Should I buy a Wii? (Update: BOUGHT!)

[PyroGamer]

So I've been debating over the Wii for a while. The thing is, right now there's not alot of games I want (one can only play minigame compilations for so long), but now that Super Paper Mario is out, and with Mario Galaxy coming and Metroid, I'm thinking maybe it's time to cave in and lay down the $250.

So I have to ask: is it worth it? What games are coming out for sure in the next 6-8 months that would make this console worth having?

[munch]

I think the whole minigame thing is waaaaay overblown. Sure there are quite a few (Super Monkey Ball, Wario Ware, and Rayman), but there are also quite a few games that have depth to them (Zelda, Trauma Center, Wii Sports, Elebits, Super Paper Mario, Excite Truck -maybe-). And with the VC, you get kick ass games like Link to the Past, old Super Mario Bros. games, and some pretty good stuff like Starfox 64. I wouldn't worry about depth. I say go for it.

[The Crotch]

So I've been debating over the Wii for a while. The thing is, right now there's not alot of games I want (one can only play minigame compilations for so long), but now that Super Paper Mario is out, and with Mario Galaxy comingHah!

and Metroid, I'm thinking maybe it's time to cave in and lay down the $250.

So I have to ask: is it worth it? What games are coming out for sure in the next 6-8 months that would make this console worth having?

A lost of it depends on your tolerance for the experimental. Games like Sonic and Madden try new things, and they do them fairly well, but there are a lot of problems in there that only more time can fix. If you can tolerate that - and if you want and can get Virtual Console games - then yeah, get a Wii. If you'd rather your games be a little more... polished, then hold off.

As for games to get: Zelda (duh), Super Paper Mario, Metroid (should be here in the next 6-8 months), Trauma Center (maybe not if you've played the DS version, but definitely get it if you haven't), Wii Play, and Godfather (haven't played it, but the thread here makes me really want it). Assuming its price is low, Resident Evil 4 Version 3.0 should be a solid purchase, but I'm not really looking forward to Umbrella Chronicles. Milage varies with games like Madden (defense and kicking not so good, but motion control is usually great), Elebits, Rayman, Monkey Ball, Excite Truck, and Wario Ware. You could always pick up some GameCube games to pad the lineup - that's what I did.

[Sofa King Kool]

Yes, get one.

[niceguyshawne]

Get one. If you run out of Wii games you always have the VC and GameCube games to fall back on.

[sying]

Wii all say YES

[amicus]

get one and then create another topic about it.

[drfunk85]

Yes. There's 2 legit awesome games now. I don't know how long it takes you to get through them, but assuming you aren't playing 24/7, they should last you a good chunk of time. Then you have some good-great games left in Elebits, Wii Sports, and some others. Definately some different stuff to at least try out with Madden, Red Steel, and some others. Mario Party 8 comes out soon, which while it's mini games, it should be THE min-game game. If you still have time left, there's tons of great gamecube games and VC games to be had cheap.

I don't expect anyone who just gets a Wii now to run into a whole lot of drought of games.

[PyroGamer]

get one and then create another topic about it.
(assuming you are being sarcastic) Yes, because the Wii forum is so crowded it can't handle a thread like this. :roll:



Also it seems Wiis are harder to come by than I thought. Alot of the stuff I saw on shelves turned out to be empty boxes :dag:

[mtxbass1]

I have a Wii and haven't cut it on in the past 3 weeks. I got the system 3.5 weeks ago. The Xbox 360 has been keeping me too busy lately. I'm having buyers remorse about the Wii.

[Sir_Fragalot]

So I've been debating over the Wii for a while. The thing is, right now there's not alot of games I want (one can only play minigame compilations for so long), but now that Super Paper Mario is out, and with Mario Galaxy coming and Metroid, I'm thinking maybe it's time to cave in and lay down the $250.

