Microsoft, Ahem, Wii is not just for Kids.

A manager of XBOX recently typecasted (right word?) the Wii. He was quoted in an New York Times story which was quoted on Sickr (an almost daily posted-upon Wii blog)

“We don’t feel like the Wii customer and the Xbox customer are the same thing,” he said. “We think that as soon as the Wii customer turns 14 they want something else.”

- John Rodman, group product manager for the Xbox and Xbox LIVE

What else? "Overpriced gaming systems that largely market pretend killing as entertainment? I’ll pass," (how I commented on the Sickr blog).

The thing that I see the Wii doing is really going to back to more to what gaming was like when it first started. Or rather, what games were like when they first started... What I mean is that with the other consoles, you rarely see a game that is marketed to everyone. Take a good, long look at other consoles' games, just go to the store and look at the front of the game boxes of the previous system by the company, because that's what the games will be like.

You see mostly violent games geared for "people over 14", several really over-the-top games as far as offensive content for what is supposed to be considered "mature" (like it's something we're supposed to grow into), and then a few overly-kiddy games. (And I'm supposed to pay 4 hundred dollars for it?)

None of the games in those categories really appeal to me! I would have to work pretty hard to find a game that is meant to be fun for teenagers and adults to play that doesn't have the idea of me supposed to be getting pleasure out of something wrong.

Then came the Wii.

Yes, the Wii has a few really really really kiddy games, but at the same time, they have many games that are accessible to everyone with very little emphasis on blood and crime games.

At the beginning of consoles, the games were mostly for everyone. Mario, Zelda, Pong, Tetris, etc. If there ever was a game that wasn't for young'n's it probably was because it was too complicated, not because of offensive content.

The ESRB (rating peoples of games) used to have a rating that was "KA" for "Kids to Adults," meaning that it was a game that Adults could enjoy with nothing offensive. A lot of the games for the Wii warrant me saying that this rating needs to come back into circulation.

The Wii pushes the envelope with its unique fun-ness while other consoles push the envelopes of price, graphics, and violence, sex, crime, fill-in-the-blank-here.

Nintencast Members on Overlooked Wii Games

Reporting from the forums! This is the second time we've visited Nintencast with a question, and like the last time, there were lots of great answers.

The question: Are there any games for the Wii that you personally think are great but are overlooked? If so, why do you think they're good?

-Myles- - I actually don't believe any good Wii game has been overlooked yet, they are each getting great coverage.



Ridstar - I think Wii Play got overlooked. People I know can't really decide whether it's a great game or not. It might not reach up to the standards of Wii Sports, but it's got a great bunch of mini-games that anybody of any age can get into.



THE TWILIGHT PRINCE - i think Sonic will get overlooked, as many people will have though "Oh its another crappy 3d sonic game" and they will put it back down



Kingstevie - I think Wii Sports is overlooked by the reviewers. I don't think enough people realize the genius that it is. It was very annoying to see it recieving very bad review scores, but it is a massive hit anyway.



Chuck_Norris - I don't think there have actually been enough games released for any to get overlooked. Some have sold too well *cough* REDSTEEL *cough* but the quality ones have sold the right amount in my opinion.

Nintencast covers news on the Wii, as well as the the hand-held DS, news and features a podcast and (as you can see) a thriving community. Thanks Guys!

I know it has been awhile but it is kind of hard to write about something you don't own. Yes, all this time I have not actually owned a Nintendo Wii. Sapadrew does. So, I guess that's a lot of skill, I mean, imagine how good it is when I actually own what I'm talking about.

I guess this is a bit unprofessional, but it is better than nothing. If you're looking for Wii news, I regularly update the Shared Items box in the bottom module of the sidebar to the right. There's some interesting stuff there.

You can also tell us what stories you would like to see and what you would like to be featured on the site.

That's all!

Virtual On Wishes

Cyber Troopers Virtual-On is an old arcade game from the 1990s that was made by SEGA featuring twin joysticks (flightstick style) to control a Mech (giant robot) in originally one-on-one, but expanded to, two-on-two battles in the third sequel. This game has used a lot of my friends quarters; we've had lots of fun with this 25 cent per play game!

It's kind of like a third-person fighting game with explosives.

Apparently there was also an edition that came out for PlayStation 2 that didn't sell very well in the United States. I believe that the Wii's Nunchuck-Wiimote combo would be a great platform for a fun, new, and sophisticated game with controls akin to what the controls were originally. I know that this would work because I've played a mini game of Super Monkey Ball that uses a similar controlling method to fly spaceships. The point is that I know that the Wii is very well capable of such a fun controlling technique. Maybe this sounds a bit over-the-top but I believe that Virtual On could be for the Wii what Halo is for the Xbox.

SEGA has made many games for Nintendo consoles including Wii, so it's very conceivable for SEGA to make such a game.

There's a demand for an Online-enabled competitive game for the Wii. There's actually a large market for them, even full-scale online Virtual On communities. I've been trying to join an online community to ask them what they think (and to ask them to email SEGA), but in order to join you have to send an email, and none of their email addresses have worked for me yet. If you're listening, VirtualOn.net, I would like to join!

Random tangent aside, I believe that such a competitive title would make for a great game to play on Wii system-link and on online play. The Wiimote and Nunchuck would work as well as, if not better than, the dual handheld flightsticks. Maybe they have the first version in your arcade, I would say to check it out and to email SEGA!

PS: Sorry about the recent lack of posts, yesterday I was having a little trouble uploading the second screenshot into this post!