Happy second birthday to the Nintendo Wii

by Justin McElroy on Nov 19th 2008 10:30AM

Well, we extended the courtesy to the PS3 on its special day, so it seems only fair that Nintendo's little guy should get his own day in the sun. Two years ago today you either discovered that you really could have fun flailing around looking like a dork or, if you're a senior citizen, discovered that video games had been invented.

In those two years the Wii has carved its own niche, bridging gaps between different gaming audiences and (occasionally) leaving some feeling left out of the fun. What do you think of the first 24 months and what are you looking for in the Wii's next 12?

Tags: birthday, nintendo, wii

Reader Comments (101)

Before this thread gets completely ruined by trolls and angry gamers let me quickly say: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! Here's hoping 2009 will be a better year for the Wii.

Best and most-used console in my house. And I have them all! Cept a Dreamcast which fell to pieces last year, boo-hoo.

Yeah, maybe 2009 will see me buy a Wii game outside of VC/WiiWare.

Had it since last Christmas. It's been worth the purchase at times, but I haven't touched it in months. Loved Mario Galaxy and Smash Bros. Haven't played Metroid, but I understand that would be a good reason to turn it back on. Other than that, it's been used for some party/casual gaming.

I refuse to buy 100 different discs full of mini games, simple as that. Here's hoping for some more core games in 2009.

Three cheers for Wii being out two years! It's easily the most popular new console worldwide, has brought millions of new gamers into the fold, and continues to entertain me immensely.

Shame this thread has so many anti-Nintendo fanboy rants. You'd think that they'd be busy talking about consoles they actually like, instead of bitching and complaining.

well i was there on launch day 2 years ago to get mine. ive had some good times with it and other times where it shames me to look at it. it's always a hit at family get togethers and the first party games are Nintendo quality at it's best.

i do wish they wouldnt stagger the releases of big titles so much though. i mean, i've only bought 1 Wii game this year and that was Galaxy...which was from last year i believe.

i have all three consoles, and the Wii certainly gets played the least but it is always the life of family parties so i guess it does what it's supposed to do.

The Wii had this promise at the start, that we (we being everyone but your mom and grandparents) wouldn't be forgotten. Titles like Twilight Princess hit that theme home, and the promise of Metroid, Star Fox, Mario, Donkey Kong, etc was enough to get us to buy (if we could even find a console to buy at the time). Time goes on though, and it's clear that we are no longer the focus. There is more money to be made elsewhere, and it's hard to begrudge them for wanting to be profitable.

All of that said, I haven't touched my Wii (insert laugh track here) since I finished Mario Galaxy. I have no desire to touch it again until Mad World comes out. Anyway, happy birthday to the Wii. May the next year bring a rich harvest of Zelda, Mario, and Star Fox (actual...in an ar-wing star fox, not...third person action game star fox *shivers*)

I wish Wii would have more Wii Sports -styled games, not just from Nintendo but third parties. How about a Final Fantasy Sports? And while you're working on that, Square Enix, how about putting Chocobo in an interesting game for a change and making Chocobo Racing 2?

But aside from that, Wii has been a great system, delivering a wide variety of games and delivering on motion control promise with games like Wii Sports, Bully, Boom Blox, Helix and EXCITE Truck.

2009 is shaping up as a great year with Wii Sports Resort, Little King's Story, The Conduit and more, with many more announcements to come and be released within the space of the year. This year we got games like Warioland and Castlevania Judgment as complete surprises, and it's great to know that a new game is coming out just a few months later, not several years away. Here's the more great games!

It's been a roller coaster so far. I remember actually enjoying my Wii when I got it launch day and playing the new Zelda...then I realized the game I bought my system for was just a Gamecube port. Wii Sports was fun for a bit, the remote slipped during baseball and left a huge dent in the wall. Eventually Wii Sports got boring and Wii Play came along. Wii Play sucked. Warioware is the only game that ever gets played on my Wii now, and that is only for rare get togethers. Mario was fun till I beat it, Super Smash Bros. was and still is a fun game but the online still doesn't work great. I attended the Mario Kart Wii launch party and enjoyed that, but found the game really really annoying. More like Communist Kart...Currently the Wii is never used and I have about 20 games for it...hopefully it is used during my Festivus party.

