The WII shortage fiasco

[Signe]

Evidently, there are so many up on Ebay that they're going for $325 to $500, depending on your package, almost every minute.  The ones with  high reserves aren't even selling.  I was reading on another board about someone's kid who had been told he couldn't have one until his birthday next year has made a game out of refreshing the bidding screen and calling out what they finally sell for.  I wonder if he becomes so annoying, he'll get one.  Right now his mum still thinks it's funny.  That won't last, I'm sure.

[Soukyan]

It's about cost to quality. I can play NES games on my PC plugged into my TV using an original NES pad or a superior Saturn USB pad or something for uhhhh oh

free.

Right. But you just love to hate the Wii.

Let's face it, not everybody has a PC to plug into their TV to play old NES roms on. Hell, some people can barely check their email let alone figure out how to run ROMs on a PC. This includes some console game owners. They will pay for the convenience of playing NES games on the Wii. It's just good business for Nintendo to offer them at any price.

[HaemishM]

It's about cost to quality. I can play NES games on my PC plugged into my TV using an original NES pad or a superior Saturn USB pad or something for uhhhh oh

free.

You aren't ANYBODY else.

[Sairon]

It's about cost to quality. I can play NES games on my PC plugged into my TV using an original NES pad or a superior Saturn USB pad or something for uhhhh oh

free.

Right. But you just love to hate the Wii.

Let's face it, not everybody has a PC to plug into their TV to play old NES roms on. Hell, some people can barely check their email let alone figure out how to run ROMs on a PC. This includes some console game owners. They will pay for the convenience of playing NES games on the Wii. It's just good business for Nintendo to offer them at any price.

Question is how many of those would enjoy NES games? I think most people who would by NES games would do it for the retro feeling, that is they've been gamers for a very long time and chances are they know how to handle a PC better than your average guy.

[Soukyan]

It's about cost to quality. I can play NES games on my PC plugged into my TV using an original NES pad or a superior Saturn USB pad or something for uhhhh oh

free.

Right. But you just love to hate the Wii.

Let's face it, not everybody has a PC to plug into their TV to play old NES roms on. Hell, some people can barely check their email let alone figure out how to run ROMs on a PC. This includes some console game owners. They will pay for the convenience of playing NES games on the Wii. It's just good business for Nintendo to offer them at any price.

Question is how many of those would enjoy NES games? I think most people who would by NES games would do it for the retro feeling, that is they've been gamers for a very long time and chances are they know how to handle a PC better than your average guy.

I know at least 5 people who have always bought consoles, but have never had or are incredibly inept with computers. After all, consoles are meant to be dedicated gaming computers and some people use them as such.

I don't have good statistics on the number of people who own consoles and computers and what their levels of expertise are with computers, so I can't say whether or not long-time console gamers are more adept with a PC than others. I do know that as a PC gamer primarily, I know very little in terms of overall console titles.

[Azazel]

Azazel, the Wii does not have a lot of AAA titles but FFS buy a few of what it does have.

Mario Galaxy
Metroid Prime 3
Twilight Princess
RE 4 (if you haven't played through it already)

I've also played a bit of Zack and Wiki and it seems very enjoyable. Mario Strikers is also good. Super Paper Mario (whatever it was called) was neat also. Then there are the Trauma Center games and that game I forget the name of which is like a 3D Herzog Zwei meets Advance Wars. (Sequel to GC game)

The lineup is not stellar but there are games to play other than party games.

Mario Galaxy - I go on holidays after tomorrow, so I'll have time to rent it and check it out. I'm not big on 3-D Pure Platformers, though.
Metroid Prime 3 - I don't do console FPS games. Mouse and KB for me.
Twilight Princess - I tried it a year ago, but grew very impatient with the game talking at me with shitty cutscenes for ages before letting me play and stupid NPCs giving me training quests before letting me do anything. I got as far as meeting my new horse and then being disallowed to leave town because I hadn't gotten some foozle for some npc or some similar bullshit. If there's a great game in there, hook me when I turn the game on. Don't make me wait 15 minutes to get to the gameplay, because I won't do it anymore.
RE4 - Got it on PS2

Mario Strikers - I'm interested in this, but not for the au$100 they want at present.
Paper Mario - Not into platformers, particularly old-school SMB style ones.
Trauma Centre - Not released here, which means I'd have to import it from the UK at a huge premium.
Zack and Wiki - will check it out. Possibly not released here yet though.
3-D HZ meets AW - Probably not released here either, but if you or anyone else can think of what its called I will check it out

[stray]

Metroid Prime is more action adventure slash fps. Don't even fuck yourself here. Possibly the only damn Nintendo franchise worth playing these days if it really came down to it.

[Azazel]

Action Adventure/FPS?

Please to be explaining more.

[tazelbain]

> Metroid Prime 3 - I don't do console FPS games. Mouse and KB for me.
You are really screwing yourself here.

[schild]

> Metroid Prime 3 - I don't do console FPS games. Mouse and KB for me.
You are really screwing yourself here.

