The Next-Gen Fallout, Part Two

The launch of the Nintendo Wii stands in stark contrast to Sony’s campaign for the PS3. Sony is banking on their status as an industry giant to sell a piece of hod-rodded hardware at Sharper Image prices to the elite, while Nintendo’s goals are far more modest at first.

The Wii won’t draw anyone in on its merits as a graphics powerhouse; in fact, it can barely keep up with the aging PS2 in that department. Nor does it do HDMI or play DVDs. It doesn’t have a hard-drive. In fact, from a technical standpoint, it’s nothing impressive at all.

Of course, that’s not what Nintendo is banking on. They’re not even trying to compete with Sony and Microsoft in their respective demographics. Instead, the once-beleaguered company is trying something new: drawing in folks who traditionally have no interest in videogames.

Alot has been made of the unique controller, and I’ve found it to be very intriguing. If nothing else, it’ll help keep more of our nation’s children from turning into the Gamer Potato of Death:

True, kinesthetic controllers aren’t anything new. The original NES shipped with a mat that players ran or jumped on to simulate certain motions, and light-guns were popular in arcades in the 1990’s, but the difference here is that the novel controller is the primary means of interacting with the system, rather than an add-on.

At launch, the Wii only has one first-tier title, and it’s a Zelda game. Still, reviews are overwhelmingly positive, and the control-scheme has alot to do with it. The other titles are a mixed-bag of ports from other systems (which have some graphical handicaps given the Wii’s hardware) and a smattering of original titles (which seem to have been rushed to market).This isn’t neccessarily a red flag, however, as the PS3 has only one “must have” launch game as well.What sets the Wii apart on the store shelf is price. Provided you can find one, they’re listed at $249US, less than half the price of the PS3. That alone is a big incentive for parents buying a household console, and it’s an incentive for gamers who might be interested in trying it.Nintendo is also trying to position the Wii as a more approachable, non-technical system to the masses. The plain fact is, most people couldn’t care less that Sony’s black-and-chrome behemoth can move 1.8 TFLOPS. In fact, most people don’t know what a teraflop is (don’t feel bad, I had to look it up, too), and most don’t care.

The truth is, most people are intimidated by technology. One day, developers and manufacturers will realize this. On that day, we will have cheering in the streets and peace on earth.

At least Nintendo seems to understand this. The Wii takes seconds to hook up and start, and there’s no technical jargon to deal with. For the average person, this is a godsend. What’s more, the console is small, quiet and unobtrusive. It’s a soothing iPod white/blue as opposed to the PS3’s imposing presence, and the interface has a soft, cartoonish look to it.

All this is peripheral to the most major shift Nintendo’s attempting, however. Their main goal is philosophical rather than technical. The idea is to draw in the “normals,” as opposed to the “hardcore” gamers (though many of the latter group are adopting the Wii as well). There’s no telling how much of a potential market is passed over by the $400-600 consoles, and it’s that unseen market that Nintendo hopes to draw in.How large and profitable the “unseen market” is remains to be seen. It’s a hard bet to call, and Nintendo’s taking a chance. Still, this is the company that brought home videogames back from the dead in 1988. They made handheld games vital and relevant. Despite their inability to keep up at the turn of the century, this may reverse their fortunes.The Wii could start a paradigm shift in the industry, and it could very well change public conceptions of videogames. The worst-case scenario will be a failure for the Wii in the long-term, in which it will go down as an interesting historical footnote.Somewhere in the middle, the system might just do well enough to survive, but not much more. Even in this case, it’ll serve as a spur to debate about interface design and development. No matter how things turn out commercially, Nintendo has done something truly new, and that’s admirable. It’ll be interesting to see how developers adapt to the new control-scheme.

Much of this is conjecture, of course. I could be wrong, but the retail feedback seems to favor the quaint Nintendo box over the PS3. Microsoft sold 2 million of the 360 over the holidays (which is to be expected), with the Wii coming in a close second at 1.8 million (which is not). The PS3 shipped 700,000, and many stores are now sitting on a surplus of them, while they have trouble keeping the Wii in stock.

The Wii isn’t for me, but I wish Nintendo well, if only to see what kind of an impact they have. Welcome back, guys.