Wii Did you think the Wii was stupid when it came out?

[YoshiBoy]

I personally did, I thought about standing in front of a screen and asking myself look like a fool trying to basically act out the games I'm playing.

I didn't want anything to do with it, and I thought it was going to be a flop, but obviously it wasn't. I just figured that there would not be enough games that could be transferred to the Wii like sports. I wanted to know how would you play football, you can't run around in your house, it's not big enough, and other games as well.

I just didn't know how they would pull that stuff off, and it seemed so unrealistic. Now I love it.

 

[grahamf]

I think I wanted it from the beginning. But I didn't really research it until after it came out so I wasn't up with the rumourmill.

Honestly I wouldn't ever consider much of what Nintendo does as stupid. Yes, the Wii Mini was too expensive and too limited, but even the Wii U has earned back what it cost to make it.

 

[Segata]

nah,I wanted one even when it was called Revolution. People were saying Nintendo should go third party back in 2004. I had a feeling about Nitro (DS) and Revolution(Wii) were going to be something special. I didn't think some of the best selling systems ever special but something great. The name took a bit to get used to is all. In 2005 at Tokyo Game Show when Iwata showed the new controller I was confused at first and many people reacted negatively but IGN did a mock up of the Wiimote connected to a Wavebird and realized this thing is pretty versatile. Rumors were it would be a moduler controller. Wiimote sorta is.


Once I saw the reaction at E3 2006 and Matt at IGN on the floor interviewing Perrin Kaplan,IGN knew,Nintendo knew and I knew Nintendo had something here. Then I worked at GameStop starting in 2006. The insane hype and reaction from people wanting this thing and when it released every day I seriously got hundreds of calls to the store asking for a Wii. I only got one because I was a manager and put one to the side so I could buy it.

Here are some of the mock ups some made. Gotta remember there was over a full year from the time Revolution was shown in 2004 to the controller shown in late 2005.

 

[pwarbi]

I'm not sure if I'd go as far as to say that the console was stupid when it came out, but it did fall into kind of a niche market I think. Even now it's mainly the younger gamers that get the most out of the Wii, and while when it first came out it was a novel way of playing games, as with most novel ideas, the attraction soon wore off.

Nintendo will claim that the system was a success, and when you look at the sales figures and what the console offered then I guess it was, I just don't think it left the long standing mark on video games that a lot of people thought that it would. Words like 'unique' and 'different' come to mind when thinking about the Wii, not the words 'great' or 'legendary' and I think that's maybe what Nintendo was hoping for.

 

[YoshiBoy]

@Segata, those are some strange looking controllers, I don't think I would've been to thrilled if they released some that look like the ones I see. The one that has the Wii controller looks the most ridiculous haha. People come up with some crazy designs.

I tried so hard to get hired at game stop, I think they were hating on me.

 

[Segata]

It's better you didn't. Horrible company and I boycotted them since I left. Selling customers used games as knew irked me more than anything.

 

[pwarbi]

I'd actually heard that rumour about Game Stop before but didn't know whether to believe it or not. I always liked to think that the game shops were on the side of the gamer rather than the software and console manufacturers, but when rumours like selling used games and pretending they was new come out, it's very hard to keep your trust in them for obvious reasons.

Here in the UK 'Game' is probably the biggest (if not the only) high street game retailer, and while they have cleaned their act up a lot recently, in the past they have also been accused of underhand dealings shall we say, but there is that little competition that they can do what ever they want and people will still buy from them.

 

[Segata]

I can promise it's no rumor. When I was there Employees are allowed to "rent" for free new games for 2-4 days then bring them back and those games can be still sold as new. GS on the side of consumers? ROFL. No. They don't make money selling new games. They make it all on used games and try and course people to buy a card that comes with a Magazine called Game Informer with paid review to increase pre-orders of certain AAA hyped games. They also make Employees work a non commission commission job. How many pre-orders and Magazines they sell determines how many hours they get to work next week. They don't care if you know anything about games,they don't give a rats ass about that. They car show much you can sell those pre-orders. Working in a gamestore drained my love for gaming. One of the biggest mistakes I saw a lot then and since and even to em until I quit was never work at a store like Gamestop if you love games. Seems funny but it's the truth. There is a reason Gamestop has one of the highest turnover rates in the US.

 

[rz3300]

Well I am quite the opposite, and I had very high expectation when it was set to come out. I liked it too, and I got some good gaming out of it in the first couple of months. I think that as time went on though I can say that I started to consider it a little more stupid-like, but I could never go so far and say that for a company that I respect. It had its place in the sun, which is fine.

 

[Lightning_Ninja]

I thought the official name was stupid, but the console itself had me hyped.

 

[Dybbuk Jones]

It's definitely weird to say that you are playing the Wii and you either pronounce it Why or Wee - neither sounds right. I think that it would have been very cool when it came out but the only thing I ever played on it was a bowling game and that did not help my exercise so I kind of went away from it. My roommate who owned a Wii and let me play moved and I never felt the need to buy a new one.

I found it interesting when it showed up in Boyhood and I felt nostalgic.

 

[grahamf]

It's "We"

 

[Segata]

That reminds me of the Ys series. Since most people don't know about it they think it's called Wise or WYS. In reality it's Eace like the word Peace without the P. Could make a whole topic about people pronouncing things wrong. Ann Frank (Ahna Fronk is the correct way) or Notre Dame (Notrah Dahm correct way)

 

[lexinonomous]

When the Wii was released, I felt a lot of excitement. It was awesome to see Nintendo releasing new material and putting effort into building a completely new console. The console seemed unique and offered something that other consoles weren't offering at the time. After buying it, I slowly grew to loathe the system. I thought that it was aimed more towards children and offered absolutely nothing for me. I was only finding fun in playing the oldschool games offered in the wii store. When it came to new releases, I felt really distant toward the console and showed little to no interest.

The wii was great for groups. It offered a good selection of games for large parties to play, but other than that I feel like it was a waste of time. Wii fit offered a few good moments, but the new games they released were just over simplified and silly.

 

[SirJoe]

It's "We"

I think this ad has everything that I liked about the Wii when it was launched. It got people moving again instead of just sitting and watching a screen.