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Simple gist of what I was going for, people see the Wii being popular as a sign that games won't ever be the same, and not for the better. I know some of you agree with that assertion, but why does it have to be that way?
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As I said before, this is not a new issue. Wii just happens to be the first console to go the cheap/rushed route and be sucsessful without appealing greatly to hardcore gamers at the same time. Its just a ticking time bomb before the gaming magizines and hardcore gaming sites were going to come down on it.
Its really hard to word what I'm about to say.. but bare with me.
PsX was out the gate fast and lower priced then its competition, and what it was under powered. However it still offered a format that appealed to the companies that wanted to develop hardcore games. The ability to do cutscene videos, and the extra space vs a cartrege was used to push it above the competition.
Ps2 was out of the gate fast, and lower priced then its competition. And it was not as powerful as Xbox or Gamecube.. however it was powerful enough to compete. There was not mamy games out there in the last generation that could not be reproduced on Ps2. So all the games that appealed to hardcore gamers still could be put on Ps2. (-EDIT- The above listed reasons, besides its release date and price, are not WHY Ps2 won, its why it was still considered to be respectable by the hardcore gaming community)
Now we have wii.. which once again was out of the gate first, and lower priced then its competition. But its not powerful enough to compete.. It won competly off of a gimmick, and its a dump off system for companies that want to make cheap games. However the companies that are out there that really try to push the limits of what hardware can do out there simply can't develop anything worthwhile for Wii.
But dispite the fact that...
...Wii can never get a competitive version of Oblivion, GTA games, MGS games, full Final Fantasy Games, respectable sports sims, respectable fighting games.. MMORPGs... or any of the games that really lifted the bar this gen. ..and new companies can't take a big risk on it, because its old hardware will make anything look bad when compared to Ps3/360...
...It still manages to be far more sucsessful then the consoles that actually have heavy appeal to hardcore gamers.
Eventually companies are going to catch on and see that appealing to casual gamers will make them a lot more money thn appealing to hardcore gamers. Which will eventually result in slower evolution for hardcore games and systems. Of course they'll always still be there, its just that a time is going to come where the only games where you see big risks being taken are on sequals or games with some licence on it.
That time hasn't come yet, but Wii opened the door and exposed the market for what it is.
-EDIT-
And I already know you're going to act like Wii's motion controls were the big advancement.. but that's when it comes back to personal game preference, and where you want to see things go. Look at ign, all the games that got scores of 8 to 10 on Ps3 and 360. How many of those can really be done on Wii? That's just proof that Wii is moving in a different direction... and you see Sony's already trying to copy the motion controls.
Though sixaxis always had the ability for motion controls, its just going to be something Sony works in more with more shallow games to compete with Nintendo... Just take that as a hint of why something that's too casual winning is not going to do any good for the industry. All of the next gen consoles are going to have motion controls, unless Wii dies down and is proven to be a fluke.