There is no I in Wii
May 29, 2008 11:35 AM   Subscribe

Lost interest in Wii....should I sell it now?

I realized that I haven’t really played my Wii at all this year. In fact, I can’t think of a single time since I beat Super Mario Galaxy late last year that I’ve spent more than 10 minutes playing it. A coworker and one of my friends have expressed interest in buying all of my Wii stuff and I’m seriously considering it but I’m torn and need some advice.

I have played and beaten every single game that I’ve wanted to play on the system and there is literally no game coming out (that I’m aware of) that piques my interest even in the slightest. There is no big Nintendo title that has come out or will come out that I’m interested in buying or even playing (not a fan of Smash Bros, Mario Kart Wii looks uninteresting, was done with Metroid after half an hour, already beat Zelda and Galaxy, don’t think I can stand another round of Animal Crossing). I’m not the “casual” gamer that Nintendo is trying to target with games like Wii Fit and Brain Age. Unfortunately, it looks like that’s where the Wii is headed and I’m none too excited.

The only remotely compelling thing is the possible homebrew explosion thanks to the recent Homebrew Channel release but I’m guessing it’ll be months, if not years, before we see any truly cool homebrew come out.

So is there a truly compelling reason for me, as a gamer that has spent more time playing GTA 4 than anything on the Wii, to keep this system in my home or should I sell it while demand is still high? If you think I should sell it, what is a fair price to ask for the system, everything that came with the system, component cables, extra Wiimote and nunchuck, classic controller, and four games (Zelda, Super Paper Mario, Elebits and Red Steel)?
posted by Diskeater to Technology (21 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Well, current private-resale prices still seem to be higher than the retail one, so it's not like you'd lose money on the deal, especially considering the hours of play you've already gotten out of it.

About the only thing I can think of is that Nintendo might revise the hardware in a way you find undesirable (like the later GameCubes without the digital-out, or the low-end optical drives in some X-Boxes), and then you might not be able to find the original version, if you wanted to buy it for some reason.
posted by box at 11:49 AM on May 29, 2008


Yeah this decision isn't a big deal. If you regret it too much, buy another one.

Copy your save games and Miis and stuff to a memory card first.
posted by aubilenon at 11:55 AM on May 29, 2008


Boom Blox. Check it out before dumping the system.
posted by Malor at 12:03 PM on May 29, 2008


Samba de Amigo?

In my mind, it's worth keeping even if you get a couple hours of casual gameplay with parents/non-gamers every now and then.
posted by gnutron at 12:07 PM on May 29, 2008


On the homebrew issue, it really depends on what you're expecting in terms of "truly cool." The recently released Homebrew Channel makes it much, much easier to runhomebrew apps, and there are already extremely playable emulators for NES, SNES, Genesis, TG16, ScummVM, GameBoy, and others. There's also a semi-limited media player, with (allegedly) a much better one days away. The homebrew scene is accelerating very rapidly. Most of the major developments have been just in the last few months.

As to your comment that Mario Kart "looks uninteresting," have you played any previous iterations? Did you like them? If so, there's nothing uninteresting in this game by comparison. It's a little bit easier, but that only serves to level the playing field, making it much, much easier for newbies to jump in. I've had half a dozen people stop by and play in the last couple of weeks, none of whom had touched the game before, and they all left loving it (and rather competitive.) If you've never played it before, give it a shot. You might be surprised.

But honestly, if you're thinking about selling it, you should. You'll have no trouble finding a buyer if you keep your price reasonable, though some people might be turned off if it doesn't include Wii Sports (you didn't mention it.) It might be worth the effort for you to call Nintendo and get a replacement copy for 20 bucks.
posted by SpiffyRob at 12:20 PM on May 29, 2008 [1 favorite]


The wii is a great platform for watching youtube on your tv, if you're interested in that.
posted by By The Grace of God at 12:37 PM on May 29, 2008


I'm not much of a casual gamer either - back in the day, I'd have several systems on the go at once - and I find my Wii sits for long periods of time until I remember that it's sitting there.

But! Once my non-gamer friends come over, the Wii shines. It's more of a social device for me than a game-playing device. My parents will always be up for a round of bowling, some of my friends love drinking beer and playing that cow-racing game on WiiPlay, whatever. So while I may not use it enough on my own to justify its place in my living room, I find the social aspect more than makes up for it.
posted by flipper at 12:45 PM on May 29, 2008


Response by poster: Hi all, thanks for the responses so far.

SpiffyRob: I'm a massive Mario Kart fan and I've played every other game in the series. One of the biggest draws for me is the battle mode and I was very much turned off to the game when I read that you cannot do free-for-all battle mode online. They also removed co-op Grand Prix and that was the best part of Double Dash.

Yes, I do have Wii Sports but I didn't know that you could get a replacement from Nintendo. That's good to know.

I have a HTPC and that serves as my emulation box as well. I can emulate everything I would ever want through that.

