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Phil Spencer: "I could never design a console like the Wii"

Meelow

Meelow

Member
Oct 31, 2017
9,195
www.nintendoenthusiast.com

Phil Spencer admits he isn't brave enough to create a console like the Wii

Phil Spencer, the Head of Xbox, has gone on record in a documentary commending Nintendo for its efforts and its bravery in creating the Wii.
www.nintendoenthusiast.com www.nintendoenthusiast.com

"I remember seeing it and I'll tell you, I could have never designed the Wii… I don't have that in me. I don't know if I'm not brave enough or whatever as a platform holder now to go and do something as just completely different, and to be just so all-in on a new paradigm was just amazing to see."
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I agree, the Wii was such a risk and it turned out to be a huge success.
 
Toriko

Toriko

Banned
Dec 29, 2017
7,711
Thank God. IMO it is a terrible console.

Kudos to Nintendo for seeing success with it but I am happy no one else was brave enough.
 
Anustart

Anustart

9 Million Scovilles
Avenger
Nov 12, 2017
9,049
Wii was an amazing system. Some great new games and an absolutely stunning collection of virtual console games.
 
christocolus

christocolus

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,932
No lies detected. Nintendo is just so unique and they seem to take such huge risks which usually pay off.
 
texhnolyze

texhnolyze

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,163
Indonesia
The Wii, N64, DS/3DS, and now Switch. Nintendo has always been revolutionary with their hardwares. Sometimes they failed too (Gamecube, WiiU), but their risky attempts was still commendable.
 
AquaWateria

AquaWateria

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,533
One of the best consoles I ever experienced in my life.

It was just a completely different and magical experience. Wii sports was just different
 
SuperShadow271

SuperShadow271

Member
Oct 30, 2017
166
As much as I love all the game systems, I've never felt as much excitement and possibility around any other console. The Wii was really something special. And I was so lucky to be able to get one relatively close to launch. I love the Wii. Although I do admit I'm glad a traditional console like the Switch is around too
 
DecoReturns

DecoReturns

Member
Oct 27, 2017
22,003
I always like how nice and slick it looked set up.

small consoles rule. Too bad it was sometimes a bit noisy. Especially with smash lol
 
DarthWalden

DarthWalden

Prophet of Truth
The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
6,030
I hate what the Wii did for gaming as whole but holy shit if it wasn't some magical piece of tech when it released.

I remember waiting outside overnight on a cold ass evening at a best buy with my future wife to secure one, it really sucked but we met some cool people and it was a fun memory.
 
Zyrokai

Zyrokai

Member
Nov 1, 2017
4,250
Columbus, Ohio
Htown said:
eh i can see why it didn't take off

confusing name aside, in hindsight it just feels like a busted prototype of the Switch idea

heard the "wait, it's not portable?" question a lot on announcement
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It really does feel like a Switch prototype. This is exacerbated by the fact that it was basically Nintendo's HD-development-training platform so they could knock it out of the park with their next HD console, the Switch. And then port/improve the original games anyway lol
 
iswasdoes

iswasdoes

Member
Nov 13, 2017
3,084
Londinium
Toriko said:
Thank God. IMO it is a terrible console.

Kudos to Nintendo for seeing success with it but I am happy no one else was brave enough.
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terrible is such an exaggeration. It was underpowered vs competition sure. But it had great features like backward compatibility, a sexy form factor, some truly great games (TP, galaxy) and a huge raft of software you couldn't get anywhere else

also round a mates house and he's showing off his TV (LG something) and - the pointer has survived! Honestly I thought Nintendo had cracked the smart tv interface with that and seems they did. Plus the Wii interface predates iPhone yet is exactly the same approach in terms of discrete 'apps' so I feel like they were way ahead of their time with the OS.

miis - eh, I didn't care for them much. But Xbox ripped them off for their avatars and sure nuff my own switch icon is a mii character so again I feel Nintendo found a bit of magic there that has endured

motion controls - ok so this is the biggie. Motion controls are, in hindsight, not a feature to build a console around. But what we got with Wii was not only a glut of genuinely good motion based software (Wii sports, warioware, boom blox and those other novelty games) but we also got the foundations of how motion can integrate into a normal play style (re:4, Metroid) and I don't think we'd have some of those options today without the Wii.

tl:dr - the Wii was an awesome experiment that I'm so glad happened, and produced some of the best gaming experiences of my lifetime, so I'm super thankful it existed
 
Ghost of Jhoto

Ghost of Jhoto

Banned
Jul 20, 2020
1,314
Wii was a cool console in theory but all the games of the generation weren't on it excluding Mario Galaxy. I'm happy xbox and sony stick to a more traditional console design motto.
 
MistahS

MistahS

Prophet of Truth
The Fallen
Sep 2, 2018
3,734
I think it was during a Podcast Unlocked episode where he and Peter Moore were joking about how they were so focused on taking on the PS3 that they paid Nintendo no mind. And then the Wii sort of swept in and beat them both. 😂
 

Deleted member 85465

User-requested account closure
Banned
Nov 12, 2020
976
The wii is in a nostalgia pedestal to me, to the point that I have 3 wiis and 2 wiius.

It has an amazing library thanks in part to the virtual console and BC with gamecube games.

I have the weird notion that the wii mote plus nunchucks are the best controllers for first person shooters to the point that if nintendo released a wii controller adapter for the Switch I would buy 3 of them.

I remember buying skyward sword and skyrim at the same time and dropping skyrim (360) to play skyward sword a second time.

Good times.
 
