Nintendo Wii
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 5 of 29 game consoles by recommenders
Fondly recalled for casual, family-friendly play, a TV-friendly interface and easy modding. Critics say its graphics and motion controls were weak.
Fondly recalled for casual, family-friendly play, a TV-friendly interface and easy modding. Critics say its graphics and motion controls were weak.
50 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 40
- criticize it
- 10
- approval share
- 80%
Recommended in 10 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 40 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 10 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Family and group play
“the Wii was a singularly unique console because it brought a particular kind of casual gaming to the masses”
Comment from 31 Oct 2026 in “My favourite PowerMac is a Nintendo Wii” “it brought millions of people into video games who only considered them another toy”
Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “My favourite PowerMac is a Nintendo Wii” “it's great just being able to play my games with my kids”
Comment from 4 Aug 2026 in “Xbox goes down. You can't play games you own on disc” - Comment from 13 Jul 2026 in “The console wars have been lost”
- Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Meta Horizon Worlds on Meta Quest is being discontinued”
Friendly TV interface and navigation
“The sounds, the music, the tactile feel of using the WiiMode to navigate was sublime.”
Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “My favourite PowerMac is a Nintendo Wii” “the Wii was one of the most TV friendly interfaces and inputs”
Comment from 17 Jul 2026 in “CD Sales Growth Outpaced Vinyl in the First Half of 2026” “The Wii had possibly the best big screen UI I’ve ever used.”
Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “My favourite PowerMac is a Nintendo Wii” - Comment from 16 Jan 2026 in “Patching the Wii News Channel to serve local news”
Moddable and hackable
“It removes the region lock and you can set the system language to english.”
Comment from 31 Oct 2026 in “My favourite PowerMac is a Nintendo Wii” “I too have always adored the Wii and its moddability.”
Comment from 8 Apr 2026 in “I Ported Mac OS X to the Nintendo Wii” “it's a great emulation system as well”
Comment from 17 Jan 2026 in “Patching the Wii News Channel to serve local news” - Comment from 8 Apr 2026 in “I Ported Mac OS X to the Nintendo Wii”
Favorite console of all time
“Wii remains my favourite video game system of all time”
Comment from 17 Jan 2026 in “Patching the Wii News Channel to serve local news” “The Wii was truly the peak of gaming consoles.”
Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “My favourite PowerMac is a Nintendo Wii” “Such a unique game console.”
Comment from 17 Jan 2026 in “Patching the Wii News Channel to serve local news”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Motion controls poorly implemented
“It was totally awesome. But the advertised promise of motion controls didn’t really land until Wii motion+ controllers.”
Comment from 31 Oct 2026 in “My favourite PowerMac is a Nintendo Wii” “The motion controls were pretty badly implemented.”
Comment from 31 Oct 2026 in “My favourite PowerMac is a Nintendo Wii” “The motion controls make it age really poorly imo”
Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “My favourite PowerMac is a Nintendo Wii” Weak graphics and video decoding
“It was the Wii where there console side moved away from keeping up in the cutting edge graphics race.”
Comment from 17 Feb 2026 in “Rise of the Triforce” “It had terrible graphics, terrible performance, weird controls, and was much more gamer friendly”
Comment from 23 Oct 2026 in “Xbox wants you to pay 24 to 40 cents per hour to stream games you bought” “it was evident that it was barely keeping up with decoding the MPEG 2 video from the disc”
Comment from 14 Apr 2026 in “WiiFin – Jellyfin Client for Nintendo Wii” - Comment from 11 Jun 2026 in “Web Browsers on Video Game Consoles”
- Comment from 14 Apr 2026 in “WiiFin – Jellyfin Client for Nintendo Wii”
- Comment from 14 Apr 2026 in “WiiFin – Jellyfin Client for Nintendo Wii”
Games lost when store shut down
“I have lost plenty of Wii games when that store shut down.”
Comment from 17 Oct 2026 in “US Rep Announces Congressional Legislation to Protect Video Game Ownership” “I can't play a lot of my old Wii games at all any more.”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Valve is about to win the console generation”
Other game consoles people recommend
The four most recommended other game consoles, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valve Steam Machine | 326 | 240 | 58% | 12 | 1 mo5 owners | — |
| PlayStation 5 | 121 | 181 | 40% | 12 | 3 yrs8 owners | — |
| Xbox console | 62 | 212 | 23% | 12 | 21 yrs6 owners | — |
| Xbox 360 | 41 | 19 | 68% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Nintendo WiiThis page | 40 | 10 | 80% | 10 | — | Approved |
What people said
40 of the 53 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“His career literally wouldn't have happened without the Wii.”
“It was totally awesome. But the advertised promise of motion controls didn’t really land until Wii motion+ controllers.”
“the Wii was a singularly unique console because it brought a particular kind of casual gaming to the masses”
“It removes the region lock and you can set the system language to english.”
“The motion controls were pretty badly implemented.”
“It was fun, but the poor thing got a lot of dust in our households.”
“The motion controls make it age really poorly imo”
“neat zero knowledge Nostr relays, mesh-net (CJDNS) routers”
“the Wii games are actually good, as well, not microtransaction slop factories”
“PowerMac is for sissies when you compare this opportunity!”
“The Wii had possibly the best big screen UI I’ve ever used.”
“The sounds, the music, the tactile feel of using the WiiMode to navigate was sublime.”
“it brought millions of people into video games who only considered them another toy”
“The Wii was truly the peak of gaming consoles.”
“I was amazed to see more software, stability, and even online gaming brought back”
“hopes of replicating Nintendo's success with the Wii”
“It had terrible graphics, terrible performance, weird controls, and was much more gamer friendly”
“I have lost plenty of Wii games when that store shut down.”
“on the Wii, a considerably slower machine, they kind of managed it well”
“it's great just being able to play my games with my kids”
“the Wii was one of the most TV friendly interfaces and inputs”
“The Wii had all ages playing together.”
“Unfortunately, at 640x480 everything was too small, even back then.”
“manual compilation, however, which can take forever”
“it does very much struggle with 480p decoding of most anything”
“it was evident that it was barely keeping up with decoding the MPEG 2 video from the disc”
“The fact that it has component video out makes it a swiss army knife for everything else”
“the wii doesn't support modern tv resolutions”
“I too have always adored the Wii and its moddability.”
“The Wii is very moddable.”
“you can play with your friends”
“we got a lot more use out of the Xbox (original) and the Wii”
“It was the Wii where there console side moved away from keeping up in the cutting edge graphics race.”
“This didn't affect Wii, WiiU, Switch or Switch 2.”
“Such a unique game console.”
“it's a great emulation system as well”
“Wii remains my favourite video game system of all time”
“It felt very much like a modern way to navigate a TV.”
“stationary gaming consoles have been held back by slow (optical) storage”
“I can't play a lot of my old Wii games at all any more.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.