Wii Retrospective 

I think an important aspect of Bowling's success was the fact that you can play with 4 people with only one controller. It's easy to forget, but a lot of people only had one on the games launch, and it made it so that everyone could have a turn to play regardless of that.

One of the few times "Widening for a broader audience" was actually successful and not corporate Bs to excuse horrible changes

a great testament to wii bowling: I am a recreation coordinator at a retirement community and we have weekly wii bowling tournaments. It's easy enough that a totally tech-illiterate senior can adapt to it, but still has a challenging aspect. It's also not so physically straining that the participants risk any injury (we also play wii tennis but that one is a bit more involved). Bowling is a really popular program for us even in 2022.

I feel genuinely bad for kids who didn’t grow up with a wii. One of the most legendary consoles of all time.

This was also when the DS was at its prime. It was a great time for gaming.

I’m a bit upset that my family never had WiFi while the Wii was in its hay day, I feel like there’s such a huge portion of the Wii that I didn’t get to experience

After 15 years of owning a Wii, I just learned about the blue glow around the disk drive being a notification today.

Somewhat disappointed the "Conclusion" Chapter isn't called "Wii Move On", but otherwise this video was almost two hours of almost straight speaking from my heart being done for me. Good shit!

I type in things like "3DS/PS2/Wii Retrospective" disturbingly frequently on RU-vid, repeating the same action over and over again hoping that I would get to maybe see a comforting, detailed love letter to some of my favourite consoles. Liam, you and your channel fill the kind of niche that my emotions are based around, they're the kinds of things I can watch numerous times and never feel like my time is being wasted. Heh, you ever notice how on retrospective-type channels, because of the upload schedule and style of narrating, everyone has to hold their comments just long enough to the point where for each new release they have to just emotionally applaud the channel creator and the topics they come up with instead of addressing something in the actual video? It's funny in a way. Anyway, yeah, I like the Wii.

The current 2000's nostalgia wave here in youtube has been a interesting one to watch, even though i lived in this time, i barely touched the internet culture and games from that decade.

I have to admit that as an adult, I actually really wish things like weather and news would be integrated into menus again. I can remember as a college student looking at the supplemental pages almost daily.

7:37 hearing that menu intro brought back memories I never even thought I had. That jingle is just pure childhood bliss.

The wii has so many flaws yet it is still the best console. The amount of memories I have with it is amazing, I really feel bad for those who did not get to grow up with one.

The moment the Wii menu theme hit, you took me right back to my family living room, playing with my sisters. Such a nostalgic song

I remember a quote Iwata said during an e3 call conference about the 3ds. I think it still fits when thinking about the wii- On my business card I am a company director. In my mind I am a game developer. But in my heart I am a gamer. It didn’t feel like he was talking at others but with others. Truly a man of his time that left the world too soon.

RIP Iwata-San. You will be missed and your legacy will live on.

This is as much a Wii U thing as Wii, but I loved the Wii transfer channel that allowed you to bring your Wii channels and saves to the Wii U. The Pikmin carefully transporting all of your data to their ship and blasting off to a new civilization was adorable but bittersweet in a way.

Did I just accidentally watch a 1hr 20 min retrospective on the console I have most fond memories of? I did. Great video, the flow between talking about different games felt incredibly natural.

I'm surprised that the Just Dance series wasn't mentioned at all. It was pretty much the sole series that kept the Wii from phasing out quicker than it did

Bro, when my whole family did baseball at night it was like a real tournament in the basement, so much hype! And I remember being physically EXHAUSTED after intense boxing matches. It was a true workout no joke.

Man.. All these Mr.Iwata comments made me teary He's IMO.. The most underrated and underdappreciated person in the gaming industry With all of his goods and flaws He truly was a great man.. Wish he was still alive spending time with his loved ones :/ Thank you for this video!

"We can't change the future, but we can influence it." That was beautiful.

Man, I loved the Wii so much, I went trough my pre-teens and early teenage years with it. It was my first console where I really experimented with different genres of games, and it was where i played Zelda Twilight Princess which until to this day is one of the best games i ever played.

for some reason i put this on to watch while eating dinner thinking it was only 40 minutes. now im sitting at my desk in the dark getting emotional over my memories of the wii

Even 16 years later I still find myself coming back to this awesome console every once in a while. It was my first console and it is my favorite console of all time

you're already making me weep for the overall aesthetics of the Wii's user interface. The menu feels so vibrant as you fill it up with your favorite apps, VC retro games, and WiiWare indie games. To say nothing of the music, and I don't think there's a single Nintendo fan alive that doesn't mourn the loss of the Wii Shop music. Edit: Oh no, you made the same mistake I did with Wii Music! I expected something to support my budding interest in music composition, and all I got was a shiny noisemaker.

