core gamers. Weather it is the delay in the controls, inaccuracies or just plain change that the hardcore have not liked , it is in my opinion that many have rejected it.
The other major component, and in my opinion the main one, is the software. Over the last year or two Nintendo has had less offerings that would appeal to the core gamers and with all the other platforms having lots of major releases during the same time period, core gamers have been ignoring their Wii. It looked like they would be the casual gamers console and that they weren’t going to look back. After all they have been making money hand over fist, so it would be logical to think that they don’t need the core anymore. Lets face it, they haven’t been the main hardcore console since the SNES.
But Nintendo on many occasions has said the opposite and that they would be coming back with a bunch of titles to satisfy the hardcore gaming cravings. They now have the “motion plus” which is supposed to make the controller more precise. Precise control is something that is required for someone that takes games seriously. They also have announced many games at this years E3 that add to the recently released Punch Out that are designed to bring back the core. Metroid: Other M being done with Team Ninja, Mario Galaxy 2, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Sin & Punishment 2 and Dead Space Extraction are just to name a few of the games they are pushing. I must admit that I was impressed by some of the footage. I have been a Nintendo fan for as long as they have had home consoles and have owned all of them (minus the virtual boy), but over the last generation and a half, I have been moving away from them. I don’t know if it is just me getting older or being burnt on their never ending sequels and wanting some fresh air, but I have been loosing my interest in their games, even if they are of the utmost quality. These new games coming out have definitely got my attention though and will probably get me to pull my wii out of the closet.
So, is this enough to bring you back? Can it get you to put your Xbox 360, PS3 or PC down and pick up a Wii mote?
I do need to ask though, where is Pilot Wings? God I want another Pilot Wings!
)
