BioWare president Greg Zeschuk has offered his opinions on the Wii in a recent interview, stating that it isn’t really a game console but a toy, due to its emphasis on casual gaming: “[Wii] experiences are much more like a toy experience. [People] are playing, together or not, but you’re not ‘gaming’ anymore…If gaming is defined by story, then generally Wii may not be.”

BioWare CEO Ray Muzyka also chimed in with his take on Nintendo’s console, looking things from another angle: “I think it IS gaming,” he goes on to elaborate “When you look at a moment to moment experience what a player does on a Wii game, it’s different, lighter, and more toy-like. But there’s also a narrative between the players outside the game and kind of fulfills the same things games do. Games are “toys” in the sense that they’re fun.”

I’d tend to agree with Muzyka on this one. Sure, there’s a lot of shovelware and dumbed down party games available for the Wii. But there’s also a fair share of “serious” games offered by Nintendo and other developers on the system. And in the end all game consoles play games, so shouldn’t they all be considered toys? Or are the 360 and PS3 exceptions to the rule just because they offer the functionality of media centers as well?