Sims creator claims Wii is the only next gen console - Not PS3 or Xbox 360
By Dave Parrack
Will Wright, the main man behind The Sims and a host of other massively popular games on a range of platforms has claimed that the Wii is the only true next generation console. The controversial opinion came during an interview in which he also discussed the effects games have on kids, games being used for educating people, and future release Spore.
Guardian Unlimited interviewed Will Wright, and among a host of interesting opinions he made the fanboy baiting comment that the Wii is the only next gen machine on the market. He was asked “What games do you play?” and replied:
“Somebody asked me what I thought next generation meant and what I thought about the PlayStation 3 being next generation. The only next gen system I’ve seen is the Wii – the PS3 and the Xbox 360 feel like better versions of the last, but pretty much the same game with incremental improvement.”
“But the Wii feels like a major jump – not that the graphics are more powerful, but that it hits a completely different demographic. In some sense I see the Wii as the most significant thing that’s happened, at least on the console side, in quite a while.”
That’s quite a claim, but the man, who was admitted in to BAFTA this week, has a point. The PS3 and Xbox 360 are basically more advanced versions of the console which preceeded them. The guts of the machine are more advanced, the games look prettier, but really what else is there? There’s no new control system, no more user interactivity, nothing really that innovative.
The Wii on the other hand, took a sideways step rather than a forward one along the same path. Up to now that strategy has been criticised as it does mean graphics and processing power aren’t up there with the PS3 and Xbox 360. But if you look at it from the other way (like Wright has) it actually means the Wii is the innovative console, and the only true next generation machine currently on the market.
When asked “What set-up do you have at home?” he responded:
“We’ve got an Xbox 360 collecting dust in the background, a Wii hooked up that we use quite a bit. I don’t have a PS3. I still, for the most part, prefer playing games on the computer – to me the mouse is the best input device ever.”
“Every generation it’s like “the PC’s dead! The PC’s dead!”. But it carries on growing when consoles are flat for five years. At the moment I can get better graphics on my PC than I can on the PS3.”
“We’re doing Spore on the Wii, and we did MySims. It takes signifcant. PS3 and Xbox 360 are similar enough that you can. So it comes down to what the interesting major platforms are and which markets we want to hit.”
So his Xbox 360 is collecting dust, and he hasn’t even bothered with the PS3 yet. Remember that this is a man who lives and breathes games, playing and developing them, and he has made his console choice very clear.
Also in the interview, he addressed the concerns of governments and organisations who claim games harm children, and spoke about his desire to make games with broad appeal rather than for niche hardcore gamers.
An intriguing interview which I urge you to read in full.
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October 28th, 2007
You make some good points. Although all the consoles are now current gen. He would be better to say the Wii has features that change how we game and what we define as a game. I don’t think “next gen” has anything to do with it. Although, I am a little disappointed in the 360 and PS3 since they were supposed to usher in huge leaps in AI and physics and really, I’ve seen nothing special in those areas. You can’t really blame the consoles perhaps, seeing as developers have decided to focus on one element only, graphics and making things look prettier and putting more enemies on the screen. Just seems like a waste of all the power under the hoods of the PS3 and 360 if all we really get is more pixels without anything the way of advanced gameplay.
I mean the biggest game of the year, Halo 3 plays almost identical to the xbox version.
January 15th, 2008
Halo i agree was the biggest game of the year but it sucked……it was totaly overated and it didnt improve much from halo2. bottom line is HALO IS OVERATED and it sucks. now i dont think 360 sucks or ps3 or wii. i think they are all good systems. but instead of making sims games just for wii cause The “producer” doesnt like ps3 or 360 is just messed up i dont understand it, he would make more money if he put it on all the consoles right? but What they really need to do is just make one giant sims game with everything in it including content downloads and make it for the next gen instead of making little crappy side projects for the ps2 like castaway.
January 15th, 2008
Halo i agree was the biggest game of the year but it sucked……it was totaly overated and it didnt improve much from halo2. bottom line is HALO IS OVERATED and it sucks. now i dont think 360 sucks or ps3 or wii. i think they are all good systems. but instead of making sims games just for wii cause The “producer” doesnt like ps3 or 360 is just messed up i dont understand it, he would make more money if he put it on all the consoles right? but What they really need to do is just make one giant sims game with everything in it including content downloads and make it for the next gen instead of making little crappy side projects for the ps2 like castaway.
April 16th, 2008
[...] series, which started with the Will Wright created original The Sims, released back in the year 2000, has spawned one sequel so far, and an [...]
June 23rd, 2008
ITS BOLD ITS BAVE ITS THE CHOSEN ONE!!!!! IT’S THE Wii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! brought to you care of god.