Wii Warm Up: Let's talk graphics

It's the proverbial elephant in the room, the issue that isn't really discussed by Nintendo fans: the appearance of Wii games. Let's be frank -- the level of graphics in a lot (not all) of Wii games can best be described as unimpressive. We know graphics aren't what makes a game ... but they can certainly be part of it, just as they can be part of what ruins a game. Sometimes, the game is so good that any number of flaws can be ignored. We can even offer up a decent example from the other guys: Dead Rising wasn't exactly the best-looking game last year (and it even had some serious problems), but there is nothing like running through the mall on the shoulders of zombies with a lightsaber laser sword in your hand. You want an example of one of our fabulous games with subpar graphics? Two words: Eternal Darkness.

So, alright. Graphics aren't a deal-breaker, but just one aspect of a game. Then why are we talking about this? It's simple -- Wii games are sometimes even falling short of the standards we grew to expect from the GameCube. We shouldn't be gazing fondly upon Resident Evil 4 redux as one of the best-looking games to hit the Wii; we should be looking forward to it because it's a great game.

Even if you want to grant that the Wii is nothing but two GameCubes duct-taped together, then fine, great -- shouldn't the games look that much better than the games we played on one 'Cube? We're patient. We understand it takes a system time to grow, and we're willing to wait for things like Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Metroid Prime 3. But some of the games third party developers are showing off don't look that great. Even the coming titles that are overflowing with cuteness can be a little simplistic. So to these companies, get with it, before Nintendo muscles you out of the market by virtue of actually caring.