Flipper: I do agree that the Wii is awesome as a social device but I've had mine since launch and even my friends are getting sick of it at this point.
posted by Diskeater at 12:55 PM on May 29, 2008


I say do it. I also own the console, and regret having wasted money on it. As usual with post-SNES consoles (not handhelds), the only company making decent games for it is Nintendo, while everything else seems to be shovelware and ports with bad controls, and I don't foresee this changing too much in the future.

As for a price, check eBay and see what people are getting for it there.
posted by Dreamcast at 1:00 PM on May 29, 2008


I mean, "as usual with post-SNES Nintendo consoles".
posted by Dreamcast at 1:01 PM on May 29, 2008


don't forget all the gamecube games. odama is awesome, and a little old school in it's difficulty. skies of arcadia kept me entertained for a few weeks. paper mario is also a great title. the major plus for the gamecube games is they're wicked cheap.

but, i decided i didn't want a wii because it seemed like i'd only get 2 or 3 games and that nintendo is focusing too much on the casual gamer and not enough on the people who have been loving their products since they were kids.
posted by nadawi at 1:24 PM on May 29, 2008


I would join the DON'T SELL IT opinion, if there even is one. Boom Blox is incredible, and if you didn't play Okami on PS2, then you should get it. What about Resident Evil 4 on the Wii? I had beaten the game like 3 times on Gamecube, played through another 2 on the Wii version, it's that good.
posted by ChickenringNYC at 2:01 PM on May 29, 2008


Also--Wii Ware just launched. Keep an eye on that for a little while to see what games show up there.
posted by Prospero at 2:03 PM on May 29, 2008


Seconding Okami. I think it's a great example of designers doing more artistically with less computing horsepower. Also seconding Resident Evil 4; you can get the GC version used for like $15.

I share your apprehension that Nintendo's committing so much to the casual gamer / social gamer demographic that they're going to stop putting out decent hardcore-gamer titles. But I'm not convinced the show's over yet.
posted by molybdenum at 2:10 PM on May 29, 2008


I sold my Wii after 3 months, for more than I bought it for, and I haven't regretted it for a second. The type of games they are producing just aren't worth me wasting time on. As and when I do want to play something, I'm sure the Wii itself will have come down in price.
posted by roofus at 2:14 PM on May 29, 2008


If you're going to sell it, it's a pretty good time to do so since they still seem to be sold out a lot of the time.

Nintendo just announced a Wario sidescroller. I'm also looking forward to Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People. But those might not be your sort of games.
posted by Gary at 2:18 PM on May 29, 2008


Wario Ware is an amazing game if you're into that sort of thing, and I've been playing Mario Kart obsessively all week. There is no co-op Grand Prix but you can set it to do "in series" for the 2 player mode which means you can technically play all 4 races in a cup, I'm not sure if that's much different than Grand Prix, although I guess you wouldn't unlock anything.
posted by bertrandom at 2:26 PM on May 29, 2008


I would sell it, personally. The only reason I haven't sold mine is because my brother loves it to bits (maybe I should try selling it to HIM). Chances are you've already got a PS2, if you're the type of gamer I think you are; Okami and Resident Evil 4 are available for PS2, and I've heard mixed things about the Wii Okami, so I don't think it'd be worth keeping the Wii for those games. The Strongbad game is coming out for PC, so I wouldn't keep the Wii for that either.

You may want to give No More Heroes, Lostwinds and Boom Blox a try before you let go of the thing, as they're all getting decent reviews (the first more for being different than outright good, but hey), but I decided a long time ago that I was done buying random Wii games in the hopes that the next game I bought would be the game that somehow made the Wii awesome. Chances are your money would be better spent buying more games for the GTA4-capable console you've already got.

As for asking price, my untrained eye says $400 would be a decent price for all that kit ($280 for the console, $50 for the Wiimote/nunchuck, $20 for the classic, $25 per game; cut some off the price because it's all used). The question is, would anyone actually buy the bundle? If your friends/coworkers bail, Elebits and Red Steel aren't exactly hot titles, and I don't know how many people would be interested in a Classic Controller, especially if they're the "we only play Wii Sports" type. You might be better off chucking the controller, selling Elebits and Red Steel back to a game shop, and packaging the rest up for $350.
posted by chrominance at 2:31 PM on May 29, 2008


Dude! Mexican Zombie Animals.

I rest my case.
posted by Admira at 3:42 PM on May 29, 2008


Yup. As a gamer, I find the Wii largely gimmicky and it remains unused for long periods. However:

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King? If you haven't played the games on other systems, then how about Okami or Resident Evil 4?
posted by nthdegx at 4:44 AM on May 30, 2008


Response by poster: I probably should've put this info in my main post: I've bought all the VC games I could ever want, WiiWare doesn't interest me nearly as much as XBLA, and I was a previous Gamecube owner so the backwards compatibility was a nice perk but never a draw.

I think I'll sell the system now because the majority of the games being suggested are PS2 ports and while I don't own one, my girlfriend does. I was thinking of selling everything as a lot for around $350 which seems like a fair price. I could probably get more if I sold everything on eBay but I also don't want to hassle with eBay, so it's a trade off.

Thanks everyone, you gave me a lot to think about. Additional comments are still welcome.
posted by Diskeater at 5:51 AM on May 30, 2008


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