The Wii just launched in the US and there are heaps of videos online from various launch locations throughout the US. Here are a couple of video clips that I particularly liked. I’m sure more mass-media coverage will be online (or on television) soon.
The general vibe seems to be very different to the Playstation 3 launch, which seemed to mostly consist of people waiting in line to buy a console to sell on eBay. In contrast, the people who lined up to buy a Wii seemed to mostly be gamers and long-term Nintendo fans. As evident in the video clips below.
The first clip is Joystiq’s coverage of the Los Angeles launch at Universal Citywalk. It’s a very professional video and includes interviews with a number of fans waiting in line. At the very front of the line is Jonathan Mann (aka GameJew, who I’ve talked about before). After buying his Wii, he sung “Wii Means You And Me” from his own “The Mario Opera“.
The second video comes via bits bytes pixels & sprites and is from the main New York City launch. It shows Triforce (clearly a huge Zelda fan), the first person to buy a Nintendo Wii fielding questions with Reggie (Nintendo of America President). He is very articulate about what Nintendo means to him personally and why he appreciates the Nintendo philosophy. (Actually, the video below is a better quality version of the same interview on bits bytes pixels & sprites; I found it by searching on YouTube).
Here’s one of Triforce’s responses from the video above:
The say Nintendo is about children. Actually, the very first Nintendo system was called Famicom; that means Family Computer. Nintendo has always been about the family. You know, they’ve always made games for everybody to play and enjoy, and I like that about Nintendo. They don’t alienate any particular gender, you know, or age, or demographic. It’s about getting everyone to play, and I hope you guys continue to work.
Overally, I was touched by how these people where. Clearly, I don’t know them personally, but I feel that we share a common philosophy that pines for gaming to be fun, friendly, inclusive, and universal. I’m looking forward to the Australian launch.