Yes, we know that the Wii actually turned 15 a short time ago – November 19th, to be precise – but our video team has since gotten together to chat about the incredible impact of Nintendo's motion-controlled behemoth.
It's remarkable to think that this groundbreaking system is 15 years old (that's more than half of the time Alex Olney has been on this planet, fact fans), but it's interesting to look back at how strong the Wii's launch was. Wii Sports and Zelda: Twilight Princess, anyone? Yes, please!
Of course, the console would play host to some other amazing experiences, too, and it was the first system to launch with Nintendo's Virtual Console service, offering players the chance to experience older games as well as new ones.
Give the video a watch and let us know some of your fondest memories of this seminal machine.
Comments 34
I will always remember the 6 hours sitting in tesco waiting for midnight.
The only really good memories I have with the Wii was Mario Kart Wii. That was a very fun game to play with friends and online. I really liked the addition of bikes.
Otherwise, I didn't have a lot of great memories with the Wii. The vast majority of the games disappointed me versus the GCN and the forced motion control was simply not fun. The Wii will always go down in my mind as "innovation just to be innovation". That's a problem Nintendo regularly has. Games need to be fun, Nintendo. That's what matters. That's all that matters.
I'm 39 and you guys are making me feel really really old now.
This is were I had my start, SSBB was the game that started it all.
@dew12333 I got mine from Woolies (RIP) - back when Woolies was still around and surprisingly good for video game stuff!
Still enjoying homebrew on the wii today as well as backups of my favorite games, one of the easiest and most fun consoles in the modding scene.
Wii is the only console I have been to a midnight launch for. It was so much fun
When I saw the thumbnail of the article I though that the Majoras Mask I made was on the shelf!!!
Sorry for the off topic!
My favorite thing about the Wii was progressive scan widescreen for the GameCube with standard component cables.
I remember the day my family got Wii Fit and Wii Sports Resort, my siblings and I played both of those until 6 in the morning.
Happy birthday Wii, here's my top 30 favorite Wii games that is not and will never be on Switch:
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Muramasa: The Demon Blade
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom
Zack and Wiki
Rayman Origins
Bully: Scholarship Edition
Little King's Story
Kirby's Epic Yarn
Wario Land: Shake It
Monster Hunter Tri
Madworld
ExciteBots
Call of Duty Modern Warfare: Reflex Edition
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Dead Space Extraction
Arc Rise Fantasia
The Conduit 1 & 2
Tenchu: Shadow Assassins
Rune Factory Frontier
Speed Racer
Metroid Prime Trilogy
Punch-Out!! Wii
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3
NiGHTS Journey of Dreams
The House of the Dead Overkill
Silent Hill: Silent Memories
Castlevania Judgment
The Last Story
Rodea the Sky Soldier
My memory is usually shoddy about when I got a console. But I definitely remember when I got my Wii. I was in my second job, almost a year out of college and it was a well paying one. I had just moved back to Boston. It was late spring/early summer of 2007. I remember the Wii still being hard to find at that point. I was working on one of the upper floors of the Prudential Building (for those familiar with Boston, you'll know what I'm talking about) at what was then known as CSN Stores. People in the US will probably know it now as Wayfair.
Anyways, the shopping center on the first level (known as the Prudential Center) had a GameStop. So during my lunch break, I decided to stop in there. Much to my surprise, they had some in stock and I was not about to let my chance slip away. So I took the plunge. Bought the Wii, an extra Wiimote and Mario Strikers Charged. Was so pumped to had gotten one.
The only downside thing was I took the T (Boston's public transportation system) to and from work. So that evening, I had to take a 45 minute trip home with about $350.00 worth of merchandise on the train and bus. And it was a huge GameStop bag. So it was obvious what was probably in it. Most tense trip home of my life.
But just to give someone who was maybe to young or not gaming at the time an idea on how big the Wii got, my girlfriend at the time (now my wife) mother (now my MIL) had so much fun with the Wii she went out and got one of her own.
This was the first home console I ever had, I got for Christmas along with Ben 10: Protector of Earth and Indianapolis 500
There were some amazing new gameplay experiences but the Virtual Console was a big surprise. I was just as excited to re-visit NES / SNES and Mega Drive games for the first time in years. As well as playing the many I missed and only rented. The Hanabi festival was the icing on the cake.
