Neil Thompson (Xbox Director) - Wii Is Limited

Sorry if this article will upset you (Wii gamer) but I for one was just dying to hear someone finally say this loud and clear. Not that I have something against the Wii, but the machine is clearly not popular for what it can provide in terms of next-gen fun, but for what it can provide in terms of gameplay experience for non-gamers. That's what Neil Thompson (regional director of the entertainment and devices division at Microsoft UK) told MCV, and we couldn't agree more.

You see, all Nintendo has managed to do with this generation of hardware is expand the video games market. Now more than ever, people all around the planet engage in fun-filled activities like playing Wii Tennis and... in fact - if I may add - Wii Tennis is practically the only title making good use of the system's potential and the Wii Remote's functionality at the same time. Even though Nintendo likes the way the Wii has performed up until this point (and why shouldn't they?), that's just the plain truth.

Now let's see Neil Thompson's thoughts on this issue, shall we:

"I think in this generation we've absolutely been the innovative force in terms of what a next generation console should look like and how people should think about it," he said. "I don't think we were innovative enough with the first console, so we did learn a lot from that."

He also considers - according to megagames.com - that more models of Xbox 360 represented a "smart choice", which, in his opinion, should be studied by competitors. However, Sony has already launched several models of their respective system (PS3), so that pretty much leaves Nintendo at the back of the bus, with just one model of the Wii console launched to date. How about a hard-drive-enabled Wii, Nintendo? No? OK... I guess it's rather late for that now isn't it?

However, Neil Thompson also reckons that "Nintendo are doing very well and they've done a great job at expanding the market in certain areas," but then goes on pointing out that "there is a limit in terms of what you can do with Wii and there is a very definite limit on the expandability of that product."

I have to admit (as evil as I may sound saying it), this one gave me a bit more fuel for the day.