Nintendo Wii Fanboy

As anniversary week winds down, we can't help but wonder: what's next? One good year for a video game console means nothing if it's followed by some not-so-great years. Fortunately, there are many fun things in store for the Wii, so we've decided to create this little guide to show you what exactly there is to look forward to.

Over the last year, Nintendo has presented us with tons of games over their digital download service, the Virtual Console. We've played many of these games, some of which have been bad and some of which have been pretty good. So, we figured it would be nice to take a look at all of the bad games we played and all of the good ones. On top of that, the staff has decided to submit all of their own personal favorites.

Over the past year, we've played a heck of a lot of Virtual Console games. Just look at those lists past the break and tell us there isn't a ton of titles available on the Virtual Console. And, in looking back, we're glad that the majority of them were good, because it fills us with hope for the next year on Nintendo's Virtual Console.

Being a devotee of Nintendo in a PAL region is probably a bit like marriage (I'd urge you to stick with me here, because I've thought this analogy through for at least four minutes). For years, you slog away at the relationship, mildly irritated by the other person's foibles and imperfections, like that weird bumpy mole on their back, or how they noisily slurp soup, or how they insist on playing nothing but Keane during long car journeys.

Then every so often, you have your disputes, arguing about the merits of Magnolia Eggshell and Cream Eggshell in the aisle of Lowe's. And sometimes, these disagreements might build up to something bigger in your mind, begin to fester, and perhaps you occasionally think, "Is this it? Is this the rest of my life?" But then, something strange happens -- every so often, the other person does something really fantastic, something that reminds you exactly why you got hitched in the first place, and why you settled on this individual as your soul mate. And suddenly, everything is well with the world, or at least until it's soup night again.

The point of this long-winded comparison being: as a gamer in the UK, that pretty much sums up my relationship with Nintendo. For years now, PAL region gamers have often been treated fairly shabbily by Nintendo. I'll freely admit it doesn't take much too rile us -- we hardcore types are notoriously tough to please -- though Nintendo doesn't always help itself. Its insistence that we receive games or hardware late, or not at all, or borked ... well it's just plain infuriating is what it is. The prices, as well, leave a lot to be desired. And totally rad free gifts? Yea, forget about those.

In its first year, the Wii has changed the video game landscape. It's brought people in who never thought they would care about video games. New methods of interacting with onscreen events have been invented. The image of the video game has started swinging away from the nerd-basement stereotype and toward a more family-friendly, even trendy experience.

But the Wii is still a game console, and it can't be completely different from every other console. It's a universal rule that all video game systems must be populated by a bunch of really terrible games, and the Wii has certainly done an admirable job of attracting cheaply-made, ill-conceived, untested, embarrassing garbage. It's really a mark of a system's popularity that so many publishers have come running with their shovels. It's a mark of the Wii's strength as a platform, as well, that it has managed to survive despite the existence of some of these games.

We decided to celebrate this aspect of the Wii by highlighting the five lowest-scoring games on Metacritic's list of reviewed Wii games. The bottom five epitomizes pretty much everything that is terrible about games: hastily thrown-together licensed games, cash-in ports, and games whose ambition far outweighs their budgets. And Chicken Shoot. The worst part? In ten years, every single one of these games will be an extremely rare collectors' item, drawing several times its retail price on eBay, or whatever the future space version of eBay is. And you will want to buy them.

All week long, we've been discussing the first year of the Wii, and we'll continue throughout the day ... but let's take a moment to cast our eyes ahead. With the first year out of the way, what are your hopes and expectations for year two? What games that are already announced are you looking forward to, and how do you think this coming year will measure up?

Everyone has an opinion about what makes a good game. You've got one, we've got one (or several, as there are several of us here), and the reviewers, they all have their own preferences, too. Sometimes, however, those opinions all just seem to coincide, and then we know a game is truly something special.

As part of our celebration of the first year of the Wii, we thought we would do a comparison of the best-reviewed games released for the system alongside our picks for the top games. Sometimes they overlap, but we slipped in a few extras that we feel just might be worth your time.

We're still celebrating the Wii's anniversary over here at Nintendo Wii Fanboy, and now that the console has been out for a year, we're curious about what games people own. We want to know, dear readers, if you tend to buy a lot of Wii games, or if you prefer to wait until the big contenders come out.

We know that not everyone is made of money (and as a matter of fact we'd be afraid to see anyone genetically originated from some sort of currency), so don't be shy to let us know if you have a small collection. It won't be like that scene in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, where poor Charlie gets judged for only buying two Wonka Bars.

So, tell us: what Wii games are in your library?