So I have to ask: is it worth it? What games are coming out for sure in the next 6-8 months that would make this console worth having?Well this is a question you have to ask yourself, do you mind just letting a console not get played for awhile and how much time do you put into consoles. I mean I love my Wii, but then again it is one of those things that right now the third party support is mixed. I mean sure you are going to get zelda, Wii Sports, Tramua Center, Warioware, Sonic, Excitetruck, Super Paper Mario, but those are literally the best on the system (which NONE of them reached CAG price yet, all are still $50 a pop), all the other games have been ports or a not so good attempt. So basically I mean once you finish them or the ones you like atleast you will be waiting a good while because Nintendo's schedule is like a game every month or 2, and third party is kinda in and out too. Unless you are planning to buy some Virtual Console games, I would say wait until their online service comes on at least in June because there isn't enough yet to play in my opinion. By the end of the year Metroid, Mario Strikers, Mario Galaxy, Maybe Smash Brothers, Fire Emblem, and some others. Right now though, there just isn't enough meat to satisfy and the stuff there is isn't CAG price yet so maybe you should wait, I mean unless you see they got Wii's and well it is the at that moment purchase because it is always good to have one, but it may collect some dust for awhile so beware.

[Caro]

I've decided to buy one, the wii-mote is really being embraced by game developpers and it's only going to get more fun to use in game. Games I thought would never go to the wii are going to be available on the console.

I'm not buying one right now, I have an xbox and a 360 with enough games that I don't get to play enough of. ;)

[prisonerac]

Right now there is not a huge library of games, but with third party support ramping up and first party titles coming at the end of the year there will be lots to play. So, if you do not own a gamecube then I say go ahead because there is a backlog of games you can play from that system alone.

Otherwise I would say wait for a good deal. There is no point in rushing in because most titles are out of the Cheapass price range.

[panasonic]

not that many wii games now if you want to wait. i bought it because i have over 28 gamecube games.

[amicus]

i've seen wii's on the shelf twice. like 12 of them. but then i've been at the store the following day, and they're all gone.

[captmurphy]

Buy mine!

[regisphilbi0]

Get it. It will complement your 360 nicely. Get the Wii, Zelda, Super Paper Mario, Wario Ware, and some Wii points and you are set!

[dtcarson]

Leave it to karma....try to find one in the wild (without staking out a store), if you do, it was meant to be.
I'm enjoying mine. Some of the controller usage on certain games is a little gimmicky, but I'm chalking that up to learning curve/growing pains. In many other cases it's innovative and novel. ExciteTruck is a blast, and even Marble Mania is interesting (fun enough for a rent, not sure if I'd buy it, esp. at full price. Of course it's hard to buy anything for full price nowadays). Waiting on SPM in the mail :(

[carpwrist]

naw. buy a PS3... then find out that you don't really like what it offers. then, trade your PS3 for my Wii bundle. that would be the way to go. :D

Honestly, don't buy a Wii. Unlike the other next-gen consoles it doesn't have much of a life-expectancy.
Here's fun analogy of the future of the Wii: the cookies will be hot, but will cool down fast. If you think about it, Mario Galaxy, Smash Bros, Metroid will be really awesome when they come out... but then what? :-k
Thats close to year down the line. Do you think those will be the only games developers have their minds on? Why not say fuck the old icons and start following the true geniuses of the video game industry like Fumito Ueda, Hideki Kamiya, Tim Schafer, Stieg Hedlund, David Jaffe. If you think that these people are interested in working on the Wii then, then yea, go for it. Likeliness is that one or two of these gentlemen will try a game but realize that the hardware can not deliver, then they'll move forward onto a real console that you'd wished you had spent your money on. :wall:

[dmes65]

Save your money, nothing to play on it unless your into virtual games. Mine is a good paper weight. I regret buying mine. Look at what the games are in the stores now, nothing but movie ty ins and crap. Dont buy into the hype. Listen to the cagcast and see how much cheapy and wombat loves there wii. Please wait until there is better games out.

[dtcarson]

