Even Wii lovers can find a few things to complain about, but let's be real here -- if you're going to complain, make sure your beef is accurate (and worth writing home about). Chad Sapieha of the Globe and Mail's Controller Freak blog seems to disagree with that, however. While we have to offer up kudos over the fact that he spread the anti-love around evenly among all three current-generation consoles in his recent post of hate, we still take issue with some of his Wii complaints. His first complaint about the Wii is that it isn't as cheap as it appears. In order to play the best multiplayer games on the system, he says, within the comfort of your home with friends, you have to buy three more controllers and three nunchuks. To support this, he uses the examples of Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Wii Sports. However, you don't need four nunchuks for the latter unless you feel like building a rounded tower, and the only game that even requires four Wii remotes is four-player tennis. As for Brawl, it seems likely to us that most Wii owners who have picked up Brawl have a GameCube controller or two lying around, and since that seems to be the preferred way to play anyway, that certainly cuts down the expense. Next he mentions the required investment of a 4 GB card for "avid downloaders," but we're of the opinion that "avid downloaders" who are strapped for cash might just do what Nintendo recommends, and download, delete, and re-download at need. We're not saying the Wii's storage system is without problem, but a 4 GB card is hardly a must.
Sapieha's other complaints strike chords, however, even if one is the most rehashed complaint of all: friend codes. His other issue? The lack of demos for Virtual Console games. While we agree that demos would be awesome, there's no shortage of videos of Virtual Console games available. Not only can you get them on Nintendo's official site, but you can see 'em right here, too. It may not be as good as a demo, but it's better than nothing.
The point? If these are the worst things we can find to complain about, Wii owners are doing okay.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-09-2008 @ 11:26AM
mr nimblewick said...
I just use the remote turned sideways in brawl. It's the only way I found to get the characters to not continuously dash past objects I want to pick up.
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4-09-2008 @ 11:26AM
mr nimblewick said...
Plus I'm starting to get a callous on my thumb from the that terrible little dpad. It still hurts today from gaming yesterday.
4-09-2008 @ 12:23PM
Thread said...
Same for me. I find the Wiimote alone gives me the sharpest control but also has the sharpest edges (on the d-pad), making it painful to use over time.
4-09-2008 @ 11:29AM
vidGuy said...
My only real complaint is the lack of a well structured online system. I play the Wii for its stellar single player games and the awesome local multiplayer games, both casual and hardcore. But lately I've been playing the 360 a lot more because of online play with a handful of titles that keep me coming back. A better friend system, proper DLC (though expensive), and a reliable connection make the 360 a much better online system and extend the life of each game I play.
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4-09-2008 @ 11:34AM
adolson said...
I didn't realize that the Wii even supported 4GB SD cards... Here I was thinking that 2GB was the limit, on account of it not supporting SDHC...
SD cards are useless for the Wii, unless you have Excite Truck or Endless Ocean. Hardly a requirement.
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4-09-2008 @ 12:12PM
TheCoats said...
or if you have brawl and whore out all of your replays!!
4-09-2008 @ 1:16PM
MBJ said...
Last time I checked the Wii does NOT support 4 GB SD cards. I bought one soon after I purchased my system (at launch) only to realize that I had just wasted $50 on an SD card that was not compatible with anything I owned (including the Wii).
4-09-2008 @ 12:29PM
andyl said...
You're right about the 2 GB limit...as I bought a 4 GB card thinking it would work, and it wasn't recognized... My new 2 GB one works perfectly... On a side-note, I find it annoying that the screenshots from within "Brawl" are saved as a .bin file that must be converted to a .jpg using a completely separate program. Is there an easier way to do this, or at least some Nintendo-supported way? The only programs I found were third-party (at best)...
4-09-2008 @ 11:41AM
Nigeria: Cody ChesnuTT Defense Force said...
And I thought my straps were dirty :)
I agree with Nimblewick, the Wiimote D-pad is terrible. Nintendo should have made it a tad bigger, or better yet, replicate the Saturn D-pad - if at all possible.
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4-09-2008 @ 11:43AM
chad said...
i'm not complaining, but for me, anyway, i would count gamecube controllers as part of the cost of my wii. i didn't own a gamecube, but when i got my wii, there were a couple gamecube games i wanted (melee, of course, and metroid prime... and maybe a couple others, too). i found two reasonably priced wavebirds on ebay, but those still cost around $35 each.
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4-09-2008 @ 12:44PM
Mike D said...
Plus about $10-15 for a gamecube memory card.
