Wii Awards

Wii's 2008 has been an odd mix of ups and downs, casual offerings and hardcore slumps, but it's a year in which Nintendo did an amazing job of putting itself on the map -- not just for the loyal fans or initial Wii haters, but for the millions of casual consumers that never thought they'd pick up a controller or lay down hard-earned cash for a videogame console. It was a year that brought Nintendo's top competitive franchise in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, a decent line-up of third-party titles as companies started to realize that “Hey, this Wii thing may actually catch on," and a wave of casual and “bridge" products from the Big N designed specifically to encourage newly-convinced consumers to take part in a hobby many of us have been making part of our lives for decades.