Barbarossa

Barbarossa

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,271
I was potty training a new puppy and she almost chewed through that stupid Wii bar wire. That's all I have to say about the Wii, really.
 
Jawbreaker

Jawbreaker

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,411
New York City
The Wii was bold, brilliant, and unthinkable at the time. It's also probably my least favorite Nintendo system despite it giving birth to Mario Galaxy.
 
Galactic Specter

Galactic Specter

Member
Oct 28, 2017
5,798
Nintendo's blue ocean strategy was a good but risky play, they already lost much of the core video game audience to Playstation before the PS2 even came out and eventually Xbox came long and took another bite out of them.

Looking back on it, something so radically different like the Wii was the best possible option after how the Gamecube performed.
 
Jahranimo

Jahranimo

Community Resettler
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Oct 25, 2017
9,013
The Wii gave us No More Heroes 1 & 2, very grateful for that console.
 
RM8

RM8

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Oct 28, 2017
7,902
JP
It might be my favourite home console. People who genuinely think it was nothing but waggle and casual stuff have no idea what they're talking about.
 
Arthands

Arthands

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
8,039
Yah, thank god there's Nintendo who's there to push true innovation in this industry
 
DecoReturns

DecoReturns

Member
Oct 27, 2017
22,003
Jawbreaker said:
The Wii was bold, brilliant, and unthinkable at the time. It's also probably my least favorite Nintendo system despite it giving birth to Mario Galaxy.
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It's the Console where I have the least amount of games. 10 game was all I ever bought.

I liked the look and other aspects. But the games just weren't there for me.
 

eathdemon

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,681
Galactic Specter said:
Nintendo's blue ocean strategy was a good but risky play, they already lost much of the core video game audience to Playstation before the PS2 even came out and eventually Xbox came long and took another bite out of them.

Looking back on it, something so radically different like the Wii was the best possible option after how the Gamecube performed.
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and yet they tried to repeat with the wiiu and it failed, in the end the most core machine since the gamecube (the switch) brought them new success. the flaw with the blue ocean was smartphones became the defult for wii players.
 
Burt

Burt

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Member
Oct 28, 2017
8,154
Phil Spencer admits he isn't brave enough to create a console like the Wii
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https://www.nintendoenthusiast.com/
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turbobrick

turbobrick

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Oct 25, 2017
13,078
Phoenix, AZ
I hate motion controls and I still think the Wii is great.

It certainly was something crazy and different, and I agree I can't see the other gaming companies taking that gamble.
 
Nickgia

Nickgia

Member
Dec 30, 2017
2,264
Definitely my least favorite Nintendo console. Many of those e3's were frustrating to watch. But I'm glad that Nintendo was willing to go completely different from the rest of the competitors.
 
deep_dish

deep_dish

Member
Oct 25, 2017
941
Lightning in a bottle

The Nintendo of the aughts was so different than the Nintendo of today, the Wii was such a gamble. It paid off huge and really set the stage for what Nintendo is now.

Great console.
 
NinjaScooter

NinjaScooter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
54,149
I was out on the entire Wii generation, the waggle and SD visuals did nothing for me, but obviously it was 100% the correct pivot for Nintendo, and really helped them find their footing and position in the market as the company that marches to their own beat, and with the exception of the Wii U being a massive flop, its served them well in the 15+ years since.

The other end of that spectrum is I think the Gamecube, a console whose library I mostly loved, but it always felt like the Nintendo of that era (at least in the console space) were chasing Playstation rather than doing their own thing as much as they should. The narrative on the Gamecube was as much about what it wasn't ("mature", home to Square, home to GTA, home to mature/western focused games) as it was on what it was.
 
criteriondog

criteriondog

I like the chili style
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Oct 26, 2017
11,112
Wii was super cool. Had some pretty awesome games and brought a lot of technology and ideas we use daily now. Glad it happened!
 
AquaWateria

AquaWateria

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,533
Having both the Wii and DS in the same generation was absolutely crazy

They had two phenomenons in their hands
 
meenseen84

meenseen84

Member
Feb 15, 2018
1,937
Minneapolis
The Wii is one of the best consoles of all time by a number of metrics.

It also is the reason why I chose between Xbox or PlayStation as my primary console. They started caring more about non traditional ways to game and less about graphics/performance.

I'm truly happy they got more people into gaming. There's also nothing like the charm of a Nintendo game/experience. Yet, it's a secondary console at best for me. I no longer need it and am happy to borrow or wait until it's cheap.
 

Deleted member 79517

User requested account closure
Banned
Aug 31, 2020
472
The second half of the Wii's life was nearly enough to turn me off of Nintendo permanently.

But, hey, those first few years were pretty cool. It blew my mind when I opened it on Christmas.
 
arlu

arlu

Member
Nov 1, 2017
473
Venezuela
terminaljeremy said:
I remember everyone's heads exploding at the reveal. Like, who would buy this?

Turns out, everyone.
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Well, I seen to remember a different reaction to it. When it was still called Revolution, the speculation and hype for it was off the roof. And then, Nintendo made a very rarely attendence to the TGS to deliver this concept proof:

(Starts @ 3:24)

...minds were blown, I tell you. At least mine was.
 
Protome

Protome

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,682
One of my favourite consoles of all time for sure. A pretty design, innovative control scheme and a solid lineup of games across the generation.
Yes yes it didn't have the GTAs and so on, and yes there was a lot of shovel ware to rummage through but goddamn there were some real bangers on there too.
 
Lothars

Lothars

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
9,765
I really don't like the wii overall but it had some good things and the outstanding part of it that I loved and was still incredible was virtual console and wiiware.
 
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