4-09-2008 @ 12:11PM
TheCoats said...
i personally use Wii and nunchuck for brawl but i find that my friends who dont have a Wii wantto play with GameCube controller (so they can jump right in) and my friendswitha Wii bring there own controllers....
my biggest Wii problem....WiFi is SOOOOOO Laggy!!!!!!......any news on if and when they might fix this?
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4-09-2008 @ 12:30PM
THRILLHO said...
i recommend shelling out the little extra for the wired connection. i get no lag when i play vs my friends that have one also, and only see some lag when i play "with everyone". im not questioning your wireless signals strength, but i just think the wired connection works better.
4-09-2008 @ 12:49PM
Sonic_13 said...
Hmm...I never have lag when playing via Wi-Fi.
Make sure your Wii is getting an adequate signal (and you have decently fast internet)
4-09-2008 @ 2:51PM
Mr Khan said...
Agree, i rarely got lag, except in the Dark Days of early Brawl when everyone was getting it, most of my games run pretty smooth
4-09-2008 @ 7:57PM
TheCoats said...
havent played since early brawl really and it was awful as for the wired connection WILL do - didnt realize i could do that....thanks guys
4-09-2008 @ 12:28PM
Orion said...
I like how one of the writer's "bad marks" was that you had to buy extra controllers.
Apparently he hasn't played a system since the Collecovision then when they were built in, as you could say this for EVERY console.
I mean no offense, but a Dual Shock 3 is going to be $55 bucks. I woudlnt call that cheap either. So yea, while if you buy 3 extra controllers for the Wii it's going to make your system cost about as much as a cheap 360... that goes for the other systems as well.
And yes, 2 gig cards ARE the limit for the Wii. Seems this person just makes stuff out of their ass in order to try to get critisism for the console. It's obvious they have no idea what theire talking about especially with the two comments i mentioned above. I agree with Wiifanboy.. if this is all they could muster for critisism, then I guess I'm a fan of an awesome console. I could even name more negative things about my next favorite console, the Sega Saturn, than they did for the Wii..
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4-09-2008 @ 12:36PM
Sonic_13 said...
A 4gig card is hardly a "must have" considering Wii only supports up to 2gigs.
Also, it may be $60 for a Wii remote, nunchuk combo, but a wireless PS3 Dualshock 3 controller is nearly as much at $55.
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4-09-2008 @ 1:02PM
TheWarlock said...
uhm, I just pretty much use the WaveBird for brawling.
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4-09-2008 @ 1:19PM
CJLopez said...
besides from the friend codes, it'll be the only thing I don't like from the wii
More controls means more money?? since the N64 era that's been what has been happening, and Wii it's not the only one with this issue, PS3 dualshock 3 $55??? I rather use my old dualshock 2 ps2 controls, i mean, rumble it's not something i'm aware of, i have such big hands that I hardly notice the rumble on games
For brawl, man, since the release I had been playing with a sideway wiimote, I hand't find the issue you guys find with the d-pad, actually, now I have more control of C. Falcon this way. The other day I played using a GC control, OMG, i had a lot of problem, like I just acostumed myself to the wiimote style, jumping was my biggest problem, I rofled so hard my bro though i'd gonne crazy, xD
Also, a 2 gig sdcard it's not much of a must, I only bought it cuz of the DLC for brawl (well, stages only, but you do understand right???). I can always store the info on my lap and download more, like VC games, and just when I want to play a game, store it back from my lap to my sd and then plug it in of my Wii, that way, I get to have even more space than 2 gb
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4-09-2008 @ 1:26PM
Mike. H. said...
Currently, In the UK, the Wii is more expensive than the 360 (The arcade version anyway) but even the standard 360 is around £20 more expensive.
It wouldnt hurt Nintendo to drop the price a bit if they are trying to appeal to average consumer.
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4-09-2008 @ 2:02PM
Allen Frisch said...
I actually find the author's complaints about the Wii to be as legit as his beef with the other consoles. Even so, none of those qualities kept me from buying either the Wii or the Xbox 360. And the only real reason I'm still holding out on the PS3 is that I'm waiting for one more price drop to bring it into the realm of economic feasability.
Nevertheless, I've come up with one thing Chad didn't mention in his article which I think is worth noting for people who are trying to decide which modern console to purchase. Even though new Wii games are $10 less than new PS3 and 360 games, used copies of most Wii (and DS) games cost considerably more than the competition. I normally wait a few months after a game has been released before I make my purchase of a used copy. And incidentally, I am nobody's fanboy and have bought my fair share of games for both systems over the past couple of years. In the long run, I've found my total Cost-to-Own the Wii has been significantly higher than the 360. I'd be interested to know if other readers' experiences have been similar.