Every (other) Tuesday, Mike Sylvester brings you REVOLUTIONARY, a look at the wide world of Wii possibilities.

In this first year since Nintendo unleashed the Wii upon the masses, we've gotten a better understanding of how it plans to change the way the world feels about gaming. In this edition of Revolutionary, we'll examine some of the strides they've made and what they can do to make year two even more spectacular.

The Wii has turned out to be the sleeper hit of the gaming world, following in the footsteps of its portable predecessor the DS. In the face of heavier spec'ed competitors with multimedia features up the wazzoo, Nintendo stood firm on its plan to deliver something different and focus on the fun. It has obviously paid off, with the Wii having done the unimaginable and plucking the #1 spot away from the Xbox 360 which had a 1-year head start into the now-gen.

With this week being dedicated to the first birthday of our most favorite thing on this planet, the Wii, we looked at every possible aspect of the console we wanted to discuss. All of our launch day stories, its first year when compared to the GameCube and, last but not least, Nintendo's first foray into the downloadable content arena. And, as many of you faithful readers know, we love checking out what the service has for download every Monday.

When Alisha asked for "Wii get" stories from the Joystiq network staff, I wanted to tell mine. Most of my friends don't love video games with the same intensity that all of us do, so I never bothered to share the experience with them. Sure, they would listen if I did, and might even find certain parts amusing. There would really be no point to it all, though, because they just wouldn't get it.

While reading over all your stories yesterday and taking part in your memories, I felt the joy of the Wii's launch day bubbling inside me again, a whole year later. I decided to tell my story as well, only it turned into an epic tale of not only launch day, but my thoughts and fears before and immediately after I got my Wii. So, with that said, I humbly present to you my Wii get story. I hope that you enjoy it, but even more than that, I hope it's something you can relate to.

As the Wii's hype grew and grew in the months before its release, I knew that I had to have one on launch day. Gone were the days where I could sit back, relax, and wait for my birthday or Christmas to come while my parents dealt with the hysteria of finding a console to spoil me with. This time, it would be all up to me.

Not only have we (potentially) had a year with the Wii, we've also had a year with the Virtual Console. We've seen some great classics released this year in all regions, from the original Legend of Zelda to Super Mario Bros. 3, and some more obscure titles, like Devil's Crush. Of course, there are a few that we've love to see that are thus far no-shows, but even so, we feel pretty satisfied overall with the Virtual Console in its debut year. How about you? How many games have you downloaded? Would you like to download more, if you had an endless supply of storage space and Wii points?

We imagine the GameCube isn't all that fond of the Wii, as the Wii managed to do everything the GameCube wished to do, only better. And, with the Wii having a year under its belt now, we figured it would be interesting to go back and look at the GameCube's first year and see how the two stacked up.

Today may mark the debut of the Wii, but it's not necessarily been a year for everyone who's gotten one so far. Some Wii owners preordered in advance (like this blogger!), while others had to hunt for months in order to track down a system. We spoke with a few people from around the Joystiq network about their experience with snagging the year's most hotly-desired console -- and we'd love to hear your stories as well. Reminisce with these fine bloggers, and then let us know how you got yours. Was it a heroic effort, or were you one of the lucky ones to secure your little white box early? Since we're going to be celebrating everything Wii this week -- even more so than usual! -- we might as well start at the beginning.

To celebrate the release of the Wii on this day a year ago, we're hooking one lucky fan up with a bunch of sweet gaming action. While we would've liked to give away a free Wii to mark this special occasion, alas we could not find one (who can, anyway?). So, you'll have to settle for a bunch of free games, instead!

We're looking to make one lucky winner the happiest person on the planet by hooking them up with:

• 1 copy of Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure
• 1 copy of Namco Museum REMIX
• 1 copy of Dancing with the Stars
• 1 copy of Battalion Wars 2
  

Before entering, please hit up the official rules page. Also, as usual, you have to be 18 years of age or older and live in the United States. Only one entry per person, so multiple comments will get you disqualified. Also, be sure to get your comment in before Thursday, November 22nd at 11:59PM EST. We'll select the winner come Friday.

Best of luck to all of you and, as always, thanks for reading Wii Fanboy!

One year ago today, the Wii went on sale for the first time. It's certainly been an interesting launch year, with crazy sales and demand, analysts discussing everything from the rise of the casual gamer to the death of the industry as a whole, and with games that ran the gamut from great to ... well ... not. In short, it's been quite the debut year, even just looking at the biggest, most basic events. But how do you feel about it, overall? Are you pleased? Disappointed? Was it about what you expected? Let's reminisce.