What makes the Wii different?

            When the Wii was first released, people had never seen a video game console with the same amount of features that were available to the player. The main selling point of the Wii was its motion controls, which allowed players to use the Wiimote while playing the game as a way of interactivity with the console. The learning curve for the Wii is very simple, as most players were familiar with how the many Nintendo series worked. For example, while playing Super Mario Brothers, all the player has to do is use the control pad to move left and right and press buttons to jump, fire at their enemies, or other such things. By comparison, the Playstation 3 and X-Box 360 both require far more advanced controls, including rotating the control stick in a 360 degree angle, or advanced button pressing commands that require picture perfect speed. As a result, the Wii has a better, easier to understand learning curve in comparison to its Sony and Microsoft counterparts. Another plus that the Wii has over its competitors is its replay value. The Wii is made of much more than just the games released for it, as evidenced by its other features. The Wii has special “Channels” that players can use to do several other things other consoles don’t have. The Wii allows for players to create Mii’s, which are avatars that the player can create. There is also a special channel called the Check Mii Out Channel, where people can post their Mii’s and rate the Mii’s of other people, as well as enter contests to test their Mii’s against Mii’s from around the world. Other channels include the weather channel, which allow players to see the weather around the world, and the photo channel, allowing players to play around with personal photos. These kinds of things show how much replay value over their competitors, which consist of mostly the games themselves and few extra features. Nintendo has been around for a long time, and many people are familiar with the games that are on the Wii. In addition to games like Super Mario and Legend of Zelda, many popular games not made by Nintendo, including Call of Duty and Street Fighter, which add to the already extensive list of games. Due to the many types of games on the console, there are many types of gamers who can be entertained by the Wii, be it action, shooters, or sports games. The launch game of the Wii was Wii sports, which allows players to play sports, including tennis and golf, with their personal Mii’s. Even casual gamers can find themselves entertained by the game, as one reviewer of Wii sports said, stating “Because sometimes the more casual games are more fun to play.” (Criteeker, Epinions.com). This goes a long way in saying that anybody can be entertained by the Wii due to the sheer amount of content it supports. Lots of replay value can do a console a great deal of good, and the Wii is a great showing of how this is possible.

Web Source:

Criteeker, . "As if the Wii Wasn't Addicting Enough."Epinions. Epinions, 2008. Web. 19 Apr 2012. <http://www.epinions.com/content_438079819396?sb=1>.