Why Nintendo’s Black Wii Is Proving To Be Such A Popular Option
It’s probably reasonable to suggest that all of the big three games consoles – Sony’s PS3, the Microsoft Xbox and the Nintendo Wii – all have their own strong points. Individual gamers will have their own personal favourites and it’s a futile exercise to try to convince them that one of the other consoles is better, or even equally good.
A lot of family homes will have more than one, and maybe even all three, games consoles. Not to mention the various mobile consoles like the Sony PSP and the Nintendo DS. It’s quite common these days for games consoles to also see use as blu-ray disc or DVD players.
However, ignoring the almost pointless discussion regarding which console is “best”, it’s probably reasonable to suggest that the Nintendo Wii is the most sociable of the three available consoles. Whereas the Xbox and PS3 are often to be found in teenager’s bedrooms, the Wii is more commonly found in the family living room. The Wii is less powerful than the other two consoles and has much less detailed graphics – more cartoon like as a rule. Yet it is the Wii that is often found connected to the big screen TV in the living room.
One important factor in this is the fact that the Wii’s motion sensitive controller means that, even though the graphics may be simpler, it’s more difficult to follow the action on a small screen TV when you’re jumping around all over the place. The other thing is that it’s easier and more intuitive to learn games on the Wii. Even adults can do it – so it’s easier for all members of the family to join in the fun.
One of the consequences of all that jumping about when playing Wii games is that more space is required to play the Wii than the other consoles. This also makes the living room a more attractive choice than the typical teenage bedroom, where you would be tripping over discarded clothes, half eaten pizzas and empty juice bottles. The physical element to game play on the Wii is a good thing. It means that there’s a certain amount of exercise involved when playing Wii games. Of course, you really should take it easy in the beginning. It’s very easy to wake up with a stiff arm or sore legs after your first evening of playing Wii Sports.
The fact that so many Wii consoles can be found in living rooms could explain the success of the black Wii. Nintendo went to the dark side and released a black Wii console in Japan in the summer of 2009. It went on sale in Europe in time for Christmas 2009. It proved to be a very popular choice with many gamers – probably because it matches the TV, the DVD player, the cable box etc. – better than the white version.
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