February 14, 2007
While the voting will almost certainly be more fluff than serious stuff, GamePolitics takes note of the new Everybody Votes Channel available for Wii owners who have their systems connected to the Internet.Game Videos has some footage of the new channel, which is a free download from the Wii Shop.
Current questions are of the aforementioned fluff variety, and include:
Which is a more romantic Valentine's gift? (roses or chocolates)
I'd rather live in a house on... (mountains or beach)
Which century would you prefer to live in (19th or 22nd)
The interactive voting process is a little cumbersome, and consists of picking an answer and then being sent to another screen where one's Mii (avatar) must be drag/dropped onto the answer. Users can also predict how others will vote and may suggest poll ideas.
It's fun, and we hope Nintendo delves into some political issues going forward. Do you think they will?
Yes
No
Not sure
Comments
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Man Hunt 2 anyone?
If not, I think that would be the first step before Nintendo ever put their foot in the water (I can't imagine Nintendo pushing to be the pioneers in online voting).
The Wii voting channel seems much more like a politically correct version of "Hot or Not", a time waster that may also give them some insight into the interests of their user base.
I really hate replies like this, I really do. Especially considering that Manhunt 2 is coming out for the Wii, and Rubix set a few other examples as well.
I don't see Nintendo actually using this for politics though.
You've gotta hand it to Ninteno, though - as Joe touched on, this is probably designed in part as a cheap and simple means of surveying their customers. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see polls regarding Nintendo products (similar to the ones that exist everywhere on their website) popping up from time to time. It's a little brilliant, actually: they've potentially put a products/consumer interest survey system in the hands of every single person who owns a Wii. I wouldn't really mind it, either; after all, customer surveys, while sometimes a little annoying, do help the company put out better-quality merchandise, which is a good thing for essentially everyone. And the best part is, if you don't want to be involved in all this, you just don't download the channel.
Ironically, Nintendo doesn't really even need the extra consumer-relations contacts this could produce; it's Sony, who's seemed to be far out of touch with their target market recently (AIWFCIAPSP anyone?), that could use a boost.
As they keep saying, Nintendo is a "family system". Fun for little bobby. Fun for teenage tim and fun for mom and dad too. With games for each of them to play. Other consoles, like the PS3, really do not offer a wide range of games for all ages.
Besides, look at the market. You cant find a Wii anywhere. Plenty of PS3s and Xbox360s though. What does that tell you? :)
It's too limited for any really meaningful interaction on that scale, though.
Blood and gore aren't the only things "adults" enjoy. Adults like Raving Rabbits and Excite Truck too.
I don't see Nintendo using political questions, outside of something popular like "who do you want for president?" in 2008. Politics are too polarizing. The surveys are more like conversation starters.
As far as the Wii voting thing goes, I think it's silly, but if people dig it, cool.