Wiibvious
September 15th, 2006 by Erik Benerdal
Nintendo held it’s press conference yesterday, or today, depending on where you live.
He reveiled the date and price of the Wii although they had already been leaked around 12 hours before that.
They also said that Wii will be bundled with Wii Sports, and I’m so confused why people didn’t expect this. I’ve always known that they were gonna bundle it. How would I know this? Because basically, Wii Sports is MSPaint.
Ever since the first versions of Microsoft windows, they’ve shipped it with this sub par drawing tool. But what some people might not now, MSPaint was originally included just to give the user a tool where he or she could practice using the mouse. Remember that this was a loong time ago, when computers weren’t mainstream and mice didn’t feel as intuitive to the common guy.
Nintendo needs something like MSPaint. They need something where the player can just play around and try different game mechanics using the Wiimote.
They also talked about the Wii’s internet capabilities, and I wonder. How will Wii’s online multiplayer support look like. Sony is doing what Microsoft is doing and building an online gaming platform, the “Playstation Network Platform”.
But when it comes to games Nintendo isn’t doing what Sony or Microsoft is doing. They’re doing their own thing, remember. And where does multiplayer fit into that picture? All Wii games I’ve seen so far have been designed to be singleplayer experiences, or at most something you play together with your friends (ie. in the same room). I doubt the Wii will have games like Halo or Battlefield, that make great online games.
I have a feeling that the Wii’s online mode will only be about downloading stuff. Games, demos, Mii’s. Not necessarily to play multiplayer games.