Black Or White – Which Wii Do You Want?
It’s probably reasonable to suggest that all of the big three games consoles – Sony’s PS3, the Microsoft Xbox and the Nintendo Wii – all have their own strong points. Different gamers will have their own personal favourites and it’s pretty much a waste of time to try to persuade them that one of the other consoles is any better.
A lot of households today will have more than one, and very possibly all three, games consoles. Not to mention the various mobile consoles like the Sony PSP and the Nintendo DS. Sometimes games consoles will also double up as DVD or blu-ray disc players.
However, ignoring the almost pointless discussion regarding which console is “best”, it’s probably reasonable to suggest that the Nintendo Wii is the most sociable of the three available consoles. Microsoft’s Xbox and the Sony PS3 will often be found in teenager’s bedrooms – the Wii, on the other hand, is quite often found in the family living room. The Wii has less processing power than the other two consoles and has much simpler graphics – more cartoon like in general. Yet it is the Wii that is often found connected to the big screen TV in the living room.
One important factor in this is the fact that the Wii’s motion sensitive controller means that, even though the graphics may be simpler, it’s more difficult to follow the action on a small screen TV when you’re jumping around all over the place. The other thing is that it’s easier and more intuitive to pick up how to play games on the Wii. It’s so easy that even adults can manage it – so it’s a lot easier for all the family members to take part in the fun.
One of the consequences of all that jumping about when playing Wii games is that more space is required to play the Wii than the other consoles. This also makes the living room a more attractive choice than the typical teenage bedroom, where you would be tripping over discarded clothes, half eaten pizzas and empty juice bottles. The physical side of playing games on the Wii is a good thing. It means that there’s a certain amount of exercise involved when playing Wii games. On the other hand, you do need to take it easy at first. It’s very easy to wake up with a stiff arm or sore legs after your first evening of playing Wii Sports.
The tendency for families to have their Wii console in the living room could go some way to explaining the success of the black Wii. Nintendo went to the dark side and released a black Wii console in Japan in the summer of 2009. It went on sale in Europe in time for Christmas 2009. It proved to be a very popular choice with many gamers – probably because it matches the TV, the DVD player, the cable box etc. – better than the white version.
