The biggest underdog triumph story that I can remember in the history of video games is the release of the Nintendo Wii. Very few people could have foreseen the absolutely huge success the console has had since it hit the market.

The argument in the year prior to next-gens launch was whether the new X-Box or Playstation would reign supreme in the land of gaming. When you brought up the Wii, you were frequently laughed at for being a bit irrational.

Too gimmicky, too kiddie, not hip. It'd never sell.

Boy were most of us "experts" wrong. Not only has Nintendo succeeded, they are now back atop the traditional console sales list. But one thing is still amiss. With the success the Wii has enjoyed, what does that mean for sports gamers?

As of right now, most companies are still trying to figure out what they really want to do with sports games on the Wii. We have an upcoming party-style game entitled "Deca Sports" which will be a nice game but won't feature the depth and realism we look for as hardcore sports gamers.

So is this a trend that is going to continue for the Wii? My best opinion is yes. If you are buying a Wii to get the hardcore gaming experience with ultimate realism and depth I'm afraid you are going to be very unhappy very quick.

Nintendo's little box just wasn't developed for the hardcore gamer. It sells itself to the casual gamers audience, which it is doing extremely well. Unfortunately this means we are probably very rarely going to get a title with major depth on the console.

So what are developers really thinking? My best answers is that they are thinking in terms of making their popular franchises more accessible to people who don't regularly play them. Madden is being dumbed down for the most part so people can pick up the game and play with little worries on how to hot-route and audible.

It's not necessarily a bad thing either, the Wii is what it is. Games like Madden on the Wii must be more accessible to be profitable. I think that EA Sports is making a wise business decision by making Madden more accessible.

What I think is rather odd is that the quality of Madden actually went down in its second year on the Wii. I think this year is a big year for Madden in the sense that EA must right the ship and take the best aspects of both games to create a good third one.

Another sign that EA Sports sees the Wii as profitable is the mere fact that they are going to be releasing NCAA Football for the console. That means that they think it is worth their time to spend the resources on developing a game that's a bit down in the pecking order on EA's sales chart. So companies do see the customer base are are responding to it.

You have to give the Wii it's due, it is still selling like hotcakes as it is a rare find on a store shelf. However, developers have yet to totally capitalize on the sports gamers market, which I think is something that is going to come with time.

So what does the future of the Wii hold? The simple answer is simple games built for the casual audience. The simple fact is the user-base is indeed casual and the games are being built for that audience. Is there anything wrong with that? In my opinion the answer is no.