PixlBit

The day has finally come. No it's not the end of days and no it's not a holiday (Unless you all want to celebrate my birthday as one lol) No today is the day the Wii is finally dead. Now you may be saying, "but Jon Nintendo kicked that bucket aside when the Wii U was announced." And you would be correct. However, some games did in fact come out. Pandora's Tower made it's way stateside when the Wii U was out and that was a big deal for project rainfall fans. Granted XSeed screwed up and many people encountered game breaking bugs and glitches in the final tower, but regardless we got the game which is better than not at all.

But let's rewind a bit to the year 2006, when Nintendo's "Revolution" was revealed. The code name Revolution was a placeholder for what we now know as the Nintendo Wii. But what was Nintendo Wii? Why it was the break through that Nintendo needed in the home console department. While it can be argued whether or not the N64 and Gamecube were successful based on the sales figures in which they wound up behind the competition...it cannot be argued that for the Nintendo Wii. Combined with Nintendo's own super hot cake selling Nintendo DS, it was a good time to own stock in Nintendo for sure.

But when I say the word innovative and revolution...was it all really? Well yes and no. For one Nintendo rode a hugely gimped graphical gamecube with motion controls to financial success, but it alienated  good 3rd party games that were hitting other consoles with better options. That of course didn't stop people from play CoD online their little engine that could in the Wii, but PS3 and 360 numbers were far greater. However it brought people into gaming that had never done so before. My grandmother got a Wii because she thought it seemed neat and still regularly exercises with Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus on a day to day basis.

It also brought Sony and Microsoft to copy the motion control success, though it wasn't as monetarily successful. Sony's move didn't quite earn it's way into too many titles and with how much Microsoft is flip flopping on kinect (now the XboxOne features a kinect-less bundle) it's only a matter of time before they just give up on the concept all together.

I remember how excited I was for motion controls back in 2006. I was like this is so cool. Now 8 years later I can say this about the Wii: A great idea is only as good as it'sexecution. So how did it execute? Well it was hit and miss. There are Wii games that absolutely work wonderously with the Wii remote such as Zack & Wiki...others were a miss all together in such titles like Dragon Quest Swords. Wii Sports Resort, Red Steel 2, and Skyward Sword showed what motion plus could achieve...Fling Smash on the other hand was a forgettable and unworthwhile game packaged with one. It can be debated whether or not it actually set out to achieve what it was supposed to, but with sales like the Wii had...it didn't very much matter.

How should we go about remembering the system? It's tough to say. It was terrific for some, for others it sat collecting dust for months on end. But I really think in order to remember anything it has to have had a  lasting impression and I think the Wii has had that. Whether it will retain that impression remains to be seen. Will gamers of the future look back at the first glory days of motion controlled gaming when we end up playing in virtual reality CoD simulators? Where will Nintendo be at? Will video games even be around? Unfortunately I don't have all the answers, but I will remember my Nintendo Wii that I've had for 8 long years so here's to you my beloved Nintendo Wii.

Herein lies Jon's Nintendo Wii Entertainment System may it rest in peace

(Dec. 25, 2006 - May 20, 2014)