The Nintendo Wii is the home console for casual games, no doubt about it. It is in more than 67 million homes worldwide since the last sales report in Dec. 2009, more than 25 million ahead of its closest competitor. With what have been touted as intuitive motion controls anyone can pick up and play, no shortage of party games, a Virtual Console to bring back old classics, WiiWare to feature new downloadable titles, and a commercial barrage featuring everyone from the kids to granny getting their game on with the Wii, it should be pressing all the right buttons of casuals gamers. But I, for one, would rather pick up my iPod Touch for these kinds of games, so where is Nintendo going wrong? Here are the top three faults of the Nintendo Wii.

Motion Controls

We should start with those motion controls. Sure they felt intuitive and worked well when we all gathered to play the included Wii Sports title. We bowled kind of like we would bowl in real life, returned tennis balls by swinging like we had a racquet in hand, and sparred with a friend without physically having to knock him out. But then the fun sort of faded, and over the course of hundreds of games developers decided to use the motion controls with the same collection of motion prompts ad infinitum, not always in tune with the action taking place on screen, and rarely as intuitive as we hoped. There are, of course, exceptions to these complaints, but the rule tends to be lazy motion inputs that aren't as intuitive as granny and I might hope.

Add to that Wii Motion Plus, essentially the purchasable fix Nintendo provided when gamers started to realize the motion controls weren't as accurate as they were cracked up to be. It's a simple attachment that plugs into the bottom of the Wii Remote, making the motion responses more accurate. But it runs $19.99 per controller, so tack that onto the $60 already spent between the Wii Remote and Nunchuck. Casual gaming needs an element of affordability. This isn't the crowd that's going to constantly drop $60 like hardcore gamers do on a weekly basis. We're used to $5 or free flash games online. Nintendo got it right with the console price, but $20 for a controller fix is steep on the consumer end. Nintendo can keep their Wii Remote condoms and reinforced wrist straps - let people who can't hold a controller throw them through their TVs - give us Wii Motion Plus. It's what we thought we were getting to begin with.

No Significant Hard Drive

Right now, this is ranking as the Cardinal sin of the Nintendo Wii. The PlayStation 3's hard drives have ranged from 20GB to 250GB, not to mention it is a standard laptop hard drive that can be upgraded by almost anyone with interest in doing so. The Xbox offered an "Arcade" unit without one, but has offered hard drive space up to 250GB with the latest announcement. Given both of those consoles offer HD content, and the PS3 requires installs of certain titles, Nintendo doesn't need that much space. But it sure as hell needs more than half a gig.

The Virtual Console and WiiWare should be the go-to hubs for casual gamers. Nintendo owned the 8-bit era, and not only are they bringing back NES games for a mere $5 a pop, but also offering Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis and Nintendo 64 games, among others, as reasonably priced downloadable games. That's before getting into the original content, which ranges from more party game fodder to fantastic original ideas. But the thing about offering a downloadable gaming service is gamers need a place to put the downloads, and Nintendo doesn't offer that space.

There seems to be little rhyme or reason to how many "blocks" of storage space a particular file requires (can we please start using real storage terms, Nintendo?), and that half gig fills up almost instantly if gamers save a few things and try to download something from the store. So what then? Nintendo offers and SD slot, where players can purchase cards that offer additional storage space. Even these fill up fast, though, for anyone really interested in Nintendo's download service. And it is definitely not fun having to manage the storage space every time one wants to download or play a game. Luckily, Nintendo updated its system to allow games to be played directly from the cards, rather than requiring a transfer to the console first. But with a download service like this in mind that could be the core of the casual gaming community, it's hard not to wonder how Nintendo dropped the ball on such an important aspect of the system.

Online Difficulties

Another horrible oversight on the part of Nintendo, Wii offers no option for a wired internet connection. And while its wireless service works fine for transferring avatars to friends, answering trivia questions and slowly downloading small games from the aforementioned service, it's not the best for high-speed gaming. And in this day and age, people like to play games together, whether over Facebook, via ad hoc handheld connections, or through online servers. But Nintendo, for whatever reason, felt people didn't want or need a wired connection, and the online growth of the Wii has been stunted by the decision. Select games, like Super Smash Brothers Brawl, have an online presence. But for the most part, if gamers are playing the Wii, they're likely doing it offline.

Add to that the ever painful decision to incorporate "Friend Codes." A seemingly paranoia-driven attempt to make sure the kiddies aren't getting online with the wrong people. Friend Codes require players to exchange 16-digit numbers, enter them on their own consoles, and wait for Nintendo's service to magically connect those two consoles after an indefinite span of time, only then allowing players to connect online.

That's not to mention that select games have their own codes, which require a similar process to connect and play on that specific game. Sure, there are creeps online. But the system used by Sony and Microsoft, with which players search a friend's screen name or add a player met in-game, is simple but requires confirmation from the other party. This seems to work just fine, and at some point Nintendo has to leave some of the burden to the intelligence of children and the watchful eye of their parents so the rest of us can get on enjoying our games instead of partaking in frivolous activities to play them online. And let's not even get started on the lack of HD content. As if casual gamers don't like to see things in better resolution.