Wii: The Pixar of Consoles
Friday, 09 May 2008. Gaming.
After taking Mario Kart Wii round to my friend Gary's for a game or two, I was rather put out when he said, "yes its fun, but the graphics are shit". He then put on Gran Turismo on the PS3 and I had to concede that yes the graphics did look much better.
As I mentioned in my initial review of the Nintendo Wii, compared to the other seventh generation consoles, the Xbox and Playstation boast some seriously impressive graphics hardware, Blue-ray and/or HD-DVD playback. But, simply put, it makes no difference how good the graphics are, when you are playing a game, you want fun, and entertainment and simply put: Nintendo make the best games.
Now I fully agree that there are many bad games for the Wii, recently joystiq.com reported that only 11% of Wii games score above 80%. This may well be true, but consider that the games made by Nintendo themselves are generally works of creative genius.
When you watch a movie like Pixar's Finding Nemo, the technical quality of the animation, the subtle light reflecting underwater or the intricate details of the corral and plant life, are not the first thing you mention when considering the film. "What great characters, what a fantastic plot, the jokes were so funny". The visuals take second place, which is strange because Pixar undeniably puts Dreamworks animation quality to shame in terms to technical wizardry, but sensibly Pixar makes sure that the plot comes before the pictures;
"Whether it is generated by hand or by computer, the first goal of the animator is to entertain. The animator must have two things: a clear concept of exactly what will entertain the audience; and the tools and skills to put those ideas across clearly. Tools, in the sense of hardware and software, are simply not enough." John Lasseter
Thus we return to the Nintendo Wii. Yes the graphical power of the box is weak, the general consensus I could find, was that the Wii is about 2.5 times the power of the Nintendo GameCube.
An animated film with a poor plot but amazing visuals, won't save the film from being boring and forgettable. Yet a strong plot will place the film firmly in the hearts of the viewer, with or without the strong graphics. I've never seen good graphics turn a crappy game into a good one, just as I've never seen bad graphics turn a great game into a bad one.
A quick look at the IGN Top 100 Games will show that graphics do not make a classic game. Nintendo games take 4 of the top 5 positions, with Super Mario Bros, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Tetris, and Super Mario 64. I've been playing Mario Karts, Super Mario Galaxy and I'm about to get cracking on Zelda: Twilight Princess all of which I am sure will take a special place in my heat.
Hopefully, we can put the argument to rest. Yes the Wii has less power than the competitors, but more than two decades on neither Microsoft or Sony have anything that comes close to the little moustacheod Italian plumber we know and love as, Mario.
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