Wii Worries

Joystiq just posted this interesting piece on the WiiFit situation; how the hardcore crowd sees it as the symbol for “everything that’s wrong with gaming” these days. I admit I’m a bit worried about it myself but for a different reason.

I’m all for more diversity in the industry but what has me worried is that if Nintendo keeps up this pace there will soon be more peripherals for the Wii than actual games. There’s the Wii Remote, Nunchuk, classic controller, and now the Wii Balance Board, the Zapper, and soon the Mario Kart wheel. How many plastic white things do we need to own in order to play a handful of games?

Granted, most games will work just fine with a Remote and Nunchuk but if you look at the retail space as an average consumer and add it up you’re looking at just as much money on doo-dads as you’d spend on an Xbox 360 or a PlayStation 3.

The Balance Board is a really great piece of hardware but it’s worrying that it’s been announced with the Wii still less than a year old. Has Nintendo already run out of ideas for the Wii Remote? What’s next, the WiiCycle? The WiiBowFlex?

Maybe it’s nothing but every time I hear about Nintendo these thoughts keep cropping up.