The W in ?Nintendo Wii? is for Worthy

The Wii takes the high road with game consoles. While Sony and Microsoft battle it out with impressive graphics and bulging internal drives, Nintendo shifts the focus on what games are all about – having fun. But is fun enough reason to choose Wii?

Wii is Worthy
Nothing beats the Wii when it comes to price. A Wii costs anywhere from $250 to $350 while an Xbox 360 Elite and a PS3 cost around $450-$550. The $100 gap can make a world of difference for thrifty gamers; it can be used to buy new games or accessories. Want more? check our our Nintendo Wii Review.
 
A common complaint against the 2 Goliaths of game consoles, Xbox and PS, is no matter how cutting edge their graphics and how powerful their processors are the bottom line is these two sorely lack compelling games. The good titles are too few considering the muscles these gadgets flex; it is like Superman taking on a lifeguard gig for a children’s pool party.

The games of Wii, on the other hand, are numerous and just downright fun. With its backward compatibility and the Virtual Console, classic favorites are readily available for old and new generations to enjoy. The current titles being sold, the sports games in particular, take full advantage of Wii’s motion sensor technology. Hardcore gamers and newbies are punching, swishing, dancing, shooting bows, and other potentially healthy movements. Wii is fun and healthy.

Wii’s internal memory is a paltry 512mb; too small considering that most handheld devices boast an average of 8GB upwards. Compared with the 60GB of PS3 and 120GB of Xbox, the 512mb is indeed puny. On the upside, there is an SD slot for the Wii. The SD slot is advantageous for several reasons; you never need an upgrade (an internal drive upgrade for the Xbox costs more than $120) and the SD format is cheap and non-proprietary. See our report on both the Wii and its competition here: Nintendo Wii Review.

The Xbox and PS3 are all about high-definition, HDMIs and Blu-Rays. These are the latest, and admittedly greatest, formats in the world of video. This is the main reason why these 2 need all that processing power and huge internal memory. But would you really want to use your game console for watching movies? DVD players can do these for you at a fraction of the cost. What use are high definition graphics if the games themselves, for lack of a better term, suck.
 
Bottom Line
The Wii is a step out of the box for video game consoles. It refuses to meet the two warring giants' heads on graphics and processing power. It refuses to evolve into an entertainment hub, the direction the Xbox and PS3 are heading. While this is risky considering the overall trend is to multi-task and combine what three or more gadgets do into one gadget, Wii and Nintendo are not worried. With the kind of response from consumers the Wii has received, they should not be. Maybe it is the other two that should listen to the clamor for fun games, more fun games, and even more fun games.

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