I think getting one at 7 years old on Christmas is one of my fondest memories

The Wii brought me SO many Memories from playing games like Wii Party, Wii Sports, and Wii Sports Resort.

The Wii truly is the greatest console ever made, it had its flaws but I look back on it so fondly, so many memories and so much nostalgia

This is a great retrospective, but I do wanna clarify something about Operation Rainfall, because it's not entirely true that Nintendo didn't want to release the three games "in the West". It was only Nintendo of America that weren't interested, Nintendo of Europe were all for it. They even had a Xenoblade trailer in English ready to go for E3 2011, but NoA blocked it. The head of Nintendo France even seemed confused by this decision in an interview at the time. Here in the UK, we got the game two months after that, while you guys had to wait an extra year. I'd even argue that if NoE hadn't handled localisation duties, Rainfall might not have succeeded as NoA could have just brushed it off with "localisation is expensive and we don't feel we'd make the money back" which is harder to argue when your European arm already did that work for you. Which, if you're wondering, IS why Xenoblade is so aggressively British. A minor point, probably, but I just wanted to add this extra context

as a kid who grew up alongside the Wii, the nostalgia in this video gave me goosebumps.

I could write large essay on the wii and the experiences it gave to me. It was the first console I bought with my own money, in 7th grade. From making my own stories in brawl, to running down the street with all my rockband gear inbound to my best friends house. It truly was something amazing

I have owned (& enjoyed) many gaming systems from 1979 onwards (consoles, home computers to PCs). One of the systems I had with the lowest attachment rate of games was the Wii, but..... I remember Christmas Day 2007 when we opened the Wii we had bought ourselves (my partner and I), having not been able to get one in the UK Christmas 06. We were home alone that Yule with no other family commitments (for once) and dinner was several hours late as we just couldn't drag ourselves away from Wii Tennis to actually cook ourselves the most important meal of the year, despite our empty stomachs. No other system managed such a feat and I thank the Wii for that memory. Happy days.

It’s so weird. I never was bothered by the “waggle” of the Wii, if it was done okay. It being used in place of a button press wasn’t this huge issue for me as it seems to be for others. DKC Returns was fine, imo, with shake to roll.

I bought my first Wii in June of last year and I play it everyday. "House of the dead Overkill," "Excite Bots," Mario Kart Wii," so many fantastic games

My brother had a severe hand injury in 2008 and my mom got him the wii as a gift for all the surgeries he went thru. It really means alot to me to have been able to play games with him like wii sports and boom blox while he was recovering.

I’m surprised he didn’t mention how motion controls elevated Resident Evil 4. To this day, the wii edition may well be one of the best ports of that particular game. It certainly blew the prior GameCube and PS2 versions out of the water.

Wii can't predict the future, but Wii can influence it.

I wish I grew up with a internet connection with the Wii. I'm glad Wiimmfi exists because this console is really special.

I’ll always appreciate the wii for being one of the first home consoles I had growing up.

Hot take : I find Wii Music to be fun, especially with friends to goof around and remix music. I can thank this game for my love of music. I loved the atmosphere and design of the game even if the gameplay itself was a bit too simple. Also I wouldn't exactly call John Lennon "public domain", lol.

Definitely one of the most fun consoles to return to

Awesome retrospective! I’m 15 and my older brother and I grew up with a Wii in our household. We’ve had it since 2009; the Wii had a huge impact on my childhood and I genuinely feel like the Wii helped shape my creativity, personality, and who I am today. I’ve spent thousands of hours on this beautiful console and I still play Mario Kart Wii regularly. Many of my fondest memories from early childhood involve the Wii, either through playing games alone, with friends, online, using the different WiiConnect24 powered channels, or having its masterpiece of a soundtrack playing in the background. I’ve always been looking for detailed retrospectives on the Wii, and you absolutely nailed it with this one! Massive respect for including captions for the entire video too! :)

Not sure how the Switch's successor's will manage without Iwata behind it (yes, the Switch was released after his death, but it was in development and conceptualize way before 2015).

Finally someone who sees the diverse library of the Wii I was happy this wasn't another "oh wii games be like wii sports mario bros galaxy Zelda shovelware" I was soooo happy to hear red steel 2,madworld, sin and punishment, muramasa, klonoa and NO MORE HEROES!!!! Good one to you sir I hope you check out some other wii games

The Wii is my personal favorite Nintendo console ever made. The switch, snes, and GameCube are close though. The presentation, innovation, creativity, excellent VC library, great First party library, and pretty good third party library.

