Nintendo’s Black Wii Proves Popular With Gamers

It’s probably reasonable to suggest that all of the big three games consoles – Sony’s PS3, the Microsoft Xbox and the Nintendo Wii – all have their own strong points. Individual gamers will have their own personal favourites and it’s a futile exercise to try to convince them that one of the other consoles is better, or even equally good.

Many families today will have more than one, and quite possibly all three, games consoles. Not forgetting the various mobile consoles like the Nintendo Ds and the Sony PSP. Sometimes games consoles will also double up as DVD or blu-ray disc players.

Regardless of which console is “best”, it’s probably fair to say that the Nintendo Wii is the most sociable of the three consoles. Whereas the Xbox and PS3 are often to be found in teenager’s bedrooms, the Wii is more commonly found in the family living room. The Wii has less processing power than the other two consoles and has much simpler graphics – more cartoon like in general. Even so, it is more often the Wii that can be found wired up to the big flat-screen TV in the living room.

One important factor in this is the fact that the Wii’s motion sensitive controller means that, even though the graphics may be simpler, it’s more difficult to follow the action on a small screen TV when you’re jumping around all over the place. The other thing is that it’s easier and more intuitive to learn games on the Wii. Even adults can do it – so it’s easier for all members of the family to join in the fun.

All of that jumping about when playing games on the Wii means that the amount of space required to play Wii games is greater than that needed for the other consoles. This also means that the living room is a more attractive venue than the typical teenage bedroom, where you would almost certainly be tripping over piles of unwashed clothes, half finished pizzas and empty coke tins. The physical element to game play on the Wii is a good thing. It means that there’s a certain amount of exercise involved when playing Wii games. Mind you, you should be careful and take it easy at first. It’s all too easy to wake up with a sore arm or stiff legs after an evening playing Wii Sports for the first time.

The tendency for families to have their Wii console in the living room could go some way to explaining the success of the black Wii. Nintendo went to the dark side and released a black Wii console in Japan in the summer of 2009. It went on sale in Europe in time for Christmas 2009. It turned out to be an extremely popular choice with many gamers – possibly because it matches the TV, the cable box, the DVD player etc. – better than the white version.