Saturday, May 30, 2009

The Nintendo Wii - Innovating the Video Game Experience Or Cheapening It?

When Solution E Commerce Nintendo Wii came out a couple years ago, I Email Hosting Service intrigued. While I had no intention of buying it because I was a Sony loyalist, I was interested in the way Nintendo appeared to be taking the gaming experience. The only controller feature I had used before the Wii was the rumble Tmnet Streamyx Account which wasn't very impressive. The Wii's motion Email To Sms dual controllers were an innovation to the gaming industry that allowed the player to immerse himself in the game. I had my doubts, however, that our current level of technology could support our hopes for this console.

I'll be blunt and say that the Wii is nowhere near the gaming revolution that people say it is. Nintendo made it appear that way by offering a game library that PS3 and Xbox didn't have (Mario Party and the like). But other than games that appeal to a wider demographic, the Wii isn't much different from its competitors. The PS3 also has a controller with motion sensing and numerous games utilize its capabilities, though it suffers from the same flaw of the Wii: it doesn't add to game play. I always thought that the next step in gaming would be virtual reality, though that jump may be implausible and smaller steps would need to be taken in between playing a game on TV with a controller and donning a headset and entering a virtual world. It seems like consoles are just tinkering with extra features like having to swing the controller like a tennis racket in order to play a sports game. Such features are interesting for a time, but I don't want to have to flail my arms about and hit innocent passers by every time I load up a game.

While I don't think the Wii is that great of a system and that Nintendo should be paying more respect to the older generations by offering quality games, I do give it credit for pushing technology onto gaming consoles. Without the Wii, who knows if companies like Sony and Microsoft would ever introduce motion sensing into their systems without Modem Rental from Nintendo.

Right now, the Wii is stuck in a technology limbo, ahead of PS3 and Xbox 360 in terms of system capabilities and motion sensing, but not quite at the level of virtual reality, where a new level of gaming would be defined. I have to hand it to Nintendo, their games aren't that great, but they are pioneering the advancements in gaming technology and I look forward to seeing what features are on the next console.

My name is Brendan and I grew up playing video games, so whether I like it or not, they are a part of my life and many other people's as well. I enjoy discussing the topic of video games so check out my website to see more articles that talk about the gaming industry at http://www.brendanigan.com

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