Generation Wii
When Was It Written
On April 29, 2007, Kevin Wood wrote a cultural insight article that looked at the latest video game craze, the Nintendo Wii. As a church that always tries to speak the never-changing truth to an ever-changing world, this article points out that constant, gnawing need for community in people.
Who Wrote It
Kevin Wood, Pastor
GENERATION Wii
If you can’t pronounce the little three letter word “Wii” in the title of this article, then you’re probably over 30 years old. Just find a teenager in the room and ask them how to say it. The word is pronounced “we”, and it is the name of the latest video game system produced by Nintendo. And before you ask, “Why in the world did they spell ‘we’ as ‘Wii’?”, let me explain. According to the people who created the system, the word “Wii” means exactly what it sounds like – “We”. But instead of using an “e”, they wanted to use the double lower case “i” because it looked like two people standing side by side. If you look at the word again – Wii – you can see what they mean.
I just want to take a minute to talk to and about those of us in the under-30 generation. Call us Generation X, Generation Y, or Generation Whatever, our generation is the most Me-centered generation ever to walk this Earth. I’m just going to call it Generation Me, because that is exactly what it is. It’s all about my taste, my desires, my fulfillment. You can even hear it in the toys we carry in our pockets, on our hips, and in our cars. We download songs from iTunes. We play them on our iPod. We post our favorites on MySpace. Our world is an “I, me, my” world.
And that’s why I love the Wii. It seems to me to be the first confession from our high tech world that, “Maybe there’s something more to this life than the ‘I-me-my’ world we live in.” Maybe we are starting to wake up to the fact that the Generation Me culture just isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Maybe, just maybe, we are beginning the move from Generation Me to Generation Wii. For those of us who have lived in it now for a couple decades, we understand that Generation Me culture cripples community. Cell phones may give us instant contact with people, but it hasn’t helped us connect deeply with others. Our communication is fast, but shallow. Generation Me culture crushes compassion. We hear the words of Bono about AIDS rampaging through Africa. And we change the channel. We see images of children who haven’t had a drink of water in weeks. And we take another sip from our 64oz. Dr. Pepper. When will Generation Me open its eyes and say, “Wii can make a difference”? I say Wii do it now. Let’s go from “I” to “us”. Let’s move from “me” to “Wii”.
The Scriptures – and history - are full of stories of the power of Wii. It was a Wii-minded people who took the city of Jericho. It was a Wii-minded Savior who died on the cross (even though he died alone, Wii were on his mind). Martin Luther King, Jr. led an entire movement towards freedom singing the song, “Wii shall overcome.” So how long will it take for Generation Me to stir from its self-centered slumber? We must wake up. Wii must rise up. Wii must give up the me-centered way we’ve become addicted to. Take a cue from the Word. Learn a lesson from history. There is no limit to what Wii can do if Wii are only committed to doing it together with God and God’s People, because remember what God’s Word says… Wii can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. Wii can do it, side by side ? ii.
Are Wii Ready?
Kevin
April 29, 2007