Not much of a life expectancy according to whom? I know there are a lot of naysayers on here, and I think the lack of third party support is a bad thing now, but also that many third parties are now very interested in programming for it. They realize there is a large market of people who don't care that much about DD 5.1 sound or 1080i graphics, but do care about fun games.
I don't 'follow' any designers, I follow games that are fun, regardless of who created them (in fact, I could probably only name 5 or so game designers, and not sure if I could tell you what games they did).
Especially seeing as how the 20 PS3 is being phased out, buy a Wii for 250, play it for a year, by then the PS3 may have dropped or there may be more games out for it other than racers/FPSes/sports games.
I'll admit there are lots of movie tie-in games; of course, they're on all consoles, and that could be part of the Nintendo 'kiddy console' thinking (since they're mostly games for chiildren's/family movies.) Of course, Godfather is a 'movie tie in', and it's A) not for kids and B) good.
Ultimately it's got to be your decision. Look at the games. Are playing those games worth the 250$ entrance fee? For me, they were. For many, they aren't. For millions of others, they are (though I am very hesitant to say things like "With X million fans it can't be bad", because looking at the music industry, that's not necessarily so.) Hell, watching my boy fling the bowling ball around in Wii Sports was worth that.
Do you have a Gamecube? If not, don't forget you can also play every GC game, many of which can be found very cheaply, on the Wii. Yes, the GC is only 100 bucks now....but *not* paying a hundred bucks is even better. And though it requires GC controllers, those can probably be found cheaper as well (I got a new mem card and Wavebird from Walmart for 25 total the other day).
If you're debating that hard, that makes me think the answer for you is "no", but perhaps you're like me and analyze every purchase, esp. expensive ones.
Upcoming games, from Gamefaqs
04/17 Bust-A-Move Bash!
04/24 Bionicle Heroes
05/01 Heatseeker
Legend of the Dragon
The Dog Island
05/04 Spider-Man 3
05/14 Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
05/15 Escape from Bug Island
Shrek the Third
05/22 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World&...
Surf's Up
05/29 Mario Party 8
Tamagotchi Party On!
06/01 Project H.A.M.M.E.R.
SD Gundam: Scad Hammers
06/04 Spelling Spree
06/08 Fantastic 4: Rise of Silver Surfer
06/11 Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree
06/12 Mercury Meltdown Revolution
Scarface: The World Is Yours

Yes, some movie/kids games. But just for comparison, from the same source, the list for the PS3

04/12 Mortal Kombat II
04/19 Super Rub-A-Dub
04/24 F.E.A.R.
05/01 Theseis
05/04 Spider-Man 3
Spider-Man 3 (Collector's Edit...
05/15 MLB 07: The Show
05/22 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World&...
Surf's Up
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas
06/01 Rogue Warrior
The Club (working title)
06/04 Vampire Rain
06/08 Fantastic 4: Rise of Silver Surfer
06/19 Transformers: The Game
06/25 Harry Potter and the Order of the P...
06/26 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advan...
06/30 DiRT
07/01 The Outsider
07/04 Saints Row

I know this type of thinking is out of date, but I reiterate, go to the store or websites and look at the games. Which games look fun to you? I'll fully admit, when I see Motorstorm demo'd in the store, it looks incredible. But incredible graphics + current game library < 600$ value to me, even adding in the blu-ray player.

[dmes65]

Also dont forget that if you want to play online you better be prepared to jump thru hoops with all of those friends codes that your gonna need. Also if you want to try any virtua console game your out of luck, you must buy the games first. I think I would rather buy a coleco vision instead of a wii. If I were you I would head down to your local game store and just look at what the big N is offering you for games. Games are what a console needs and right now the Wii is lacking them. One of there big hits(smash bros) there telling you to use gamecube controllers. I have always love Nintendo games but just wait 6 months to a year to buy one of these Wii's.

[prisonerac]

Wow. Kinda seems like some people have a strong opinion.

[thorbahn3]

Yes.

[A Happy Panda]

If you have a lot of friends who like playing multi-player party games, yes. If you're looking solely for SP experiences. No. Not yet. If Metroid and Mario Galaxy are the only games you want to play besides Paper Mario right now, then why buy one for a game that isn't even considered a system seller (rightfully so...it's a great game but no, not meant to move systems). Just wait until those games get an actual release date or actually get released since Nintendo is so fucking retarded when it comes to releasing games on time. If you buy one now, you *might* play it for like 2 months, then it'll just sit there...waiting. And once in awhile you'll turn it on....just to update it. Then back to sleep it goes.

I seriously hadn't played my Wii in close to 3 1/2 months until Paper Mario came out. That's how not single player friendly it is. My friends and I had played Wii Sports utterly to death...and then we had nothing to play and all we did was either play Mario Kart or play a 360 game. IDK. If you ask me, I'm VERY VERY glad I got it for $210 with the CC $40 off coupon back in December. It makes me have less buyer's remorse. In the end though, I think the Wii will fulfill its $210 obligation of fun for me, but that won't happen until Mario Galaxy and Smash Bros...both of which who knows are coming out.

