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Wii ennui from Slate: "Nintendon't" [update 1]

The New York Times dissed the PlayStation 3, and now Slate has dissed the Wii. What is this world coming to?

Highlights from Erik Sofge's "The Case against the Wii":

  • Like many of us (self included), Erik "was in love" with the Wii before he'd ever laid a hand on it. You won't be able to pin the hater tail on him, because he was predisposed to want to like the console after "months of giddy anticipation."
  • "The Nintendo pointer felt less accurate than even the light guns used in antique games like Duck Hunt. Every time I sighted down the controller at the TV, the crosshairs were off-center. This inaccuracy becomes a mini-game of its own: In order to kill the guy on the left, you need to aim left and slightly down."
  • "... for the most part, the Wii compensates for its lousy motion detection by coddling users."
  • "The Wii Remote is the most advanced motion-sensing device in the history of gaming, but in the interests of accommodating almost unlimited variables, from the size of the TV to the player's physical proportions, the Wii tosses out much of the data that are collected."
  • "For a console that wants to start a revolution, making users doubt their reflexes is a serious design flaw. By playing fast and loose with motion detection, the Wii swings wildly between deal-breaking frustration and hollow victories."

You may now proceed to shoot the messenger...

[Update 1: It's worth mentioning that another Slate author posted a somewhat more favorable review of the Wii here. Thanks for pointing that out, NothingShocking.]

Tags: erik sofge, Nintendo Wii, NintendoWii, slate

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