While running around Santa Monica a resident Dtoid editor scooped me on a strange coffee table gaming accessory that popped up at the event: The Wii Party Station. The uncoventional product has been met with a fair share of curiosity and disgust, so we took a moment to speak with Nyko to find out where they were going with this. As evidenced in this photo we crept up and spontaneously stress tested it (causing one guy to nearly choke on his salsa). After all, nobody parties like Dtoid ... well, except maybe CliffyB who just threatened to drink us under the table.
The first thing you need to know is that *this isn't an actual product ... yet*, it was a first-build prototype to get journalists at E3 talking about it, and that we did. Should it do more than neatly store Wiimotes ... like charge them? Should it store chips and salsa? Store game disks? Extend arms to neatly prop up a pizza dish? Keep food warm? Dispense robot-themed condoms?
Here's what the abridged version of what product manager had to say about it...
"We realize this is a risky product to go to market with, so we built the concept to see what people thought about it. It has a scoreboard to track who's winning across different games played, it has four removable coozis to keep drinks cool, a cooling fan, nunchuk and Wiimote storage, and a removable chip and salsa tray. New kinds of gamers are buying Wiis and at an MSRP of $20-$25 this might be attractive."
There's really no reference point, so the entire thing is a puzzling proposition. It was huge, well built, and the price was right. But if I wasn't at E3... would I really want it? I stood there and dissected it for a bit. I doubt I'd use the fan. The glowing light on the tray was genius. Not sure about the scoreboard but I know my dad would like and easily understand that concept. Overall I thought the idea was wacky and intriguing, but I had reservations. I wanted it to do more somehow.
First, this couldn't feed a Wii party at my place. I thought that I could probably single handedly go to town on the serving of chips and salsa on my own in a matter of seconds, so the food tray was definitely not big enough to support four hungry bastards of my nerdy stature. Maybe it should fit the standard salsa container as is somehow. Maybe a needle directly into my veins.
I also wondered if it could help me not get up as often when I'm on the sofa. Could it accommodate a six pack of Coronas? Did I really think about it being filled with kitty litter so we could use it as a living room urinal? (What's wrong with me?!!) Could it do something if it had wireless functionality, like randomly take photos of the gathering and upload them to Destructoid's community blogs automatically? Hell yeah, I'll take 22 million of them!
On one hand, I could defintely see them piled up neatly at Walmart getting hauled away by moms by the truckload, but we saw some repulsive comments earlier from the hardcore that makes me wonder if the market wants gaming and snacking in the same accessory. Nevertheless, I promised Nyko that we'd let the community chip in some ideas and we will be forwarding on the best suggestions to their team.
What would you do to make this ideal for the way you and your friends party with the Wii ... and if they build it, would you buy it?
Contest:
10:02 PM on 07.22.2007
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I want pizza now. Thanks a lot...
If Nyko can overcome the food-storage and potential remote-destroying problems that are inherent with a product like this, I might drop some change on one.
And thats when my game of Smash Bros will begin to truly shine.
Unless of course it could keep my beer cold, in which case I'd buy OVERRRRRRRRRRRRRR 9000000000000000000000000000000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IT"S OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND!
You must watch
Oh and instead of the food tray, it should be a combination scale and drug dispenser. You know... to distribute prescription drugs or measure out precise lines to snort off of dead hookers asses.
What is this product's objectives? From what I can tell it has 3 functions:
[list=][*]provide a place to store wiimotes
[*]provide a place to store snack food and drinks
[*]provide a method of keeping score, separate from the games themselves.[/list]
Does the intended customer and user base have any actual need for a product that performs ALL of these functions? (some of which are ill suited for the same product - messy fingers + white gloss = ew)
Really, they should consider making a recharger unit for wiimotes combined with a DVD case rack, perhaps with that scoreboard thing, but I don't see any real use for that. A space for nun-chucks was a nice touch, too.
Perhaps release a pack of white "Wii" themed stubby holders bundled with those plastic Wiimote skins. I'd probably get that, if the designs were good enough.
...I think my liver has the problem.
lol i love that bit.
newho, after readin this article i can see how this could become a awesome accessory. but theres a thin line between awesome and, well, not awesome.
I personally agree with the above comment made before that if you abandon the whole food idea and instead focus on allowing somewhere around 6-10 Wii games+cases to be put into the device for easy storage, I might get it. Its not that I don't have the ability to store it all elsewhere its just about buying a fairly cheap product to help make everything look cleaner.
I also disagree with some of the posts about the charger. They would have to sell the charger pieces either separate or together which would be expensive. I would rather just have it hold my Wii-motes. I already have rechargeable AA's that will fully re-charge in 15 minutes or less so I really don't want to have to invest in some sort of proprietary recharge station. Now if they can find a way to charge any old rechargeable batteries through the expansion port on the wiimote that is another story entirely.
I'm also kind of on the fence about the drinks. I think its cool but if those covers are just cheap little covers like the foam ones I have seen before (they don't really look foam though) people have been claiming your drink stays cooler longer in those, but at least for me unless I cool the cover with the drink, the cover seems to heat-up the drink faster.
The score board is pretty much useless for me and my friends; we never really care about overall score from game to game. Some people may get into it, but the same function could be easily managed with a pen and paper.
I like the idea of the remote holders, and it's a nice, compact little package. This is the kind of thing your aunt would get you because she doesn't really know you very well, other than you like video games. $20 is a good price for this sort of thing.