Shovelware on Wii a Good Thing?

A common point made by those who dislike the Wii is that its library is filled with garbage. Which, to be honest – it is. There are a number of great games, but for every Mario Galaxy there are countless copies of Bass Fishing, Ninja Reflex, and Asterix at Olympic Games. If I were asked to provide some of the negatives of the system, it’s probably a point I would even make. You don’t hear people defending shovelware everyday.

So that’s why Chris Kohler’s editorial over at Game|Life is particularly interesting. He contends that, not only is shovelware not a bad thing, but that it might prove to be a good thing.

And if third parties are too scared of failure to do anything without somebody first lighting the way, what does it mean for us that companies like Bold have proved that there is a market for inexpensive Wii games that are light on features? Surely Capcom could come up with some $20 game concepts. Or Electronic Arts.

And why do we think that consumers can’t figure it out? Why do videogames have to be the one product for which we believe they need to have their hands held? I loved He-Man as a kid. There were all kinds of crappy knock-off action figures in the cereal aisle at the supermarket for $1. Did anybody buy them for me? No. They knew what the real deal was and paid more for it.

Read the full article over at Game|Life.