I never owned one. I’m not a fan of motion controls.
I got a 360 that year and stuck with that through four red rings. In early 2010 I traded a freshly delivered 360 from Microsoft for a lightly used slim PS3.
The Switch is the first Nintendo console I have owned since the DS Lite.
The Wii was my entry in softmodding. Being able to play my wii and gamecube games via a usb was amazing.
Also Mario Kart Wii is still the best in the series.
The original wii's virtual console will never be beaten and was an absolute treasure trove of retro classics.
Right now my wii is connected to my tv and I use a hdmi converter to play. It's annoying some of my games don't display such as Sonic the Hedgehog and Golden Axe but I know that's only temporary since it's a problem with the hdmi converter (if anyone knows how to fix it please let me know!)
It's so sad the virtual console service ended.
I have both N64 Zeldas, Mario Kart 64, Street Fighter 2, Secret of Mana, Zelda: lttp, Super Metroid, Sin and Punishment, Sonic the Hedgehog, Golden Axe and Zelda Nes. Missing a few games like Chrono Trigger but it's such a good collection even as it is.
@Jumping_Dead You think you’re old I remember begging my dad for a Magnavox Odyssey.
Still hooked up under my telly. I see no reason why that would change anytime soon.
I got mine from currys/Dixons pc world. One of them places.
Mario kart Wii and it’s still alive with custom tracks.
For some reason, it feels like the Wii is older than 15-years.
I waited in a Walmart overnight for one (12 hours) because they were not selling them to employees at the Best Buy I worked at. Technically I was waiting there for my Mom so she could buy it for me for X-mas. Good times lol.
Got one launch day and used it quite a lot until late 2008. After that I got a PS3 and never really went back to the Wii much bar the odd game like Mario Galaxy 2 and DKCR. However as I’d really got tired of waggle controls by then I even felt them slightly diminished. Not a system I have a lot of nostalgia for really beyond memories of my now dead Grandparents playing it at Christmas 2006.
On the other hand I appreciate it what Nintendo were trying to do and it was a deserved success, even if it lulled them into a dreadful complacency and run of mistakes
Wii and Wii U are still my two favorite systems of all time! I miss the Wii days! Nintendo actually gave a damn back then.
Super Mario Galaxy alone was worth the console to me.
My husband and I love the Wii. I just got my Wii2HDMI gadget so we can play it on modern TVs. We are stoked to play Wii Sports Resort (golf and bowling), New Super Mario Bros Wii, Donkey Kong Country Returns, and Mario Galaxy 2 again. Oh, and that board in Mario Party 8 where you invest in the hotels, Koopa’s Tycoon Town? We love that one, a gem in an otherwise mediocre game.
Oh boy...somehow this console was very nostalgic yet also the most rage inducing.
The Wii was so unique and honestly still is. The motion controls could be a bit frustrating, but at the time they were totally amazing. So many great games were on this console.
@UmbreonsPapa from around 2009 I visited Boston regularly for business and I would frequent that specific GameStop shop to buy second hand Wii games. They were so affordable compared to my home country. I also bought my first 3DS in the same shop.
Nintendo Wii had the best VC of all consoles EVER!
@Damo
Same here. One in Cheetham Hill in Manchester. Woolies used to be a huge seller of Games (and Music, Videos etc).
Wii was the first Nintendo machine i really like from the gameplay concept.
Also, Wii has the most beautiful machine design and White color retail box.
I Wiill always Wiimember Wii.
@electrolite77 I really miss Woolies. I got so many games from there. I remember picking up Zelda: LttP for £20 in the mid-'90s when Nintendo either re-released it or was in the process of flogging off old stock on the cheap. I also fondly recall pre-ordering a bunch of games (Zelda: Minish Cap included) from there much later. Such a shame it's gone now.
@Damo
Yeah it could be a treasure trove as I’m not sure they really knew what they were doing price wise. I got the Selects versions of Wave Race 64 and 1080 for a tenner each from a Woolies in 2000, and Yoshis Story for something similar from a different one. But other games would be wildly expensive years after they’d been reduced elsewhere. Great shop though. Shame change caught up with it.
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