Well after the obligatory month's rest, I guess it's time for me to write another blog And what did I happen to realise when I was scratching around the proverbial barrel of ideas?? WiiTalk is now 2 years old!!
That's right, it's actually 2 and a bit now... The site was created on the 23rd September
So congrats! and what better way to celebrate than:
A brief History of WiiTalk(From a bystander's Point of View) Part I
Right, so here it goes, the full 2 years of WiiTalk from my point of view, summed up in a single page!
Well I actually joined about 5 months after the Big Bang, but the site was still in it's early stages. Forms of life were beginning to appear and evolve into members who would express their opinions about all things Wii. I was the 462nd member to join, so there had been a few before me and there were loads more to come! I stumbled across this place purely by chance, I had purchased a Wii about a month before and had been browsing the forums at gameplay.co.uk picking up bits of info here and there. For some reason or another, it wouldn't let me sign up, so I could only read, not post. One day something was mentioned about Wii Play having 2 unlockable games and I decided to investigate. A quick google search brought me here and that's when I first discovered WiiTalk.
I'm not sure what made me stick around, but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with the friendly atmosphere. I was still pretty new to forums and most scared me tbh! But WiiTalk was different, it seemed more mature, more casual... perhaps because of the nature of the Wii itself. Anyway, back then there were the mod team of WiiStar, 21st and Ashy. All posting actively and heavily involved with the forum. But you could tell straight away that the forum had a strong backbone of core members who were just as helpful and pleasant as the staff. People like Captainff, Gaffer, Hodgeworth, Craig, Killarapp, Wii_Man76, kungfumaster, etc. These were the big names on WiiTalk, the 'Established members'. Everyone respected them, but they were never beyond helping you out. In fact one of my first threads was to ask why my internet wasn't working on the Wii. I was politely told that this had been discussed a few times already, but that didn't stop them asking what set up I had etc and trying to help solve the problem. In fact the Captain PM'd me shortly after trying to help me out
So I stuck around and members continued to join as the Wii's popularity grew. It was still a small forum, not many posts a day spread across a handful of topics. Not much was going on in Wii World back then, everyone was still happy to be playing Wii Sports and the few good launch titles that were available. But the lack of titles and abundance of delays were beginning to cause frustration. So most of the 'Talk' was about Nintendo's apparent lack of interest in supplying it's loyal launch customers with quality games. That changed a bit when the Wii's first online game was released. Mario Strikers Charged took over the forum from day one. It didn't matter if you liked football or not, this was a chance to try out the Wii online against others and that appealed to everyone! Pretty soon we had regular tournaments set up and that's when I began to really get involved with the forum. There was soon a group of us who regularly played the game and our post counts began to rise! Not only that, but ot certainly attracted more people to the forum. The rate at which members joined shot up and a lot of familiar faces today joined around that time.
I think it was around this time that WiiTalk had a new addition to the staff in Craig. I remember a thread appearing asking for who was interested in the role. I even thought about posting, but I was sure I wouldn't get it, so I decided not to Anyway, Craig was chosen and life continued as normal. There were never really any problems with the site that you could see from a member's perspective. I think this was a testament to the staff who handled everything really well and still remained as helpful as ever. The forum was getting a lot busier though, we'd celebrated a few 1,000 member milestones and a few 'Most users online' ones as well. I don't know if WiiStar had ever intended the forum to get big, but it was changing from the quiet community it once was. It carried on like this for a few months and it got to the point where a new mod was needed and a certain JBond007 was chosen! JB had always been once of the most helpful members since he first joined and was always keen to help the staff out. It was the obvious choice and the right choice. He soon became the face of the WiiTalk staff as Ashy and WiiStar began posting less and less regularly.
Pretty soon questions started to appear on the forum as to where WiiStar was and why he wasn't posting. Most people didn't even know he was the owner. Eventually WiiStar posted, saying he had decided to sell the site onto a friend: Bronco. So the site's owner had now changed the we were seeing less of some of the names I mentioned earlier. This was the point where I first really noticed that the community itself was changing. We were getting new members all the time that were becoming part of that community, but some of the people who I looked up to when I first joined, I was seeing less and less of. It's around that time when you start to question your own role in this community. It kinda dawned on me that I had now been on the site longer than most and had become a regular poster. Not something I'd ever expected when I joined! The various Mario Striker's tournaments certainly boosted my post count and I found myself posting more and more in different parts of the forum.
