Could Wii Sports be bundled with the system? [Update]

We receive lots of emails from readers. Some full of praise for the impressive vocabulary skills and intricate imagery provided by our crack team of Ludwig bloggers. Other emails ask us if we would like to receive lucrative reimbursement by aiding rich African Presidents in liberating their funds from the clutches of usurpers only by submitting our bank information. However, sometimes we receive wonderful emails that produce deep thought within our staff. One such email arrived recently where the sender proposed that Nintendo could very well include Wii Sports with the console at retail.

This started the hamster to run on the steel wheel in my head, which is an analogy for my brain. Remember folks, intricate imagery. I started to think back to what Nintendo's launches had been like in the past. The NES launched with Super Mario Bros. The SNES launched with Super Mario World. The N64 failed to launch with a game, as well as the GameCube, and if you're a superstitious person, you might think that the lacking launch of the N64 was the start of the downhill trend of hardware launching without proper software to back it up.

Now, there could've been any number of reasons as to why the GameCube didn't launch with a game. This feature isn't about analyzing the hits and misses of that console, but seeing the lackluster performance of the system in contrast to its competition on the store shelves, Nintendo might look back to its previous launch efforts and see a tradition they wish to uphold yet again. Even late in the console's life cycle, Nintendo started bundling in Metroid Prime and Mario Party with the console in an attempt to sell more units.

Why would they decide to bundle in Wii Sports with their newest console though? Well, for one, it would serve as a wonderful introduction to the new control scheme for gamers. The Wii Sports games were incredibly intuitive at E3, and with the already mass-appeal of some of the sports in general, along with the knowledge of the rules of each sport that the general American citizen possesses, be they gamer or not, it's a good way to get an enjoyable product available for use on the console from the first second it's turned on.

Including these easy to play games could also help cause a thirst for more of this experience with the console in the player. If someone is sitting down and trying Wii Sports Tennis and starts to really get into that experience, standing up and moving about, swinging with intensity as if they were there on the cartoonish court them self, they would really start to appreciate the possibilities of the control scheme. Sure, all of us are looking forward to the console because of our undying love for Nintendo's products, but the average person who never or rarely plays games, which again is Nintendo's intended target, could honestly start getting addicted to the experience. This would then drive up sales of software, as they'd start to think of all the other scenarios they'd enjoy the Wiimote with.

So someone enjoying the Wii Sports Baseball could then be interested in third party baseball titles on the console. If a player had spent some time with Wii Sports Airplane and found the ideas it presented enjoyable, then perhaps they could move on to a more action-oriented flying game or a flight-simulation title. Wii Sports seems like a kind of gateway game experience, that if included in the system, could very well escalate the player's use of the console from just a passing interest in seeing what it's all about, playing for a handful of hours each week into a full-fledged obsession of gaming for hours each day.

People who aren't normally into gaming would then become gamers, having had their initial tour of duty, so to speak, with Wii Sports and progressing onto Nintendo's excellent first party games, or onto those from third parties. Sure, just about everyone knows the name Mario, but how many of those who know the name and recognize his iconic status actually buy and play his games? This would cause these new gamers to get in on established franchises and join the rest of us, which would show Nintendo achieving their goal with the Wii. Then if said gamer enjoyed their time with that title, their small interest and base of knowledge around that character and product would bloom into a continued effort to take part in future titles bearing the presence, in whichever way, of that character.

Including Wii Sports with the console would also do more for the company than just training gamers to the new control style and bringing in new talent to the gaming world. It could be a powerful marketing tool for the company. Think about how many parents that are sick of shelling out ridiculous amounts of money for a system, accessories, then high-priced games. Also, with the promised affordability of the console, combining a game with it adds so much more value, increasing the console's appeal on the shelf in stores that much more that when sat next to an Xbox 360 or PS3, the price tag is going to weigh heavily on the consumer when they choose which system they're going to purchase.

And what is stopping Nintendo from going ahead and including the game with the console? Absolutely nothing. These games aren't costing them Halo-like resources. It's not like they have 15 dedicated artists charged with rendering each section of turf on the tennis court in 3D or working on the lighting effects of the stadiums in Baseball. Surely a small core team are putting out these minigames individually, combining them to create a total package, which is a very cost-effective process.

It's a rational prospect for Wii Sports to be included with the console. Honestly, how could Nintendo not include it? What would they even charge for it as a stand alone? 30 bucks? 40 bucks?! So if this game, above all others, is ideal in shaping the player to know and understand the mechanics of the Wiimote not only for the fun games Wii Sports presents, but for other stand alone titles on the system in the future, how could they afford to not bundle the collection with the console? As a gamer, I want this to happen and as an objective journalist I think it will.

[Update: Cleared up confusion regarding the N64 launch.]