Microsoft: Wii is for Kids

28 Mar

Posted by Gibran Nawaz as Articles, Wii, Xbox 360

In a New York Times article, John Rodman, Xbox group product manager, said the following concerning the demographic of the Wii.

“We don’t feel like the Wii customer and the Xbox customer are the same thing,” he said. “We think that as soon as the Wii customer turns 14 they want something else.”

This sounds like something I read off of a fanboy forum.

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Tags: Articles, Wii, Xbox 360

19 Responses

Zac

March 28th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
1

14? I know personally that the said age isn’t true.

No age can be put on fun, whatever platform it’s on.
Josh B.

March 28th, 2007 at 11:07 pm
2

I’m 24, I bought a Wii because I bought into what Nintendo said they were trying to push. I don’t play it anymore as there are zero good games apart from WiiSports and Zelda and for what you get the rest of the games are waaay over priced. I’m going to buy and Xbox360 in a few months as there are heaps of great titles coming out now.
Zac

March 28th, 2007 at 11:53 pm
3

More Wiill come out. Metroid Prime 3 isn’t too far away, they’ve been working on a new Zelda only for Wii for over a year now, and there’s some kool stuff like Super Smash Bros: Brawl and Battalion Wars 2. But that’s all 1st party, I haven’t really looked into the 3rd party stuff.
ally

March 29th, 2007 at 2:27 am
4

im 13 and i play my wii every day and my friend is 14 and he plays it every day. This is a load of bull because what child under 14 is going to be allowed to play manhunt 2 when it comes out on the wii.

it is suffering the same problem the 360 had when it came out. everybody rushed their games out and now there is a game drought. just wait a few more months for the games to come out. and hey why not but a ds with all the money you saved and get some ds games
Zac

March 29th, 2007 at 2:34 am
5

The DS is a great console.
Monarky

March 29th, 2007 at 5:18 am
6

What little kid is going to understand the storyline of Zelda??? That’s a very ignorant statement by M$ and is going to turn around and bite them! Zelda is every bit as complicated and abstract as Final Fantasy games!

And “ally” is right if they call Manhunt 2 a kid’s game they are very dumb and blind!
tidles

March 29th, 2007 at 7:12 am
7

I have a Wii but one thing is for sure… its an exceptional controller bolted on to a mediocre console
Zac

March 29th, 2007 at 10:02 am
8

We’ve yet to see what the console can do.
Vance

March 29th, 2007 at 10:15 am
9

O rly? Apparently John Rodman doesn’t read the daily news.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/23/nintendos-wii-a-hit-with-the-geriatric-set/
Michael

March 29th, 2007 at 11:37 am
10

I cannot tell you how many Wii i’ve seen in the dorm rooms and apartments of friends still in or recently graduated from college (which means an age range for me personally of 18-28). That excludes the few high schoolers I know with Wiis. Honestly, Wii gets to be plain old fun (in a new way), while still holding back some of its greatest secrets. Honestly, I’d take that over graphics. Out of every person I know (and people I know of), I can probably count on one hand the people with fantastic tvs that will take advantage of these “spectacular” graphics we see with PS3 and 360. I’d go for one of these systems…down the line. But honestly when I play video games I want crazy fun over graphics. Some of the best games out there are “graphically inferior” games. Hell, ever play the old text-based games. Those are crazy fun. Everyone wants things to be prettier (and thus reduce teh usage of your imagination.) Honestly, the Wii let’s you immerse yourself further into these games and play with imagination.

How many of you used to pretend to have a sword in your hand. With Wii, you still pretend, but it lets you immerse yourself further. If anything, it’ll help develop imaginations more than moving your thumbs back and forth. Hell, maybe we’ll even see some childhood obesity be cut down. (And no, I don’t believe video games are the cause of childhood obesity, or that every obese kid plays video games.) Sorry for the rant.
Evander

March 29th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
11

I remember trying to move my controller to make Mario jump farther or higher. I remember being frustrated because I couldn’t really control how high or far he jumped. Now you can control that, which I find amazing. WiiSports for example knows how hard or soft you’re hitting or throwing, ect. It gives a player a lot more control and is the next step to virtual reality. I can’t wait to see how MK: Armageddon plays on the Wii, it looks like it will be a lot of fun.
Javier

March 29th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
12

Well, maybe is time to let the olders talk. I gotta say I partially agree with all comments, even the one from John Rodman. I have always been loyal to Nintendo since I was a little child (I remember me shooting to ducks), and I do not regret it. Although I must say that sometimes I wish Nintendo does not focus only on kids so often, it has not been fun to see other consoles having great games we were not able to see in Nintendo’s consoles; I am not denying that most of those kid’s games have been great.

This time Wii did not let us down, the gameplay is amazing as everybody have said and playing with the Wiimote gives you finally the sensation we were always dreaming, the feeling you are actually there (playing FPS in the Wii is fantastic).

Of course we all are sure that great things will be coming for all next generation consoles, we will get surely more options to play with motion sensors, maybe we will be getting us dressed with a whole motion sensors suit to experience a new way to play, I hope then we do not forget which console was brave enough to begin with it.

But let us not loose track, in 2007 only Wii is giving us the terrific feeling like if we were really shooting, throwing, hitting, etc… all this using your own motion. It is hard not to agree with the most of you who have said it, this is totally over graphics. Everybody knows that, even those married with Xbox360 and PS3 (of course they will not admit it; but I do not blame them, they have great games and awesome graphics).

But also, I am sure that in this moment, with the current available games, we all Wii owners would like to see a little more effort from Nintendo and Wii developers. Even though I am not for Graphics, I believe more graphics power on the Wii wouldn’t had damaged Nintendo at all.

Definitely, Wii is a great console. Wii is giving me, my family and friends great game moments. I also have had opportunity to play X360 and PS3, both great consoles; but they still do not make me think Wii is not a challenged console.

I am really looking forward for the new Wii games (Resident Evil perhaps?), because right now only a few have been great; of course I am including Zelda, but I count this game more like an GC game than a Wii game (I am sure Zelda for the Wii will be the best ever). But why only Zelda, hopefully they really give us more amazing games.

BTW, I am 36 and my friends and family goes from 6 to 40, all of them are fascinated with Wii, even some of them are owners of X360 and PS3, and now they do not find that fun shooting only using your thumbs.

I am glad to see that on this console war nobody lost, everybody got what they wanted. Isn’t that great?
Zac

March 29th, 2007 at 9:02 pm
13

Nice post Javier.
Monarky

March 30th, 2007 at 1:44 am
14

Thanks for the great post Javier!

Nobody needs to regret buying any console, no matter which one it is! All three deserve a place in our Homes! But it seems that the Wii for some reason finds the closest place to our hearts!

I just wish everybody had the money to own them all this generation. No monopolies is good for us and we all benefit from the competition that pushes new fresh ideas to advance our gaming experience!
Zac

March 30th, 2007 at 1:49 am
15

If I had enough money, I’d probably get all 3 consoles. But as it is, the Wii is the cheapest and seems to deliver the most bang for less.
Keil Joy

April 6th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
16

sorry. Wii don’t play that shit!!

I can’t wait til later this year when you’re all saying, “Wii sold it to buy a PS3!”
Zac

April 7th, 2007 at 6:57 am
17

But… Why would we?
sportsguy8

April 7th, 2007 at 8:10 am
18

Yeah, why would we? Like Zac said, it’s cheap and it delivers a bang.
Javier

April 8th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
19

That was deep…

Actually, Wii did not understand your babbling.

But it would be interesting to see if you are able to explain yourself…