(Sorry. It was either that or “Wii will rock you!” which I guarantee you the gaming press will wear that out quickly.) (Also, sorry again, I won’t be making penis jokes.)
Nintendo has announced that their next console (codenamed ‘Revolution’) will in fact be named Wii. Now, is anyone who likes the idea of the Wii, or anyone who likes Nintendo, not going to get this system because of an odd name? No. Just want to get that out of the way. Face it, a bunch of fans will be waiting overnight to get it on launch day. This is a given, accept it and move on. Now, let’s move on to nongamers.
I think that this oddly named product has the potential to make the word ‘Nintendo’ ubiquitous to gaming again. The Wii’s ability to take players in a new direction (yes, thanks to the controller, its ability to offer add-ons, and an assumed retained focus on gameplay) will make it different from other systems, which has long been Nintendo’s “Blue Ocean” strategy. They want to the the iPod to Sony’s discman and Microsoft’s… Well, ‘other discman.’ (To stick with the comparison.) To do that, they’ll need a new type of gaming to go along with it. Let’s hope that Red Steel is only the tip of that iceberg.
There are also those who game, but don’t really care. Let’s call them non-fans. I have no problem with people like that, as I’m sure Nintendo hopes to make a killing off of these people! They bought Guitar Hero because it was new, and fun. They bought Halo when they heard that fun coop had came back to gaming. They buy whatever console or a PC and play the games they like. To those, normal, people, gaming is similar to TV and movies. They play a game and then go about their day and I commend them for it. Gaming doesn’t have to be an all-encompassing way of life.
But the haters? The ones who actively hate on Nintendo, not just because of the name, but call them ‘too kiddie’ simply because their games don’t contain more violence/blood? The people who will surely be using the term ‘Wiitards’ in the coming years? Y’know, those people who you (I) secretly hate because they think of themselves as hardcore for getting into games because of Final Fantasy VII? People who have never so much as heard of M.U.L.E.? They’ve pushed me over the edge. After constant complaining about how gaming has been ruined by marketing and graphics-whoring games, which they themselves buy every year, they have the nerve to bitch when a large company finally makes a move to be independent of that type of shit. To reference RvB, they could bitch about anything.
I’ve never owned a Gamecube. It didn’t strike me as something I’d like at the beginning due to the games released on it, and I never got around to picking one up after games I thought I would enjoy finally came out. But a while back I picked up a Nintendo DS and it all made sense to me. It just felt ‘right’. Before, I was just ‘really interested’ in the Wii. Now I’m drinking the Kool-Aid. I’m in Nintendo’s boat and sailing off into the Blue Ocean with them, because I desperately want greener gaming pastures.