No, he's not. Time Splitters is the only thing he'll be really *missing.*

[shiznitz]

Prices on ebay will plummet once it gets close enough to Christmas that shipping won't make it in time. Luckily, I got mine in late November. A friend went to the Nintendo store in Manhattan for me and brought it to the office. That store gets about 200/day. This week, there is a line in front of that store starting at 2am and all 200 are gone an hour after the doors open.

[stray]

Action Adventure/FPS?

Please to be explaining more.

I haven't played the new one all the way through, but generally speaking, if you're worried about targetting, it's a bit more simplified than that. You can lock on to things (or not, if you wish). A lot of combat isn't based on fragging the shit out of the things. Samus is a very physical character, so that's how you gain advantages in combat. It also transitions to 3rd person with ball morphing and the like. There's weapons that aren't in fps's, like the grapple beam. Plenty of boss battle scenarios (unlike shooters), exploration, puzzles, platforming, etc.. There are FPS like moments, but that isn't the whole story, or even half of it.

[edit] Just to further add...

Myst. With guns. Or guns. With Myst. Either/or.

Don't be scared.

[BigBlack]

The Sonic the Hedgeihog game for wii is also *really damn fun*. So was that one samurai sword arcade game they ported. Call of Duty looks fun, esp. with the new Time Crisis-esque mode. Smash Brothers Brawl is the killer app, just as S.B. Melee was for GC.

[Phildo]

Smash Brothers Brawl is the killer app, just as S.B. Melee was for GC.

What is it killing besides my childhood?

[schild]

Resident Evil 4 sold more Gamecubes than Smash Bros.

Granted a used Gamecube was $50 and everyone had traded them in.

After Smash bros got boring.


 

[Triforcer]

As always, the Wii hate is amusing- success is evidence of failure now?  Selling more copies is just proof it sucks (since they have to move so many before people find it sucks)?

Some of you could wake up and find a dead pig on your doorstep, and would consider it proof that the Wii sucks.

[Jain Zar]

Its spoiled eggs.  The same people who helped kill the Dreamcast by ignoring it for goddamned Sony are now mad they have this generation's failure machine.
Except they aren't as mildly amusing as Resistance UK can be from time to time.

As an owner of many failed systems (Turboduo, N Gage, Neo Geo Pocket Color, Saturn, Dreamcast), its hilarious watching all the screeching pain the Sony faithful seem to have.
Considering Sony helped kill off 2 of those systems, turnabout is fair play!

Except all those failed systems have a handful of absolute classics.  PS3 doesn't have anything I even care about.  (Given MGS 3 and Disgaea 2, their follow ups aren't system sellers to me at all.  Budget purchases on the Wii or 360 if they were coming out for those platforms at best.)

[schild]

Not caring about Uncharted just means you don't like fun.

I don't care about the ads and find that a terrible excuse for not playing something.

[Soukyan]

Not caring about Uncharted just means you don't like fun.

I don't care about the ads and find that a terrible excuse for not playing something.

Uncharted looks spectacular. Unfortunately, that one game is not going to make the PS3 franchise. It has potential to get some exclusive sequels, but even so, it will just take time for developers to get moving on the platform, and when they do, Sony will ensure that lots of games will get made. Of course, fun games like Katamari can still play just fine on the PS2, so there's that.

[Phildo]

Ratchet & Clank was pretty damned awesome, too.  So was Resistance.  Heavenly Sword and Folklore deserve points for almost being awesome.

[stray]

Lol, wtf is this screeching pain I'm hearing about?

Also, most of you are mmo retards. Just shut the fuck up. Seriously, you suck. Stop commenting on what's good for gaming or not.

There I said it (although I am drunk..and will probably regret it, and you will HAVE to forgive me).

[Margalis]

You have offended me deeply in a way that is totally not forgiveable.

Bring on the bloodshed!

[Soln]

wiialerts.com

it works.

Sadly, so do bots.

[Azazel]

I think the PS3 and Wii have an equal number of quality exclusives. The PS3 has a fuckload better 3rd party stuff and general features though.
Ummm... Not sure why I'm posting this. Just saying.

I'd tend to agree with you. I treat them as fundamentally different systems, though. The 360 takes care of most of the 3rd party part for traditional console gaming for the moment, though.

The Wii hate is pretty retarded, though.

[Mrbloodworth]

Ratchet & Clank was pretty damned awesome, too.  So was Resistance.  Heavenly Sword and Folklore deserve points for almost being awesome.

Absolutely agree.

Folklore is really a sleeper masterpiece.

[dusematic]

People who rage about the Wii shortage are the same who gleefully predicted Nintendo's downfall, who have all of their emotional chits on the 360/PS3 horserace, and now can only feebly summon up half-hearted diatribes about how Nintendo has undone itself through its own great success. 

[stray]

Hmm... Yeah, OK. Makes me wonder why the guy who started this thread did it because he WANTED one then.

[HaemishM]

Metroid Prime 3 - I don't do console FPS games. Mouse and KB for me.

Metroid Prime 3 is NOT an FPS. It is at heart a fantastic puzzle game, masquerading as a shooter. Seriously, outside of the boss fights, most of the FPS styel shooting is pretty superfluous. It is a game you really should not miss.

