Why My Wii Gathers more Dust than Play Time, and why that's unacceptable.

It occurs to me that my Wii despite being on of my favorite objects actually does not get used as much as I'd like to see it get used. I consider this to be a general unfortunate fact but not terribly surprising due to the nature of the games produced for the system and the nature of the system itself.

Firstly while the controller system involved in the Wiimotes is unique and interesting, it's not completely appropriate for all games you can play on the Wii and in more than a few case it causes more problems than it solves. For instance Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal, fun game for the genre. However it's feels highly crippled on the Wii due to the awkward way the finishing moves must be executed. The sad fact of this is that some of the best games for the system only utilize the Wii mote in a somewhat limited context, Mario Galaxy for example integrates the controls well by simply cherry picking the few features it actually needs. Smash Brothers on the other hand completely eschews the features of the Wiimote and makes itself a stand-up game for doing so. Mario Kart on the other hand allows you to drive very intuitively but popping a wheelie on a motorcycle is a less than reliable prospect with the Wiimotes motion sensor. These are all first party examples as well (with the exemption of Looney Tunes), third party games tend to be even more hackish with the controls.

The main problem here is the compulsion to use just because you have it. Instead of capitalizing on the strengths of the controls relative to the actual game your writing (or alternatively writing a game that is specifically designed for the controls) developers seem to have decided that shoehorning new and old paradigms together is instead the preferable direction to go. This is rather disappointing since the Wiimote system offers some intriguing possibilities for new control systems.

Second ties into the once lauded (well at least I liked it) but now massively aging web browser. The fact that you can access Youtube is great, and would be better if Youtube had any real capacity to compete with Hulu for shows people actually want to watch. Sadly Hulu doesn't run on the Wii due to the Wii's lack of an upgraded flash engine. Using the browser for any length of time will show other weaknesses as well, like typing with a Wiimote which is a miserable experience in what could otherwise be a very good if somewhat simple browsing experience. It would also get me to turn on the Wii more often which would lead me to using it for other things.

Finally, the systems 'Friend' behavior is abysmal. It's reportedly improved in some of the more recent games to come out for the system but the underlying framework is the real problem. As has been stated many times, it would have been 'ok' in 1995, but in the Era of Steam and Xbox Live, it's garbage at best. The idea that anyone would find it convenient to type in a 25+ character string using a Wiimote for every friend they want to be able to interact with is up surd. And to add insult to injury, individual games still require you to plug in a second pin (again this is supposedly not the case with some newer games). Even after that, actual interaction with the other players is strictly on screen as there is no voice communication available on the system. The big problem here is this could all be encapsulated in an actual useful buddy system and the problem would be fixed, but there hasn't been an investment in that wrinkle of the system so far, so don't expect it to improve.

The Red Pill:
The only silver lining here is that I just got my hands on a Wii Fit (in the span of time it took me to start and finish this post, no it wasn't easy to find, but yes I do write these that slow). While that involves it's own list of complaints on the technical failings of the Wii Fit software, the program actually gets me turning the Wii on again. Which is great since I no longer feel like my signifigant other has wasted a huge amount of money buying something for me that doesn't get used. That being said it's still a great party system, and the controllers get pulled out at a moments notice to play a few rounds of smash brothers or Mario Kart.

The Blue Pill:
Not all is as dark as I paint it and there have in fact been a number of great games out for the Wii and I'm sure there are more to come in the future, an example being Boom Blox which I've been told is rather excellent. That being said, there's alot of work to be done if people want to tap the full potential of this system. In the mean time it would be nice if the shoehorned wiimote controls could be disabled and pushed over to an a classic controller for games where it doesn't really fit (I'm looking at you Zelda). It's also still easily the most family friendly of the gaming systems, this is a side effect of both the games made for the system and the fact that there isn't any form of high quality online system for griefers like there is on the Xbox (live) and the PS3 (Home) to hurl their abussive, offensive and annonymous opinions around with.