Nintendo started the year as a phenomenon, and finished in a clear lead, outselling rival Xbox 360, and scoring more than double the sales of Sony's Playstation 3, which was released the same week in 2006 as the Wii.It would be a fair assessment to say Nintendo has ridden a wave of casual games to the point of abandoning their dedicated fan base.
The first half of the year saw the release of its most anticipated titles, Super Smash Bros Brawl and Mario Kart Wii, sequels to historically fun games.
But shortly thereafter, Nintendo packaged a bathroom scale with a game called Wii Fit for $90.
This became 2008's biggest breakout hit, far outselling Grand Theft Auto IV and other traditional gamers' games. Like Wii Sports, Wii Fit asks you to make simple movements to play various minigames, but also tracks your weight while you do it.
I wish I could tell you what happened in the World Of Wii in the second half of the year, but the only major releases were Animal Crossing: City Folk, a virtually unchanged update of a game on DS and Gamecube in previous years, and Wii Music, a title designed for those who find the gameplay of Guitar Hero to be too much realism, and instead relies on gestures to mimic various musical instruments. When I was a kid, they called this "air guitar," though now they've also added air sousaphone and air glockenspiel.
Mario Kart Wii, the game I'd most heartily recommend.
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