Overly Positive

Image by _dominic via Flickr

So let’s say that you are one of those people who, in an effort to keep up with your obsessive need to have every game console, picked up one of those cute little Wii consoles on the day they came out. Sure, you were the talk of the town as you swung your Wiimotes at the TV, narrowly missing the screen itself as it flew off your wrist. And you might have been the cool kid on the block because you actually had something that got your fellow unathletic, anti-social geeks out of their chairs and swinging.

But then something happened.

Wii’s became mainstream.

Normal people, who would sooner try to use an XBox controller as a TV remote, began buying up all the Wiis in force. A whole bunch of folks who would rather take a nap than take a swing at a video game were busy happily punishing each other in Wii Tennis or in Wii Play. Wiis became scarce, and the Nintendo, being the business that they are, seemed to turn its back on its core base. It wasn’t cool to have a Wii anymore – in fact, it was downright, well, normal.

Geeks can’t have that, right? So in a protest of perhaps epic proportions, a huge number of geek users have basically stopped playing their Wiis. Aside from busting them out to entertain “normal” friends while they sit on the computer and check email, forums, and Twitter, you don’t see anyone really talking about playing Wii all day.

Don’t woryr though – your Wii can still be a useful and practical piece of your geek collection. I mean, think about it – it’s a trendy icon, a way of showing the popular people that you’re cool and hip. Bust out a Wii during a get together and you’re immediately gone from being that nerdy weird kid with the nasally voice to being the life of the party. Obviously, beating up on them with clearly superior skills born from 20 years of unforgiving platformers and FPSs is not recommended.

What about as a show piece? No one has any clue about what the hecka  PS3 is and someone could look at that monster rig of yours and start wondering if toast is going to come out of it. But everyone knows what a Wii is. With a Wii as a social, decorative piece for your house, you can watch with mildly hidden amusement as people haltingly explain how they like to play with their Wii at home and how “it’s so cute”.

And let’s not forget the obvious social benefit of getting you closer to that person you’d like to spend more time with that doesn’t play games but who might enjoy a round of Wii Boxing. Why just the other day, people at a bar were talking about going back to someone’s place to play a little Wii action. Sure, someone is probaly not going to talk with you because your sense of fashion comes from your parents and you speak in terms that make them think you’re from another planet entirely, but get a Wii into the equation and maybe, just maybe you’ll be playing with more than just single-player.

So get that Wii out, dust off the cobwebs, and set it out proudly on display for all those people visiting. Trendy status awaits you.