Dr. Phil prescribes Wii
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Dec 12th 2006 at 7:15AM }
On a recent Christmas themed episode of Dr. Phil, America's favorite tough-love shrink, the show featured the Nintendo Wii. Dr. Phil plays Wii Sports tennis with a guy (his son?) in a Castlevania looking ballroom/television room. Sadly (or happily), we don't watch the Dr. Phil around these parts, but we're guessing that promoting the system had something to do with either exercise or child abuse, because that's what his shows are usually about. After the segment Dr. Phil gives everyone in the audience a Wii -- on cue they go nuts. Still wondering how the blind kid from Ellen is doing with his Wii?
[Thanks Miles]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
thedude @ Dec 12th 2006 7:43AM
damn these thieves over at nintendo are pulling all the right string and scratching all the right itches huh? lol.
*metrosexual design in ipod white
*funky new controller
*making profit by using older tech (no graphical push)
*the miis are all cutesy, everyone loves them
*they pay comedy central so colbert uses the miis to box
*regie fils aime goes from "who is that guy?" to cult status
*the ds with a similarly metrosexual design is selling like crazy
*they replace the straps on the controllers secretely, so there is no bad publicity.
*no dvd playback, its 2006 guys, it wouldent hurt to multitask with a machine a little bit, but no biggie.
*no one mentions how they shafted me and every other person that had a gamecube when they delayed zelda so that it came out on the wii.
*amazing job fellas, you deserve a medal for turning nintendo around after fumbling the last generation so badly, but im not falling for your crap again. im not going to buy old snes games over again, just because nintendo feel like squeezing every dollar out of me.
Markusdragon @ Dec 12th 2006 7:52AM
'Everybody gets a Wii!' doesn't have quite the same ring as 'Everybody gets a car!', does it?
Ndric @ Dec 12th 2006 7:56AM
What's so bad about the design ?
thedude @ Dec 12th 2006 8:19AM
3. What's so bad about the design ?
Posted at 7:56AM on Dec 12th 2006 by Ndric 0 stars
its a blatant ripoff, its shamelessly trying to cash in on the ipod look everyone is going for these days.
SSUK @ Dec 12th 2006 12:52PM
"just because nintendo feel like squeezing every dollar out of me."
Well, it's either Nintendo or MS or Sony who cop you out of your money. Seriously.
D-Town @ Dec 12th 2006 8:25AM
But it's gooooooooooooood, baby!
nodnetni @ Dec 12th 2006 8:25AM
@thedude
You mean because its Shinny White and Rectangular?
Kitchen appliances have been using the shinny white thing for ages, and don't get me started on all the things that are rectangular.
Moogle @ Dec 12th 2006 8:34AM
"no one cares how they mildly inconvenienced me and every other stubborn whiner that had a gamecube and didn't want a Wii when they delayed zelda because it wasn't done and so that it came out on the wii first because QA resources were moved off the GC version to hit Wii launch."
Fixed that for you.
BIGGEN @ Dec 12th 2006 8:39AM
saying the wii is an ipod ripoff is like saying everyone born after the first person ever on earth is a rip off. you all are stoopid :E
edhe @ Dec 12th 2006 8:43AM
It's.. .'erm... white.
so fk.
Numpty.
benjamin @ Dec 12th 2006 8:44AM
"a Castlevania looking ballroom/television room..."
Have you people never visited a theater before? Seesh.
Ron Popeil @ Dec 12th 2006 8:47AM
Wii, the system for old women, Oprah's friends, and undersexed teenagers.
thedude @ Dec 12th 2006 8:51AM
alright fine, ill accept how things are as of now, if nintendo is now infallible so be it, if you dont think the guys at nintendo didnt try to make the wii look like the ipod because they wanted a safe bet design after the disaster that was the gamecube, fine.
everyone that i know, first thing they say when they see nintendo is, "did apple design it?" or "its white like the ipod", i dare any of you guys who have posted, to tell me of ONE gadget to have come out before the ipod, and the modern macs, that had that same MINIMALIST WHITE LOOK, and was a huge success, TRY IT. id really like to know what you can pull out of ur a**es so nintendo can look good on this site.
i dont defend them anymore like u guys are doing, they have fuc**d up too many times already, i dont cut them slack.