Also dtcarson: There's one game you listed that was actually legit; Mario Party 8. The rest is pretty much garbage, except MAYBE Mercury and Spiderman 3. MAYBE. And yeah. I haven't played them. But jeez, half the list is licensed crap.

[furyk]

I think Super Paper Mario may push it from the wait to buy level. As it stands, the Wii now has Wario Ware, Zelda, Super Paper Mario, Cooking Mama, Elebits, Excite Truck, Sonic, and Rayman that all offer good to great single player experiences. There's a collection of other games that might appeal to you with their multiplayer experinces too. Coupled with the Virtual Console (which is really the hero of the Wii's line-up so far) and the Wii is worth owning at the lower price tag (especially if you have friends to play with).

[PyroGamer]

Just wanted to thank everyone for their advice, and tell you all I have officially joined the revolution as of today!

Viva la Wii!


First problem: agonizingly slow system update download. Does anyone else have this problem? Or does my router just suck?

[RedvsBlue]

Just wanted to thank everyone for their advice, and tell you all I have officially joined the revolution as of today!

Viva la Wii!


First problem: agonizingly slow system update download. Does anyone else have this problem? Or does my router just suck?

No, Nintendo's online infastructure sucks.

[PyroGamer]

No, Nintendo's online infastructure sucks.
Figured.

It's actually really, really, really bad. Really bad. Makes forecast and news channels completely worthless... not that they seemed to be worth much in the first place.

Is it that bad when you're trying to download VC games?

[RedvsBlue]

Figured.

It's actually really, really, really bad. Really bad. Makes forecast and news channels completely worthless... not that they seemed to be worth much in the first place.

Is it that bad when you're trying to download VC games?

Yep, apparently you can change your router's wireless channel to 1 or 11 and that helps somewhat but its still pretty bad. I'd imagine if they ever had downloads that were bigger than a few megs that it'd take days to download.

[FriskyTanuki]

Yep, apparently you can change your router's wireless channel to 1 or 11 and that helps somewhat but its still pretty bad. I'd imagine if they ever had downloads that were bigger than a few megs that it'd take days to download.
It takes a minute for me to download updates, so I don't know what's your problem.

[RedvsBlue]

It takes a minute for me to download updates, so I don't know what's your problem.

I don't know that its specifically my problem though given that many other people, even trying the 1 or 11 trick, still have problems with slow ass downloads. I know its not my internet because my 360 and laptop can download a lot faster than my Wii could. Its not really my problem anymore anyway though as I got rid of my Wii a while ago.

[daroga]

Everyone I know (myself included) who had slow download rates or inconsistent connection had those problems fixed by going to channel 11 on their router. That does'nt make a whole lot of sense to me as to why it would fix it, but it certainlly does.

RvB: did that not work for you or did you never get around to trying it while you had it? What kind of router do you have?

[FriskyTanuki]

I don't know that its specifically my problem though given that many other people, even trying the 1 or 11 trick, still have problems with slow ass downloads. I know its not my internet because my 360 and laptop can download a lot faster than my Wii could. Its not really my problem anymore anyway though as I got rid of my Wii a while ago.
You pretty much implied that all Wii owners had that problem when it's probably not even close to that.

All of the VC games I've download, all four of them (2 NES, 2 Genesis), downloaded quickly. You get to watch a progress bar in form of NES Mario collecting coins and hitting ? bricks to signify progress.

[RedvsBlue]

Everyone I know (myself included) who had slow download rates or inconsistent connection had those problems fixed by going to channel 11 on their router. That does'nt make a whole lot of sense to me as to why it would fix it, but it certainlly does.

RvB: did that not work for you or did you never get around to trying it while you had it? What kind of router do you have?

I tried both channel 1 and channel 11 and while I noticed a slight increase in download speeds, it still took an insane amount of time to download VC games and updates given those file sizes were only a few megs each. I have a linksys router.

[RedvsBlue]

You pretty much implied that all Wii owners had that problem when it's probably not even close to that.

All of the VC games I've download, all four of them (2 NES, 2 Genesis), downloaded quickly. You get to watch a progress bar in form of NES Mario collecting coins and hitting ? bricks to signify progress.

Even if it doesn't take that long, considering NES games are around the KB range, they should download in less than a second. There shouldn't even be time for the progress bar to show up. If its taking longer than a second to download a file that's less than half a MB, that's entirely too long.

