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some porting their titles to Gamecube and PS2 simultaneously, and Capcom took advantage of the cube's powerful guts to break ground with Resident Evil 4, even if it was ported later to the PS2. But Nintendo's stigma of kiddy games got the best of it, and with millions more PS2 consoles in living rooms than Gamecubes, developing solely on Playstation became a wiser choice for massive revenue.

Still, the cube did not fail. Hardly soaring, it still moved smoothly on the wheels of the trump franchisesbut with the Xbox and Playstation 2 holding the console market, the future for Nintendo was quite uncertain.

Until, of course, the Wii.

Today, the Nintendo Wii is creaming the sales charts. A year and a half after its launch, the console is still difficult to find on store shelves for longer than fifteen minutes. Microsoft's Xbox 360 is doing well by catering to core gamers with gory shooters and awesome online multiplayer, but the Playstation 3 lags far behind. Sony has experienced a bit of developer reverse; Devil May Cry 4 went multiplat, and Dragon Quest 9 moved exclusively to Nintendo's touch screen handheld, the DS. Yet the PS3 has so much more hardware power the graphics are leeter and the sound is sweeter how in the world is the Wii doing so well?

When Nintendo told the world the Wii would use motion sensitive controls, we collectively gawked in horror. Few believed it would work, but like a true master of the arts, Nintendo proved us wrong. While we waxed the car in the stupid circular motion, Nintendo ooed and ahhed us with new installments of Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Pokemon, and the great Super Smash Brothers Brawl. The Wii is cheaper to purchase than the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, and third party developers have made some awesome and truly unique games with the smooth "Wiimote" controls, which are easy and fun to adapt to.

Wait. Fun? Games are fun, and not serious business?

Nintendo is securing their future with the development of fun games. Not just violence or online multiplayerno, Nintendo's titles are first and foremost FUN to play. You're guaranteed to enjoy yourself once you boot up that Wii. And since developers know there are more Wiis purchased than PS3's or Xbox's, the console is their first choice for quality titles.

But aren't other developers making "fun" games too? And isn't fun a matter of personal choice?

Of course. The Xbox 360 and PS3 both have their share of awesome, awesome gamesbut for now, the Wii sails far ahead. Nintendo has been the most successful this generation because they've never forgotten what video gaming is really about; good ol' fashioned enjoyment and thumb-blistering entertainment.

With the Nintendo DS filling our pockets and the Wii next to our TV sets, Nintendo's future is certainly, certainly strong.

Learn more about this author, Nicholas Stitt.
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