Also, shooters are fun on the Wii, provided they aren't rehashed warmed-over ass like Far Cry.

[Velorath]

Hmm... Yeah, OK. Makes me wonder why the guy who started this thread did it because he WANTED one then.

Kinda.  It came across more like "Despite it being the hot toy this year, and it being very close to Christmas now, I made one half-hearted attempt at getting a wii (for the wife, not for myself), and since I couldn't get one that day, I'm never going to get one, ever, ever, EVER!".

[Jain Zar]

Metroid Prime 3 - I don't do console FPS games. Mouse and KB for me.

Metroid Prime 3 is NOT an FPS. It is at heart a fantastic puzzle game, masquerading as a shooter. Seriously, outside of the boss fights, most of the FPS styel shooting is pretty superfluous. It is a game you really should not miss.

Also, shooters are fun on the Wii, provided they aren't rehashed warmed-over ass like Far Cry.

Far Cry sucks ass on the 360 too.  What an awful FPS. 

[UnSub]

People who rage about the Wii shortage are the same who gleefully predicted Nintendo's downfall, who have all of their emotional chits on the 360/PS3 horserace, and now can only feebly summon up half-hearted diatribes about how Nintendo has undone itself through its own great success. 

I don't care about the Wii or the PS3. At some point I will get an Xbox 360.

The Wii is still the only console that really exists within that magic US $200 - $300 range that consoles really start selling at. It was a smart move for Nintendo to sacrfice some short term premiums to place itself right in the middle of the price point that the majority of consumers can accept paying for. However, I'm still yet to see much information that says Wii owners go out and buy games like (i.e. with the same frequency that) the owners of other consoles do. The Wii also lacks a good range of quality 3rd party games, which is what helped relegate other Nintendo consoles into last place in the console wars previously.

For Sony, the PS2 is still selling okay. Not evey dollar they have is (yet) leveraged on the success of the PS3.

MS has made XBL a cornerstone of its console offering and it appears to be working. I don't know how much extra they pull in through XBL, but it has to be a nice chunk of change.

Final point: this generation of console wars are a long way from over. The PS3 may recover. The Wii may not be the success it currently appears to be if demand slackens when owners find they don't have a good range of games to play. The Xbox 360 may recover from its awful 30% failure rate reputation and stop taking that financial hit.

Or not. Only time is going to tell. What is popular at Xmas isn't the benchmark of measuring how the overall console industry is doing over the long term.

[dusematic]

Hmm... Yeah, OK. Makes me wonder why the guy who started this thread did it because he WANTED one then.

Kinda.  It came across more like "Despite it being the hot toy this year, and it being very close to Christmas now, I made one half-hearted attempt at getting a wii (for the wife, not for myself), and since I couldn't get one that day, I'm never going to get one, ever, ever, EVER!".

Exac.

[Margalis]

Even if Wii sales drop off dramatically it's still a success.

The 360 guys were smart when they adopted the strategy of saying everyone could get a 360 and a Wii. That's how I see things shaking out. The Wii is cheap, it has some fun games for the wife/girlfriend, some great 1st party titles and some offbeat gems here and there. The 360 has the hardcore racing games and stealth FPS games and WW2 shooters and all that shit.

What MS realized is that the 360 and Wii can co-exist in the same household. They serve different needs. But the PS3 and the 360 serve the same needs. In the thread on Gamespy's top games of the year I pointed out that they have many of the same games, there is a huge overlap between the two systems.

I think if MS had not had the reliability problems they would have KO'd Sony. I know a lot of people who want a 360 who are still holding out because they fear it will brick, and that is giving Sony a chance to pull itself up off the mat. MS has the head start and the stronger lineup (IMO), as well as the superior online strategy. It's almost tragic that they stumbled over a purely engineering problem.

Back in the days of SNES vs. Genesis each system had a unique identity. That is not the case with the 360 and the PS3, they are far more similar and Nintendo is really off doing it's own thing rather than directly competing.

RIght now, minus the bricking problem, it still looks like an easy call to me. The 360 and the PS3 have largely the same games but the 360 also has the larger variety and the better exclusives. It's still a mystery to me why anyone would pick up a PS3 before the 360 other than fear of bricking, and I'm a lifelong MS hater.

[Azazel]

A local promotion that's started a week or so here in Australia - if you buy a specific Sony Bravia TV (not sure which) you get a free PS3.

[stray]

RIght now, minus the bricking problem, it still looks like an easy call to me. The 360 and the PS3 have largely the same games but the 360 also has the larger variety and the better exclusives. It's still a mystery to me why anyone would pick up a PS3 before the 360 other than fear of bricking, and I'm a lifelong MS hater.

Personally speaking, it was a pretty easy choice. It replaced my dead PS2; merely one PS3 exclusive at the time appealed more to me than everything on the Xbox; I was looking forward more to Sony's exclusives (and still do); the hardware isn't designed in such a half-assed way like the 360 is -- y'know things like having a hard drive option on both skus from the getgo, having a much better disc medium, better audio capabilities, and generally just being able to work correctly; it was a cheap blu-ray player.