The Wii will always have a special place in my heart I will miss those times

The Wii was the best as a kid. I think at least 1/4th of my happy childhood memories were made by playing on it. All of my friends had it at their houses too, so we coul always play together. Wii Ski and Wii Sports Resort are so nostalgic to me.

I'll never forget how my sister really wanted to play Super Mario Galaxy when we got our Wii and then never did while I played it like 6 times lol. Some of the motion controls in some games haven't aged well but it overall had some real bangers.

one of the greatest moments of my entire life was beating every one of my uncles and cousins in wii sports boxing when i was like 5 years old, and i will never forget it

Lovely video, and huge props to giving games like Red Steel 2, Sin & Punishment, and others that don't nearly get remembered as fondly as the bigger titles. Perfect video about the wii, and I can't believe how much a similar fate befell the wii u.

When the Wii U turns 10 in November you should do a retrospective on it.

I just started to watch your videos and your videos are the most binge worthy vids out there. They range from retrospective and overall fun content. Keep up the Work!

"Wii would like to play" words that defined my elementary School years I loved it I got a lot of goods games on it Brawl, Galaxy, Shake it Twilight princess I loved it to death and I still play it a bit to this day. Hell my parents rushed to hell and back finding a Wii for christmas since most stores where sold out until they found on in a Sears much to their relief.

I am constantly amazed video after video by you. I very much value the videos you make and am in love by your perception as it is justified by your incredible ability to see the other side of the coin. I pray at some time you get a million+ subs (the fame this channel you desrve) and become mainstream because you deserve it, the research you put into these videos and especially your passion for the early nintendo games, especially your zelda reviews and this retrospective are legitmatly incredible. I wish you all the good in the world, everything you make seems to exactly mimic my childhood even though I was born around 5 years after you. With my uncle being the one who saw my obssesion with video games as each time I went to his house I was practically begging to play windwaker on his gamecube and even though I had to ask him every 10 minutes for help, I was utterly incapsulated by the vast time and value I could get out of these games so much that it shaped my future very much. So I continued the Zelda addiction from the original legend of zelda my dad download on his work computer. to on my 3ds playing ocarina of time remaster to twilight princess on my eventual wii to twilight princess to skyward sword to the current breath of the wild. (also you have the voice and wit to keep this up I wish you all the success in the wold and I am more and more impressed video after video) PS: wish you see this Liam because you have me coming back and back to your videos

I’m almost 30 and I have been really wanting to relive my childhood, and I didn’t go to the n64, or gameboys, i went straight for the Wii. This really was the greatest casual gameplay I ever loved

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Wii version is still one of the best video games experiences I've ever had

You only briefly mention it in the video, but what makes this console so special to me is that it made FAMILIES play. My parents, who only let us play games, ended up wanting to play Wii Sports, Resort, Wii Play and Wii Fit. My grandparents bought one and we would go over once a week to play golf with him, which are memories I will forever cherish.

I played so much on the Wii between 2006-2010. I forgot about Fluidity until now. Thanks for the retrospective!

This video is amazing and deserves way more views! The video sums up the Wii's lifespan perfectly and gives awesome detail to things we didn't even know needed detail.

So beautiful for you to end the retrospective of Xenoblade Chronicles. It is just an absolute wonder and no game has ever, EVER had the impact that Xenoblade Chronicles has had on me. If you read this, I DEMAND you play the Definitive Edition, released 2 years ago exactly on the Switch. Thank you Liam for shedding more light on this masterpiece.

Now I definitely need a retrospective on Xenoblade, because it is one of my favourite games ever

I don't know if it's just my nostalgia, but damn, the Wii itself, just with Wii Sports, Wii Play and the preinstalled channels (Mii, Weather, News, Opinion, Pictures) was already an experience on it's own. It's pretty stupid, but for some reason, to me pointing a thing at a TV just wasn't the same thing as moving a mouse (although it's technically pretty much the same thing) and the music and sound effects made it even better. I don't even understand how they pulled that off.

My grandma bought my brother and I a Wii for christmas in 2011, listening to that music again, seeing the menu. It brought my to tears man, thank you for bringing those memories back to me.

The Wii was such a great console.

The wii was my and still is my favourite consoles. Its the first console i had as a 3 year old. And it brought me into gaming.

Thank you for the effort you put into this video! Brought back many memories of my time with the WIi.

This is now one of my favorite retrospectives thanks Liam. You did a fantastic job wrapping up the video too. Looking forward to that Super Mario Galaxy retrospective.

