Let me just start by saying that I have no love for the Wii. I'm an owner...I wouldn't say a proud one mind you, of a console that has systematically and repeatedly let me down, and cost me more money to play than any other console, for far less pay off than I'd like to admit.

When I first heard of the Wii, my mind wandered to the endless possibilities Nintendo could give to their games. I had felt that precision controls had always been an issue with games, with bulky/super-slim/somewhere-in-the-middle designs adding to frustrations. To be honest, there were only a handful of games that were enjoyable with these controllers. The Wiimote offered something new and exciting, helping players to cross the threshold of their TV screens, and interact with the game world in a way we could have only dreamed of.

Oh how the first year was a let-down. Twilight Princess was the only title I really enjoyed, with Red Steel following up as a game that I did enjoy quite a bit and the following year, I received Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, the final game in a series that I loved, held back by sloppy motion control integration, something that, to this day, I'm bitter as all-hell about. Super Smash Bros. Brawl helped a little, with No More Heroes giving a little boost to my fading joy. Mario Kart Wii was fun to play with friends, but really, my days of purchasing for this console were at an end. Time and time again, I seen the odd title that peaked my interest, but I glanced over it. Why? Well, given our sordid past, the Wii and I were on thin ice.

I found that I had to think every time I viewed a Wii title I thought I might enjoy, weight pros and cons of benefits, enjoyment, practicality, invested time, effort...in truth, playing games on the Wii seemed less fun, and more work than I had initially thought would be necessary for a console. It was only within the last year that I purchased No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, and was met with a startling surprise: the Wii, on a HD TV, looked very poor. I couldn't play the console anymore, as my eyes couldn't stand the screen tearing, the dull colours and the poor framerate...framerates aren't always an issue for me, I can usually ignore them, but this time around, everything else made this one gripe grow a thousand-fold. I eventually found a component cable, which cleared up that issue, though not by much, but it made the games playable again, and I finally got to play a game I had been anticipating for years.

That quickly faded too, as the controls began to show their inconsistencies once more. So eventually, I just left the console again, though I had an interest in buying Red Steel 2, I had an issue with the requirements for the title: Motion+. Nintendo called it a full 1:1 motion control extension for the Wiimote, giving players precision control...but only for certain, big titles, for a price of €25 as standard. My practicality alarms started blaring once again. Surely, this had to have been a joke? Weren't we promised 1:1 precision on the original Wiimote? Well yes, but, what dya know? People lie! Not a big shocker, but I felt as though I had been conned. I mean, having to spend quite a bit of money on a cable just to play my games on a HD TV, the kind of TV sets sold as standard upon the Wii's release, was bad enough, now I had to buy a damn extension for my controller just to play some specific titles? This was Nintendo, a company I had backed for years, even when they were down-and-out, and seemed to have all but lost the ability to sell games. These guys made a killing on innovation...then bent consumers over and corn-holed them with bits-and-pieces needed to play more recent titles. Disappointed is not strong enough a word, but I'm afraid all I could manage to really vent my frustration would be a line of profanities so horrifying in their context than not even the most hardened of people could walk away without needing a boiling hot shower.

Now it's coming near the end of 2011, and I find myself once again wondering what to do with my Wii (tee-hee). Xenoblade Chronicles looked so good to me, the same with Skyward Sword, but again, it's the same old song and dance. I can't buy Xenoblade Chronicles in any retail store locally, so this is like the days of my Gamecube all over again, and even then, I find myself in an annoying state of limbo, torn between whether to buy a game online, a large investment to be fair, or to leave it, knowing full well that it will more than likely disappoint me, given my past experiences with the Wii. Zelda falls into a previously discussed category: only playable with the motion+ controller, something I don't wish to buy, as it would be impractical, but want, because, despite my dislike for same-y games, this Zelda title actually seems interesting and fresh, adopting many stylistic choices that Twilight Princess had, and introducing some new concepts that I might enjoy.

Personally, I blame Nintendo for this. As a consumer, I should never feel ambivalent about buying a game for a console I purchased, it should be a case of "here, take my money!", instead of "well...I would give you my money, but from a practical standpoint, your game, while good, asks too much from me, for a product that may not be what I want, that requires another purchase of a peripheral, which won't get much use either". Average games are investments, you weigh up your options, but most of the time, you say no, as the cons outweigh the pros. Pure and simple. Great games are investments, but while you are wary of the potential for failure, you're willing to take a chance. Incredible games are investments, but you simply don't care. Unfortunately, we aren't talking about just a game here. Some of the more recent titles I'm interested in require another investment: the Motion+ peripheral, in order to play them. This throws me for a loop. The Wii didn't stand on even ground with me before this, and now, with another addition so I can play a damn set of games, and then never use it again, as Nintendo are all but jumping ship on the console to work on the WiiU, even more so.

The Wii has managed to, at least for me, turn all of its games into the first category of investment: these games, even the supposedly undeniably great ones, aren't worth it, and require an investment that is both impractical and really not worth my time or money. I wish it was different, but in truth, Nintendo need to pull their collective heads out of their publicity's massive asshole, and realise that some of us don't want to buy extra additions just to play a console with very little in terms of genuine support. Or at the very least, make these extras optional. Maybe I'll wait until the WIiU launches, when all of these games will be lowered in price, and I can purchase a motion+ for the price of a Snickers, but right now, given the current state of the world, buying a game, then a peripheral to play it, is just not practical.

Maybe I'm all wrong about this, but other than owning a Nintendo Wii, I really can't see any other reason to make such an investment, when I'm never really going to use these games afterwards. All I can imagine feeling is obligated to play more and more motion+ games...and that really isn't what gaming is supposed to be about, at least, it shouldn't the the dominating factor when you're really looking for some entertainment. It seems to me that consumers are the only ones making an investment in Nintendo, with the company itself moving on, giving what should have been an amazing console, the most whimpered of send-offs.