Brett @ Dec 12th 2006 8:57AM
Ipod ripoff? Like heck! Want to see ripoff? Look at Sony! Know who invented the analog stick? Nintendo! Know who invented the rumble pak? Nintendo! Know who invented the motion sensitive contoller? NINTENDO!!
Sony copied off of everything Nintendo has done because the only thing they know how to do are jack up graphics, which really gets boring (and expensive) after this long.
I saw an article on the PS3 where this guy playing it JERKED the controller hard and something finally happened. The journalist said Wow! ... Hello? Loser? THAT's not cool. THAT's a ripoff, and a horrible one at that. I've got a whole system over here that doesn't need a freakin' HD to look nice, (don't comment on that, I know I know) and has more motion-sensitive --FUN-- than that black jacked up PS2 ever will have.
tylersmyler @ Dec 12th 2006 9:00AM
Theres a fine line between setting a trend and ripping off a design.
The new shiney white; trend
the same goes for stainless steel appliances...they are everywhere now. I don't know who first came out with one but I don't think they are complaining..
In the 50's it was that light greenish colour..jadite i believe.
it's just how things go. deal with it.
and yes, one day you WILL see a mac style, shiny white toaster.
thedude @ Dec 12th 2006 9:08AM
still no pre ipod or mac minimalist white gadgets that were super du jour...?
and brett man yikes, u know people used to want awesome graphics back in the day when nintendo was eating s**t. i didnt know that sony stole the bravia stuf from nintendo, or the cell, or the walkman.
sony has some of the best engineers on the planet, why do u think the ps3 is so quiet, have u even seen the ps3s heat sink, it would take nintendo 10 years to engineer something as efficiant as that heat sink.
sony has not gotten sued by nintendo for the motion sensing stuff for a reason, they had patented it.
nintendo might have "invented" the analog stick, but sony made it better...
JJ @ Dec 12th 2006 9:09AM
Why are you guys arguing the Wii's design when this article is all about Dr. Phil? Dr. Freakin Phil, people. I want some Dr. Phil jokes, pronto.
CubeGuy @ Dec 12th 2006 9:27AM
My mom Tivo'D the show, so she showed me the segment. Dr. Phil gave away a lot of new tech to the crowd. Apparently, the audience for that particular episode was composed entirely of parents of needy families. As opposed to the other shows that do junk like this, I think Phil had the right idea.
(And yes, it was his son.)
seedaripper @ Dec 12th 2006 9:23AM
@ 13 brett
have you ever had a gander through wikipedia??
i suggest you do...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_games
'IF' you know anything about consoles from the humble intellivision beginings to modern day consoles, you 'would' know that analog sticks,rumble AND motion have all been done before!
quite where you get nintendo as being the uber masters of technological advances is beyond me...EVERYONE copies one another
p.s i think theyve done a bit of a rip off the i-pod design as well...
ill probably see you in 6 months time (after the novelty of your Wii has worn off) on playstation network ;)
IslandLife @ Dec 12th 2006 9:27AM
Well, uhh the design does mimic Apple's minimalist design. Just look at the gray sans serif font of the Wii, which is very close to the gray ipod font. Apple popularised the use of a white simplistic designs in their products. Each characteristic by themselves mean nothing, but when you look at all the similarities, even if you are a blind fanboy, you must see the obvious resemblence between the Apple products and the Wii. Nintendo stole Apple's look, and it doesn't in anyway demean the system, so get over it and move on.
Zach @ Dec 12th 2006 9:31AM
@17
You won't see me on Playstation Network after 6 months. Let's see if the PS3 will manage to score a good game in the next 6 months. If I want online play, I'll go to Xbox Live and not mess with Sony's shitastic online service.
As for the Wii, it's a better system that will have better games (Metal Gear Solid 4 is all I want from the PS3, and rumors are that it may go to the 360 as well) and costs less. It doesn't consume a shitload of power, either, and it's got a far better controller. Wii FTW.
Silver @ Dec 12th 2006 9:36AM
Joystiq needs a "block user" button. I'm tired of all the bitter Wii-hating trolls spewing their sour grapes all over the threads.