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4-09-2008 @ 10:52PM
SoshiKitai said...
Hmm... The Xbox 360 IS a lot cheaper in my opinion.
The length and replay value of many games on the 360 easily pays for its price... but most of my Wii games NEED FRIENDS OVER, so the replay value solo is rather low... I'm constantly wanting to buy more Wii games because of how short some games were. (Mind you, most of 'em mostly depend on extra players to make it last longer, but you can't beg for friends and family to come over every day)
...not only that, but I actually am the main provider for my friends and family's Wii's... seeing that it's so popular, I actually not only have to be the recommender of games for them, I also have to be the PURCHASER of many games, to make the experience great.
...I also had to buy all the Wiimotes, all the Nunchuks, all the Classic Controllers, and you don't know how many Wii Points cards.
I'll say one thing though: Xbox 360 controllers... they can get REALLY expensive. But thankfully, the need of 4 controllers isn't that high for it. :P ... and the Xbox 360 Elite? KILLED ME MONEY-WISE! ... :) (I wanted the black one)
The Wii's good though. And most casual gamers WOULD spend all that money for fun... I mean, how much do they spend on purses and such everyday? ...they're definitely willing to cash out. (I'm just the main provider since I know all the best places to buy my Wii stuff)
And er... 1 GB SD card is all any Wii owner needs. 2 GBs are really just a luxury.
The Wii is really cheap for casual gamers, they've seen worse. :D
Nintendo does need to work on their Online, but it's pretty good for being FREE.
4-09-2008 @ 2:07PM
Unbreakable_idea said...
Well, I didn't own a Gamecube previously, but I did own a PS2 with plenty of dualshock 2 controllers, so I just bought ps2 to gamecube controller adapters at about $4.00 a piece shipped off of ebay, and they are my controller of choice for Brawl (they work flawless in place of gamecube controllers with any game that doesn't require the long pressure sensitive input of the gamecube shoulder buttons, meaning that they work great on Brawl and 95% of gamecube games). The only game I own that don't work 100% for is Star Wars: Rogue leader because of those shoulder buttons. For that I bought a second-hand Gamecube remote for a whopping $7 and a knockoff gamecube memory card for about $5.
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4-09-2008 @ 2:58PM
David said...
My biggest complaint is that no matter HOW I calibrate or position my sensor bar, the hand is never as stable as I'd like to to be, and I have to shake the Wiimote every few minutes to keep it from spazzing out entirely.
Other than that.... WiFi takes FOREVER to connect for me - and I've got really fast internet with the router located about 15 feet away.
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4-09-2008 @ 10:54PM
SoshiKitai said...
Try the wireless sensor bar, it has an increased length for sensing. That usually rids of the freaking-out of the pointer.
4-09-2008 @ 3:07PM
rainking187 said...
"If these are the worst things we can find to complain about, Wii owners are doing okay."They aren't though. I've been primarily a Nintendo fan for years, but the Wii makes it really hard to continue. It's the controls that's the big problem. I don't necessarily have a problem with motion controls, but I've played a lot of Wii games and with the exception of Wii Sports I've yet to play a game where I thought the motion controls worked like they should. When I frequently have to wave my arms multiple times before the game realizes I'm even moving, there's a problem.
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4-09-2008 @ 10:55PM
SoshiKitai said...
That's blaming the games, not Nintendo itself really.
4-09-2008 @ 8:06PM
Nebinator said...
The online play is the wii's main problem
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4-09-2008 @ 8:14PM
HellsHammer said...
All of these issues seem insanely petty in comparison to real issues that other consoles are having, like red ring of death or less than amazing sales numbers.
Just a thought.
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4-10-2008 @ 8:21AM
Allen Frisch said...
Nintendo should do a better job of promoting the Classic Controller. It works beautifully for Brawl. My nephew and his dad HAD to have one as soon as they'd played for 30 seconds using mine. A slightly more ergonomic version WOULD be a plus though.
Speaking of controls... Does anyone else think that over the long haul Nintendo may have slipped up by making the Wiimote/Nunchuck the primary input for the Wii? It simply ISN'T the best controller for most games--Brawl being the latest and most apparent. Obviously there ARE a few games that take wonderful advantage of the motion controls and wouldn't be any fun with a traditional controller, but still...
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4-10-2008 @ 8:24PM
Rob said...
just something to think about.... you still need to buy 4 controllers to play any 4 player game on xbox or playstation. except the controllers cost the same about, and the system costs more.
so the wii is cheaper by the same amount as the console price itself.
it's called addition and subtraction, really, first grade math
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