Having said that, I don't see the point, unless they're trying[...]to put up a show.
Bingo!
Just looking at Nintendo and the Wii rationally, Nintendo couldn't have painted a cleared picture of what the Wii was supposed to be to consumers: A family and/or group oriented gaming console. It just couldn't have been clearer. They sold *a lot* of consoles on this basis! The games that the article cite as not doing well all made me say to myself (as a Wii owner, and near middle-aged gamer): Little wonder. They do not look interesting.
My opinion may have been different 25 years ago, but honestly playing Seven Cities of Gold, Rescue on Fractalus or MULE (some games from 25 years ago) on my old Atari 800 still sounds more appealing than a session of any of those games in the article. I think that's the problem with these games that don't do well: They aren't fun.
No, "harcore gamer" opinions on this don't count. That's a rarified market composed almost exclusively of teens (or younger). And going back to the beginning of my statement, it's not who Nintendo has been targeting *or selling* their console to.
Personally, I'm still pleased with Wii Sports (will be upgrading to Sports Resort when the budget allows), Play, Mario Kart Wii (the only Mario game I've ever really liked after Mario Bros), Zack & Wiki, Punchout!, among several others. I've also got a slew of WiWare games. I love "Cards" - best Euchre game I've seen on any computer platform; has several other card games as well. Donkey Kong, DK Jr, Spellunker and Load Runner are all great games to sit down and play for a few minutes.
I can't speak for Nintendo to say how this is working out for them, but from my angle as a customer, I'm pleased with the experience *and* that I only spent $200 vs $400+ on a new console. Go Nintendo!
-Matt
-Matt
For God's sake, stop researching for a while and begin to think!