Why I Don't Want A Wii

It isn't even Black Friday, and I've already made up my mind as to what I do not want to buy or put on someone else's pay check. Mostly thanks to some very logical decisions based on how budget oriented I was raised.

The Wii and PS3 have been in the papers for about two days now, mostly in technology news and Christmas advertisements. And even before then with E3 and all the various other gaming conventions out there, the hardware has been displayed over and over again. Some with playable demos, some without, and some just toting how much their hardware can push.

The games, while interesting in their own respect, are starting to be generic. Even the launch games for the Wii, which has a controller system so unique it will break down walls, doesn't have anything that captures my interest short of Marvel Ultimate Alliance (because of how the controller is set up making you have to actually use your hand like Spidy would when you are playing him to shoot webs). But that's not really enough. At least not for me.

There was a time when there had to be a game or some kind of obsession that made me get a console system. A long time ago, it was Parappa the Rappa for the PS1. Katamari was going to be the game that would have got me a PS2, but I ultimately sold that while it was still in the shrink wrap because I would never get the system for it. Now? I'm just waiting on Spore to come out.

The reasoning behind this is pretty much what was said in a recent Q&A that Will Wright had about the game. He was asked by someone in one of his last demos (I believe it was this past August) if he designed the game to ever be completed like a traditional game. The short answer was a "no." That being said, does that mean that his game is the last game players would probably buy given the scope of it? After thinking about the question, Will ultimately said "yes."

I've been wanting to retire from gaming in the hardcore sense and only play casually. I'm kind of failing at that with games like Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 that allows me to have such a nice scope of creativity, albeit fairly limiting based on the software and hardware. But still, it isn't the same hack, slash, jump, and finish game that I cannot go back to after I've beaten it. There are several games like that in my game drawer right now collecting dust. I'm actually unsure if any of them are still playable. Hell, I don't even know if my N64 works!

And yet, an idea I have been tossing around like some kind of meditation stress ball while I lay in bed is using my video games or at least the aspect and aesthetics of video games I grew up with in art some how. It supports the "easy in" theory of mine while not insulting the viewers intelligence. And as a contemporary art form, it could be worth quite a lot more than a $600 gaming system that will only depreciate in value with use over time. I should know, I have a Super Nintendo that can't be repaired and is probably only worth $5 on the open market if I really didn't care about it.