I like my Wii because it gives me an enjoyable gaming experience without the “it has to be hard to be cool” baggage.
Here’s what CNet has to say about the Wii’s success:
Nintendo’s new strategy is two-pronged. Making the Wii cheaper and easier to play than its rivals attracts a broader range of new customers, including people who never bought a game machine before. With Wii, Nintendo has avoided one mistake it made with GameCube, which was competing with its wealthier rivals on expensive technology-driven performance. While Wii lacks the speed and graphics of PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Wii sets itself apart with novel ideas like its wireless motion-sensor controller that gets game players off the couch and jumping around.
Ground-breaking graphics? Who cares? Fun? Pick me! Pick me! 
I was looking at something for Facibus Reviews just now and used the Google blogsearch server to see what was out there on this particular topic (MyGADS). Being human I thought I would check blogsearch on the word “facibus” to see what was indexed. Wierd - some traffic from this blog is indexed under the getfreewii.com domain. They aren’t poaching the content, but have set up an autoblog based on an RSS feed from Google blogsearch.
The cool thing, in a very post-modern self-referential way, is that my posting on autoblogging will probably end up being autoblogged itself. Wierd
I was hunting around for game tips just now and came across WiiReign. It is the wierdest blog - just news stories referenced on other sites, no human intervention at all. It seems like they’ve set up an RSS feed from google news or somewhere similar and are using this to build traffic. I am not sure that many people will go see it - it is coldly impersonal, and kind of sad in a way. I suppose that they will get some traffic through, but probably not many repeat views.
From a technical perspective, it is interesting - I have a similar thing (a partially newsfeed-generated page) over at MonsterWatch, but it is only part of the experience - the rest of it is human-crafted. I might add a similar page here but make it clear that it is “Wii in the news” rather than any sort of mainstream blog.
The following was originally posted on Facibus Reviews.
Today, I bought a Nintendo Wii. It is all Matt’s fault.
I have played with it for an hour. All I can say is that the Wii is:
- the games console I wish that I had when I was young,
- the console I wish I’d had to play with my children when they were young,
- the console I want to play when I do play games,
- graphically, good enough,
- responsively, excellent,
- fun, amongst the best I’ve ever had playing solo games.
Helen is working late tonight - when she gets home, I’ll introduce her to the Wii.
Every other game simulates the reality of gameplay - moving a mouse to move then clicking to shoot or wield a sword has not appealed to me for several years now. I used to be a fair hand at first person shooters (DooM, Hexen, Quake, Quake ][) but they grew past me by asking for too many simultaneous control movements. The Wii has given me the fun back.
The natural way to wield a tennis racquet or a weapon is in the hands - and the Wii gives us this natural interface. It is not the same as the real thing - I am no golfer, but I have studied classical Japanese swordsmanship, and it is definately not the same… but it is closer than anything I have seen before.
I can’t say if you would enjoy the Wii experience as I do (and it is definitely early days for me), but it is worth having a play with at a game shop.
UPDATE: My Wii has its own blog now over at Wiild Life (original blogspot Wii blog - transitioned to here). More about my blog diversification plans at Facibus On Blogging. And I still love my Wii over a week later. And it’s still Matt’s fault
This is my Mii (Wii character/persona) andrew:
My partner Helen, the first time she saw it, said “Wow, how did you get it to look so much like you?”. I am not sure if this is a good thing