The form continued to grow some more and Wii_Man76 was made a mod. Another great decision as he remains one of the nicest blokes I've met on here and it's a real shame he's not still about. I think the forum suffers for it! 21st was also made an admin as Ashy was still MIA. It still got busier though and I think it was around Christmas time last year that a few of the staff seemed to get less active. Leaving only JB on regularly. This was a problem and the boards soon became pretty 'spammy'. We had a lot of younger members join up and some viewed the forums as a Instant messenger rather than the discussion board that it was. I talked to a few of the members and decided to PM JB with mine and their concerns. He agreed and said he would contact 21st about it. A week or so later I got a PM from 21st saying they had discussed it and wanted me to become a mod! Not something I was expecting... I'd often thought about the possibility of modding on this site, but there were always names that I was sure would be above mine. For whatever reason I was chosen and I accepted very happily!
I was in for a rough first few weeks though....
So that's Part I done! I thought I'd separate this into 2 parts so that it's not just a mass of text I wish I could go into more detail, but I'd be here for hours and on my 6th page! Stay tuned for Part II, where I'll hopefully be bringing WiiTalk's history to the present day
Zelda, Mario Galaxy, New Super Mario Bros., Mario Kart, Guitar Hero 5, Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits, Guitar Hero III, Guitar Hero: World Tour, Dead Space Extraction, Mario Strikers Charged, Excite Truck, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Big Brain Academy, Metal Slug: Anthology, Wii Play, Endless Ocean, Super Paper Mario
DS:
Mario Kart, Rhythm Paradise, More Brain Training, Advance Wars: Dark Conflict, 42 All Time Classics, Project rub, Animal Crossing: Wild World, Yoshi's Island DS, Picross DS
360:
Battlefield Bad Company, Battlefield Bad Company 2, Forza 3, Brutal Legend, Bayonetta, Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Halo 3, Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, COD 4, Modern Warfare 2, Gears of War 2, GTA IV + Episodes from Liberty City, Ghost Recon, FIFA 09, FIFA 10, Burnout Paradise, Mirror's Edge, Top Spin 3, LEGO Indiana Jones, Kung Fu Panda, Lost, Battlefield 1943, Portal: Still Alive, Geometry Wars 2: Evolved, 'Splosion Man
Great blog. Reading through brings back lots of memories of my early days.
I can think of many other major events that have happened (WiiTalk ghost anyone? ) but looking at the size of your blog as it is, I can't imagine how much space it would take up.
We should start a WiiTalk history project. Someone posts about an event, then others come in and edit various points. It's sad to think how much has already been lost...
We should start a WiiTalk history project. Someone posts about an event, then others come in and edit various points. It's sad to think how much has already been lost...
That's not a bad idea!
It would be fairly easy in the form of a Wiki Page as well... we could even make a timeline!
"...We don't stop playing because we get old; we get old because we stop playing" - Firebox
Zelda, Mario Galaxy, New Super Mario Bros., Mario Kart, Guitar Hero 5, Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits, Guitar Hero III, Guitar Hero: World Tour, Dead Space Extraction, Mario Strikers Charged, Excite Truck, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Big Brain Academy, Metal Slug: Anthology, Wii Play, Endless Ocean, Super Paper Mario
DS:
Mario Kart, Rhythm Paradise, More Brain Training, Advance Wars: Dark Conflict, 42 All Time Classics, Project rub, Animal Crossing: Wild World, Yoshi's Island DS, Picross DS
360:
Battlefield Bad Company, Battlefield Bad Company 2, Forza 3, Brutal Legend, Bayonetta, Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Halo 3, Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, COD 4, Modern Warfare 2, Gears of War 2, GTA IV + Episodes from Liberty City, Ghost Recon, FIFA 09, FIFA 10, Burnout Paradise, Mirror's Edge, Top Spin 3, LEGO Indiana Jones, Kung Fu Panda, Lost, Battlefield 1943, Portal: Still Alive, Geometry Wars 2: Evolved, 'Splosion Man
great blog foo it will be great to read part2 i remember when i first signed up here and the forum has certainly changed alot since then (think bondy had just been made a mod but i was a lurker for a few months before joining in)
WiiTalk is 2!
And what did I happen to realise when I was scratching around the proverbial barrel of ideas?? WiiTalk is now 2 years old!! 
Not something I was expecting... I'd often thought about the possibility of modding on this site, but there were always names that I was sure would be above mine. For whatever reason I was chosen and I accepted very happily!
I wish I could go into more detail, but I'd be here for hours and on my 6th page! Stay tuned for Part II, where I'll hopefully be bringing WiiTalk's history to the present day 
Linear Mode
