Nintendo knew its market. What most people don’t realize is that the Wii is the way it is primarily because of business decisions. And looking at their sales, they made the right ones.
They realized that most people will not pay more than $250 for a game machine. They realized that it had be small to fit into people’s already crowded entertainment centers. They realized people wouldn’t stand for a loud machine. They also realized that the couch-bound button masher was a bad image in people’s minds about gaming. They also realized that people were not going to string ethernet cable to their living room to play a game online, so they included WiFi out of the box.
Put together all of these and you get the Wii. A small, inexpensive, fanless box that you have to stand up to play the included game.
I only had to configure the Wii once upon setup for our secured network. The XBOX 360 using Linksys equipement didn't cooperate at all. I believe that the majority of the problems were due to the number of WiFi networks in the area, and I've gotten my issues resolved, but it wasn't easy at all.
That being said, the Wii is wonderful for the kids and we have had 9 people playing the "Wario Smooth Move" game with the single baton. It was a complete and total laugh riot. The XBOX 360 is a single or duo gamer experience offline. PFS rule the day, and many of them are good. Overall, I enjoy the HD experience with the XBOX 360, but the Wii is truly an innovative and fun experience.