Don't these lamers have stores to call/sidewalks to pound in their sad, fruitless search for a PS3?
saboola @ Dec 12th 2006 9:36AM
Glad Nintendo was able to provide Dr. Phil with a bunch of free Wii for their stupid marketing, yet cant fulfill my over two weeks old target.com order. Fukem.
thedude @ Dec 12th 2006 9:43AM
22. Joystiq needs a "block user" button. I'm tired of all the bitter Wii-hating trolls spewing their sour grapes all over the threads.
Don't these lamers have stores to call/sidewalks to pound in their sad, fruitless search for a PS3?
Posted at 9:35AM on Dec 12th 2006 by Silver 0 stars
ur lucky this week is my final, f**kface or else id make a f**cking bodega out of ur comment mr.sourgrapes mcgee.
DarkMavis @ Dec 12th 2006 9:44AM
Speaking of blind kids and video games... there's a blind kid in the youth group at church who is a Soul Calibur tour de force. We just have to make sure the volume is turned up high so that he can hear where the characters are. He's even deadlier when the sound is run through dolby digital.
No lie....
Zach @ Dec 12th 2006 9:49AM
thedude sounds like such a douchebag. Get lost.
Spilt_Milk @ Dec 12th 2006 9:53AM
Theya re just made that thier overpriced Foreman grill is failing so badly.
It's funny to walk into every store in this town with a ps3 kiosk and see them shut off because the managers are tired of unlocking the case to unfreeze them when they crash.
> @ Dec 12th 2006 9:57AM
Dr. Phil needs to lose some weight; how that fattie got into the wieght loss industry, no one knows. Dr. Phil fnaboys can eat crow.
CubeGuy @ Dec 12th 2006 10:44AM
"Glad Nintendo was able to provide Dr. Phil with a bunch of free Wii for their stupid marketing, yet cant fulfill my over two weeks old target.com order."
The people that got the Wiis were not able to afford them in the first place. It is not Nintendo's fault for shorting you, it's Target's. Target should have planned better.
Jonathan Tran @ Dec 12th 2006 10:03AM
@13
Actually, Sega Saturn was the first system with an analog controller. NiGHTS ftw
Slaziman @ Dec 12th 2006 10:15AM
Hey guys, guess what? The iPod is pretty, the Wii is pretty, the 360 is pretty, they are all smooth white designs, ok the 360 has other colors but most is white.
Now let's look at the PS3, It's black, looks like a grill, it's huge, in other words, it's ugly. I'm not dissing the PS3 because I'm a nintendo/xbox fanboy, but damn they fucked up that design.
I'll be waiting for the slim PS3 before I consider buying that shit
kelekod @ Dec 12th 2006 10:15AM
You sound like Apple invented the color white. Are you looking for electronics that are white? (none other than the DS lite) or all products? If you look around you there's plenty of things. How about contact cases? Some hair shampoo? Blinds?? Paint (with shiny gloss)
Holy shit!! This just in.. PS3 is a shiny black! Where did that come from? Hey apple did you invent black? Let me check. Yes we did! Someone give apple some royalities please. I believe there is a SHINY black iPod out there somewhere. I would know, I have one and it was out before the PS3 was.
Who cares about the color anyways? It looks nice to me. When those other colors come out, I bet you'll say they copied all of apples colors like they friggin invented them.
If the Wii was black you'd say Apple invented that, or they copied off the xbox or ps2. If it was purple, they copied off the Gamecube, holy shit! If it was green you'd be like, holy shit they stole the color of mother nature! Or maybe the other part of the xbox.
This milk container is a shiny white, holy shit (not the plastic see through one, the dean's one).
Oh snap, I forgot.. envolopes are white too. Better get that guy some money.
Does the color and design really matter that much to you? Are you that shallow? That'll be your next post on how the Wii's graphics aren't good. Shallow Hal.
I couldn't afford an HDTV probably till AFTER the Wii's life is over. Then I'll be like, holy shit the NES had some pretty shitty graphics.. doesn't matter to me... it's all about how fun the system is. Wow I probably owe someone some money for copying that sentence.
Dropkickjohny @ Dec 12th 2006 10:24AM
@12
Last time I checked the Gamecube wasn't a disaster, in fact other than the Virtual Boy(I think) every single Nintendo systems has made a profit. If that is a disaster then what is selling consoles at a loss to the tune of hundreds of dollars?
