Virtual reality is still reality
A Wii bit of hope
Gregory Pratt
Issue date: 11/12/07 Section: Opinions
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Media Credit: Live NintendoIt seemed like a gimmick, but the Wii's innovative controller allowed the gaming system crown to be passed again to Nintendo.
I admit it: I predicted very bad things for Nintendo when they showed me their Wii. I was wrong. Now, let's step back and understand the context.
Nintendo is a video game company that led the industry through the '80s and into the mid-'90s until they broke off a working partnership with Sony, which took the work they'd done with the Big N and created its Playstation console. That event was the beginning of Nintendo's fall from grace. After the split, Nintendo lost its standing as the best-selling, most popular gaming company in the world to the Playstation, and Sony's grip tightened on the market with the Playstation 2. Then Microsoft came into the business with their XBOX console and, despite every prediction of failure for their machine, they managed to knock Nintendo and their "next generation" machine down.
Sony had the PS2; Microsoft had the XBOX; Nintendo had the "Gamecube," which was a purple box significantly weaker than the other systems, both in practice and at the cash registers. Nintendo sunk and, were it not for their never-scratched handheld business, they'd have lost relevance in video games. Even with their strong presence in handheld gaming, people predicted that Nintendo would need to "own up to the times" with its next console and match the engineering prowess of Sony and Microsoft.
Those two companies decided to unveil the Playstation III and the XBOX 360, which were mechanical monsters capable of powering third world countries. Nintendo code-named their console "Revolution," but I didn't think so when I saw it.
"They've got nothing," I thought of their machine, which was a small, sleek device with good graphics but not much raw horsepower. Worse, it was a gimmick! Surely you've heard by now about its control?
Yes, the thing that makes it special is its control, modeled after a television remote with a sensor bar so that you can control the actions of the characters by waving your arm. Oh, did that make me angry. "What is Nintendo doing? Do they think video gamers are children? Are they crazy? Stupid? Deaf, blind, or dumb? Which is it?"
You've got to understand where I was coming from. I loved Nintendo. I grew up with Nintendo, and while I didn't play all that much anymore, I still wanted them to "win" and succeed. Yet they were unveiling a "Wii" to the world, refusing to play by the rules dictated by society and expecting to survive. These guys must be suicidal. They must not care about success anymore, they've gone mad! They've taken themselves off a cliff by insisting, "if I am to die, I will die on my own terms." I was sure they were ready to fall on their Wii and be impaled by it. Yeah, I was down on their machine and told everyone I met, "This is going to be their undoing." I was sure.
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Nintendo is a video game company that led the industry through the '80s and into the mid-'90s until they broke off a working partnership with Sony, which took the work they'd done with the Big N and created its Playstation console. That event was the beginning of Nintendo's fall from grace. After the split, Nintendo lost its standing as the best-selling, most popular gaming company in the world to the Playstation, and Sony's grip tightened on the market with the Playstation 2. Then Microsoft came into the business with their XBOX console and, despite every prediction of failure for their machine, they managed to knock Nintendo and their "next generation" machine down.
Sony had the PS2; Microsoft had the XBOX; Nintendo had the "Gamecube," which was a purple box significantly weaker than the other systems, both in practice and at the cash registers. Nintendo sunk and, were it not for their never-scratched handheld business, they'd have lost relevance in video games. Even with their strong presence in handheld gaming, people predicted that Nintendo would need to "own up to the times" with its next console and match the engineering prowess of Sony and Microsoft.
Those two companies decided to unveil the Playstation III and the XBOX 360, which were mechanical monsters capable of powering third world countries. Nintendo code-named their console "Revolution," but I didn't think so when I saw it.
"They've got nothing," I thought of their machine, which was a small, sleek device with good graphics but not much raw horsepower. Worse, it was a gimmick! Surely you've heard by now about its control?
Yes, the thing that makes it special is its control, modeled after a television remote with a sensor bar so that you can control the actions of the characters by waving your arm. Oh, did that make me angry. "What is Nintendo doing? Do they think video gamers are children? Are they crazy? Stupid? Deaf, blind, or dumb? Which is it?"
You've got to understand where I was coming from. I loved Nintendo. I grew up with Nintendo, and while I didn't play all that much anymore, I still wanted them to "win" and succeed. Yet they were unveiling a "Wii" to the world, refusing to play by the rules dictated by society and expecting to survive. These guys must be suicidal. They must not care about success anymore, they've gone mad! They've taken themselves off a cliff by insisting, "if I am to die, I will die on my own terms." I was sure they were ready to fall on their Wii and be impaled by it. Yeah, I was down on their machine and told everyone I met, "This is going to be their undoing." I was sure.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Larry Beinfest
posted 11/12/07 @ 10:57 AM CST
You are so smart. You're the best op-ed writer on the Flame! Always got great incisive, insightful commentary on political and social issues and then you get creative, like with Ankiel Biting, Real-Time or this piece. (Continued…)
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