BEST CHANNEL ON RU-vid. Thank you so much for all your doing your videos are literal holidays for me I love listening to your vids

The Wii remains one of my favorite consoles, and the memories I associate with it are some of the most vivid, and beloved, in my entire gaming life. There are several first-party titles that I cherish to this day, among them Mario Kart Wii, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Kirby's Return to Dream Land, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Brawl in particular represents a massive turning point in my personal life. I was heading into a better household. It was time for change, and the happiest memories of my life with my family were on their way. I've held onto the console like a treasure ever since. There will never be another time quite like the initial hype of the Wii and its earliest titles, I remember at the age of 12, and as a die-hard Nintendo fan, I obsessively awaited the Wii's launch on November 19, and on the night before we did something we've never done before: we actually camped out at the front of Kmart with many other people to claim our first Wii! It was a little chilly that night, but we made a few new friends. On that morning, the time had come, and before I knew it, I was in possession of my first Wii, and launch titles Wii Sports, Excite Truck, and, my favorite, Zelda: Twilight Princess. The rest is history, but when Brawl was arriving after all the delays about 2 years later, that was to become the absolute biggest wave of hype I've ever experienced for a video game. To say that I was obsessed with SSBB would be an understatement. It may not be objectively the best Smash Bros. game, but Brawl still holds its place in my heart for these memories. With all the attention in media coverage and fun families were having with the Wii at the time, it created an atmosphere that I recall pretty fondly. For the first time, it brought people together with its innovative ideas just as Nintendo intended. And as unorthodox as the Wii Remote was, you could still play classic-style games on it, so no one was truly left out, either. Still, in spite of how underpowered it was compared to the competition, and how much shovelware was made that damaged the console's reputation, I will always love the Wii. Not just for its amazing library, the charming and meditative atmosphere of its menus and cultural impact, but for the memories. It was truly one of a kind, and its ideas echo into the modern-day gaming industry. Thank you, Nintendo, for creating this wonderful achievement in game history! And Rest in Peace, Iwata-san, your legacy remains timeless.

This is such a fantastic video and it represents just about everything I loved about the Wii growing up. It was my second console, but I only had a GameCube around the time before I started primary school. The Wii was my primary system for so many years, and I loved almost everything I played on it. It was before a time I was into more gritty games, like the shooters of the late 2000s and early 2010s. I really appreciated all the life and colour every game I played had, and the motion controls for aiming and other things helped me adapt to weirder modern control schemes like VR and flick stick+gyro aim. How you put out so many fantastic documentaries about the things you love so quickly astounds me to no end. This, and every video you've ever made, means a lot to me.

Fantastic retrospective, Liam! You have become one of my favorite RU-vidrs recently! You are thorough, vulnerable, honest, and truly passionate about video games. I appreciate that so much, and hearing your thoughts on games, coupled with the lore, music, and gameplay footage, made me realize how impactful video games are for me. Sometimes while listening to your thoughts on how different games emotionally impacted you and left an impression on you as a child or a young man, I would get misty eyed or choked up, remembering those same feelings from games that I've played. You grew up in a slightly different era, it sounds like you are younger than me by a few years, since I grew up with the NES, and the Super Nintendo/Sega Genesis were my two go to consoles, especially the RPGs. Final Fantasy 6, Chrono Trigger, Illusion of Gaia, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Secret of Mana, Super Metroid, Sonic the Hedgehog, etc. That era of games left those types of emotional impacts on me, and hearing your thoughts on the newer games, especially Wind Waker and other newer Zelda games that I mostly missed out on, made me want to repurchase those consoles for myself and play those games. Thank you for your attention to detail and your heart on sleeve approach to retrospectives on games that impacted you growing up. Keep up the good work!

Finally my favorite system that got me into Nintendo what I grew up on and seeing my favorite RU-vidr talk about it warms my heart

I have so many great memories with the DS download play feature. I miss when something as simple as the GUI had character. I understand why the switch is so simple, but I hope that philosophy isn't dying.

Once again, impeccable taste, and a channel after my own heart. Great retrospective, and great title choices. I love Elebits to, well, bits, and finally reinstalled it on my HDMI-modded Homebrewed Wii literally at 7am last night, played it for a few hours while griping that nobody ever talks about this game, then woke up to this video, where it was mentioned. Always a pleasure watching your videos, truly some of my favorite video essays, which are just about the only content category I watch lately.

