Dear Nintendo

It looks like you're getting popular again. The direction you took with the Nintendo Wii was a good one and I commend you on it, but some people feel you're alienating the Nintendo fans that have stuck with you in good times and in bad in order to attract a new sort of fan base. "Why won't you give us Mother 3?" demands the big N community. As a matter of fact, I've got a few questions and suggestions myself:

1. The friend codes are not user-friendly. How has your online strategy evolved and is online gaming any more important to you?

Microsoft and Xbox Live have clearly demonstrated that online is what the people want. I am thankful that you decided to include online, even though early reports indicate we'll be in 12-digit friend code hell pretty soon here. Pokemon Battle Revolution - the first online Wii game - features game-specific friend codes independent of my Wii's friend code. I've heard people suggest this may have something to do with connectivity between Battle Revolution and the new DS versions of the Pokemon series. I sure hope this is simply an isolated example.

Please Nintendo, try to focus more on the online component this round. Xbox Live has shown me that I don't have to worry about child predators, but only those with a longing for gratuitous use of the N word. The community-driven experience is something beautiful in itself (AKA "I like making new friends... online") and I would consider even a partial emulation of what Xbox Live has accomplished a success on your part. It also wouldn't hurt if you were able to work in voice chat.

2. The bait is in place. Now watch the third parties flock like geese.

Last time around third party developers for the GameCube wound up being the guy who showed up who wasn't actually invited to the party. C'mon, let's show them some love. Now more than ever, ease of development is more important than any other factor in a console's potential for success and you hit the nail on the head. It also appears Nintendo is at the very least considering indie game development for the Wii with simple development tools a huge reason behind it.

To me at least, it seems like the creative part of many developers brains have been desiring a new type of outlet (and I'm not talking about Brain Age either). It turns out gamers aren't the only ones clamoring for something new. The Wii is the place to be for developers wanting to create entirely new game experiences. As soon as I heard Kojima was interested in Wii, I knew we had something special.

3. What's next for the Wii's interface?

A few people who just couldn't wait stumbled upon the fact that Nintendo launched the News Channel earlier than anticipated. One of the things I like about being an early adopter is seeing the firmware advances and the console growing up. Soon it'll be in kindergarten with all these new skills and abilities and you'll wonder where all the time went.

On a slightly more serious note, I'm eagerly anticipating new additions to the firmware. Now is your time to unleash the potential of firmware revisions and integrating new features. If Nintendo can utilize customer feedback and keep the ball rolling with new features to overjustify my $250 steal of an investment, I'm going to be one happy Nintendo customer. Once again Xbox Live has set a great standard for you to meet or exceed. Now it's just up to you to show us what you're capable of, especially with that nifty motion control gizmo.

4. Refined control, plzkthx.

This falls on both Nintendo's first party offerings and the third party offerings we've had the chance to partake in thus far. I know it's hard to believe, but control is a pretty important part of a Wii game. I feel like we've had a mixed bag and that it isn't just the result of a new learning curve for a completely different way of controlling your games.

Case in point: the bounding box. I am a first person shooter freak, so my control needs to be spot on. With my 360 launch purchase, two-thirds of the games I bought were first person shooters, but for this exact reason I decided to refrain from purchasing any first person shooters for Wii. As of right now I feel like the bounding box is a slap in the face for FPS fans; a poorly thought out alternative to the fast and tight control I'm used to. Until they find a way to tighten it up, I may have to wait or possibly keep my FPS' action on my 360. I'm hoping Metroid Prime 3: Corruption helps to rectify the current situation.

Parting Words

If it helps you at all, I think you can handle this. I know you weren't the most popular kid on the block last year, but it's all changed thanks to your good attitude and hard work. Don't let 'em forget who was on top all those years back and you'll be fine.

Sincerely,

Cameron Hermens