It seems that some hardcore gamers aren’t too happy with Nintendo’s latest offering the Wii. Some of this is due to the system being less powerful than its two competitors systems. The fact that it requires 12 digit friend codes to connect with other players online has been another common complaint. The systems lack of horse power has kept game makers away from it to a certain extent so this leads to their being less block buster titles for the system. All of this is well known and has been debated all over the internet and yet hardcore gamers miss one simple fact time and time again. The Wii wasn’t designed solely for the snarky cynical gamer crowd.


This is also a well known fact as Nintendo stated from pretty much day one that they wanted to broaden their demographic with this system. You need look no further than the advertising for the Wii. Most of the T.V. ads show whole families playing the damn thing, from Mom and Dad to the kids and even grandma gets in on the act. It was a smart move on Nintendo’s part as there was no way they could compete with the monster systems that Sony and Microsoft had produced and they saw ruin in that route so they marketed more towards kids and families. It seems to be working as their keeping just ahead of the Xbox360 in sales and their just slaughtering Sony. In purely scientific terms this means their selling an ass load of Wii’s. If the internet griping is any indication there aren’t as many of them going to hardcore gamers as say the 360 or PS3.


All of this has seemed to leave some of Nintendo’s most ardent defenders feeling betrayed. You know them, the ones who have owned and loved every previous Nintendo system. Now they spend their time alternating between shitting on the Wii every chance they get and professing as much virtual love as possible to the system they bought instead. Makes you wonder how much of this hate is drawn from these gamer’s childhood memories of days they shared with their SNES or GB’s while hidden in a fort made out of couch cushions. It’s more probable than most people think. A good chunk of the current generation of gamers cut their teeth on the big N’s consoles and it’s hard to come to terms with the realization that they’ve out grown their childhood friend’s idea of fun. Sure the goodness of titles like Mario Galaxy have kept some of this very jaded group on board but it’s a safe bet that many more jumped ship even if they wont admit it. Even more won’t admit to their Nintendo hate being based on the age old it’s cool to hate them theory.


Some people are voicing the opinion that Wii fad will soon end and the sales numbers will lag. More than likely if sales do see a decline a price drop on the system will pick them right back up again as Nintendo isn’t run by stupid people. Even if Wii numbers drop off Nintendo has done exactly what they set out to do. By broadening their demographic beyond the 15 to 30 year old range they have ensured that each console after the Wii will survive and flourish no matter how much anti fan boy’s slag them. They have found a niche market that so many companies strive for. There isn’t a damn thing wrong with that. It’s ruffled some feathers on the Hardcore gamer front but in the end Nintendo has hit one out of the park with the Wii no matter what the haters may say.