My theory is that the overwhelming problem with Nintendo's currently-shown Wii strategy is something I will call franchise baggage. Franchise baggage is what a title carries when its developer opts to create it as an entry of an existing, known franchise. Publishers have grown to love franchises over the years because of their built-in practically-guaranteed sales; however, reliance on franchises brings a couple key problems as well.
The first problem with franchise baggage is this: when you get into a title whose franchise is known to you, you expect to see franchise-defining elements in the title. For example: if you pick up a Legend of Zelda game, you expect to be able to swing a sword at an enemy, drop bombs, and use a boomerang. You expect to become stronger by picking up heart containers and through equipment upgrades. This impacts the game design by pre-imposing requirements on it before the team has even brainstormed possibilities.
The Zelda franchise is actually an especially good example of this problem. Consider the negative reaction Zelda II: The Adventure of Link gets to this day from a substantial number of otherwise-fans of the series. Its design choices clashed with the expectations of Zelda players and as such became anathema to them, even if the game might have appealed to them otherwise.
In Nintendo's E3 Wii showing as a whole, I see this problem in spades. The single worst offender in my eyes is The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Twilight Princess is decidedly unique among the Wii titles shown, since it not only has expectations as franchise baggage, but also a solid requirement that it must follow in the footsteps of previous franchise entries, as it's currently planned for a dual release on both Nintendo GameCube and Wii. (Even worse than this, though, Princess may well create an expectation for future Zelda games on Wii--due to this release, we may never indeed see what a truly reimagined Zelda for Wii might be. Zelda on Wii may end up perpetually carrying the baggage of the Nintendo 64 and GameCube-era Zelda games, rather than showing the innovative from-scratch design of Nintendo DS series entry The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.)
Super Smash Bros. Brawl is another prime example, but at least unlike the other titles it admits the bias of its franchise expectations up front. Last we heard, Brawl will require a traditionally-styled controller--either a GameCube controller or the Wii's Virtual Console controller. It's hard to fault Brawl for much; it's not really trying to be anything it's not. But it's clearly not doing anything for a Blue Ocean strategy.
Lesser offenders include Nintendo's other two highly-talked-up titles: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Super Mario Galaxy. While both games are brand-new entries in their respective franchises, both also must consider the past and the expectations the past places upon them. Since the past was developed on old-style control, and so the franchises acquired characteristics based on things the old-style control did well. These characteristics must then be adapted to the Wii's control options. Some adaptations go well; others may not. It's my opinion that the trouble some E3-goers--many existing gamers who routinely play complex games--had with certain Wii titles is symptomatic of having to bring these characteristics to the new control style, where they simply don't fit.
I suspect the effect goes further than just the initial lineup Nintendo is showing, though. Retro Studios, seeing the Remote for the first time, said they couldn't make Metroid without more functionality, and so the nunchaku was born to address their concerns. While the Wii Remote was designed for entirely new possibilities, the nunchaku is firmly grounded in the expectations of already-existing games. This consideration brings to mind a troubling thought: might the nunchaku's very presence end up influencing the design of all future Wii games? The future is, of course, unwritten, but it seems plausible to me that many a developer will consider his Wii game design options and choose to make games with deeper play to a nunchaku setup instead of investing the effort to make it playable with only the Remote itself, leaving only simplistic games controlled by the Remote alone. While modern gamers will most likely have no reservations about picking up a Remote with a dangling nunchaku attachment and will get right into it, the very people the remote-like shape of the controller was designed to appeal to may give it a pass, and so these people may well end up passing on a lot of great games.
The first problem with franchise baggage is this: when you get into a title whose franchise is known to you, you expect to see franchise-defining elements in the title. For example: if you pick up a Legend of Zelda game, you expect to be able to swing a sword at an enemy, drop bombs, and use a boomerang. You expect to become stronger by picking up heart containers and through equipment upgrades. This impacts the game design by pre-imposing requirements on it before the team has even brainstormed possibilities.
In Nintendo's E3 Wii showing as a whole, I see this problem in spades. The single worst offender in my eyes is The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Twilight Princess is decidedly unique among the Wii titles shown, since it not only has expectations as franchise baggage, but also a solid requirement that it must follow in the footsteps of previous franchise entries, as it's currently planned for a dual release on both Nintendo GameCube and Wii. (Even worse than this, though, Princess may well create an expectation for future Zelda games on Wii--due to this release, we may never indeed see what a truly reimagined Zelda for Wii might be. Zelda on Wii may end up perpetually carrying the baggage of the Nintendo 64 and GameCube-era Zelda games, rather than showing the innovative from-scratch design of Nintendo DS series entry The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.)
Super Smash Bros. Brawl is another prime example, but at least unlike the other titles it admits the bias of its franchise expectations up front. Last we heard, Brawl will require a traditionally-styled controller--either a GameCube controller or the Wii's Virtual Console controller. It's hard to fault Brawl for much; it's not really trying to be anything it's not. But it's clearly not doing anything for a Blue Ocean strategy.
Lesser offenders include Nintendo's other two highly-talked-up titles: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Super Mario Galaxy. While both games are brand-new entries in their respective franchises, both also must consider the past and the expectations the past places upon them. Since the past was developed on old-style control, and so the franchises acquired characteristics based on things the old-style control did well. These characteristics must then be adapted to the Wii's control options. Some adaptations go well; others may not. It's my opinion that the trouble some E3-goers--many existing gamers who routinely play complex games--had with certain Wii titles is symptomatic of having to bring these characteristics to the new control style, where they simply don't fit.