G-pinions

I'm sure you're all chomping at the bit for me to speak my opinion (which will soon be your opinion) on Nintendo's decision to rename the Revolution to Wii. Thankfully, Nintendo waited until the last of my papers were handed in, so I could update the G without the nagging weight of what I should be doing hanging glumly over my head. Of course, we should probably ignore the fact that I have my final Spanish test (ever) in less than an hour. I mean, who studies for Spanish anyway? I don't even think Wii is a word in Spanish.

I know my readers are aware that I love Nintendo more than the other two companies. The PS2 may be the best system of last generation, but I could imagine a happy video game landscape without Sony while conjuring such an image without Nintendo is reminiscent of Fallout. Even still, as recently as a few days ago I was quite down on the whole Revolution concept. The X360 doesn't really do much more than what I was playing on the original Xbox, but it is still fun. Really fun. Why would I want to completely change the way I play games when 2005 was the best year ever for gaming? It's a terrifying prospect, to say the least.

When Ubi Soft revealed Red Steel a few weeks ago my anticipation for the system dropped a little more. I mean, it sounds pretty fun, right? A first person shooter with swords. But it looks so bland. Nick thinks I'm crazy, but it reminds me an awful lot of XIII. This is not a good thing. Compared to the likes of Gears of War it looks almost laughable. It was hard to get excited for this.


Shamelessly stolen from NeoGAF

But somehow things started to change when Nintendo announced Wii yesterday. It just feels so right to me. Though the Gamecube has been a disgrace since Resident Evil 4 came out last January, I love what Nintendo has been doing with the NDS. Sure, they have games like Nintendogs and Brain Training which, to quote Penny Arcade, aren't really for us. But there are fantastic, original games as well. Kirby and Trauma Center are two of the best games that came out last year, and they could not have been done on any other system. But there are still "standard" games like Phoenix Wright and Advance Wars. I love these games just as much as the genre defining stuff the DS is known for. It calms my worries seeing that Nintendo is not scared to support titles that don't push the capabilities of their system to the limit because, as much fun as touch screen gameplay can be, there is a certain charm to pushing buttons.

I have a feeling Wii will continue that trend.

Why does the name excite me then? Because it further emphasizes Nintendo's goal of trying to separate themselves from the competition. PlayStation and Xbox sound like toys. Dreamcast and Gamecube are even worse. Why are we lamenting the death of horrible, unimaginative names? Nintendo is trying to create an entirely new concept with Wii. How could they show they are more than just a toy if they went with Nintendo V or Nintendo RS? But Wii, that's different. It has people talking. It has people interested. "What is a Wii?" people will ask. And Nintendo will be glad to show them. Do you realize how small gaming is in America? How many copies did Halo 2 sell? 5 million? Don't we have 300 million people in the US? Aren't there 20 million Xbox consoles out there? And this is the biggest game around? 5 Million!? Come on.

Nintendo is poised to make that number seem as laughable as it really is. There are hundreds of millions of gamers out there. Think about how many websites are devoted to offering cheap, addictive games. Pogo and that company that make Bejeweled (PopCapGames) can get way more traffic than Halo 2 online does. And why is this? Because it is cheap and easy to use. Because it offers games that aren't scary. Only a fraction of the world's population is able to control something like Halo. And, with all the violence and time required to actually get good at it, only an even smaller fraction ever have the chance to play it. But everyone will be able to play Wii.

It's funny that it took a name change for me to get excited about the system again. It just makes me think Nintendo is really on to something here. Gaming may be out-grossing movies right now, but it could be so much larger. I think Nintendo is the only company who could actually expand gaming to the extent it should be enjoyed.