Thus, Nintendo finally released a black Wii in North America finally after listening to the community ask, if not beg for it to be released stateside since it debuted in Japan. Certainly looking cool enough, there is just one problem. All that content that you bought for your Wii when it first released isn’t transferable to the sleek, sexy black console that will surely fit in with the rest of many gamers entertainment systems. Nintendo has no solution for it so far except for gamers to re-buy all their content. The same thing has gone for the DSi and DSi XL. Why can’t Nintendo manage such a simple transfer of content when both Sony and Microsoft have been able to do so seamlessly? It’s because Nintendo, perpetuating the image of a family company refuses to add a comprehensive online component that would be capable of bridging the Wii, the DS and the internet. And while the internet can be utilized with the system for the sake of streaming rudimentary content via Netflix or the web browser, the system still lacks the ability to play DVDs. I understand that Nintendo set out to create a device capable of playing video games and bringing groups of people together to do so, but by not utilizing DVDs, the media standard available the world over, Nintendo is missing a major aspect of the gaming industry. If people want something that can play movies and games, the options naturally gravitate between the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. On the other hand, should the desire be to own a Wii, then the low price initially allowed for potential owners to allocate for a DVD player, in the unlikely event they don’t already own one, as well.
However, where the low price was once the greatest strength the Wii possessed over the 360 and PS3 – that gap has long since closed. It is now more affordable than ever before for gamers to get their hands on all three systems if they so choose. But what is seemingly apparent in the choices Nintendo has, or rather hasn’t, made is that they have reached an impasse that stands to challenge the identity the company has sought to forge in video game community for nearly the last three decades. The decision of pursuing games relatable to fans that grew up owning an NES or attempting to draw people in across every generation in the hope of pleasing everyone. Certainly, I would love to see a Nintendo that harkens back to the era of the NES and SNES, even the N64 - the company that created games for a crowd that grew up holding an NES controller. But it seems that the current and forecast modus operandi for the company will be to pursue a larger market at the cost of many more ‘hardcore’ fans. Doubtlessly, Nintendo will toss them a bone every so often in the form of Metroid: Other M, Super Mario Galaxy 2 or Monster Hunter Tri. But the age of the NES-era company is over. Thus, it goes without saying that Nintendo will do everything it can to maintain the Wii for as long as possible. Even with system updates, the console isn’t future proof by any stretch of the imagination; however, it possesses enough baseline graphic and gameplay power to remain relevant amongst other consoles – even the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad, which Nintendo has stated is their new prime competitors – for a while to come. The system isn’t perfect, but it does have backwards compatibility capable of playing GameCube titles and if that’s all I’ll use the system for in-between Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid: Other M, then that’s all one can do.
