the problem with this...
is the wii really that immersive?
because I feel like it breaks the fourth wall CONSTANTLY...
I don't like having that forth wall broken, only as a joke, and only if it helps the story... which is probably never except in the case of maybe psycho mantis when you were a kid and were like HOLY SHIT HOW DOES HE KNOW I PLAYED SYMPHONY OF THE NIGHT?!
I'll agree that ps3 and 360 are just better ps2's and xbox's but the wii is in such a new direction that it kind of turns me off...
good post btw king... I expected nothing less from you.

also spore will be godlike.

The question is not what defines "next-gen", it's what defines "current gen".

Also, 3vbo, cereally, you have everyone else on the site in your friends list but me. That makes me a sad panda.

I want Will Wright to work his mojo on the Wii, you just know he could melt the thing with his mind.

@blehman

I'm not on his list either :(

HaHa, you said rectified.

Actually, I like Nintendo's own labelling: the Wii is new-gen, the 360 and PS3 are next-gen.

@MaxVest - I can only handle one Wiisucks

Umm I can understand his reasoning about next gen.. Even though I feel that people have not really tapped that certain game that blows the hinges off the Wii.. I don't mean graphic wise either becuase anyone can catch up in that department with ease.

I want a game where you know that it could not be done with just pushing buttons.. Where Eternal Darkness Sanity meter fucks up teh motion sensor to no end.

Maybe we will see how this turns out next gen if the Wii2 can match the graphics of its peers and create more fun with motion controls..

I understand where he's coming from but I think it's mostly based on his preferences as a PC gamer. For some reason, I don't see Will Wright as the kind of guy who plays God of War or Grand Theft Auto or some other console centric type game. I imagine he plays games mostly like the ones he makes which would be quirky PC centric type games. In such a case there isn't anything on consoles that interest him that he can't get on the PC, but the Wii on the other hand introduces this new input device that isn't available on PC and thus he is more excited about the possibilites of that.

But who knows? Maybe Will plays God of War all the time which would totally throw off my theory.

@ BS3 your avatar pic scares the bejebus out of me..

It really hurts my head when people debate if something is "arbitrary term without proper definition."

First, the console, is it next-gen? Sure it is, the technology has improved, regardless if it has dramatically improved, but the slimmer PS2 is a next generation of regular PS2. Thusly the next iteration is the so called next-gen.

Second, the software, if the console is deemed by set rules to be this dubious "next-gen" then is all the software related to the console automatically set the status of next-gen? If Wii is now decided worthy of the next-gen title then what about virtual console? The software is running on the mighty next-gen hardware, surely it is next-gen too.

Third, the user, think about cell phones. I have a 3G phone, I read my email and use various internet applications with it. That is the next generation, but only when I use it. My grandma has a 3G phone too, but she doesn't even know how to use the added usability features of her phone. So does it still take my grannie to the magical next-generation ride of the wireless communication and evolution that is the 3G?

So, in conclusion, we can not debate if something is next-gen before we set the rules of what being next-gen is. It's pointless. And we all have to understand that the console, the software and the user have all equally important roles ot play in this definition. Without one there is no other.

If Will Wright thinks that Wii is the definite next-gen console, then maybe we should ask him what his definition is for the term, then we would have a set base of rules, probably incomplete rules since Will doesn't seem to care about the user experience or the software, only the console functionality. But at least we would have a dictionary definition of the term next-gen that we could use to debate whether one is that or not.

@Kosmo: king3vbo said: "So the question you have to ask is "What defines next-gen?" Is it new fancier graphics and processing power, or is it innovation in other things, such as control or immersion?"

Looks like an attempt to help determine the definition through discussion. And it didn't even need "in conclusion".

@MaxVest: I know, I read what he posted.

Maybe I should have written "My 2 cents" to the end of my post to indicate that I was only presenting my view, not to cancel anyone else. You know, so that people would have understood that it was only my own view.

Dear Kosmo,

You: ...in conclusion, we can not debate if something is next-gen before we set the rules of what being next-gen is.

king3vbo: "What defines next-gen?"

It just seemed a bit much if all you were saying is, "I support your efforts." Usually we do that with a /agree.

@Kosmo: I apologize for making sport of you; your writing style reminded me of someone I once knew who was very enamored with debate club language, and whom I enjoyed tweaking immensely.

Such reveries on those halcyon days of yore are all I have to sustain me in my dotage, so I pray you to suffer a feeble old man his foibles and imperfections.

Hey! I apologized already, slowpost!

@MaxVest: Thanks, no hard feelings, eh?

will wright plays mario.... hes said it before....

You guys misinterpreted his point... "not that the graphics are more powerful, but that it hits a completely different demographic". It's not the new control, it's that the Wii is introducing people to games who normally would never touch them.

All I am going to say is that Will Wright is a strange man.