[daroga]

Even if it doesn't take that long, considering NES games are around the KB range, they should download in less than a second. There shouldn't even be time for the progress bar to show up. If its taking longer than a second to download a file that's less than half a MB, that's entirely too long.If they were just the true ROM that would be true, but they're not. There's DRM stuff on them, as well as possibly the emulator wrapped around the rom itself. For example, Donkey Kong, one of the smallest NES games, weighs in at 19 blocks, or roughly 1.6 megs. Certainly not big, and the transfers aren't lightning fast, but hardly painfully sluggish. NES games I've downloaded (just redownloaded a few) usually take two passes by Mario to get, which would be roughly, what, 10, 15 seconds? Doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

[FriskyTanuki]

Even if it doesn't take that long, considering NES games are around the KB range, they should download in less than a second. There shouldn't even be time for the progress bar to show up. If its taking longer than a second to download a file that's less than half a MB, that's entirely too long.
Nevermind the candy-coated channel coating and the nougatty encription center.

[RedvsBlue]

If they were just the true ROM that would be true, but they're not. There's DRM stuff on them, as well as possibly the emulator wrapped around the rom itself. For example, Donkey Kong, one of the smallest NES games, weighs in at 19 blocks, or roughly 1.6 megs. Certainly not big, and the transfers aren't lightning fast, but hardly painfully sluggish. NES games I've downloaded (just redownloaded a few) usually take two passes by Mario to get, which would be roughly, what, 10, 15 seconds? Doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

Ahh, didn't think about the DRM crap but wouldn't the emulator be a part of the VC software on the Wii itself?

Yeah, and mine, no matter what I did, never downloaded anything in 10-15 seconds. It usually took at least a few minutes for anything.

[daroga]

Ahh, didn't think about the DRM crap but wouldn't the emulator be a part of the VC software on the Wii itself?

Yeah, and mine, no matter what I did, never downloaded anything in 10-15 seconds. It usually took at least a few minutes for anything.There was something really wrong then for you. Sorry to hear that :(

I'm uncertain on the emulator, but as each game would need some tweaks and such to run properly, my guess is that it's wrapped up. That would also make it easier to add new consoles to the system, and really doesn't add to the noticable file sizes on anything but the small NES games.

[dtcarson]

The first time i tried downloading the update, it took forever. That was also on a Sunday when lots of other people probably got their Wiis. I gave up and tried the next night, and while it hasn't been blindingly fast, neither has it been ridiculously slow. Using Weather and News and even internet is slower than my wired broadband, but much faster than dialup. I don't have any complaints about it, especially for free.

[io]

I thought the channel 1/11 thing was to help connection issues. My Wii had problems connecting to my router which is located 3 rooms away. The DS was even worse. When I did the channel trick it helped out both. Now the Wii almost never has connection problems and the DS only sporadically. The SPEED, which is a different issue, has never been a problem. Things download quickly. I just got the (what, 250 block?) Opera browser update in about 2 minutes the other day. It seems like it takes longer to copy VC's to the SD card than to download them :lol:.

Anyway, good choice on the console. Don't let the naysayers get you down (what is it with this site - while some people complain we are too pro-Nintendo, I see an awful lot of Wii hate on these boards). I had a bit of a lull in my play right before Super Paper Mario came out, but it wasn't from a lack of games to play - it was from TOO MANY games to play. I still haven't finished Zelda, or unlocked everything in Elebits, or gotten nearly anywhere in Super Swing Golf, or played through that $10 (from Target) Chicken Little Ace In Action with the kids, or finished off the last few bits of WarioWare. I just wanted to put a dent in my PS2 backlog so I started playing Rogue Galaxy - that has sucked up 90 hours of my gaming time so far (in about 3-4 weeks of real time).

I still want to rent SpongeBob (for the kids) and the Koropina game, but I've been holding off for when I have a big block of time to play them (feel like I need to get my money's worth out of rentals, even though they are free ;)).

I am planning to buy an Xbox 360 Elite just because I want a little HD gaming (fuck the online, I can't imagine playing with swearing 12 year-olds :roll:). But, really, I could take it or leave it and be very happy with my Wii/DS/PS2 combo (also have a PSP which gets turned on once every 3 months or so).