It's legitimate to ask whether the Wii needs an online service as rich and powerful as Xbox Live .... Much of the Wii's charm comes in watching your friends and family make fools out of themselves by swinging the remote like a baseball bat; that sort of amusement would be lost online. But it's important to note that many of the Wii's games (including Brawl) don't require physical exercise and are similar to the games on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. And while Nintendo could be forgiven for designing a more streamlined network than Live in order to appeal to casual gamers, the one they've given Wii owners makes it difficult to do even the most basic things, like interact with your friends.

Being the solitary type when I'm gaming, I've never made much of any online features except in a few rare cases, but it would be nice if Nintendo would think of maybe, just maybe, doing some tweaking with online functionality so it's more ... functional.

Smashing Failure [Slate, thanks to HeavyFuel]

Every time you fire up a new title, you've got to learn how to look around, run, and fire an Uzi all over again... Each game world is like a foreign country, full of unfamiliar sights and sounds and seemingly arbitrary rules. How do gamers survive in these strange lands? Clichés. Loads and loads of clichés.

And while there are few rational thinkers—excluding helpless extremists who aren't driven by a political agenda or monetary pursuits—who would solely blame violent videogames for violent behavior, there are potentially correlations between the two.

According to a recent Slate piece, there are a number of studies that link behavioral changes and increases in aggression to exposure to more violent content.

From Slate:

In work published in 2000, Anderson and Karen Dill randomly assigned 210 undergraduates to play Wolfenstein 3-D, a first-person-shooter game, or Myst, an adventure game in which players explore mazes and puzzles. Anderson and Dill found that when the students went on to play a second game, the Wolfenstein 3-D players were more likely to behave aggressively toward losing opponents.

Hardly the devil or opening up on your classmates with an assault rifle, but there are some educational links here. Anyone engaging in debate with their parents or peers should read up on the studies linked here.

Thanks, Trumaine. Michael McWhertor

Don't Shoot - Why video games really are linked to violence. [Slate]

On the latter complaint, give us a collective break, Slate! This is like saying Karaoke Revolution isn't fun because you can "cheat" by not really singing the lyrics, merely keeping the tune. And we all know Karaoke Revolution is fun! Right, guys? Right...? Careless Whisper? Anyone?

I can understand the objection, but there is a certain spirit involved in going through a flamboyant bowler's arc or tennis swing, when a simple flick of the wrist may very well do.

Admittedly, I haven't had enough experience to become frustrated with the shaky targeting, but I imagine this is going to be an issue for some people. While I personally had some control issues playing Zelda, this is a complaint I've rarely heard from some very vocal whiners.

Slate dislikes the Wii's "lousy motion control" so much that they advise you not to buy it. Sell your Nintendo stock now! Michael McWhertor

Nintendon't: The case against the Wii.

Why should gamers and industry bigwigs care if it's tough for the little guy? Because back when games were cheaper to make, the independents came up with the ideas that moved the business forward. Richard Garriott peddled Ultima, the first major role-playing title, in plastic bags. Sid Meier's Civilization and Westwood's Dune II cracked open the strategy genre. Id Software's John Carmack and John Romero created the pioneering first-person shooter Doom. Will Wright gave us SimCity and open-ended "sandbox" simulations.

The article goes on to examine the fates of the early pioneers, and gives hope for a new generation in the form of Manifesto Games owner Greg Costikyan. Costikyan plans to bypass the bloated distribution vectors entirely, by selling his games online. In turn, Costikyan's site links to the Independent Games Festival, which might be a good place to monitor indie delights like Dad n' Me, which I think started me well on my way to carpal tunnel just now, and delayed this post far longer than it should have. Perhaps all is not yet lost. Eliza Gauger

Why There Are No Indie Video Games [Slate]