I haven't used my Wii in a while, but I think it was worth the purchase. Super Mario Galaxy, Smash, and Twilight Princess were all really fun, and after I'm finished with a few 360 games I'm planning on playing through Okami.

Plus, I never had a Cube so I'm making up for what I missed. The Wii is a great system.

I'm looking forward to people not attacking each other for individual preferences in games or consoles.

Oh, wait, you wanted something that's actually going to happen. Well, Conduit and MadWorld, then.

Yay! Congrats, Wii! Have a great 3rd year!

I'm already impressed by the library the Wii has managed to put up. It's not as good as the Dreamcast's, but still impressive. I like that the games don't rely on looking gray-realistic. I'm still waiting for the next big motion-control game. The controller add-on should help.

I bought a Wii on launch (like most of you I'm sure), and other than playing No More Heroes and Zelda, my Wii has collected 2 years of dust.

It such a shame too because I was SO excited about for the Wii! I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly didn't live up to my expectations.

Hopefully the next Nintendo console will focus more on core gameplay, with casual waggle games being a side thing...

Yes yes...you can defend your beloved Nintendo now Fernando.

"Hopefully the next Nintendo console will focus more on core gameplay, with casual waggle games being a side thing..."

Don't let anyone ever crush your dreams, Naeem.

I agree, haven't even switched it on for more than 10 mins in 6 months.

Mad World could change that though by the look of it!

You know how I can tell that the focus of your post is to troll, and not actually to talk about how you're disappointed in the Wii?
"Now it's just collecting dust" is the line most commonly seen thrown about by people who want to put down a system, but can't come up with any real problems to point out about it. It's become a cliche, in fact, it's become two cliche's duct taped together.

I could tell it had been 2 years by counting the layers of dust on mine. It works just like counting the rings in a tree stump.

"You know how I can tell that the focus of your post is to troll, and not actually to talk about how you're disappointed in the Wii?"

*sigh*

Someday the internet will allow a person to give their honest opinion and not be called a "troll". Unfortunately, that day has yet to come.

No really for all of you under this post it's a pretty sad state of affairs.

I often see people say their Wii is collecting dust. I had high hopes for it too. I didn't buy it fortunately.

I think the concepts brilliant but the reasons console gather dust is because there's NO interesting games.

Maybe just maybe the new addon will change that, I know they got big plans (motion add-on, =better games, 'storage soultion', maybe HD) I just wish they'd get to them sooner.

It's hard to believe two years ago, I was camped out in front of target for HOURS in the cold. I would say it was well worth it though. I think the best part so far has been the virtual console. As for the next year, I would like to see Ninty work on refining what falls under their official seal of quality. Most of the 3rd party titles have underachieved, and I think it's something that needs to be fixed before the next round of consoles roll out. Nintendo could EASILY reign over Microsoft and Sony if they got their act together.

I'm pretty sure Nintendo's quite happy with their current position this generation.

Dude... in the time it took me to type this, Nintendo made 88 trillion dollars... seriously.

Does anyone really NEED to wish Nintendo the best for the next 12mos.? I predict in the next 12 mos. Nintendo will either a.) Become a religious cult or b.) Become Galactic Emperor.

A company that has been in existence since 1889 obviously knows what it's doing. Happy B-day Wii!

I had a lot of fun having people over to play tennis. That was it.........

I'm sorry. Your opinion is wrong.

You're right. I didn't have that much fun.

Seriously, I like the Wii. The peak was having people when it first came out and playing tennis and bowling with family and friends. I use the web browser a lot, mainly to show friends videos from Youtube on my 57' inch in the living room. Mario Kart was okay but felt very kiddie to me and Mario Galaxy was awesome but my interest faded and I never finished it. I would like it more if I had kids I think and I definitely think the Wii has a place.

What do I think of the first 24 months?

I think the wii is a great console for some people, and I mean millions of people who are ripping them out of store clerks hands. I got one for christmas way back, and have since sold it and converted to the 360. But I still catch myself wanting to play Ocarina straight off my harddrive. The classics are fine with an emulator.

looking for in the next 12?

I have since moved on to greener pastures of gaming pleasure, but I wish wii owners to get a new franchise to blow all the doubts out of the water.

greener pastures are browner/greyer pastures, eh?

play banjo kazooie and tell me that game is only brown and grey

I can't play Banjo-Kazooie because I'm one of the millions and millions and millions of people with an SD TV.