This was an amazing video essay! Loved all the little puns in the chapters! TBH i haven't ever watched you before but this definetely deserves a subscription

I love the memories I have with the wii - I was that generation that just missed the gamecube and stuff like that, and the wii was my first exposure to video games

Seeing Trauma Center get some appreciation is so surprising. One of my favorite games growing up and suturing people up by wildly shaking the WiiMote back and forth is a core memory.

Your reviews are truly elaborated and sincere. The level of complexity they dive in while talking about the consoles in every single way - music, design, history, sales - is incredible. I thank you for all the laborious work you put into these videos!

love how in depth your videos are, I can tell that you are very passionate about this

Wii all know this was the #1 home console of our childhoods

Its always interesting hearing people talk so fondly and passionately about things I have no love for. Good video!

This made me fall in love with the WII even more… i’m glad I grew up wit this!

Your videos never disappoint. Whenever I see a new upload I look forward to setting aside some time and watching (I love these long videos). In addition to your insightful commentary and interpretation of, well, everything, you also frequently hit me with a heavy dose of nostalgia. In short, your videos are amazing and emotionally relatable.

You did a great job - I’ve always avoided these retrospective videos as I’ve feared they would either be casual nostalgia fodder and my time would be better spent being productive, but I chose to watch yours and you did an amazing job with editing pacing, and word count Always felt like you had a good point being made and like this video was made very intentionally And the nostalgia factor was great too I was surprised to see you talk about excite truck

Wii: Lets bring all of our past games to the Wii through the virtual console. Switch: Lets sell this collection for 6 months to capitalize on FOMO and remove all legacy content

So many memories with the Wii, got one used about a year ago and did my best to get back every game we had when I was younger. It was so worth it to revisit those games and relive those memories. I will absolutely keep them for my kids to experience one day!

I just discovered this channel and needless to say, I'm hooked! I love these long form retrospective videos. Keep up the great work!

My first ever home console. Thanks again for the nostalgia!

I have so much love for this console. It’s the first console I bought with my own money. Countless hours of brawl and Mario kart. Great video Liam, full of that good old nostalgia ❤️

Amazing work on this, entertaining throughout, please continue to do more!

This video's energy and passion are so impressive that I came from feeling next to nothing about Wii (only emulated a handful of games and that's it) to actually forming some nostalgic feelings about it. So much was covered that it makes it hard not to get attached to this console and the history period. Marvelous work.

The Wii had a legendary UI and was chock full of cool and unique games put out by Nintendo. Games like Sin and Punishment 2, Battalion Wars 2, or Excite Bots Trick Racing would never be made today. I love the Wii, really the first Nintendo console I was involved with in my life.

Ever since I found your channel I was waiting for an eventual mention of Xenoblade, and it was at the end of such a massive video as well. Great video as always, I do love me some Wii

I have got into some old games lately. Your video is just what I needed to know a little bit more about the best for each platform and what to look for.

Your videos always install a perfect sense of calm and appreciation. Makes for some really enjoyable content. Thanks man

Operation Rainfall still stands as one of the greatest fan collaborations ever. Thanks to the people involved in pushing Nintendo to release these games. Xenoblade alone is now one of their premier franchises. All because of a dedicated fanbase who believed in its potential.

There's a lot that I owe the Wii for even though its nowhere near my favorite games console (that goes to the 3DS or the original Xbox probably). The Wii was my first exposure to Mario 64 and Super Smash Brothers, its responsible for my love of video game emulation, and it allowed me to appreciate games in a way that the 360 and PS3 couldnt necessarily achieve (although I enjoyed both of those consoles as well, both Halo and Metal Gear Solid hold a huge place in my childhood). The 7th generation of consoles was the peak of gaming as far as i'm concerned. As much as I like a lot of newer titles that have come out in the past 10 years (seeing the indie scene finally explode and hit the mainstream has been amazing to watch), there will never be a bigger year for gaming than 2007 and there will never be a more iconic trio of consoles than the Nintendo Wii, the Playstation 3, and the Xbox 360. I think the only way that a year like 2007 can be outdone is if Gabe Newell bundled a free VR headset and a copy of Half Life 3 into every box of the Steam Deck.

Great look back at the Wii. I have never bought or finished as many games on a console as I did on the Wii. I was never bothered by the gimmicky controls that many people said. The Wii had some truly unique games that game me experiences that I will never forget. I want to highlight a few of my favorites (apart from the big Nintendo titles): Cursed Mountain, De Blob, Deadly Creatures, Endless Ocean, Kororinpa, Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars, Rabbids Go Home and Zack & Wiki. I think my favorite must have been Red Steel 2 which you mentioned. Everything felt so right.