well its good for them but its only as they managed to bridge a gap between kids and families, i feel that the wii is a terrible console, very low end graphics and designed for very young kids, the ps3 and xbox are the better machines for me anyway, with real games, not mario+sonic rubbish

I completey agree

And how come the Wii and DS are doing so well without having Blu-Ray playback? There's simply no way that people could be interested in games, rather than the promise of them. They've not even bothered to confuse their customers by releasing a different spec machine every three months. They've also forgotten to go back on their promise of backwards compatibility, not to mention ignoring the possibility or removing and then re introducing rumble in their controllers. Focusing on delivering entertainment, quality games and fun for the whole family should have been a massive disaster.

It's just a poor show all round and I don't understand how they've done so well.

That is the trouble with Sony and Microsoft, they have forgotten that there are millions of people who just want to pull a machine out of a box they have just bought from Argos, or wherever, plug it in, pop in a game and play it.

For the average person, the technology can be frightening, so they shy away from the 'heavies' and stick with something they know about…a games machine, which plays fun games.

As the trend moves towards downloadable content, there will always be a large global market that wants to browse the games in a conventional shop, take it home and play it.

satire you say?

I look at the wii, and although its not my cup of tea, i say props to Nintendo. The phoenix has truly risen from the ashes. Yep. crap graphics, no hard-drive no HD, etc. crap third party support and its still hard to get hold of even now. Why is it so successful then?

I look at my own family. I've always been into games, ever since the C64. My dad "bankrolled" most of my game systems (128k spectrum +2, Amiga 500 (jeez that one really broke the bank lol), megadrive, snes until i bought the PS1 and everything else after. But he was never interested in them. Nor my brother-in law, sister, mum, step-dad etc i was the family resident geek until my kid brother took the mantle with his 360 last year. All would show a passing interest, at the sheer graphical delight i would show them as wave of impressive wave of realistic 3d graphics would gurn and explode in front of them- before leaving the room looking slightly bewildered and intimidated to retire to the living room with drink in hand, leaving me on my own.

Now the wii has come. These people, these traditional "non-gamers" have found something they can play. Its a social experience. Im still amazed at how it has successfully drawn them in (the women in particular - how hard have games companies strived in the past with their marketing and analysis to crack that holy grail of "the female gamer?"). Drinks in hand, these people cluster round the living room in front of their generically purchased flat screen tv laughing, joking and having a brilliant time - with each other. It doesn't require hours of commitment like Mass effect or even MGS 4. Its not serious. Playing them doesn't mean alienating everyone else around you. I've lost count the amount of times my friends and I would have a few drinks, play on one of my friends wii systems, before bombing up to a club in London. Every single women i know wants one, or has one. The interface is streamlined, friendly, and very accessible to all.

I would love it if the wii did "come first" (all three firms have their own barometres for this so it will be interesting as to who will). All the 360 and PS3 fanboys have been busy sniping over who will succeed on a technical point of view as this quiet, "everyday man" revolution has occured.

A cheap machine that has made a profit from day one, which has brought people together and introduced people to games who usually wouldn't be interested in them. Like i said, not my bag, but i cant help but shake my head in wonder. Nintendo, i salute you.