As of Mar. 31, 2015, the Wii sold 101.52 million consoles worldwide. Everyone had one, so it’s not hard to find a Wii. On Jan. 31, 2010 the Wii became Nintendo’s best-selling home console. In 2011 Nintendo had the most successful Black Friday; 500,000 units of the console were sold on Black Friday.
But would it be worth buying a Wii right now?
Why was the Wii so successful?
It was relatively affordable at its original price of $250, which was not a bad price. Eventually it received a $50 discount and was often bundled with a game or two. Obviously you can get Wii Sports with the console, but you could also get a copy of New Super Mario Bros, a good game.
What do I think about the controllers?
The Wiimote is shaped like a thin chocolate bar. The design choice makes sense considering you want to grip the remote with one hand and swing the remote around. The design, however, also led to interesting button placements.
On the top left is the power button. Underneath the power button is the D-pad. Underneath the D-pad was the select, start, and home button with a speaker underneath all those buttons. On the back lies the B button. Then finally, on the bottom, you have the one and two buttons.
The Nunchuk, the other common controller, had an analog stick and two buttons.
The controllers were not bad, but for certain games, it did take a while to get used to them. In Metroid Other M, the player had to swap between using the controller horizontally and vertically. I’m generally used to the A and B buttons being my action buttons; however, using the controller vertically meant that the one and two buttons were my action buttons.
The Wiimote was also somewhat inaccurate, probably due to the limitations of the sensor bar.
The classic controller offers a more conventional and normal way to play Wii games. Plus, you could use a GameCube controller for some Wii games.
What were the games on the Wii like?
The games on the Wii are great. While I have not played every single game, here are some of my favorite/games I enjoyed:
- Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (fantastic game)
- Super Smash Bros Brawl
- Metroid Other M (It’s not the best for a Metroid game, however, I still enjoyed the game at points)
- Kirby’s Epic Yarn
- Super Mario Galaxy
- Sonic Colors
- Mario Kart Wii
- New Super Mario Bros.
- Mario Super Sluggers
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Should you buy a Wii?
I personally think you should buy a Wii. Having access to GameCube games is huge considering there are so little options to play them. And since everyone had a Wii, thus, finding one is extremely easy: you can find them for about ~$20, sometimes even less.
There is something that bothers me about the Wii, however. The controllers require two AA batteries. This will cost extra money and can be annoying to deal with. However, considering how cheap the Wii is and, how hard it is to access the Wii and GameCube library; I would recommend purchasing one. While it is dated compared to modern consoles, this should not bother you considering how cheap the system is.
What did you enjoy about the Wii? Do you think that it’s worth purchasing one?
