The Problem Nobody Wants To Admit About Nintendo

Downhill Jam

Things started to get weird for Nintendo with the release of the Wii in 2006.

The system, as we know all too well at this point, released with standard definition visuals which were only marginally better than those found on its predecessor. At the point of Wii's release, Microsoft's Xbox 360 console had already been available in stores for a while, and gamers everywhere were able to enjoy games like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Forza Motorsport 3 in glorious HD. Releasing around the same time as Wii, Sony's PlayStation 3 would also output stunning HD graphics, rendering Nintendo's decision to stick with last-gen technology curious, to say the least.

But it wasn't the visuals which marked Wii out from the crowd, oh no... That'll be the motion controls.

More than enough column inches have been dedicated to the description and denouncement of Wii's motion control tech over the years, so there will be no deep-dive here. Suffice it to say, however, that this offering from Nintendo both shocked and fascinated gamers and critics alike, and definitively marked the beginning of a new era for the Japanese giant.

The Wii was a massive, massive success, and stands to this day as one of the best selling consoles of all time. Motion controls and SD graphics notwithstanding, the Wii was home to two of the best Mario games of all time in Galaxy and Galaxy 2, the best version of Resident Evil 4 to this day, and two very good Zelda titles in Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, not to mention new entries in the Metroid and Animal Crossing franchises. The system was a true smash (get it?), but in the minds of millions of gamers it was nothing more than a gimmick, a toy that Grandma and little Timmy can play with on Christmas Day, and was not a real, proper, serious gaming machine.

Nintendo's course was set, however, and they would not deviate from their chosen path.