Recently, something inside me just kind of clicked with the Wii, I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but I've grown a newfound love for the Wii. I never hated the system but always found it to be the most disappointing and my least favorite Nintendo console. It's still not my favorite but I enjoy it much more now than I ever while it was current, and I can finally admit it's a much better console than I ever gave it credit for.
Travel back in time to 2006, when it was known as the Revolution, then the Wii name was revealed before it launched in November. I never anticipated any other console's release as much as the Wii's, as I was coming from the GameCube, I felt that Nintendo consoles just kept getting better and better. Virtual Console was announced, which was a new feature at the time and I was ridiculously excited for that so I could buy all my favorite classics as well as games I never had the chance to play before. I thought the prospect of motion controls was interesting but I wasn't sure how I would like them, but either way I was extremely excited for the console leading up to its release. Unfortunately I didn't preorder one and I remember it was impossible to find one in stores for a long time, but I got lucky the day after Christmas 2006, I just walked into Best Buy right as they opened and they just got a small shipment in and I bought my Wii along with Twilight Princess and Excite Truck.
I played the hell out of Wii Sports, Twilight Princess, and Excite Truck for the following weeks, and picked up WarioWare: Smooth Moves shortly after in January 2007. Then I pretty much hit a wall. My excitement for the system went from 60 to 0 in a few short weeks. I quickly grew bored of the console and went back to playing my old consoles. The Virtual Console released games at a snail's pace and the retail games that were coming out barely interested me. In the first year of the console's life I picked up maybe 5 games total but had no desire to keep playing them. Even after Super Mario Galaxy came out a year after the console's launch I began to wonder why we really needed motion controls at all, as no game really convinced me they were better than traditional controls. Seemingly every big release that came out I just grew less and less interested in the console. Super Mario Galaxy was good the first time around but I felt it lacked the charm of Super Mario 64 and Sunshine, Mario Kart Wii was disappointing compared to past entries, and somehow Super Smash Bros. Brawl paled in comparison to Melee despite having more options and a bigger roster. It was at that point that I deemed the Wii to be, by far, my least favorite console - ever. That's when I gave in to buying a PlayStation 3 and began enjoying that far more than my Wii. As my interest and excitement skyrocketed for PS3, I reached the point of debating whether I wanted to even keep my Wii at all. This would be the first time I even contemplated selling a Nintendo system before it's life was over. I ultimately decided it was better to just hold onto it anyway just in case one or two games I really want come out.
In 2010 my interest in the Wii was slightly renewed with the fantastic games Super Mario Galaxy 2, Donkey Kong Country Returns and Kirby's Epic Yarn. I enjoyed Super Mario Galaxy but I found the sequel to be a bit better. Donkey Kong Country is a series I sorely missed and its return on the Wii was glorious and easily became one of my favorite games on the system. Kirby's Epic Yarn was a real surprise hit with me, as I wasn't even going to get it at first, but then I read a lot of positive reviews and listened to some of its soundtrack and I was completely sold on it. I'm glad I got it since it became my all-time favorite Wii game and one of my favorite games on any console. Shortly after I finished those 3 games however my interest plummeted again and I realized I was pretty much done with the Wii.
Moving along to the months leading up to the Wii U's release, I was very hesitant to jump on board to Nintendo's next system since I expected to just be disappointed again like I was with the Wii, so I avoided being too hyped. I deteremined the best days of Nintendo were behind me and it wasn't until a few weeks after Wii U's release that I decided I'll get a Wii U anyway just because of the prospect that there will be a handful of must-have titles for it. Well, my disappointment did continue to Wii U unfortunately. This disappointment persists even now, as Wii U is easily my most disappointing Nintendo console. It's been out 3 years and I really haven't touched it a whole lot, despite having a handful of great games. Unlike what I did with the Wii, I actively seek out great Wii U games but rarely find games that really grasp me.
So, we're nearly 3 years in with the Wii U and I've been largely disappointed. So what made me give the Wii a second chance? Well, for starters, I had bought Skyward Sword on its release day in 2011 but didn't actually play it until Dec 2014. Overall I really disliked the game (story and design-wise) but the combat controls really proved to me that motion controls could be an excellent addition to a game when used correctly. It was the first time in the history of the Wii that I felt that the motion controls actually added something to the game rather than just being a gimmicky nuisance. Now I'm hearing rumors of NX being digital-only, my realization that Wii U is my least favorite and most disappointing console Nintendo has put out, and me even questioning whether or not I'll ever buy another new console. Somehow this led me to seek out affordable games that are currently out, as I'm most likely just going to fill out my collections with the consoles I have rather than move on to the next generation. While researching games for the Wii, I realized there are a LOT of potentially great games I missed out on.
As I said, I didn't really give Wii a fair enough chance during its lifetime since the gimmicky controller turned me off and the games I played really didn't live up to their hype in my opinion. In this last week, I've been replaying Super Mario Galaxy, Kirby's Epic Yarn, and Donkey Kong Country Returns and I've been having a real blast. Probably the most fun I've had with the Wii in the last 5 years. I'm now trying to look past the controller and be more open-minded about the games that were released for the system. Ignoring all the garbage shovelware titles (there are a LOT of those) there is still a pretty hefty list of games for the Wii that I'd like to play. I just discovered Fragile Dreams and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, two games I had no idea about but look like they could be some of my favorite games on the console. Taking another look at the Wii has opened my eyes to see what I was missing in these last 8 years or so. Along with the fact that Wii games are generally still extremely cheap and can easily be found online and in stores, I have been motivated to collect for the Wii (at least for now) and discover what made the console so great.
In conclusion, the Wii is still by no means my favorite console, and it still doesn't truly live up to the lofty expectations I had for it in the months leading up to its release. However it's far better than I ever gave it credit for, and in a way I feel like I've gained a new console, despite it being one that I've owned for nearly 9 years.
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