"greener pastures are better games, solid online, and great 3rd party support, eh?"

FIXED

forgot the wii was released so soon to the ps3

Was I the only one at Nintendo World New York on the release day? My friend and I made it a point to be there and just thinking of it brings back many fond memories.

I was the biggest Nintendo fanboy, a 27 year old manchild who couldn't wait for the new Mario Galaxy and this new method of game control.

Two years later, after choking to death on friend codes, crappy online play, rehashed games, and waggle waggle waggle, I sold it all, and got out early.

Man, your name is cool. Will you be my friend?

The system that rejiggerated my love for console gaming! Cereally I was getting bored with standard consoles and was on the verge of going PC only... Kinda like how the consoles are trying to do too...

I don't like the other consoles much. they're fun for a bit but nothing has kept me going like Nintendos first party titles. People slam the wii for having crap 3rd party support but when you have the glorious track record of their own 1st party titles then, for me at least, I need little else. Not with Brawl, Kart, Galaxy, Prime 3, Twilight Princess, Wii Sports, WarioWare. Them first 2 were the best console games I've ever played at least on the addictive scale.

The utmost fun system I have ever played. Like having a (decent) arcade in the living room. Just hope they give us another Zelda soon... fucking class series.

Congrats Wii! Thank you for being my Mother 3 platform of choice.

Happy Birthday Wii!

You've brought a great amount of happiness and many a good time. Hoping to extend the library a bit next year!

Punch Out, Sin & Punishment 2, here I come!

Dear fucker,

We've had some pretty good times, but I didn't like watching Cars three times over waitin' on your ass to hit street date. Damn that Wal-Mart.

It was worth it, my #1 ninja.

Im looking forward to more Nintendo first party titles. The next Mario, next Smash Bros, definitely the next Zelda, and a handful of others, but as of yet iv seen no announcements concerning them so they are probably a ways away.

Oh and pikmin! PIKMIN!

Not to pick on you, but the only one of those there is even the remotest chance of seeing before the next console is Zelda

If they follow the three year pattern, the next Zelda should come next year, but there is a hitch: Phantom Hourglass. It was developed by THE Zelda team, as opposed to farming it out to Nintendo/Capcom/HAL Labs joint venture studio Flagship, so it could offset the 3-year pattern neatly

Pikmin almost definitely will be seen for holiday of next year, though.

Miyamoto already said that they were hard at work on a new Mario.

We're definitely not getting a new Smash Bros. any time soon, though.

Actually, Miyamoto said that the Mario team was working on something new, if I'm not mistaken. But the Mario team, which I believe is EAD1, doesn't work exclusively on Mario games, unlike the Zelda team.

So I'm personally not expecting a new Mario game any time soon (although it'd be awesome if they released like a Galaxy expansion or something).

No chance of an expansion. When has nintendo ever released an expansion for one of their games? i certainly can't remember one.

I just can't see how it takes them so long to develop games for the lowest powered sytem out there. Gears 2 took 2 years ish and is one of the most technically beautiful games out there, and yet zelda takes 3 years? Can't they just release a Majora Mask esque title that uses the same engine as Twilight did to tide us over? It can harldy be that difficult if you have all the development sorted...

Happy Birthday!

I don't have my Nintendo Wii anymore, but I still miss the damn thing. :(

But luckily, I'm buying one this Christmas, if I can find one.

Two years... and out of that two years probably a weeks worth of gaming. Thanks, Wii!

Happy birthday Wii. Now How about Captain Rainbow for the US in 2009?

"Hopefully the next Nintendo console will focus more on core gameplay, with casual waggle games being a side thing..."

That is a great idea. Put out a system with COMPARABLE capabilities to Sony and Microsoft and incorporate motion control when it makes sense but concentrate on the core games that made this industry.

Nintendo will not do this more than likely for one reason or another. But who knows....maybe they will.

One thing is certain, Sony and Microsoft will incorporate some form of motion control into the next generation. More than likely one that is much more advanced than what the Wii has now.

For when that happend, i'm pretty sure Nintendo will have already done the same thing, and we all hate waggle more than we do already, we won't care of the waggle Sony and M$ will bring and we'll be asking for the same old control we got to lova for so many years

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Happy second birthday to the Nintendo Wii

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