Ndric @ Dec 12th 2006 10:32AM
I can just imagine thedude smashing his table because someone made a comment on the internetz.
Stupid loser.
kelekod @ Dec 12th 2006 10:23AM
there's supposed to be
/sarcasm
down there..
Picklesworth @ Jan 7th 2007 5:08PM
While you're at it...
Video games are all rip offs of Tennis for Two.
Happy now?
Oh, wait... do people care?
NO!
JodyAnthony @ Dec 12th 2006 10:32AM
Really >? THAT is all you can come up with? I must say, I'm disappointed.
hegemonyhog @ Dec 12th 2006 10:38AM
"Actually, Sega Saturn was the first system with an analog controller. NiGHTS ftw"
Nope - N64's analog stick was announced and released before Sega came out with NiGHTS.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_stick
Pretty much every major controller innovation came from Nintendo since the mid-80s.
fyreblazer @ Dec 12th 2006 10:40AM
Just to answer thedude's question, as per the minimalistic white design in the video game industry before the ipod, look no further than the dreamcast.
> @ Dec 12th 2006 10:40AM
Jody, thats because youre a hoser.
Seriously, you got serious mental difficiencies there, buddy. Now, be a good fnaboy and stfu... there; you happy now?
kriskb @ Dec 12th 2006 12:30PM
Wow don't think I am gonna enter the flame war. I love my Wii, nuff said don't care what other people say. I am sure some people love the PS3, fine, not for me.
Anyways Nintendo can give away a few hundred on the Phil show, no wonder I can't find any to buy and give as an Xmass gift to my brother's family. :( Thats kewl they went to needy familys though.
syco @ Dec 12th 2006 10:48AM
I have a plant named Dr. Phil, because it is a philodendron and because it isn't qualified to give anyone an opinion on anything whatsoever.
Dr. Phil knows about as much about gaming as he does about people in general, which is to say nothing at all.
HOWEVER: Giving people a Wii for free is a nice thing to do, even if it is just a publicity stunt. The Wii is uniquely qualified for this sort of stunt because virtually anyone can figure out how to use and enjoy one.
shoop008 @ Dec 12th 2006 10:49AM
What year did the Gameboy Advance come out? It was white. Nintendo started its trend with the Gameboy Advance. I'm pretty sure that was before the Ipod. Also Nintendo has been selling devices in multiple colors for years. The DS now has 4 or 5 colors and the Wii is planned on having additional colors too.
syco @ Dec 12th 2006 10:53AM
I take that back: Phil is an expert on photosynthesis.
Grover @ Dec 12th 2006 11:38AM
My wife called me at work to tell me about this. Dr. Phil gave a Wii and a whole crapload of cool house stuff to his audience which was filled with people from New Orleans. The Wii was probably the smallest (monetarily) thing they go that day.
Nintendo is indeed rocking the marketing. My mother in law wants a Wii now.
Also, that guy is indeed is son. I don't know if the undersexed teenagers crack was about Dr. P's son, but he married a Dahm triplet so no one on this board can say a whole lot.
Bagel @ Dec 12th 2006 11:41AM
Because nintendo never made anything white before... http://thenashequilibrium.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/gameboy_originale.jpg
Spence @ Dec 12th 2006 11:55AM
This is why I don't think the Wii is not as great as what everyone is saying. Guys like Dr. Phil have played the Wii for, what, an hour? What happens in hour two? It's a novelty gimmick that gets old quick. I much prefer the actual controller, instead of waving my arms around. It's not even that accurate!
Aran @ Dec 12th 2006 11:51AM
> = darryl?
Dr. Phil is awesome and so is Wii. :)
Ibere @ Dec 12th 2006 12:10PM
thedude, Sony did not created the Walkman...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Pavel
syco @ Dec 12th 2006 12:02PM
Spence: You obvoiusly haven't played Zelda:TP. Nobody who has played Zelda would consider the control system a gimmick. In fact every gamer I've put in front of the game has said "This works suprisingly well".
You wouldn't expect it but after fifteen or so you completely forget it's a wiimote and you just play the game like you would with any other controller, you just move your wrists more.