Wii – The Nintendo Market for Video Games

The Nintendo Wii is a very popular system and is probably the most well-known of the major three consoles among the non-gaming world. Nintendo has been very successful with the Wii and have expanded the market for video games. People who were intimidated by the thought of playing a Playstation 3 or Xbox 360 flocked to the Nintendo Wii because it’s been thought as being an easier game to play and this makes many people love to play it.

Another aspect of Wii that will cater to the “hardcore” crowd is the Virtual Console. This is a download service that allows players to download games from the first Nintendo system, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, and even non-Nintendo systems like the Sega Genesis and Turbografx. This service allows gamers to relive some of gaming’s greatest moments all through one system while also allowing new players to experience games from a different era. While some games on the service may not be worth the price of admission others like Super Mario RPG and Shining Force are easily worth the eight dollar cost.

Video game players have loved Nintendo franchises for many years. One major problem with the Nintendo Wii is that is does not have as many “hardcore” games as the other two systems. Nearly everything by Nintendo is great but third party companies to this point have rarely been successful in creating games up to Nintendo’s caliber. Unfortunately gamers looking to constantly get new games to play may be disappointed with the constant barrage of party games and other more “casual” games.

However there are many simply games and that is  what has made the Wii so popular in the first place. By bundling Wii Sports with every Wii console Nintendo has immediately made the Wii accessible to everyone. Wii Sports uses gestures to play games such as baseball, bowling and boxing. Its easy pick up and play style hooks newcomers and makes for a great party game. That seems to be the Wii’s biggest strength, multiplayer games. It is easy enough for anyone to pick up and play and many games are marketed towards people who normally would not play games.