I get about five weeks of vacation a year, usually taking 3-4 of them in December. In 2001 I bought a Gamecube at the November 18th launch and it sat in the box for weeks. I was in graduate school in the evenings and didn't have a moment of free time until my annual sabbatical started. Last year my plan was to buy a Wii when my break started, spend the evenings fighting Ganon for the 100th time an so on. It was this thinking that caused me to pass on it in November.
The day after Thanksgiving has become associated with zany sales starting at even zanier hours. Toys 'r Us was advertising the Game Boy Micro for $35. Yeah, I have an SP but $35! My wife also had a list of morning madness items she wanted me to get so I woke up at 4:00 AM to wait in line. By the time I showered, made coffee, and arrived at 4:45 there was already a line of 40-50. I queued up the latest episode of the CAGcast, seemed appropriate for the time, and waited. Around 4:55 an employee came out with a stack of paper slips in his hand. "Who here wants a Wii!? If you get a slip you're guaranteed one!" Obviously they were holding back on systems all week to make a splash on this perennial shopping day. He made it all the way back to my spot with plenty left. For a split second I consider grabbing one but didn't. After all, I wasn't going to get a chance to play it for 2-3 more weeks. That Gamecube collected dust all those many years ago. Besides, it's the Playstation 3 that's supposed to be in short supply not the Wii. Toys 'r Us didn't even have the Playstation 3 on that frosty morning, that stack of Wii slips was huge. I figured I could just waltz into a store in December and buy one off the shelf.
You don't need me to tell you how that plan worked out. The Wii was nearly impossible to get. You basically had to camp-out in the stores and wait for a shipment to arrive. Even on vacation I didn't have that kind of free time. The other day I was listening to the CAGcast again and they noted that all Circuit City locations would have something like 20 Wiis in stock this Sunday. I wake up at 5:00 on the average day, Circuit City opens at 9:00 or 10:00. It would be no problem to get there at 6:00 and wait it out, I could even play my shiny Game Boy Micro while waiting. Yet I plan to sleep in. In three short months my desire to own a Wii has dried-up.
How did that happen? When I sit down and try to quantify the reasons it turns out there are many:
(Note: this list assumes the price of a Wii is $300, $250 + $20 s-video cable + $30 in other accessories I'm not thinking of)
- The only game I really want for it is The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess which I can just get for Gamecube. Sure the graphics will be slightly less good but it's really the same game. Is it $300 better on the Wii? Doubtful. Take away Zelda, and there's not a single Wii game I'm interested in. If this was a Wii exclusive title I can't fathom how much harder it would be to get a system.
- I still haven't caught up on previous gaming generations. I have unopened Gamecube, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, and Playstation 1 games. Yes, unopened. I don't even own a Playstation 2 (although lately I've been accumulating clearance games for it). For $300 I can get Playstation 2and still have plenty left over. Maybe I'll pick up a 3DO for $50 while I'm at it, it's one of the few consoles I don't own and could still get some good millage out of it. Hey, I could get both and still have cash left over for things like..
- ..computer upgrades. $300 would score a nice 20" flat panel monitor, or a giant hard drive, or a couple extra gb of RAM. Yeah, $300 isn't a huge amount so I could get the Wii and any of these no problem. On the other hand, I could pass on the Wii and get all of them.
-
I was originally hyped about the Virtual console, even wrote a couple articles to express my
excitement.
The reality turned out to be a major disappointment.
Instead of offering a monthly subscription to a large library, they're releasing a couple games a week for inflated prices.
Let's take a look at the selection to date:
-
NES Games ($5)
- Donkey Kong – Already have it (included as a bonus game in DK64)
- The Legend of Zelda – Have two original copies and the Gamecube Zelda collection disc
- Mario Bros. - Already have it (included as a bonus game in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga), not that great anyway
- Pinball, Soccer, Tennis, Baseball, Urban Champion, Gradius, Ice Climber, The Legend of Kage – Not worth $5
- Solomon's Key, Ice Hockey, Kid Icarus – Had these and stupidly traded them in years ago, worth the $5
- Donkey Kong Jr., Xevious, Kirby's Adventure- Temping, ultimately not worth $5
- Wario's Woods – Completely sucks
-
SNES Games ($8)
- F-Zero – Not worth $8
- SimCity – Already have a variety of "Sim" games, never play any of them
- Street Fighter II – Super Street Fighter II is so much better, already have original PC and Genesis versions
- Super Castlevania IV, R-Type III, Contra III – Not a fan of the series
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past – Already have it
- Super Mario World – Got it for $1 at a garage sale, never played it
- Donkey Kong Country – OK, I'd almost shell out $8 for this
-
Sega Genesis Games ($8)
- Altered Beast – um, no
- Sonic the Hedgehog – Have the cartridge and at least one collection with it
- Ecco the Dolphin – Have it on at least one collection
- Golden Axe – Have it on the GBA Genesis collection
- Columns, Streets of Rage – Have it on the Dreamcast Genesis collection
- Ristar, Space Harrier II, ToeJam & Earl, Bonanza Bros., Gain Ground – Not interested
- Dr. Robotniks Mean Bean Machine – Worth the $8 but I have it on the Sonic Collection for Gamecube (which you can probably get used for ~$8
)
- Gunstar Heroes – Put this on the 'maybe' pile
-
N64 Games ($10)
- Super Mario 64 – Got it for $2 at a garage sale, still haven't played it
- Mario Kart 64 – I can probably get the Gamecube version for $10 used now
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TG-16 Games ($6)
- Bomberman '93 – I have regular Bomberman, not all that interested in playing this too
- Bonk's Adventure – Already have the original cart and the CD version that came with the TurboDuo
- Super Star Soldier, R-Type, Soldier Blade – Not a shooter fan
- Victory Run – Already have too man racing games that I never play
- Alien Crush, New Adventure Island – Eh, not doing anything for me
- Military Madness, Moto Roader – OK, totally worth the $6, I assume I'll never find original copies of these
- Vigilante – Crap
- Dungeon Explorer – Great game, already have it though
-
NES Games ($5)
- I'm not sold on the motion sensor idea. I've gone back and forth since I first saw the controller. My first impression was "I'll give it a chance". A few days later, after the thought of swinging the controller around sunk in, I went to "not buying it". After weeks of reading positive reviews flew by I warmed-up to the idea. It started to seem like something that would be fun. However, as time passed any internal hype I'd built collapsed. At the end of the day, when my daughter is in bed, the last thing I want to do is move. I just want to crack open a bottle of $4 red wine and play some video games. That Wiimote could send my glass flying and I can't have that.
- Finally, I really don't want to stalk a store to buy one. Even months after the launch I still can't walk into a store at my leisure and buy one. In this case, the supply problems definitely cost Nintendo a sale. I can't fault Nintendo for wanting to undercut the Playstation 3 launch even if it meant not being able to meet demand. However, were it not for the months to ponder whether I really wanted the Wii I would have bought one. Over the years I probably would have bought a dozen or so games. More lost cash for Nintendo.