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Discus sucks for being able to read long replies. So I'm moving the conversation here.
About the Mii: The Mii is indicative of Nintendo's entire style for the Wii. Miis became a pop culture thing almost instantly. Yes, the Check Mii Out Channel is dorky, but I'll admit to spending hours browsing the cute and clever designs worldwide. And Miis show up in games all the time; I don't get the blast you're throwing that Nintendo never uses them or that they don't mean anything. Animal Crossing, Metroid 3, Kart, Samba, Wii Fit. My Miis are me and my friends, and when they show up in games, it's funny and engaging.
About the speaker-in-Remote: when you get a "call" in Lit or No More Heroes, you suddenly understand how awesome it is to have a speaker in the Remote. Or when Big Brain Academy or Boom Blox lets you know that it's your turn by having your Remote beep a friendly chime. That is balls out slick. It's a great hardware feature and more games should leverage it.
About DS interaction: when you also own the most popular handheld system on the planet, this is a big deal. Nintendo hasn't done enough with this (mostly Pokemon stuff, I think), in my opinion, but it is still huge. Downloading DS demos is not lame, why in the world is downloading demos lame?
About motion control: "Don't try to say that it's not based on motion control because if you look at their previous E3 press conferences, you will be proved wrong." Yeah, let's all judge Nintendo by the dog-and-pony shows they stage specifically for non-gaming dopes like Matt Lauer. How much motion control is required in Mario Galaxy? Metroid 3? Smash Brawl? NPC Pikmin? (And I don't mean simply pointing at the screen, I mean silly waggle and shaking.) And while some first-party titles like Excitebots and WarioWare Smooth Moves either overdo it or are truly based entirely around it, Nintendo still has plenty of variety across the line. For every Wii Sports that demands it, there's a Mario Kart Wii that makes it optional. Not every game is about motion control. Do I think devs need to finesse this feature better? Absolutely. But I'm not going to forever hate the Wii because of the asinine way motion control was used in, say, Marvel Ultimate Alliance.
About Remote-as-pointer: of course that's great! You're selecting your options by clicking on them, mouse style, instead of tapping around with a d-pad! NPC Pikmin benefits from this, but it's been a hallmark of the Wii experience since day one. People "get" pointing at the screen right away. There is no learning curve, except in adjusting your fine motor control so you don't point off the screen. It's a key component in how the Wii has sold itself. It makes the Wii accessible.
About library of downloadable games: You mean to tell me that WiiWare plus Virtual Console plus DSiWare has fewer games to download than on PS3 or 360? Maybe if PS3 and 360 are added together, they do.
About messaging: Yes, 360 and PS3 instantly send little onscreen notifications when I get a message. If they're turned on. My Wii lets me know when I have a message waiting when it is off. I'm not saying that the Wii Message Board is a more comprehensive interface for communication, but knowing that I have mail without having to fire up the machine is awfully important. And about the Message Board, I know my Wii games make it a lot easier to save and share screenshots inside the few games that support such a thing. And I love when games like Bonsai Barber or Mario Galaxy send messages TO my Wii.
Of course Nintendo still has a lot to learn. The Wii is far from the perfect gaming system. There is not a day that goes by that I don't wish the Wii could tell me when my friends are online. But if you'll recall, this conversation started when you asked why we like the Wii. We gave answers and you knocked them all down. Clearly, you don't need to own a Wii. I'm not sure why you have one, since you only like Mario Galaxy (and Sunshine was better!) If you're holding out for MotionPlus and Red Steel 2, you're going to be disappointed. Because it is not going to look HD, it will feel dumbed down to you due to the control scheme, and after about an hour your arms will fall off. If you're looking for the Wii to match the other two, you're going to be let down... that's why you have to look for the stuff that is different, that isn't multiplatform. Like anything, the best games are those that truly take advantage of the home system.
Or you can wait a few years as Sony and Microsoft ready their own me-too motion controllers, and then you can enjoy all your favorite PS/Xbox franchises as they get dicked up with motion controls and cutesy art styles. As we've seen, Microsoft is fairly desperate to mimic Nintendo's success, and Sony will take anything at this point. Are you ready for Uncharted Super Tropical Fitness and Chibi-Halo Motion Pointer Command?
