Wii

The Wii is Popular.
On Saturday the 18th of November, I began my quest to obtain a Wii. Having been thwarted on my attempts to pre-order through Amazon, GameStop, and other retailers, I was determined to be the “first on my block” to have one. Many people, including myself, anticipated Amazon’s launch of the Wii to take place at midnight on the west coast, or 3 a.m. here in Indiana. I settled myself in to a long night’s haul with several DVDs, my laptop, a blanket, and my DS… on my couch. That was the draw, sure I’d be a guy who spent his night trying to get a Wii, but at least I would be warm and comfortable while I did it. 3 a.m. came and went with no change on Amazon’s site. Those other souls who waited up like me began to theorize when Amazon would actually launch the Wii. 4 a.m. came and went, no Wiis to be found. Finally I grabbed an hour of sleep and ventured out, in the freezing cold, to Target, Sears, K-Mart, and Best Buy to find that all Wiis were accounted for and my late-attempt to obtain one was heckle-worthy, and I was unwelcome.

I went home and sat on my laptop with cat-like reflexes and was finally able to place an order at around 10 a.m. on CircuitCity’s website. Success! Many were not so lucky and, even after having spent the night on Amazon’s site, were unable to order a Wii on that day.

The Wii is Well-Received!
My Wii showed up a few days later (Yay FedEx!). Over Thanksgiving, I took it with me to visit my family and friends and hooked it up everywhere I went. Amazingly, people of all ages had to try it. My grandmother, who happens to be a near-luddite, raved about the marvels of technology and how “fantastic” it was. She really was awe-struck. Several family friends, all in their late 50s and 60s, played tennis, bowling, and baseball for an extended amount of time. People loved it. Many of these same people, who don’t normally even consider playing a video game, started to ask me about buying one.

Once the Thanksgiving week was past me. I playing Zelda and Sports without an audience. Paying close attention to the controls, I realized that the motion sensing acutally added some fun into Zelda. I imagined what it would be like to look at a person playing Twilight Princess on the GameCube and on the Wii side by side; Who would be having more fun? The Sports games are very fun but rather shallow and I find that I’m starting to tire of these (after almost a month).

Will the Wii keep it’s new-car smell?
Remember when you got your last ‘new’ car? You were careful not to spill food (or even eat in it for some of you). You washed it whenever you thought the glare off of your shiny paint wasn’t blinding enough. You loved your new car. Then sometime, a few weeks later, you dropped a straw wrapper on the passenger-side floor—”I’ll just pick it up when I get home.” you told yourself. The car needed to be washed, but you were busy. You are heading to work and you catch yourself: you’ve stopped thinking of the car as new and it’s just a car again. These moments are disappointing, but unavoidable. It struck me the other day, my Wii is just another game system.

Yes, the games are fun. Yes, it’s shiny. But I’m just not excited any more.

I have a feeling that many people out there are experiencing this effect right now. The novelty has worn off. So, what’s next? Will game developers harness this new controller scheme to create excitingly new and engaging games the likes of which we’ve never seen? Or, will this now-golden-boy be relinquished to the bottom of your entertainment center and slowly be forgotten?

What are your thoughts?