[Wii] Can the Wii change the future of gaming?

I've always been a believer that games are limited by their engines. The more the game engine can do, the more the developer can do with it. And of course, engines are directly limited to the amount of processing resources available to it.

I think the Wii is going to open up a new avenue of gaming, but at the cost of closing itself to current avenues. I think the Wii is going to end up being exactly what Nintendo wants, a simple gaming platform that offers an experience really similar to arcades. That is you jump right in playing and the gameplay concepts are generally simple but grabbing.

At the same time, the Wii isn't going to be the platform of choice for games with depth and complexity. Developers will be more likely to develop a game like Final Fantasy XII on the PS3 or Xbox 360 where they have the tools to develop more detailed, more interactive worlds. The growth of these game elements on the Wii will be stagnant as the hardware won't be able to support more powerful engines than can support these kinds of elements.

We're starting to see a split in the market. People looking for quick, simple and fun games are going to be looking at the Wii where I think people looking for deeply involved games are going to be looking at the PS3 or the Xbox 360. I also think the PS3 and Xbox 360 route is going to have the bigger install base, but of course those two consoles are going to have to share it.

Jam it back in, in the dark.