Don't pfft me! And I don't see anything about it being for Wii-ers only in your first post. I was just stating that for being a new console that graphics are pretty bad when you compare it to games such as Halo 3 for the 360. I don't like the 360 either tho, I'm all about PCs.
Pffft!!! (jk
) Sorry, this is a huge rant, but...
The fact of the matter is that Nintendo isn't calling the Wii a "Next Gen" system. It is more of a "new gen system". They know that they can't compete with Sony and Microsoft on the High Definition Front, and they've never been shy about saying that they think DVD playback is completely unnecessary - let's face it - how many DVD players do you have in your household? We have 3 in ours (not including the DVD playability on our PS 2, my DVD rom on my PC, and the DVD Rom on my wife's laptop). DVD playback 6 years ago may have been a big deal, when a DVD player cost you well over $100 - probably more in the $200 range. Nowadays though, who cares?
As for High definition - well, not as many people have high definition - yet. And HD players and TV's are still prohibitively expensive for many people. If it weren't for the American Government mandating that there had to be a radical shift in technology to High Definition by 2010, I truly doubt we'd see very much need for HD at all - why go out of your way to spend $500 - $600 on an HD player (blu-ray or HDDVD) if you don't need it? Or why spend $1000 - $2000 (or more!) on an HD Television if you aren't going to make good use of it? As it is, most people I know who DO have an HD capable display DON'T have HD service into their house. As such, these people are looking at pictures that are worse than I can get on my ol' JVC 32" CRT - they stare at short fat people all day. Sure the images are crisp, but until they "SPLURGE" on HD digital cable service, or Satellite service they are WOEFULLY unhappy with their HD sets.
I like what Sony has done by including a blu-ray player as part of their system, but if you TRULY think that this system will end up with any radical shifts in video-gaming, you are completely wrong. Sure, the graphics will be prettier, and they may have better framerates, but when it all comes down to it, there really is no innovation there. It's more like a RENOVATION - it's the next step, but unfortunately that next step leads to more and more steps in a never ending ladder of just so-so games.
Nintendo on the other hand has taken a REAL CHANCE with the Wii. They have a major disadvantage, coming out of 2 previous console releases that were for the most part duds. (I still have my gamecube, and I had an N64). I think they were great systems, but against Sony the N64 floundered. Against Microsoft AND Sony, the Gamecube floundered. Now Nintendo has redesigned the way we think about INTERACTIVITY, and we will ALL be better for it. The Wii truly IS a Revolution, and not the next evolution in gaming. Never before have we had this sort of interactivity in gameplay. There have been stabs in this direction before (Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero, Donkey Konga etc), but they had the forsight to really make EVERY game on their system this interactive. Had Sony tried that, I guarantee they'd be losing much more than the $300 per system that they are currently losing. Like I said, it's great that Sony is including Blu-Ray, and it's nice that Microsoft gives you the option to buy HD, but honestly, my game machine is for GAMING, not watching movies. If I want to watch movies, I'll do it on my dedicated video player. When I want to play a game that really is amazing, I'll play the Wii. I'm sure if you were to do a poll of people who have actually played the Wii, versus a Poll of those who have played the PS3, you would find that very few people will complain about gameplay on the wii, whereas you will find very few RAVES about the PS3.
The graphics on the Wii aren't BAD, they're standard for what we've seen in the past. And in all honesty, I believe that Nintendo will probably be the first Next "Next Gen system" out of the block next time around. Sony is counting on the PS3 to start making them money in 4 years or so. That's when they should be breaking even on system sales, and that's when the hardware will finally start being utilized to its fullest. I'd be willing to bet that in 4 years from now, Nintendo will debut a system that has all of the features of the Wii, but goes that extra step further into multimedia, as Sony and Microsoft have both done. The Wii is seen as almost an incremental upgrade, and a mid term system replacement. The fact that it has been able to jump past Sony on a 3 - 1 sales ratio is astounding, and really speaks to the radical shift in thinking.
The way it's going now, Microsoft is beating Nintendo on a ratio of 2.175 systems to 1 - with a 1 year lead. They are beating Sony on a Ratio of 6.864 - 1 with a 1 year lead. Nintendo is beating Sony on a ratio of 3.156 - 2 with a 2 day LOSS. I truly have my doubts that Sony will reclaim the top of the heap as they have in the past 2 console cycles.
http://www.nexgenwars.com/
Check them out - up to date world wide sales statistics - after 4 months, they are half way to catching up to Microsoft who has a 1 year lead on Nintendo. And both Nintendo and Microsoft have a healthy lead on Sony. The PS3 could very well be Sony's big mistake - the mistake that causes them to eventually go the way of Sega, and fold up their hardware business forever.
Can't wait to start adding reviews, previews, and other stuff.
Just kidding...