Wii was innovative in controls, but not in new gameplay-ideas


People cite Wii as one of the most innovative pieces of technology, and it is, but in the sense of offering new ideas in gameplay for gamers, it wasn't as innovative as people think.

We can start right off the bat with its first game: Wii Sports. It was innovative in how it utilized real-life, physical motion to simulate the feel of playing sports, but in the end, it was just sports. Wii Tennis was just Pong with motion-controls.

People say Nintendo created a lot of new IPs on Wii, and they did, but how revolutionary were they? Wii Sports? Playing sports-games with motion-controls? What did they offer besides a new way to control the game? Did they offer new ideas in expanding upon or making the sports-games more fun? No.

People mistake new ways to control a videogame and the creation of new IPs as great initiatives for gamers, but they are not necessarily. I'm not saying Nintendo did not innovate during Wii besides in controls. Super Mario Galaxy could have been done without a Wii Remote, and they offered brilliant new ideas in the realm of 3D platformers. But a lot of developers besides Nintendo took games to the next level without having to resort to new control-schemes.

If you could play Pong with your feet, would you consider that innovative, or just a gimmick?

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