by Jeremy Matthews

Created on: March 18, 2010

The question everybody was asking was 'Will Nintendo's Wii Become A Success'?  Now that the system has been on the market for a while let's take a look and see how it has done.  During the first two Christmas Shopping seasons after the Wii's release I worked in a local retail store which carried video games and their respective consoles.  And yes, the Wii was one of the hotest items then; and still is very much the hot topic. 

The Wii has been branded by critics as 'Gamecube 2.0' or a 'Gamecube with motion controls'.  Reason being, the hardware itself isn't much more advanced than the Gamecube's hardwarde (Nintendo's previous generation of consoles).  So in a time when 'HD Gaming' seems to be all the rage, how is it that Nintendo's little white box has garnered such fanfare?  Simple, social gaming.  The Wii simply shines in this area.  Nintendo's competition has been focusing on their social experiences in the online areas of social gaming.  Want to play online in 'Modern Warfare 2' or play with people on your friends list, than the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 is for you.

However, if you have a few friends over at your house and someone suggests you play a few rounds of Wii Bowling, you'll experience multiplayer at it's best.  You will experience a group of friends in the same room having a good time.  Whereas, try playing on either Xbox Live or the Playstation Network with some friends, with whom you'll more than likely never meet face to face.  This brings back the old-school arcade mentality that people can get together and challenge each other to a game and never have to encounter those players you'll bump into online who feel they are too elite to play with you. 

The Wii has also been a trend setter towards it's competition.  Both the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 have projects in the works for motion sensing technology.  The Xbox 360 has 'Project Natal' and the Playstation 3 has the 'Playstation Move' technology both due out in the near future.  The motion sensing technology gives players a unique experience like unto any other system.  What other system forces you to physically stand up and use your body motion to play a game (for example the Wii Fit Board). 

The future implementations of the Wii are near endless as well.  With developers already capitalizing on the workout/exercise capabilities I can only imagine what will be it's next incarnation in the future.  Personally I own a Wii; and I favor playing it with other people.  In my opinion that is what makes this system successful. It's fun to play online with other people, but the social interaction you get by lining up your family and playing a game is way more fun in my opinion.

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