Another Game Developer Calls the Wii a Toy

Will Wright, creator of The Sims, Spore, and SimCity, recently compared the Wii with a toy, although unlike another game developer, Wright's comments were not pejorative.

Wright says simply that the Wii seems more like something that belongs in the "toy market" and that the games he's enjoyed on the Wii felt like toys.  And I can't really take that amiss, because The Sims itself is far more toy than game, so Wright clearly doesn't think that's a bad approach.

However, I do have a couple of points to make.  The first being, yes, the Wii console is a toy.  As is the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3.  All game consoles are toys.  Perhaps the issue is not that the Wii is being called a toy, but that this portrayal is being used to suggest that somehow, the other consoles are not toys.  I want to be very clear on this: anything that allows you to kill a dragon with a magical sword or shoot an alien with a disintegrator ray or train mythical beings to fight each other is a toy.  Gamers need to accept that.

What people really mean is, the Wii seems less grown up than the other systems.  It's family friendly but not as cool and slick.

But now is not the time to be saying that.  In recent weeks, games like No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces and Endless Ocean: Blue World have proven the Wii is capable of supporting a variety of strong games in different genres that appeal to various demographics.

Wright says that the games he has enjoyed on the Wii have felt like toys.  I think he needs to try out some of the Wii's recent offerings before giving his final verdict.

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